JJ Hardy

[Oldcity]

Carlos Gomez?

[igor67]

Betancourt, one of our surplus relievers like Parra or McClendon, and a random other non-top 20 position prospect. Or something like that. Granted we've still got a couple of those relievers on the shelf, but as a group they are cheap and have some track records of success so they are quite valuable to other teams.

[DuWayne Steurer]

Betancourt, one of our surplus relievers like Parra or McClendon, and a random other non-top 20 position prospect. Or something like that. Granted we've still got a couple of those relievers on the shelf, but as a group they are cheap and have some track records of success so they are quite valuable to other teams.

Why would the Orioles want Betancourt?

[adambr2]

I think it would take something like Rivas +McClendon + Heckathorn.

[RockCoCougars]

The Orioles have tightened things up a bit- only 5.5 back, so I may be jumping the gun, but.... if they fall out of the race, I wonder if the Orioles would be amenable to moving Mark Reynolds in a deal with Hardy. In this scenario, the Brewers could offer McGehee, a couple of pitching prospects and maybe a bullpen guy that is out of the equation. Obviously, Reynolds is a strikeout machine, and he's hit under .200 for the past two years but he's young yet and just jacked 44 homers a few years ago. From glancing at his stats he doesn't seem to be a complete defensive liability at third. He's due $7.5 million next season, so maybe the O's would listen to inquiries. Though he's right handed, he'd help fill Prince's power void next year, and perhaps you could even slide him to first if Gamel doesn't make the grade.

[jmeks23]

Both Hardy and Reynolds were just traded for by the Orioles. Doubt they want to trade either of them, though I've been on board with Hardy if it is possible. As far as what the Orioles would get, I highly doubt it would take 3 prospects, then again considering it's the Brewers farm system it might. Still don't know if Heckathorn is worth it, and he still looks to be pretty good.

[danzig6767]

Betancourt, one of our surplus relievers like Parra or McClendon, and a random other non-top 20 position prospect. Or something like that. Granted we've still got a couple of those relievers on the shelf, but as a group they are cheap and have some track records of success so they are quite valuable to other teams.

Why would Baltimore trade Hardy for a meaningless package of nothing like you proposed?

 

Yea, they have no realistic shot at a playoff berth, but come the trade deadline, the Brewers may not ending up being the only team looking for a shortstop who would have interest in Hardy, and it would take nothing to trump that pitiful offer you brought up. Plus, even if no other team made an offer for JJ, if i'm Baltimore, i'd just keep him the rest of the year and try to win as many games possible for my fans than accept a package of nothing like this, along with the fact that if Hardy has a nice year, he could bring some draft compensation.

[adambr2]

The more I think about it, I think we're underestimating what it will take to acquire Hardy, even as a rental.

 

Hardy currently projects as Type A, so the O's will automatically get a 1st or 2nd + a sandwich 1/2 pick if they do nothing. Any offer they accept from us is certainly going to have to top that perceived value, which from our farm system, isn't going to be easy.

[Invader3K]

Good point, adambr2. They won't just give him up for a six pack and a bag of chips like some have thought in this thread.

[yoshii8]

I read recently on MLbtraderumors.com that they are considering trying to extend Hardy before the end of the year, so I doubt they are looking to trade him. Although I'd love to see him back w/ the Brewers.

 

Edit - Nevermind, it was the Orioles beat writer saying he would extend him.

 

http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/sports/orioles/blog/2011/06/orioles_news_notes_and_opinion_4.html?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

[RockCoCougars]

I really don't think he will come cheap. At any rate, I don't think the O's will be putting up the white flag for at least another month, if at all. If available, Hardy will most likely be the consolation prize in the Reyes sweepstakes, so I think he the O's will ask for quite a bit in return. One thing working in favor of a trade is that I believe the Orioles have two highly rated SS in the minors- not sure how 'close' they are to the majors.

[Warning Track Power]

Quite honestly, I would give up a pretty decent return to get Hardy back in Milwaukee. I feel he would be that much of a difference maker this year and for upcoming years (assuming we re-signed him).

[TheCrew07]

If we traded Hardy for Gomez, then traded more legit prospects to bring Hardy back, then Melvin has to go. What kind of planning would that be? Do we not realize how ludicrous this circle is?

[And That]

Quite honestly, I would give up a pretty decent return to get Hardy back in Milwaukee.

Unfortunately, the Brewers don't have a pretty decent return to give.

[adambr2]

If we traded Hardy for Gomez, then traded more legit prospects to bring Hardy back, then Melvin has to go. What kind of planning would that be? Do we not realize how ludicrous this circle is?

Well, I doubt at the time he traded Hardy for Gomez that he realized that Greinke was eventually going to be available for a package that included Escobar.

 

But yes, I never liked the Hardy for Gomez trade.

 

[Bernman23]

Hardy went 2 for 2 with a home run and 2 walks tonight. Asking price going up along w/ his .OPS, which is now at .862. I hope for Doug's finance's sake he doesn't play the stock market.

[PrinceEatMeat]

Yeah, starting to think there's no way we get Hardy either. Time to aim lower.

[bucksman4]

The problem I see with a Counsell-Yuni platoon is it takes Counsell off of the bench and weakens our options for late inning PH opportunities. What's worse is it makes Betancourt absolutely useless for this team because there's no way he is a viable pinch hitter late in games when you know against tough relief pitchers he's sitting back down after swinging at the first pitch.

 

At this point, Melvin better be working the phones. Yuni isn't as bad as advertised coming in...he's worse.

[PrinceEatMeat]

Yeah, our bench against righties would be Kotsay, Gomez, Wilson, Betancourt, and Nieves. Yikes. But really you could just use Kotsay and Wilson and get by ok. At least you wouldn't have to pinch-hit for any starters during the game.

[Warning Track Power]

Everyday it looks like JJ is more of a pipe dream...If I were the O's, I would be asking for the moon based on the fact that he is likely going to be the most sought after SS if the Mets keep Reyes. Even if the Mets trade Reyes, he has seperated himself and is clearly the #2 SS target. If I were the O's, I'd probably start targeting whomever they believe to be our top SP propsect is (Thornburg, Rogers, etc...) and Farris to eventually replace Brian Roberts, who is 34.

 

If I were them, I would start with the Reds and see if they would make Yonder Alonso, Travis Wood or Homer Bailey available first.

[Hate those Rodents]

I think it'd be a extraordinarily poor move for a team to give the moon to the O's for a couple of moths of JJ, given that he can go stone cold as quickly as he can go red hot.

[adambr2]

Well, that depends if we're really "going for it" or not. We have a major deficiency at SS and Hardy would be a huge upgrade at this point.

 

Also, what people tend to forget is that when you trade for a rental, you're not just trading for the straight up value of having them for a few months, you're also going to have to pay for the valuie of the draft pick compensation that the trading team is going to lose when they trade him. In the case of a Type A, they're going to get an extra 1st/2nd plus a sandwich pick if they just keep him, so why would they make any kind of a deal that didn't go well above and beyond that value.

 

So right now, I'm almost hoping Hardy falters some, because right now, he's probably priced himself out of our range. But this will end up probably being a moot point if Baltimore extends him.

[monty57]

The more I think about it, I think we're underestimating what it will take to acquire Hardy, even as a rental.

 

Hardy currently projects as Type A, so the O's will automatically get a 1st or 2nd + a sandwich 1/2 pick if they do nothing. Any offer they accept from us is certainly going to have to top that perceived value, which from our farm system, isn't going to be easy.

 

That's the important point. Rollins, Reyes and Furcal are all FA's, so I don't know if JJ will be Type A or not. If so, he is going to cost about as much as Reyes.

 

I think it'd be a extraordinarily poor move for a team to give the moon to the O's for a couple of moths of JJ, given that he can go stone cold as quickly as he can go red hot.

 

And that's the risk and why paying top dollar would scare me. There's no doubt Hardy would improve our team, but would the marginal upgrade for a few months be worth giving up the farm? The fact that we'd potentially get the Type A compensation would help offset the loss, but with our bad luck in recent years' drafts makes me shudder at the thought of trading away some of the few pitchers who have shown promise.

 

On someone like Hardy, we pretty much would have to wait until the deadline both to make sure he's stayed healthy and productive, and to make sure we're still at or near the top of the playoff pack. Winning the division would take some of the sting off of trading some of the limited talent we have left in the system. I would certainly hate to pay a lot for Hardy now and then have some injuries that cause us to fall out of the race anyway, or have us trade for a Type A player only to have him fall off the cliff and end up being Type B or worse.

[JohnBriggs12]

MLB trade rumors has the current Elias rankings out. Hardy is an A. I think that would rule him out as a FA target in the offseason anyway. He'd be an upgrade, but not one worth giving up a high pick.

[TheCrew07]

Yea but Betancourt is a type B? How? McGehee and Betancourt are right next to each other on the list.

 

Casey McGehee Milwaukee B 68.3673469387755 3B

 

Yuniesky Betancourt Milwaukee B 60.248447204969 SS