Mark Trumbo: 12.10: LAA discussing 3-team deal with ARZ & CHW? (post #59)

[Bikeage77]

With a pretty affordable contract, would it be worth trading K-Rod and Gamel for Trumbo? He hits for power and his OBP probably come up with more time. I don't know how high LAA is on him though.

 

The Angels have other players to fill in that DH role and there's obviously no use for him at 1B anymore.

[narwhalattack]

Dont think the Angels will agree to the trade.

[brettac1]

I'd rather have Kendry Morales and hope he puts his injuries behind him.

 

More than that, I would rather just have Gamel play every day at 1B.

[monty57]

More than that, I would rather just have Gamel play every day at 1B.

 

Amen. I really, really, really, really want Gamel to do well this season. It seems to be about the only way people will once again believe that it is possible for an "unproven player" to start for the Brewers.

[KCBrewerfan34]

No chance we do that, who pitches the 8th?

[trwi7]

Bikeage77 wrote:

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He hits for power and his OBP probably come up with more time.

Why would you think his OBP will go up? His career OBP in the minors was .330. Gamel meanwhile has a career .374 OBP in the minors. Gamel also has a higher career SLG% in the minors and he didn't get the benefit of playing in the CAL League.

[Bnowell4evr]

I know it won't happen because of the sheer volume but 3 moves would really improve this team.

- Trade K-Rod for Mark Trumbo

- Trade Mat Gamel for Matt Thornton

- Sign Carlos Pena

1B is solidified and our pen stays as strong as it was with K-Rod. Trumbo becomes the versatile RH power bat off our bench that shares time with Pena and Aoki while Braun is out.

[Raw Biz]

I know it won't happen because of the sheer volume but 3 moves would really improve this team.

- Trade K-Rod for Mark Trumbo

- Trade Mat Gamel for Matt Thornton

- Sign Carlos Pena

1B is solidified and our pen stays as strong as it was with K-Rod. Trumbo becomes the versatile RH power bat off our bench that shares time with Pena and Aoki while Braun is out.

I'd rather have KRod and Gamel than Trumbo, Pena, and Thornton. Thornton's been solid in the past but he's 35. Trumbo will hit a lot of bombs but strikes out a ton and doesn't really get on base much. Pena too will hit some bombs and walks a fair amount but he also strikes out a ton and doesn't make a lot of contact. I guess for me it comes down to a combo of wanting to give Gamel a chance and thinking he will be better than Trumbo and the fact that I want nothing to do with Pena, especially at 8+ million.

[Bnowell4evr]

I doubt Pena gets $8M with how this off season has been going for Boras clients. He's a platoon bat at this stage in his career.

[monty57]

The market for Pena opened up a bit with Martinez going down in Detroit and the Yankees now looking for a DH. Neither team may have enough payroll flexibility (at least that they want to spend) to get in the Fielder race, so Pena could be the "cheap" option.

 

Either way, I prefer Gamel at league minimum to an expensive Pena. I may even prefer Gamel to Pena if they were paid the same, but I guess we'll have to give Gamel a shot to see if that holds true.

 

Now that Aoki's signed, strengthening our bullpen is probably the only move we have left this offseason, so if (big if) we were to trade K-Rod before the season starts, it would only be because we're over budget and need salary relief, which surprisingly doesn't seem to be the case. In that case, we wouldn't bring on other big contracts like Thornton or Pena, and I would like to see him traded for a young high-upside pitcher (maybe even a reliever who hasn't become a "proven closer" but could help the bullpen this year) and/or a young position player at a position where we do not already have a long-term option, such as SS.

[brettac1]

Sort of related... The A's are supposedly shopping Brandon Allen, and have contacted the Brewers, among a bunch of other teams, according to Jerry Crasnick:

 

http://www.mlbtraderumors...pping-brandon-allen.html

 

He's been a beast in AAA, but has pretty much had the Gamel treatment in the bigs to this point. I doubt they will try to get him, but he's more realistic than Trumbo.

[Menotti80]

No chance we do that, who pitches the 8th?

 

 

Loe

http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif

[TooLiveBrew]

Oh, Allen's the guy that hit a tape-measure HR against the Brewers in Phoenix. Pulled it down the RF line into the second- or third-level concourse at Chase Field. Looks like a good power hitter, but since the Brewers already have Gamel I don't see them being players.

[JohnBriggs12]

Brandon Allen's big numbers were at Reno. Reno is like pre-humidor Coors, maybe worse. I was in Reno in 1992 and decided to catch a game between the Reno Silver Sox (then an A's affiliate in the California league) and Stockton (then a Brewer affiliate). I don't recall the exact score but it was something like 26-17 in favor of Stockton. I'd never seen anything like it. I was convinced guys like Rob Lukachyk (2 MLB AB's), Duane Singleton (87 MLB AB's) and Mike Harris (part of spring training replacement 1995 Brewers), who probably had 15 hits between them that night would be future Brewer stars. The only guy in the lineup that night that had any impact in the big leagues was Mike Matheny.

[brettac1]

Allen has legit power and patience. He mashed in the Southern League and the Carolina League, too.

[monty57]

I doubt Pena gets $8M with how this off season has been going for Boras clients. He's a platoon bat at this stage in his career.

 

 

It looks like the Rays got him for $7.25M

[brettac1]

Boras made out on that one pretty well, considering people were saying he would come cheap to the Yankees/Tigers lately. Obviously in hindsight he should have accepted arby, of course.

[TooLiveBrew]

I guess, but when you gamble, & your losing result is a guaranteed $7.25M... hard to blame a guy for gambling on free agency

[brettac1]

That's what I am saying. I think that's a pretty solid recovery.

[HiAndTight]

No chance we do that, who pitches the 8th?

I'm just baffled by some of the posters on here.

 

We've talked for years about how this team was built the wrong way. Power hitters who were out of position and played terrible defense, not building pitching through the minors and definitely not a great starting rotation, not to mention a dominant back of the rotation bullpen.

 

So now we've got this guy. A guy who's raked at every-single-level he's been given a full chance at, projects to be an outstanding defender at 1st base, has an absolute picutre-esque swing, probably the prettiest swing I've seen from a Brewers left hander in a long time, he's a fantastic athlete for a 1st basemen, the polar opposite of Prince defensively with incredible range at 1st, and yet everyone is on here talking about how he's not the guy, or how we'd be better off signing a long ago washed up Derek Lee. It's just baffling to me.

 

But...whatever. If we hadn't been set up great at the corners with Braun/Hart/Prince and McGehee, we'd have brought him up a couple years ago, and with a competent manager giving him regular playing time, I think we'd see a guy who's a upper echelon 1st basemen. Not elite, but a legit .300 hitter who is more than capable of a .875 OPS and 25 HR's while playing well above average defense.

 

 

The ONLY flaw I've seen in him offensively is he's been too patient. His K ratio a couple years ago was like very high. I want to say it was something like 45 pct, and I don't remember the exact numbers, but I went back and looked at the raw numbers, and over half of his K's were on called 3rd strikes, an exceptionally high number.

 

And that year, the only time he got ANY regular playing time, he had a .760 OPS.

 

And for those of you out there who don't like him based on insanely small sample sizes, when he STARTED the game at 3rd(ie, knew he was going to be playing and prepared as normally would) he hit over .300 with a .865 OPS.

 

Now I dismiss that, but people want to use even smaller samplings to discredit him, so I think it's fair in response to that.

 

 

Bottom line, I'm 100 pct confident that Gamel puts up a WAR of 3.5 at the least and I think he's capable of a 4+ if the org shows ANY semblance of confidence in the guy for once and actually gives him 1B and just leaves him alone and lets him play. My fear is that hes' going to be looking over his shoulder the whole time and it'll mess with his head and the Brewers will officially screw up one of their most promising offensive prospects in a long time.

 

 

 

Bottom line-He's

[Bnowell4evr]

Gamel could be anything ranging from Brad Nelson to a platoon bat up to an allstar. Its the fear of the unknown in a year we can't wait for him to develop that makes people like me nervous.

I'm afraid Mat Gamel is gonna stink and were gonna be stuck with no backup plan. Anyone who mentions signing Derrek Lee doesn't want him to be brought in as a full time starter, they want him as an insurance policy. Everyone wants Gamel to succeed but with this being the last season we have all of our great pitching intact we want to make sure it doesn't go to waste.

Its the same logic fans use with the Packers. Fans like me complained all off season that we neglected our defense and were banking too much on unproven guys like Mike Neal without any backup plans on the roster. Just like the old saying goes, Its better to be safe than sorry...

[jjkoestler]

I simply don't trust management to give Gamel a legitimate shot to prove himself if a vet like D Lee is sitting on the bench. Throw Gamel into the deep end of the pool and see if he can swim.

[Warning Track Power]

Chris Iannetta has a fractured wrist and is out for 6-8 weeks. The Angels have apparently already been in contact with the Nationals about trading Peter Bourjos for a catcher (per today's Los Angeles Times). After watching Trumbo play 3B it is very obvious that it is a losing battle and he is permanently blocked by Pujols at 1B. If I were Melvin, I'd be on the phone right now trying to determine if Kottaras for Trumbo would work and if not, I'd see if Kottaras and K-Rod for Trumbo + another piece would work. Put Trumbo at 1B, call up Maldonado to be the backup C. I think this has a legitimate chance of occurring if the Angels are seeking a C as badly as the Times indicates.

[RockCoCougars]

Good idea, but I don't think that the Angels would trade Trumbo for Kottaras unless the Brewers kicked in a lot more.

[Raw Biz]

Trumbo for Kottaras would be the greatest trade ever. No way that will ever happen straight-up, would definitely need to include another piece.