Open for business (part 2)

[MrTPlush]

I guess Brewers have 4 to 5 more talks on going and were close to a minor trade the other day(Cotts? Broxton?) before it fell through. Pro scouts also on way to Milwaukee to go over possible deals, so I bet other talks are getting more serious at this point. Should be an interesting week ahead.

[superfly]

It's' too bad that the Nats don't have a ton of depth in the INF, if they actually did I'd try to ship them Gomez/Segura for Rendon.

[3and2Fastball]

Would love to see Gomez, Parra, Lucroy, K-Rod traded in the next week.

[TheCrew07]

I'm still intrigued by Fiers to the Jays...

[MrTPlush]

Would love to see Gomez, Parra, Lucroy, K-Rod traded in the next week.

 

You and me both

[Jenkins5]

Lucroy I say has a 0.5% chance of being traded. Too cheap, face of Franchise, and he is helping to manage and develop our young staff. Unless some team clears out their entire farm, he's not going anywhere

[adambr2]

Lucroy is not the face of the franchise and he never was, not even last year. He is a great player with a lot of value, but Prince and Braun were faces. Lucroy in that regard doesn't compare, and frankly, reading between the lines, Lucroy may himself be ready to move on.

 

Lucroy would be missed but most fans would understand and Lucroy's absence would have a very minimal effect on attendance. A face to me is more of a guy that you have a hard time imagining the franchise without, which is how many felt when Prince left.

 

It's also not Lucroy's job to manage a young pitching staff. We have a coaching staff that is responsible for that.

[pacopete4]

Lucroy is not the face of the franchise and he never was, not even last year. He is a great player with a lot of value, but Prince and Braun were faces. Lucroy in that regard doesn't compare, and frankly, reading between the lines, Lucroy may himself be ready to move on.

 

Lucroy would be missed but most fans would understand and Lucroy's absence would have a very minimal effect on attendance. A face to me is more of a guy that you have a hard time imagining the franchise without, which is how many felt when Prince left.

 

It's also not Lucroy's job to manage a young pitching staff. We have a coaching staff that is responsible for that.

 

+1

 

Finally someone else who is on my train. While Lucroy is likable, he's not anywhere near the face of the franchise. Braun was and still is. Like it or not.

[reillymcshane]

The face of the franchise is the future. The team should sell that - just like they did a decade or so ago.

 

Face of the franchise can change very quickly - and fans don't throw themselves off buildings when it happens. The Cardinals did just fine with Puljos left (and we're talking about one of the most impactful players in baseball history).

 

Luc is a great player - well respected, well liked - but he is not the embodiment of a great team that's fighting to win it all (which isn't his fault, since the team just isn't that good).

[JohnBriggs12]

Pujols left as a FA, saving the Cardinals oh, about $250 million. Cardinals didn't trade him with more than 2 years remaining his contract for prospects either. They got all they could out of him.

 

Lucroy still has 2 1/2 years of control left at ridiculously low salary. Their rotation is trending young, and having a veteran catcher is valuable.

[adambr2]

Pujols left as a FA, saving the Cardinals oh, about $250 million. Cardinals didn't trade him with more than 2 years remaining his contract for prospects either. They got all they could out of him.

 

Lucroy still has 2 1/2 years of control left at ridiculously low salary. Their rotation is trending young, and having a veteran catcher is valuable.

 

The Cardinals had legitimate aspirations of contention the last 2 years of Pujols contract. We do not. Also, what Pujols was as a face and brand name for the Cardinals isn't comparable to what Lucroy is for us.

 

We also let Prince walk for nothing. That doesn't make it a good idea to do it every time especially when you're not contending anyway.

[LouisEly]

Technically Fielder did not walk for "nothing" - the comp picks yielded one of our top prospects, Clint Coulter, and Mitch Haniger who was traded for Parra who will be traded for...

 

Yes, the Brewers probably could have gotten more than the equivalent of Coulter and Haniger had they traded him prior to the 2011 season, but the Brewers certainly would not have been two wins from the World Series in 2011 (and the cash flow that came with it) and even if those prospects would have panned out probably would have left them around .500 this year. Better to have the third to fifth overall pick in 2016 than another .500 season and mid-first round pick.

[3and2Fastball]

Lucroy is not the face of the franchise and he never was, not even last year. He is a great player with a lot of value, but Prince and Braun were faces. Lucroy in that regard doesn't compare, and frankly, reading between the lines, Lucroy may himself be ready to move on.

 

Lucroy would be missed but most fans would understand and Lucroy's absence would have a very minimal effect on attendance. A face to me is more of a guy that you have a hard time imagining the franchise without, which is how many felt when Prince left.

 

It's also not Lucroy's job to manage a young pitching staff. We have a coaching staff that is responsible for that.

 

Well said.

 

Lucroy has a heckuva lot of trade value right now. He is also right at the age where a steady decline could happen and his trade value could lessen every year. And it sure seems like he wants out. Perfect storm to be in a place where some very valuable pieces can be added to the Brewers' system.

[tmwiese55]

The face of the franchise is the future. The team should sell that - just like they did a decade or so ago.

 

Face of the franchise can change very quickly - and fans don't throw themselves off buildings when it happens. The Cardinals did just fine with Puljos left (and we're talking about one of the most impactful players in baseball history).

 

Luc is a great player - well respected, well liked - but he is not the embodiment of a great team that's fighting to win it all (which isn't his fault, since the team just isn't that good).

 

#ownthefuture. Bucks/Brewers can start marketing together and share cost

[CheezWizHed]

Finally someone else who is on my train. While Lucroy is likable, he's not anywhere near the face of the franchise. Braun was and still is. Like it or not.

 

I guess it depends on your definition. I see Lucroy being used in Milwaukee promotion commercials, not Braun. I see Lucroy in the "meet the Brewer" KwikTrip campaign, not Braun. Seems like he is interviewed more often for those team related questions more also.

 

He is a likeable, good player that is hard working and the Brewers tend to use him more than any other player. Thus, he is the face of the franchise, IMO.

 

As reillymcshane said, that can change often and his stay might not be very long, but the Brewers have been using him more than Braun based on the divisive reaction Braun gets.

[tmwiese55]

Yea it depends on definition. Of course management is treating him like and trying to make him the face but if we're discussing like espn blowhards arguing about whether someone is "elite", but in this case we're talking whether someone is "the face" then I would say No. He's just not at that level of player and there wouldn't be the uproar like if we traded Prince in 2010 or Braun a little later. He's kind of pushed by management out of default. Really it should be Gomez but I'm sure they were worried about possibly trading him this year and for promotions he doesn't really speak the greatest English. As someone else said, it's Braun, like it or not

[markedman5]

When you are in last place nobody cares who the "face of the franchise" is........

 

In Pujols 2nd to last season with the Cards they won the WS. In his last they lost in the NLCS.

 

So they had very good reasons to keep him...plus they tried like hell to resign him as a free agent so they didn't plan on letting him go.

[MrTPlush]

The Brewers have no real face of the franchise. They have a bunch of good players, but none of them have a huge impact. Ryan Braun was such a player pre PED circus. He was a marketing giant back then and every fan basically had a Braun jersey. To me there are probably 10 players or so that have such a special label in baseball. A lot of teams have no special player like that and we are one of them. A kwik trip commercial is honestly the extent of Lucroy's special marketing...no major brand is clammoring for a Brewers player to market them.

 

People are not going to lose their minds if we trade Lucroy. Actually most will likely say, "Good we suck anyway." I just don't see the outcry some fear. This is probably a good time to trade him because most fans won't care because we suck anyway. Low interest in the team means low interest in anything they do.

 

EDIT: The fact we are debating who the face of the franchise is tends to be a clear sign that we don't have one.

[markedman5]

@MarcCarig: I’m told Mets/Brewers were in talks up til last night for deal to send Gerardo Parra here. It didn’t come together. So, Conforto called up.

[Jenkins5]

When you are in last place nobody cares who the "face of the franchise" is........

In Pujols 2nd to last season with the Cards they won the WS. In his last they lost in the NLCS.

 

So they had very good reasons to keep him...plus they tried like hell to resign him as a free agent so they didn't plan on letting him go.

 

Explain that to Mark A and DM. I'm all for trading Luc, however, I highly doubt unless we clear a team out, that the front office will trade him by deadline. In fan talk, we can want it but reality is Mark and our front office prob doesn't.

[CheezWizHed]

The Brewers have no real face of the franchise. They have a bunch of good players, but none of them have a huge impact. Ryan Braun was such a player pre PED circus. He was a marketing giant back then and every fan basically had a Braun jersey. To me there are probably 10 players or so that have such a special label in baseball. A lot of teams have no special player like that and we are one of them. A kwik trip commercial is honestly the extent of Lucroy's special marketing...no major brand is clammoring for a Brewers player to market them.

 

People are not going to lose their minds if we trade Lucroy. Actually most will likely say, "Good we suck anyway." I just don't see the outcry some fear. This is probably a good time to trade him because most fans won't care because we suck anyway. Low interest in the team means low interest in anything they do.

 

EDIT: The fact we are debating who the face of the franchise is tends to be a clear sign that we don't have one.

 

If you mean a national presence, absolutely no face of the franchise. But Luc flashing Braun in our "little pond" markets just show what brewer fans and the Brewers chose the face. De facto face, but still the face.

 

I'd expect more outcry from Lucroy being traded Braun.

[FVBrewerFan]

Casual fans come to tailgate, baseball fans come because they know it makes sense to rebuild. Lucroy, whether he is a face of anything, doesn't matter. Fans moved on from Molitor, Yount, Burnitz, Season, Hart, Fielder...etc. etc. The marketing geniuses made a dog s star, pretty sure they can do it with, you know, humans.

 

Reason Lucroy is tough to move is value. Hes having a down year, not getting younger. Is last year the real Lucroy? This yr? In between? That's why it's a tough trade.

[3and2Fastball]

It won't be long before only casual fans won't realize how much Lucroy wants out of Milwaukee. Definitely not the face of the franchise!

[markedman5]

Shocking news.......@jonmorosi: #BlueJays have talked with #Brewers but do not appear to have interest in Matt Garza or Kyle Lohse.

[Lee16]

At this point, I find it hard to believe Kyle Lohse's family has any interest in Kyle Lohse.