Proposal: Gamel for Kurt Suzuki?

[JohnBriggs12]

Suzuki's in his prime (he'll be 27 in 2010) and a year away from arby. He puts up solid numbers for a catcher (78 RBI). Oakland has a need for a young 3B. They have a former 1st rounder, Landon Powell to replace Suzuki.

[TheCrew07]

Why are we trading for a C when we have 1 in AAA, and 1 in AA?

[endaround]

Getting Suzuki as a stop gap isn't bad. Trading Gamel for him is.

[dadofandrew]

6 years of Gamel is worth a lot more than an average catcher. If they trade Gamel, they better get a near ready arm for the rotation.

[Invader3K]

It's not a bad idea, but I'd rather not see a valuable piece like Gamel traded for an "OK" catcher. If you're going to trade Gamel, it has to be for a starting pitcher.

[Never Outhustled]

Trade our best prospect for a catcher with a 304 OBA when we're desperate for starting pitching? I wouldn't even consider it.

 

Briggs, you are right that Oakland is desperate for bats, especially a 3B. McGehee for Dallas Braden makes sense for both teams. They have the same service time and WAR value. If Gamel can replace McGehee, Braden makes us 2-3 wins better than whichever starter he replaces here.

[ELCABALLO45]

Suzuki has a OBP of .304. He has 24 walks this year. Kendall's OBP this year is .324.

 

This is a trade that would get Melvin fired, and Billy Beane the GM of the year award.

 

Also, RBI's are a terrible way to judge how good a player is.

[804Sox]

wow. That would be underselling Gamel by a ton. Suzuki just isn't that good. Gamel is, or at least should be soon.

[JohnBriggs12]

6 years of Gamel is worth a lot more than an average catcher. If they trade Gamel, they better get a near ready arm for the rotation.

There's no guarantee Gamel will be in the big leagues for 3 years much less 6.

 

The Brewers have alternatives the next few years at 3B. They have only two prospects at C that could possibly perform as starters at some point.

 

EL Caballo, you want to compare Kendall with Suzuki? Suziki's slugging .412. Kendall's "slugging" .288. That more than makes up for 17 points of OBP. (Suzuki's OBP is actually .308 to Kendall's .325 as of today). Suzuki has scored 67 runs and driven in 79. That's 146 runs he's been part of for Oakland. Kendall's scored 44 and driven in 34. That's 78 total, a difference of 68 total runs. Suzuki is also 9 years younger than Kendall, and right in his prime.

 

He's far from a stopgap. He would give the Brewers the best catching situation they've had this decade.

 

In an ideal world if you were going to trade Gamel, sure you'd want a major league ready starting pitcher who projects as a 1 or 2 starter. You might have been able to get that had Gamel been lights out this year at AAA. But even then, teams are reluctant to give up really good young pitching. But he wasn't lights out. He was surpassed by McGehee on the Brewer depth chart and likely will start 2010 back in Nashville. Unless his numbers improve significantly there next year, his status a prospect will drop considerably. Yes the big need for the Brewers is starting pitching, but they also have a hole to fill behind the plate which hasn't been adequately addressed during Melvin's tenure.

 

Suzuki had an OBP last year of .346. For a catcher that's well above average. So he gave up taking some pitches to become more of run producer? He'd likely to hit 7th were he to become a Brewer and with the 8th (Escobar) and 9th spots behind him, OBP is not as valuable as having a guy who can drive in runs.

[JohnBriggs12]

Suzuki has a OBP of .304. He has 24 walks this year. Kendall's OBP this year is .324.

 

This is a trade that would get Melvin fired, and Billy Beane the GM of the year award.

 

Also, RBI's are a terrible way to judge how good a player is.

Yeah, those guys that drive in 100 every year are a dime a dozen.

[trwi7]

He drives in runs because he hits in the middle of the lineup. Almost any player who hits in the middle of a lineup can drive in 100. Not exactly impressive and not something you should be using to justify this trade since it really is awful.

[RyDogg66]

Why the heck are you using RBI to justify Suzuki? If Kendall batted 4th between Braun and Fielder he'd probably have 80 RBI.

[MNBrew]

Why the heck are you using RBI to justify Suzuki? If Kendall batted 4th between Braun and Fielder he'd probably have 80 RBI.

Are you kidding? Kendall would still be lucky to have 50 RBIs batting cleanup. You only get one RBI for a sac fly or RBI groundout. Base hits can get you more than one RBI at a time. Kendall often can't do that.

[ELCABALLO45]

Suzuki has a OBP of .304. He has 24 walks this year. Kendall's OBP this year is .324.

 

This is a trade that would get Melvin fired, and Billy Beane the GM of the year award.

 

Also, RBI's are a terrible way to judge how good a player is.

Yeah, those guys that drive in 100 every year are a dime a dozen.

The point is, to say "Well he has 78 rbi's so that means he is a good offensive player". Is not a good argument at all.

[logan82]

Hart drove in 91 runs in 2008 and he was a pretty poor hitter overall that year. Anybody hitting behind guys who get on base is likely to get RBI.

 

There's no guarantee Gamel will be in the big leagues for 3 years much less 6.

 

Of course there is no guarantee Fielder will play next year either.

[fleehaw]

Would people be more in favor of a McGehee for Suzuki swap? I'm sure this will be split on whether you prefer Gamel or McGehee.

 

If Suzuki is solid defensively, I could get on board with a Suzuki-McGehee deal.

 

Add in something like a Hardy for Guthrie trade and you've addressed two areas of weakness. Granted they aren't sexy moves, but they're certainly solid.

[endaround]

I'd just rather sign Blanco and have him and Rivera split time than give up anything of real value for Suzuki.

[Hate those Rodents]

I guess I just think on this subject that at the LEAST, we should be counting on one of Lucroy or Salome to start in 2011. So I see absolutely no reason to do anything drastic for a season of work at the catching position. I personally would love to go with Rivera and Salome this year and save money for elsewhere and be that much more ready to go with Salome and lucroy in 2011. Under no condition am I trading Gamel for a guy I'd really only use for one year. This guy did not go from basically untouchable to this type of value during the second half of the season in my opinion.

[Never Outhustled]

I'd just rather sign Blanco and have him and Rivera split time than give up anything of real value for Suzuki.

I agree completely. Blanco has become one of the more undervalued guys in the game now thats he's become a tollerable hitter. Its unreal that he played for $850 K this year while Kendal collected $5 million.

[Invader3K]

I think you stick with a stopgap for next season until one of the young prospects is ready to play behind the dish. I would stick with Rivera, or worst case, bring Kendall back on the cheap. I would sure as hell make sure Macha knows that Kendall won't be starting more than 50% of the games, though.

[Never Outhustled]

I would stick with Rivera, or worst case, bring Kendall back on the cheap.

Why would you even consider bringing back Kendal when you could sign Henry Blanco just as cheap or cheaper, and get a plyer who is superior both offensively and defensively?

 

If you curve Blanco's stats for park effects, he has a higher OPS than Suzuki. His offense is stronger either way because of the advantage he's carrying in the more important portion, OBA.

[Invader3K]

If Blanco can be obtained cheaply (though who knows if some other team might want him?) I'd be fine with that, too.

[burniebrewer]

Oakland has a need for a young 3B.

 

I think they took care of that getting Brett Wallace in the Holliday trade.