How long do we hold onto Edmonds?

[TooLiveBrew]

In essence, Jim Edmonds announced his retirement Saturday night, effective at the end of the season.

 

He plans to go out with a bang, however.

 

“I’m going to play these last nine weeks like they’re my last,” said the veteran outfielder. “And we’ll see how it goes.”

Link

In essence, Jim Edmonds just begged to be traded to a contender. Flip him for just about anything you can get in terms of youth at this point.

This line cracked me up from Edmonds: “I still have the same instincts I’ve always had and I really haven’t lost a step because I never had a step to begin with. I’m going to play until I can’t play anymore, and that will be it.”

[igor67]

We got Josh Butler for Gross. It's a bit of a crapshoot on the type of pitching prospect you could get back, but it's better than nothing.

[Invader3K]

Edmonds and Hoffman to San Diego? Would give both a legit shot at the post-season, and give Hoffman a chance to finish out with the team he spent the majority of his career with.

[Mr Southpaw]

Edmonds and Hoffman to San Diego? Would give both a legit shot at the
post-season, and give Hoffman a chance to finish out with the team he
spent the majority of his career with.

They have nice arms at AA. Maybe one of Luebke, Hefner or Castro. I really like the numbers on Castro.

[Pudster13]

Castro is a top 50 prospect. Edmonds could never net him. Don't even think we could get RHP Corey Luedke for Edmonds. Maybe a pitcher like RHP Wynn Pelzer could be had. I know John Sickels likes him a lot.

[MNBrew]

This will be an unpopular opinion in this thread, but the Brewers have squat for immediate OF help outside Cain, and I like Edmonds, so I think trading him would be dumb.

 

Having watched Gomez an awful lot the previous 2 seasons in MN, and now following him in Milwaukee for Full Year #3 of his big league career, I can assure you that he hasn't "developed" one iota in the past two years. Yes, the guy's still loaded with talent. But he has just as much of a knuckleheaded approach at the plate now as he has the 2 previous seasons in MN. He'll come through periodically, but he still hits WAY too many fly balls, hacks away way too often, and generally takes dumb approaches at the plate WAY too often.

 

Therefore, in my opinion, trading Edmonds only to have Gomez prove his knuckleheadedness on a full-time basis only hurts the Brewers in the short term and does nothing for the long term.

 

If Gomez finally figures it out, then hallelujah! But I've seen enough over the last 3 years to believe he's not worth counting on to do so.

[endaround]

Katin is sitting in AAA waiting for a 40 man spot to open up.

[kramnoj]

Therefore, in my opinion, trading Edmonds only to have Gomez prove his knuckleheadedness on a full-time basis only hurts the Brewers in the short term and does nothing for the long term.

 

Nothing is too strong. Nothing is what at least one person said came back to the Brewers when Gross was traded. That nothing made the majors last year. If any contender wants to take Edmonds and offer the Brewers a lottery ticket, the Brewers should do it.

[monty57]

Edmonds is a good LH bat who can also go out and play decent defense when asked. He has some value, so a playoff contending team in need of his skillset would give us something in return. His injury limits his value, but we someone like Butler, or maybe even a slightly higher rated prospect (Edmonds is better than Gross) should be attainable. Plus I believe Edmonds has some bonuses worked into his contract, so we'd save some money by trading him. With waning fan interest, we could probably use some salary relief this season.

 

Katin is sitting in AAA waiting for a 40 man spot to open up.

 

And what better time than this season to see if he can indeed hit MLB pitching. I think a guy like Katin could spur some interest in fans. He may not get on base as much as some would like, but he has the "excitement" tools... power at the plate and a strong arm in RF. Katin needs a shot to see if he's someone we'd want on the roster in 2011, even if it's as a RH power bat off the bench.

 

MNBrew, I'm with you that I don't expect much from Gomez. However, my worry is that the Brewers will go into next season with question marks on Gomez, and retain him due to his potential. They should give him a "sink or swim" ultimatum, and let him play with the knowledge that if he doesn't improve his plate discipline this season, then in 2011 he will be in AAA or sitting on the bench as a pinch runner. Honestly, I wouldn't care if he was sent to AAA in favor of Cain, but if he has any chance of helping us in the future, he needs to play. The Edmonds story is nice, and he is playing as well as we could have hoped, but he is not a part of the Brewers' future.

[craigharmann]

Edmonds and Hoffman to San Diego?

Yes, please.

[igor67]

I agree even if you try to retool in your trading strategy, you can still invest some big league adjustment ABs in guys like Gamel, Katin, and Cain. Katin in particular is probably not a regular, but as a high K guy should get an extended look to see if he can put enough together to be a bench guy.

[dlk9s]

But his bat is lazy, he doesn't hustle

http://img524.imageshack.us/img524/1379/garycoleman.gif

[paulmolitor4]

That was a nice "lazy" HR last night.

[PilprinBuddha]

Edmonds is exactly the type of player you want to keep. A professional who can help some of the young guys and emerging ones. he's been there before and can help the young players who haven't.

 

I see no reason to deal him...unless that ios what is required to get a solid deal done for Prince....even hough I don't think we should trade either of them.

[Baldkin]

I'd say the exact opposite. He's exactly the type of player you want to deal.

A guy with no contract next year, no upside, and no future with the team. You're better off getting an A-ball player than getting nothing for him. This season is over.

[Invader3K]

What young players is Edmonds really going to help at this point? Hart and Braun don't really need that many pointers (OK, maybe Braun, but it's not like Edmonds is going to give him a lot of advice). Gomez doesn't need help defensively, and the world's greatest hitting coach doesn't seem like he'd be able to get through to Gomez at this point ("stop swinging at crap"...what else are you going to tell the guy?).

 

I'd trade him if any team was willing to give up anything of value for him. You won't get draft picks for him when he likely retires after the season.

[monty57]

Edmonds is exactly the type of player you want to keep. A professional who can help some of the young guys and emerging ones. he's been there before and can help the young players who haven't.

 

I gues it could be argued that Edmonds is helping Gomez by keeping him on the bench, but I'd think that Gomez would be helped much more by actually playing more than once a week. As I said earlier, Gomez could very well be a bust, but I'd like to see him get extended playing time, with the "sink or swim" ultimatum on plate discipline.

 

As I feared, we are now having a mild winning streak just before trade deadline, which is going to get the front office thinking we're playoff contenders. If we win one more against Cincy, I wouldn't be surprised if instead of trading Hart, Fielder, Bush, Edmonds, etc we'll trade guys like Katin and Dillard to "upgrade" our MLB team for a playoff push. At the very least, Melvin will decide that we absolutely need to get a MLB pitcher in return for Hart or Fielder, and we'll end up taking some shmoe with no upside in return just so we can "compete" this year.

[Invader3K]

Well, trading Katin and Dillard wouldn't exactly be a huge loss at this point, but what are you realistically going to get for either of them?

[monty57]

Well, trading Katin and Dillard wouldn't exactly be a huge loss at this point, but what are you realistically going to get for either of them?

 

Frustration in Melvin's flat out refusal to ever be a "seller."

Oh, and probably some mid-talent 4th/5th OF who is outplayed by Brendan Katin for the rest of the season and then becomes a free agent and leaves at the end of the season, leaving us with even more question marks next year, and shouts from the peanut gallary that "we could really use a RH power bat on the bench."

 

[endaround]

For players like Cameron, Edmonds, and Counsell trading them for some C level prospect isn't a good thing if similar type players now shun the Brewers because they don't want to be traded against their will. Getting the next Gabe Kapler or Jim Edmonds is more valuable than a 27 year old AAA shortstop.

[monty57]

If we traded them, it would be to a contender, so the aging vets would have a shot at a World Series ring. I doubt they'd complain. Counsell would probably just sign back with Milwaukee next year.

[endaround]

Or maybe they would complain. Dealing with changing teams in teh middle of a season isn't the easiest thing in the world. I guarantee that Counsell, Edmonds and Hoffman all would be approached about a trade before it happens.

[LouisEly]

Middle of the season? It's 2/3rds over. I think most players would gladly live out of a suitcase for 2+ months to go to a 1st place team and get a shot at a WS ring. Maybe not Counsell because he already has two. I'm sure Hoffman would do anything to get another crack at the WS, especially with SD.

 

Edmonds and Hoffman to SD would make too much sense. Hell, Edmonds, Hart, and Hoffman to SD and get a pitching haul in return.

 

Speaking of SD... they make an interesting trading partner as they have Chris Young who has a relatively inexpensive (~$8M) team option for 2011. He might be a gamble to see if he's healthy next year; if he's healthy the Brewers get a good starter who can bridge them to 2012 when the pitching prospects start arriving and the Brewers are clearing at least $25-$30M in salary off the books this year so taking on his contract is very feasible. Because it's a team option, if he isn't healthy they don't pick up the option and it costs them very little, or they could make SD liable for the buyout amount but not the salary. I don't know when the deadline is as far as picking up options but Edmonds and Hoffman to SD for Young plus a pitching prospect might be a good gamble to take.

 

EDIT - you can't trade a player on the DL, can you? Crap. Can someone on the DL be a PTBNL?

[thablingster]

Considering the state of Edmonds' Achilles and his resistance to go on the DL, a contending AL team in need of a DH would be a great fit.

 

That said, it doesn't look like Melvin is motivated to move Edmonds. At this point with a month until rosters expand he won't hold the roster too hostage if he can't play in the field much, provided that Hart proves to be okay (and that Melvin isn't motivated to move him, either).

 

The return for Edmonds would probably be poor anyway, and having him on the bench is a better alternative than having Gomez or Cain rot in the bench for a month while Joe Inglett takes a lion's share of the playing time and pinch hit opportunities.

[Invader3K]

Scott Miller of CBS Sports says teams have indeed asked about Edmonds. Edmonds has apparently said he "doesn't want to go anywhere."