Gut this team. Video game GM style.

[NievesNoNO]

There are quite a few decent trade proposals out there with various players so I'd like to see peoples ideas if we were to go into all out fire sale mode. I'd like to keep the proposals realistic. Obviously people have different ideas on what's realistic so feel free to debate on whether moves would be realistic. I don't want the thread to be about whether or not they should or shouldn't sell or about Melvin's success's or failure as a GM. Video game style allows us to disregard whether or not the number of moves is realistic.

 

So here it goes:

 

Gallardo to KC for Wil Myers

 

This is one move that might be unrealistic, however the Royals don't appear all that motivated to bring up Myers, their GM apparently loves Francouer, and they have another big OF prospect in Bubba Starling who is a few years away. I've read where the Royals inquired on Garza and are still looking for a youngish pitcher with some years of control left.

 

Hart to Pirates for Starling Marte and Kyle McPherson.

 

Greinke to Cardinals for Zack Cox and Kolten Wong.

 

Not sure the Cards would give Wong. Maybe Matt Adams or Joe Kelly would work instead.

 

Weeks to Detroit for Drew Smyly

 

Axford and Fiers to Toronto for Yunel Escobar and Noah Syndergaard. I don't particularly want to give Fiers so maybe somebody can suggest a different move. Escobar fits a big need for us and is still a solid value at 5 mil per season for the next 3 years.

 

Ramirez to LA for Eovaldi

 

Future lineup

 

Aoki CF

Wong 2B

Braun LF

Myers RF

Gamel 1B

LuCroy C

Cox 3B

Escobar SS

 

Gomez in the 4th OF role. Marte can take over for Aoki eventually.

 

The rotation ends up with a lot of 3-5 type starters. Hopefully 1 or two develop into more. In no particular order here's who I think would be up for consideration next year:

 

Peralta

Thornburg

Smyly

Eovaldi

McPherson

Narveson

 

Syndergaard can join Jungmann and Bradley as the organization's top three pitching prospects.

 

I'd offer Marcum arbitration or even try to bring him back on a short term deal as this group could use a veteran pseudo number 1 starter.

[torts]

Wolf to the Expos for Andre Dawson's essence

[Raw Biz]

Wow that pitching would likely be very bad in real life, at least for the next year or two. I could probably dominate with it in a video game though.

[cvollbrecht]

I will play along, but I am going to try and make it as realistic as possible (using rumored ideas)

 

Greinke & KRod for Jean Segura, Kaleb Cowart, & Jordan Walden - Segura and Cowart get another year or 2 of seasoning and then come up and take over SS and 3B

 

Jed Bradley for Yunel Escobar - Gives us a top 10 SS for a 2 year stopgap for fairly cheap

 

ARam for Nate Eovaldi & Jerry Sands - Much need RH pop off the bench with Sands and a pitcher with #3 potential in Eovaldi who is ready right now.

 

2013 Lineup

Aoki RF

Escobar SS

Braun LF

Hart 1B

Weeks 2B

Green 3B

Lucroy C

Gomez/Schafer CF

Pitcher

 

2013 Bench

Gamel RF/1B

Gomez/Schafer OF

Bianchi IF

Sands 1B/OF

Maldonado C

 

2013 Rotation

Gallardo RHP

Marcum RHP (brought back via QO)

Fiers RHP

Narveson LHP

Eovaldi RHP

 

2013 Bullpen

Axford

Walden

Estrada

Thornburg

Rogers

LOOGY FA

 

This team can contend for the Central next year as well as the next 5-7 years. It has a balanced lineup with a good mix of youth and experience, solid rotation, and a cheap power arm filled BP. This also gives us a shot in the arm as far as elite prospects go in Segura/Cowert to go along with Gennett/Jungmann/Nelson/Morris in our next wave of prospects.

 

 

PS - I have no idea how HiandTight does these long posts. I am now mentally drained.

[reillymcshane]

Okay. I'll take the challenge. Let's blow this team up. If you do that, don't do it half way. Do it big time.

 

Aim for 2014 (or probably more like 2015) as a year where we might be able to be relevant again, understanding 2012-13 will be serious rebuilding.

 

Key philosophies/notes/ideas:

 

• Build through draft to sustain success (pretty obvious, but should be restated)
  Rid the team of players that we don't have control beyond 2012. They tend to cost more, and likely will cost even more to keep them as they hit FA, and their value at higher rates is questionable. Focus on players we control for the next 4+ years.
  Use existing assets to get as high upside players as possible, since the team lacks impact bat as well as pitchers.
  Don't be afraid to take some lumps in 2012-13 as we throw some young players to the wolves and determine their value.

 

Be realistic:

 

Our impact minor talent is thin. Especially at upper levels with position players. It doesn't mean we don't have some good prospects, but Jimmy Nelson and Caleb Gindl types fail to be impact players 4 out of 5 times. Maybe worse. It doesn't mean they can't contribute at the major league level, but we have to be realistic. Most of these guys will fail to be decent major leaguers.

 

Key steps:

 

• Trade Hart. He's a FA after 2013 and while he's good, he's not great. And at the $10+ million annually it will likely take to sign him to an extension, we aim to replace his production with much cheaper players.
  Trade A-Ram - by 2014 he's in his last year of his contract, and age is going to be an issue. Trade him while he has value.
  Trade Greinke - assuming he doesn't resign for 5 years or whatever.
  Trade Marcum if he gets healthy and get through waivers in August (which probably won't happen, but you never know). Let him walk in off season otherwise.
  Trade K-Rod (if you can get anything for him).
  Trade Parra, Loe and Veras if you can get anything for them. Parra still is under control for 2013, so he might actually have some real value.
  Gomez - trade him. He's a FA after 2013 and isn't in long term plans.
  Hang on to Weeks. He has little trade value at this time. He's not a .200 hitter. He'll improve. Let him show he's better in 2013, and then make the decision about his future at that time.
  Hang onto Axford. Like Weeks, let him re-establish value in 2013, then either keep or deal or get rid of as team sees fit.
  Kottaras - trade him when Lucroy comes back. Get whatever you can.
  Morgan - let him go in the off season. I doubt he has any trade value. He'll make too much in arby, and we can give Schafer the job at a fraction of the price.

 

The Brewers have very little in terms of impact bats coming up the next couple of years. At AAA, Schafer and Gindl are potentially major league players - perhaps even starters - but not impact bats.

 

At AA, Hunter Morris and Scooter Gennett could be starters - but upside isn't huge for either. Both are limited in some ways (neither is particularly good defensively, both need to take more walks), but both are improving - which is encouraging. But these guys aren't on target until 2014. But they could be starters.

 

For trades, focus on highest impact players as possible. While our team is seriously lacking at SS and 3B, we also need top flight pitching. Any position - except maybe catcher - is a need for us. So the better the player, that's who we want.

 

Greinke, and Hart should bring decent returns. Marcum would have, had he not gotten hurt. A-Ram might get something okay - probably nothing great. But if we include money in the deal (which we should), we could get a better player. The other guys are all fringe players, so we shouldn't expect much for them. Maybe they are used to sweeten a Greinke or Hart or Ramirez deal (although you might argue adding Veras to a deal makes it worse). Or maybe get back some low level projects. Hard to say. But unload them, save money, potentially get back a useful player in return.

 

If we could land a few top line prospects, that's the goal. Preferably guys in the upper minors now (AA or AAA). They don't have to be ready for 2013. Ideally they'd be ready in 2014 - but it shouldn't be a deal breaker. If you have a guy at A Ball who is a stud, get him.

 

A couple of bats as well as a couple of pitchers would be great - but that is probably asking too much.

 

Rosters

 

You can't factor in any players you trade for until that happens. So go with what we have.

 

2013 Team

C - Lucroy/Maldonado

1B - Gamel (let him try have the position, see if he's any good. If he is, then great. if not, it's a rebuilding year anyhow, and we move on from him.)

2B - Weeks - let him rebuild his value. The team can then deal him if they think Scooter is ready in 2014, or they can simply keep him since we have him under control until 2015.

SS - Bianchi - This position is bad, but Bianchi at least has some potential. Ransom is 36 years old. Keep him as a back up, but he shouldn't start. Let's find out if Bianchi can be an everyday player (or even a good utility man, if it comes to that).

3B - Taylor Green - just give him the job. Let him sink or swim. That's fine. If he fails, then we know better and look for a different solution in 2014.

LF - Braun

CF - Schafer

RF - Aoki

OF - Gindl

OF - Ideally, you have a right-handed batter who can play CF/LF when needed. I'd say keep Gomez, but he's a FA after 2013, so why use him when he's probably leaving.

 

Hunter Morris and Scooter Gennett go to AAA in 2013 to be ready for the bigs in 2014 (if needed).

 

SP - Gallardo, Narveson (assuming he's healthy), Fiers

SP/RP - Estrada, Peralta, Rogers, Thornburg (two of three go into the rotation, the others go into the bullpen)

RP - Axford, McClendon, Henderson

 

2013 would be bad. You'd have a bunch of rookies or second year players (Green, Bianchi, Schafer, Gamel) in the starting lineup. The rotation would be similar, with a bunch of young guys. But hey, what the heck. You have to let these guys play sooner or later. You find out who is part of the team's future and make moves accordingly in the offseason.

 

2014 Team

C - Lucroy, Maldonado

1B - Gamel or Hunter Morris

2B - Weeks or Scooter

SS - TBD or Bianchi

3B - TBD or Green

LF - Braun

CF - Schafer

RF - Aoki

OF - Gindl

 

Pitchers aren't much different than 2013, but you can add in some other young arms that have potential - Nelson, Bucci, Heckathorn, Burgos, Manzanillo - maybe Jungmann (not counting on Bradley at this point). But we'd be counting on the young arms of 2013 (Rogers, Thornburg, Peralta, etc.) to continue to mature and get better.

 

And remember, if we can land 3-4 decent players for Hart/Greinke/A-Ram, the team is better off. Where those players fit in, is unknown.

 

In reality, this team needs to have players develop in 2013 to be any good. If that's the case, so be it. We find out in 2013 if Gamel, Bianchi, Green, Schafer, Rogers, Peralta, Thornburg and others can play. Let them grow up and - hopefully - be ready to really turn up their abilities after a year or so of learning. We have to realize that some of these guys will fail. So starting in 2014, you can sprinkle in a free agent signing or two if needed. The team might want a veteran innings eater kind of guy. Or a corner OF with a little power. They could - at this time - invest in a free agent, assuming we didn't feel it would block our young players.

 

Contract extension note: I'd extend Aoki a couple of years. He's turning into a pretty solid player, and if we can keep him, that would be great. He's 30 now, and we have him through next year. But his skill set should age well - extending him a couple of years won't be that big of a risk.

 

All in all, you get rid of anyone who isn't committed to the team beyond 2012. Save money, give young guys a chance. If 1/2 your young players turn out successful in 2013 (Gamel, Bianchi, Green, Thornburg, Schafer, Peralta, Rogers, Fiers, etc.), you're adding a decent base of players. We have to be realistic and understand none of those players has a super high upside. But that's okay. If we can add a few players to the system through trades to supplement them, we might be okay.

 

I can't stress the need for more high upside arms. The Brewers have three pitchers on their roster that they've developed - Parra, Gallardo and Fiers. Wolf, Greinke, Marcum, Veras, Loe, Axford, Narveson, Estrada, K-Rod - all trades or free agents or minor league signings.

 

You go into 2014-17 with a young, maturing team, and a few quality veterans. You have financial flexibility to add players as needed.

 

The whole process is dicey at best - but you got to work with what you have.

[endaround]

The Brewer have Aoki until he's 36 already. Foreign players still need to accrue service time to be free agents.

[Kelbysdaddy]

Aoki was signed for a 2 year deal I believe.

[torts]

Aoki was signed for a 2 year deal I believe.

 

he was, and he'll be a FA after next season

[rickh150]

Aoki is signed for 12 and 13, with a club option for 14. However, I didn't think about his six years of service before FA. Is this true for international signees or can he become a FA in 15?

[reillymcshane]

Aoki is signed for 12 and 13, with a club option for 14. However, I didn't think about his six years of service before FA. Is this true for international signees or can he become a FA in 15?

 

I thought his deal gave him FA when it was done. Other Japanese players have done this - Matsui for instance.

[Nader Raider Tim]

Trade - Aramis Ramirez +4 million in the final year of his contract to the Dodgers for Dee Gordon

 

Unlikely, maybe but if the Dodgers could get a SS like Stephen Drew or Yunel Escobar you might be able to get them to overpay. New ownership would love nothing more than a WS in year 1. Also this is the team that traded Carlos Santana for Casey Blake

 

Next up try and pit the Rangers and Angels against each other.

 

Trade Zach Grienke and K-Rod for Jean Segura, CJ Cron, Garret Richards and Peter Burjous

 

This Brewers get some immediate help and a high ceiling future slugger. Not overly high on Richards or Burjous but they are nice pieces. Hopefully Burjous could get flipped midseason next year with Shafer taking over in CF.

 

Finally after the Angels make the big splash try and go crazy with it.

 

Trade Yovanni Gallard and Corey Hart to the Rangers. That duo should get you close to prying away Jurikson Profar, but it still might not. I'd love to see some combination of Derek Holland, Alexi Ogando, Neftali Feliz, Jurikson Profar, Rougned Odor, Martin Perez, Mike Olt, etc. Maybe Mike Olt, Mitch Moreland, Alexi Ogando and Rougned Odor. That would be a crazy return but honestly the Brewers are giving up quite the haul. This is the least likely or most Video Game like trade. Nonetheless its fun to play around.

[RockCoCougars]

I'm not giving the Dodgers a nickel of salary relief. Actually, I'd insist on Hairston plus a decent prospect for Ramirez. Trading Hairston would give them some savings. Somebody will need to play third base for the near future, and I'm not as enamored with Green as a lot of people here are.