Michael Bourn

[pacopete4]

This guy playing centerfield could make a HUGE difference for us next year. Melvin would be crazy not to go after this guy. Let Aoki play right and move Hart into 1B permanently.

 

Bourn-CF

Aoki-RF

Braun-LF

Ramirez-3B

Lucroy-C

Hart-1B

Weeks-2B

Gonzalez-SS

PITCHER

 

 

I see a lotta runs being scored with that right there! Let our 6-8 swing outta their shoes and knock em outta the park at times(when their hot) and let our top half be consistent on base, driving in runs.

 

 

Just a wishful Brewers fan

[paul253]

For what he'd cost I think I'd rather just go with a Gomez/Schafer platoon. No sense in paying him $7 or $8 million when we already have 4 players who can play center field.

[pacopete4]

If be ok with that. Bourn just excites md though. This team is missing that in 1-2 hole and Gomez has proven he can't hit 1-2.

[Raw Biz]

I think CF is the last position the Brewers need to add to. They already have Gomez, Morgan, Aoki, and Schafer who could all play there. Granted you will probably be platooning a combo of those guys but I don't think the difference in production would outweigh what it would cost. Plus, Bourn is almost 30, an age where a lot of guys tend to start trending downward. Personally, I'd get rid of Morgan, platoon Aoki/Morgan and use Schafer as a backup everywhere.

[pacopete4]

I guess I don't understand platooning Aoki with anyone. Why?

[Raw Biz]

I guess I don't understand platooning Aoki with anyone. Why?

 

It's not so much to protect Aoki but to protect Gomez. Gomez is perhaps the best defensive CF in the game so it's nice to use him against lefties. I was assuming Hart would still be on the team next year so he will either be in RF or at 1B with perhaps Gamel in RF. I wouldn't mind Hart being traded cuz I think he could bring back some good value. If that happens, I wouldn't mind Aoki in RF, though he probably doesn't have the arm for that full-time. I love Aoki but in reality, his best full-time defensive position is LF because his arm isn't that great.

[jerichoholicninja]

Please keep his .330 career OBP away from our CF.

[pacopete4]

Bourn? It's .339 career and he steals over 50-60 bags a year along with playing a very good CF defensively.

[trwi7]

This team is going to have far bigger needs than getting a fifth center fielder if you count all the guys in the majors and AAA that can play it.

[Invader3K]

Yeah, the team has a lot of problems right now, but center field (or really the outfield in general) isn't it.

[monty57]

I don't know how the OF will shape up next year, but adding another CF probably isn't the answer.

 

Here's my guess: Trade Hart and Morgan. Braun in LF, Gomez/Schafer in CF, Aoki in RF. Gamel stays at 1B.

 

The Brewers probably won't contend, so trade Hart while he has 1.5 years of service and could bring back a top prospect. Morgan is a redundancy and will probably make $3MM next year, so we should try to get something out of him rather than just not offering arby at season's end. Schafer is probably our best all-around CF, so he should play. I wish our best prospect was a slugging RF rather than a CF, so that Aoki could play CF, but if he can continue to get on base at a .360-.370 clip and OPS near .800, I'm fine with having a RF leadoff hitter.

[Bombers]

I don't know how the OF will shape up next year, but adding another CF probably isn't the answer.

 

Here's my guess: Trade Hart and Morgan. Braun in LF, Gomez/Schafer in CF, Aoki in RF. Gamel stays at 1B.

 

The Brewers probably won't contend, so trade Hart while he has 1.5 years of service and could bring back a top prospect. Morgan is a redundancy and will probably make $3MM next year, so we should try to get something out of him rather than just not offering arby at season's end. Schafer is probably our best all-around CF, so he should play. I wish our best prospect was a slugging RF rather than a CF, so that Aoki could play CF, but if he can continue to get on base at a .360-.370 clip and OPS near .800, I'm fine with having a RF leadoff hitter.

 

I agree with this. If we can get something for Hart we should trade him. Morgan and Gomez for that matter too. I would be fine with seeing Schafer, Aoki and Gamel at CF, RF and 1B. Time to start getting some chips back.

[Roderick]

Here's my guess: Trade Hart and Morgan. Braun in LF, Gomez/Schafer in CF, Aoki in RF. Gamel stays at 1B.

 

The Brewers probably won't contend, so trade Hart while he has 1.5 years of service and could bring back a top prospect.

 

I don't know the new rules. What kind of draft pick(s) if any would the Brewers get if Hart played his contract through 2014 and then left for another team?

[JohnBriggs12]

I like Bourn a lot, but really Schafer is their most major league ready position player, and I think he's capable of starting next year if not later this season. He's got a .312/.372/.472 AAA line in almost 500 at bats.

 

I'm in the minority but I think if Gomez played every day, he's progressed to where he'd hit .250-.260 and with 15-20 HR. I could live with that. He's not the ideal leadoff or #2 hitter, so hit Lucroy behind Aoki or a yet to be named SS there.

 

Money that would be spent on Bourn, I'd use for a Anibal Sanchez or other starting pitcher.

[monty57]

Here's my guess: Trade Hart and Morgan. Braun in LF, Gomez/Schafer in CF, Aoki in RF. Gamel stays at 1B.

 

The Brewers probably won't contend, so trade Hart while he has 1.5 years of service and could bring back a top prospect.

 

I don't know the new rules. What kind of draft pick(s) if any would the Brewers get if Hart played his contract through 2014 and then left for another team?

 

I'm not an expert on this, but here's the basics as I understand them:

 

To get picks, the player has to be offered a one-year deal set to a certain formula (I believe that this offseason the one year deal would be around $13MM). If the player accepts the one-year deal, it's binding. If the player rejects the deal, the offering team will receive the first round pick (if the signing team has pick 11 or worse) or the 2nd round pick of the signing team plus a "sandwich pick" between rounds one and two.

 

The player has to be on a team's roster for the entire last year of the contract to receive any picks, so the Brewers would get picks if they hold him through free agency and offer the one-year deal (and he rejects), or if they trade him this year or this offseason, the team they trade him to would get picks if they offer him a one-year deal (upping his trade value). If they were to wait until next season to try to trade him, the receiving team would not be able to get compensatory picks.

 

Therefore, the reason I advocate trading him this season is that the return should be substantially better than a first round and sandwich pick, as the receiving team would receive 1.5 years of an All-Star RF/1B plus they would get a first round and sandwich pick when he leaves. As an added bonus, we'd save around $15MM in salary to Hart and $3MM or so in signing bonuses to the draft picks while adding pre-arby (inexpensive) talent to the MLB roster. I like Hart, but I'm sure I could learn to like the Top 50 prospect he'd probably net in trade.

[3and2Fastball]

Bourn? It's .339 career and he steals over 50-60 bags a year along with playing a very good CF defensively.

 

I like Bourn a lot, but he'll be a heckuva risky signing for someone. He'll be 30 next season and likely his SB rate will slow considerably soon, which will take away his value a lot. It'd be way different if he was a Rickey Henderson type with a .400+ OBP, or even a Time Raines type with a .390+ OBP, but he's not.

 

All that said, it'd be pretty fun to have him on the Brewers, but wow that'd be risky and I think he'll get paid way more than he probably deserves.