Pat Burrell DFA'd; Rays making room for Fielder

[lcbj68c]

Okay, the second half of the topic is purely 100% conjecture. But it is interesting to note that they have the minor league arms to get something done if they wanted Fielder. Anyone want to venture to guess where Burrell will land on his feet?

[NYChez]

I'll take a stab - the Nats.

[Funketown]

I'll take a stab - the Nats

They do seem to have a liking for signing DH's to play the field

[WV Brew]

I don't see the Nats having any interest in Burrell. Bernardina just hit 2 HR's in a game where he also made a diving catch with the bases loaded to save three runs. They have Willingham for LF who is simply a better player at this point. Their bench tends to use faster, better fielding types. No, I don't see the Nats being interested. And while you guys are ripping the Nats, maybe you should check the standings...

[paul253]

TB would make a perfect trading partner for Fielder if we're willing to trade him about mid way through the season. Tampa could let him DH, hopefully beating the Yankees and Red Sox in the process, then trade him in the offseason to recoup some of their prospects. The deal could center around Hellickson, and Milwaukee could ask for two other minor league pitchers as well. I think it'd be a win-win. Milwaukee appears to be going nowhere this year anyway, and they could would to fill the Fielder gap in the off-season.

 

Personally, I think Melvin's job is reliant upon him not bungling the Fielder situation, which I would define as letting him walk for only draft picks in return or trading him and not getting enough in return.

[Bucky370]

I guess I'm not stating the obvious, but I have to remind you that we have another full year of fielder under control and it seems like ownership at least wants to attempt to resign him for 2012. Even though the team is in suck mode, that doesn't mean they have to sell now. Technically most argue they would get the best value trading him in the offseason. I also remind you that trading for prospects is never a sure thing. Just look at the Indians and what they received for CC, LaPorta has really done nothing for them and were 2 years later. If you trade Fielder you have to get at least 1 MLB expierienced player.

[JohnBriggs12]

The Rays can't afford Fielder even for 3/4 of this season. Every team out there would know they would have to deal him again, and his price would go way down. Rays still don't draw except against Yankees and Red Sox. They cut Burrell to make room for Hank Blalock, who was raking in AAA.

[BrewCrewForever]

Oh man, I would love it if the Rays would take Fielder. We could get Hellickson and another couple guys I bet. That would be great.

[twobrewers]

As Briggs mentioned, Fielders price tag alone limits him to about 10 teams.

 

The Rays are not one of those teams. They just can't afford his salary.

[giffted1]

Just kind of thinking out loud here (well, not really out loud), but would it be at all realistic for the Rays to pick up Fielder for a run this season and deal him in the off season?

[jerichoholicninja]

My mind tells me that Fielder to Tampa for Hellickson and Pena would be fair but probably isn't. Pena and Fielder's salaries are about that same. Pena's a free agent at the end of the year too. I think Pena's defense would make up for his slight drop off in offense compared to Fielder. In essence the Rays would be trading Hellickson for a slight upgrade at first and one more guaranteed year of an All Star first baseman and the potential for more prospects.

 

This is probably a slightly Brewers biased trade however.

[lcbj68c]

A repost of what I suspected a few weeks ago:

 

As a Tampa resident, I could see this as well. However, Prince wouldn't fill the DH role, he would play first base and Pena would occupy the DH role. Burrell would either be just another man on the bench, or perhaps go back to the outfield and replace Gabe Kapler/Matt Joyce platoon that is going on in right field. However, Sternberg has already come back and said that they expect to cut payroll back to around 48M in 2011. Burrell, Crawford, Pena, & Soriano all will probably not be resigned, which slashes $38M off of the $79M that they are at this season. I don't know if they want to add another $18M back onto that 2011 payroll for Fielder. Of course, they could always just make a run and re-trade Fielder in December of 2010 and recoup some talent themselves.

 

Now, as far as who comes back, BJ Upton has been souring lately and may need a change of scenery. Could you move him to LF and Braun to RF? Upton doesn't hit Free Agency until 2013. Desmond Jennings could certainly step in for Upton and they probably don't miss a beat and save another $5-6M in salary at their CF position. For pitching, Hellickson would have to be the choice. He is absolutely ready now and is killing it for Durham already this season. The only other option would have to be Niemann. Sonnanstine could go back into a starting role or Hellickson could step in as well. Tampa in the long term does not have much at 2B, so giving them a return there also would be nice for both sides.

 

My offer would be Fielder, T. Green for Upton, Hellickson, & Barnese

[paul253]

I guess I'm not stating the obvious, but I have to remind you
that we have another full year of fielder under control and it seems
like ownership at least wants to attempt to resign him for 2012. Even
though the team is in suck mode, that doesn't mean they have to sell
now. Technically most argue they would get the best value trading him
in the offseason. I also remind you that trading for prospects is never
a sure thing. Just look at the Indians and what they received for CC,
LaPorta has really done nothing for them and were 2 years later. If you
trade Fielder you have to get at least 1 MLB expierienced player.

I know TB couldn't afford to re-sign him, even if they wanted to. My reasoning was that since he would still have a year left, TB could make a run this year and then trade him again in the offseason. Yes they would probably get less in return then they give up, but it's not like they are trading Corey Hart here. Fielder is still a darn good player. Or, if they choose, they can keep him then trade him at next years deadline. Or they could just let him walk and take the picks. Teams like TB value draft picks because their success is so reliant and homegrown players. What I am saying is that TB could trade for a very good player, one that could help them win a championship, and they'd have a couple of options of what to do with him. It's not like if they trade for him they have to re-sign him.

Milwaukee is going nowhere. Their pitching is that bad and homegrown help is still a year away. I realize prospects are never a sure thing, but you have to take a chance on pitchers because for one, they are never going to be able to afford to sign an ace, and also because the way they've been drafting and developing pitchers. They have had basically no success in the past decade (Sheets, Gallardo and MAYBE Parra could be considered successes). Hellickson would be an ideal player for Milwaukee to take a chance on because in addition to being cheap and controllable for a number of years, you could probably argue that he is major league ready. Plus, as I eluded to in the past, and Lcbj is kind of getting at, Milwaukee could add a position prospect that is currently blocked (Green, Salome, Gindl) to sweeten the pot and get more/better pitching in return.

[topper09er]

As Briggs mentioned, Fielders price tag alone limits him to about 10 teams.

 

The Rays are not one of those teams. They just can't afford his salary.

Not if they want to pull a Sabathia type deal where they understand they only get him for 1/2 season for a WS push. It is possible, and if they want Fielder we better ONLY get young ace-potential pitching in return, if we get even 1 non pitcher it will be a terrible deal.

 

 

[RockCoCougars]

Not if they want to pull a Sabathia type deal where they understand they only get him for 1/2 season for a WS push. It is possible, and if they want Fielder we better ONLY get young ace-potential pitching in return, if we get even 1 non pitcher it will be a terrible deal.

Exactly. I don't want to see another Sexson-type deal 6 for 1 or whatever (In retrospect, the only reason that trade looks good is because Sexson got hurt and then totally flopped.). I don't want multiple 'guys', I want quality not quantity. If teams are not willing to give up anything good, I'd rather just keep Fielder and let the chips fall where they may.

[topper09er]

RockCoCougars[/b]]Exactly. I don't want to see another Sexson-type deal 6 for 1 or whatever (In retrospect, the only reason that trade looks good is because Sexson got hurt and then totally flopped.). I don't want multiple 'guys', I want quality not quantity. If teams are not willing to give up anything good, I'd rather just keep Fielder and let the chips fall where they may.

I still maintian the Sexson deal was terrible, any/all of the players we got were terrible and could have been replaced by any AAA player or FA signing. We would have been much, much better to try to get at least 1 quality player who could be helping the team now. Seriously, Chad Mohler?? Why would you trade for a backup catcher? That was so useless, we should have just promoted Rock to backup catcher/broadcaster.

 

 

[PeaveyFury]

Seriously, Chad Mohler?? Why would you trade for a backup catcher?

 

Moeller was actually the starting catcher for a few seasons after showing significant promise with the D-Backs prior to the trade.

[RockCoCougars]

I still maintian the Sexson deal was terrible, any/all of the players we got were terrible and could have been replaced by any AAA player or FA signing. We would have been much, much better to try to get at least 1 quality player who could be helping the team now. Seriously, Chad Mohler?? Why would you trade for a backup catcher? That was so useless, we should have just promoted Rock to backup catcher/broadcaster.

I wouldn't say that it was terrible, but it wasn't the heist that many believe. In a way we acted as waste management for the D-Backs. Moeller was horrendous, Counsell '1' was brutal at the plate, Spivey was mediocre to bad (although he did net Ohka who was OK until the injury), Overbay and Capuano (until he got hurt) were solid. DeLaRosa, was supposedly the 'blue chipper' in the deal and busted here because he was not given a chance. I can see what Melvin was trying to do in filling holes in the wreckage created by Dean Taylor though.

 

All in all, if Sexson kept doing 80% of what he was doing here, this trade looks pretty bad for the Brewers. On the other hand, if Capuano stays healthy it was probably an OK deal no matter what. That said, I don't want another 'Waste Management' deal for Fielder. There is enough mediocrity on this roster as it stands now. I want at least two guys that have high ceilings, preferably both pitchers. If that can't be done, keep him and let him walk if he gets a better offer.

[topper09er]

He may have started the most games but he was not a "starter" in the majors. Just like Kendall was a "starting" catcher last season and the worst offensive player in the entire NL.

 

The only season that Moeller started the most games as a catcher was 2004 with a line of:

101 G, 349 PA, 317 AB, 25 R, 66 H, 13 2B, 5 HR, 27 RBI, .208/.265/.303 OPS+ 47

[topper09er]

DeLaRosa, was supposedly the 'blue chipper' in the deal and busted here because he was not given a chance.

I only want to trade Fielder for ALL blue-chip pitchers, just like we would have probably been better to trade Sexson for all blue-chippers and maybe have one still contributing to the team today.

 

This season we are already showing an offense centered around Braun and some reasonable contributions from others (with Fielder's production easily replaceable) would be one of the best in the league, all we need is pitching.

 

 

[PeaveyFury]

The point was you made it sound like he was supposed to be a backup when he was acquired, but he was actually supposed to be the Brewers' starter before he was unexpectedly horrible.

[paul253]

I think the Sexson deal and any deal for involving Fielder will be different. Even though they weren't exactly hall of famers, the guys Milwaukee got did improve the quality of baseball. Spivey was a former all-star, Overbay was a good young player. JDLR was supposed to be a big time prospect, but he could never put it together. Milwaukee doesn't need those type of players now because they still have a solid offensive foundation. What they need is good, young pitching. I agree with everyone else here. I don't want four average pitchers. I want one really good one. If we add someone like Green or Salome, then I want one really good and one above average one. I'm not naive enough to think we are going to get a sure fire future #1 starter. I don't think it's unreasonable to expect a potential #2 and a borderline #3/#4 though.

[GAME05]

is asking for David Price too much? he'd fit the bill as someone cheap with ML experience.

[topper09er]

My real point was that he was a player who sucks and had been easily replaceable his entire career and 29 years old. He was not worth trading for because he will never contribute to the team winning the WS, which is the only goal of every team. We would have been better off trying to get someone who could be a starter/all-star because you need to build up a good amount of those types of players to get to the playoffs. Obviously the Brewers were not going to be good for a while in 2004, but I still dont see how adding backup-types will ever make a team as hopeless as the '04 brewers better in the long run.

[topper09er]

is asking for David Price too much? he'd fit the bill as someone cheap with ML experience.

Thats where I would start if I was Melvin