Good trading partner w/ the Royals?

[yoshii8]

On MLBtraderumors.com it says that the Royals are going to make Gil Meche and David DeJesus available. Meche had a down year last year, and had some shoulder issues, but in the 2 prior years he was very good. He has two years and 24 million left on his contract, so what would it take to get him. Also DeJesus gets brought up ten times each off-season so I won't even mention anything else about him.

[JohnBriggs12]

Meche is a pretty big risk. He'll make just over what Vasquez makes in 2010 each of the next 2 years and he's had shoulder issues crop up more than once. For a $24 million commitment, the Brewers could get 3 years out of most of the FA crop that's out there.

 

I like DeJesus a lot. He hasn't played much RF, but he's been double digits in assists more than once so his arm must be at least passable to play RF. Plus he can play CF in a pinch too.

 

What I really like is that he can leadoff and he's lefthanded. He's got a career .367 OBP batting leadoff, and he never had the kind of thunder in KC batting behind him he'd have in Milwaukee. He would allow the Brewers to move Weeks into an RBI spot in the order.

[colbyjack]

I really like Meche as an option. The Royals shut him down over the last month or so of the season, and he is expected to return in full health. He costs $12M each of the next two years, but as you noted yoshii8, he was good the two years prior to last year, and good enough the year prior to those two years.

 

Meche is appealing as the Royals may take a mid-tier prospect package if the Brewers would be willing to take on most to all of his salary. They may even be able to add Suppan if the Royals are willing to take on the last year of his contract, basically washing out what Meche makes in 2011.

 

I don't think DeJesus fits, financially or positionally. If he could play CF I may have a different opinion, but then again the team did just acquire Gomez, but I just don't see him fitting unless Corey Hart was also moved (which I'm not necessarily opposed to).

[804Sox]

Meche would be a great acquisition. He's had success in the AL and prior to last year was a dependable 200 IP workhorse. I think he's probably better than any FA pitcher aside from Lackey, and even though he's making 12 mil/yr, you wouldn't have to commit to 3 or more years like you might with Wolf or Harden, and certainly would with Lackey. I would take Meche at 12 mil/yr over Wolf at 10mil or a guy like Padilla at 7 or 8mil.

[dadofandrew]

I could imagine KC having interest in a Hart/Dejesus swap, especially if they move Guillen somehow.

 

Dejesus has barely played RF, so I doubt his arm is anything but below average...often guys with weak arms get more assist opportunities, so they rack up assists. However, Catalanotto's arm was not built for RF, and he was passable.

[endaround]

I see no way the Royals would want a Hart/Dejesus swap

[nate82]

I see no way the Royals would want a Hart/Dejesus swap

I agree but maybe a Hart, Suppan, Dillard, and a PTBNL for Dejesus and Meche could work. I was thinking of having Butler instead of Dillard and removing the PTBNL but that maybe giving up to much for Meche and Dejesus.

 

The Royals benefit from this trade would be losing Meche's contract and only having to buyout Suppan's contract in 2011. Dejesus and Hart would be about a wash salary wise. Dillard and the PTBNL could be either Heether or Iribarren.

 

I doubt this trade would go through since the Royals really wouldn't be gaining all that much and the Brewers really not gaining all that much either. I think the Royals could probably get more for Dejesus on his own but Meche won't bring all that much back.

[And That]

I'd do Hart and Anundsen for DeJesus type deal in a hot second, and then move Braun to right field. DeJesus would fit perfectly in one of the top two positions of the Brewers lineup.

[804Sox]

I prefer Hart to DeJesus - Hart's greater defensive value and higher upside give him the slight edge, though DeJesus has value to the Royals in that he's pretty much the only hitter in that lineup that can consistently get on base.

[And That]

I think most teams would prefer Hart to DeJesus. He's younger, has more speed, power, has the arm (maybe) to play RF. The Brewers could use more LH bats and DeJesus provides that and better OBP, not to mention better defense.

[RockCoCougars]

I've always said that Suppan/Hart/ a little $ for Guillen/Bannister makes a ton of sense. People in Kansas City want Guillen gone about just as much as people in Milwaukee want to get rid of Suppan. Bannister would be a solid 4-5 starter, and Guillen would hurt the team much less than running Suppan out there every fifth day. Not that Guillen would be great, but he would be OK splitting time, and would be gone next year anyway.

[brosto1]

If you don't think the Royals would do Hart for DeJesus, why would adding Suppan, Dillard, and Heether make them want to add Meche to the deal?

I would not mind Meche for Suppan and one of Lucroy or Salome, probably add in a low level prospect as well.

[nate82]

If you don't think the Royals would do Hart for DeJesus, why would adding Suppan, Dillard, and Heether make them want to add Meche to the deal?

Because Suppan's contract is going to be nothing after 2010 compared to Meche's at 12m I believe it is. Plus giving up Lucroy or Salome for Meche would be a bad idea.

[brosto1]

Paying Meche that extra year still gives him considerable more value than Suppan's one year. I would think paying Meche $24M over the next two years rather than paying Suppan $14.5M, including his buyout, would merit giving up a good prospect from the Brewers' perspective. Suppan would also get an extra $300,000 if traded pushing his cost to $14.8M for the team acquiring him. For an extra $9.2M a team could have a pitcher that actually has positive value for the next two years. I don't see how adding Heether and Dillard would make that anymore appealing to the Royals.

[paulmolitor4]

I prefer Hart to DeJesus - Hart's greater defensive value and higher upside give him the slight edge, though DeJesus has value to the Royals in that he's pretty much the only hitter in that lineup that can consistently get on base.

DeJesus is one of the best defensive LF's in baseball. If Braun could play RF, I think trading Hart and adding DeJesus would improve the lineup/defense overall.

[Invader3K]

I would gladly swap Hart for DeJesus (more reliable bat than Corey and better defensively), but I doubt the Royals would. I don't think we're going to trick them into taking Suppan back either.

[804Sox]

I prefer Hart to DeJesus - Hart's greater defensive value and higher upside give him the slight edge, though DeJesus has value to the Royals in that he's pretty much the only hitter in that lineup that can consistently get on base.

DeJesus is one of the best defensive LF's in baseball. If Braun could play RF, I think trading Hart and adding DeJesus would improve the lineup/defense overall.

But the Brewers already have a LF, and DeJesus doesn't have the arm to play RF well. Also, I think some people on this forum are really overestimating Braun'sability to potentially play RF. He's one of the best young hitters and probably one of the 5 or 10 most valuable players in the game, but he is a REALLY suspect defender.

[apirk]

I would gladly swap Hart for DeJesus (more reliable bat than Corey and better defensively), but I doubt the Royals would. I don't think we're going to trick them into taking Suppan back either.

The Brewers won't be able to trick any team into taking Suppan

[TooLiveBrew]

I think some people on this forum are really overestimating Braun's ability to potentially play RF. He's one of the best young hitters and probably one of the 5 or 10 most valuable players in the game, but he is a REALLY suspect defender.

 

I agree with you on this, 804. Braun is barely adequate on defense in LF, and that's largely due to his awesome bat. I guess if the only way to improve the offense is to add a LF, I could see sliding Braun to RF (at least he has the arm strength for it)... but imho that's a big 'if'.

[igor67]

At some point shouldn't Braun's excellent athleticism turn him into at least an average OFer?

[Invader3K]

Braun's defense is fine for LF. He gets bashed way too much around here because I think many fans expect way too much defensively from players. Compare him to some of the butchers being trotted out in LF across the NL and he's pretty good.

[Fatter than Joey]

At some point shouldn't Braun's excellent athleticism turn him into at least an average OFer?

 

Perhaps... He needs to learn routes.

 

Braun's defense is fine for LF.

 

This really isn't true -- Braun's bat is good enough to more than compensate for his defensive shortcomings, but Braun is not a versatile OFer.

 

He gets bashed way too much around here because I think many fans expect way too much defensively from players

 

No one is bashing Braun, as much as we are saying you just can't move players like Weeks, Braun, Gamel, etc... into OF positions without expecting some sort of negative tradeoff, or a seamless transition.

 

Compare him to some of the butchers being trotted out in LF across the NL and he's pretty good.

 

Just because Braun may be better than Dunn and/or Carlos Lee doesn't mean Braun can go to RF at this point in his career.

[Invader3K]

I'm not advocating Braun should be moved to RF. I just get tired of how bad some seem to make his defense out to be. He's not a liability defensively at this point, and chance are he'll continue to learn and grow into a better defensive player as he matures.

[dadofandrew]

Catalanotto played a very passable RF, so Braun obviously could as well. He has all the physical tools to be excellent out there, but at this point, just does the basics. Some of that is probably just desire, which may come as he matures.

 

He signed a $45M deal even though he was a far below average 3B and an OK LF, so you can understand it...he's so good, just like Dunn, offensively, he's never had to work hard in the field.

[TooLiveBrew]

Sure, Braun will continue to grow & get better. But right now, his LF defense is not good. I don't see the "bashing" there. I just see reality. His speed helps him make more plays than a slower player with similar instincts would. I think he'll develop into an average LF eventually.