When should we sign Fielder long term?

[Hate those Rodents]

I would take our pick of six of the names offered by Boston at the deadline for King Felix in a deal for Prince and Hardy.

[BrewCrewForever]

How about Fielder for Ellsbury, Buchholz and Bard? Or is that not enough?

[Hate those Rodents]

From Baker at the Seattle Times and also on mlbtraerumors the day after the trade deadline...

 

Geoff Baker of the Seattle Times hears that the Red Sox gave the Mariners the chance to choose five of the following players in exchange for Felix Hernandez: Clay Buchholz Daniel Bard Justin Masterson Nick Hagadone Michael Bowden Felix Doubront Josh Reddick Yamaico Navarro The Mariners apparently turned down the deal.

 

Like I said, I'll take our choice of six for Fielder and Hardy. How would thatt sound to people? Too much or not enough?

[BrewCrewForever]

8 for Fielder and Hardy seems fair. I want to start it though with Ellsbury, Buchholz and Bard.

[Hate those Rodents]

I think I'd rather take four of the others listed along with Buchholz and Bard for Prince and JJ.

[trwi7]

I don't know why that Felix Hernandez part is in there. Masterson and Hagadone were already traded and I don't think they're going to completely destroy their young pitching talent for Fielder, so they won't give up Buchholz and Bowden. So now it gets down to Reddick and Navarro, who aren't pitchers which would mean Fielder is more valuable to us.

[MNBrew]

The Felix Hernandez thing was a report of something Boston reportedly offered to Seattle before the trading deadline. Thus, none of those players had been moved at the time the offer was allegedly made. Obviously some were moved shortly afterward since the Martinez deal (and whatever else) happened prior to August 1st.

 

Anyway, that's why I started with Ellsbury, Papelbon, Lester, & Bard. Serious talent for elite talent + a proven former All-Star SS (the hole on their roster Boston still can't fill with a player of the status they seem to prefer). It's not just for Prince that I put this down, but including Hardy in the deal, too. You don't just take a couple top prospects for one of the game's certified elite sluggers. You get a king's ransom. If Boston's serious about getting Prince, they need to pony up.

 

There's absolutely nothing otherwise pushing Melvin to have to trade Prince this winter. Granted, the holes on the Brewers' roster are obvious and considerable, primarily on the pitching side. Something has to happen or this year's sore spot becomes next year's ugly spot all over again. That's why this discussion is started in the first place.

 

If Fielder would seriously entertain staying in Milwaukee for another handful of years and sign on for that early, then maybe this is all a moot discussion. The early analysis doesn't suggest that he'll agree to take the key to the Brewers' Brinks truck, though (thank you, Scott Boras).

[trwi7]

There's no way we get Lester for Fielder. Even straight up. If a team is trading for Fielder, they're going to use it to strengthen their major league roster, which means almost all of their major leaguers are out. Think top prospects high in the minors.

[Hate those Rodents]

How about Clay, Bowden, Bard and Lars Anderson for Prince?

[TooLiveBrew]

There's no way we get Lester for Fielder. Even straight up

 

Even though I think this thread has turned into more of a Transactions Rumors/Proposals thread, I have to vehemently disagree, at least in principle. If anyone thinks we couldn't pull at least one pitcher like Lester at this point for Fielder, I think he's kidding himself (apologies to the many female posters).

 

If the Brewers can't get at least someone comparable to Lester when dealing Fielder, I'd rather they just take the comp picks. Imho Lester for Fielder slants in favor of the Red Sox. Yes, Fielder has been that good this season.

[trwi7]

Again, what's the point of trading for Fielder if you're the Red Sox? To strengthen the team. If they're trading Fielder for Lester it's minimal strengthening at best and doesn't make the trade worthwhile. Same for any other team. You're just not going to get talent currently in the majors for him.

[young guns]

I would love to be able to sign Fielder for a couple of years past arby, but I understand that that's isn't likely. If we do trade him I would be disappointed in anything but a huge haul for him, including 1 or 2 major league proven players. They wouldn't have to be the center piece of the deal, but maybe you get someone at a position where they have someone right behind them ready to go, like a hardy for us. Melvin was able to get major league player for Lee, so he might be able to get some in a Fielder trade, though I would hope we would get a couple that end up like COCO, for a couple more years, and less like Nix and Mench.

[jeffy]

There's no way we get Lester for Fielder. Even straight up. If a team is trading for Fielder, they're going to use it to strengthen their major league roster, which means almost all of their major leaguers are out. Think top prospects high in the minors.

That is the normal way it works for small market teams, isn't it? They trade the guys who become too expensive to sign for prospects. Seems like the Brewers have not really done that, though. With Carlos Lee, instead they included Cruz in the deal and got Julian Cordero (was he a legitimate prospect).

 

So is the assumption that the Brewers have changed their thinking since then?