Trading Partner - LA Dodgers

[pacopete4]

Obviously 99% of the crap we throw at the wall on here doesn't stick but I truly believe the Dodgers should WANT us as trading partner this offseason so that they can make that final push over the hump next season while we rebuild.

 

We have players like Braun, Lucory, Peralta, Segura that would drastically change their offense and defense next season. We may have to take on a bad contract in the outcome but we should also be able to get some quality prospects from them as well. The Dodgers NEED to sign Greinke and then make a big push for another pitcher and some offense. Guys like Jimmy Rollins aren't cutting it.

 

I don't know what an exact trade scenario would be and I've seen some other hints at the Dodgers on the board as well but I just know this. We make excellent partners this off season.

[jerichoholicninja]

SS is handled by Seager so Segura is of no use to them. He's not really of use to many teams. Peralta hasn't really been consistent enough for a playoff contending team to warrant him as an upgrade. I think they will open the bank to keep Greinke and when teamed with Kershaw, a returning Ryu, and Alex Wood that leaves one spot that is probably for Urias. I also think the Dodgers would just prefer to pay a free agent who could equal Peralta's output than give up a young player. I guess they could use Lucroy. They already have Grandal and having two good hitting catchers seems pointless when you have Gonzalez at 1B.

 

Braun they could use for sure. They went from having massive depth in the OF to nothing but question marks. Crawford will never be healthy, Puig is looking like an above average player instead of the superstar he was, and Pederson fell off a cliff after starting out like gang busters.

[Polish Falcons]

How about Braun & Lucroy for Urias and Puig? Brewers pay part of Braun's salary. Is that realistic? I think Braun has too many issues, and Lucroys value has to be pretty low after this year.

[jerichoholicninja]

How about Braun & Lucroy for Urias and Puig? Brewers pay part of Braun's salary. Is that realistic? I think Braun has too many issues, and Lucroys value has to be pretty low after this year.

 

Urias is probably the most untradeable prospect in baseball right now. With Friedman running the show now it's going to take a young, controlled superstar to get him. Trout and Harper are probably the only guys they would consider for him.

[TURBO]

Puig = over rated.

[SRB]

How about Braun & Lucroy for Urias and Puig? Brewers pay part of Braun's salary. Is that realistic? I think Braun has too many issues, and Lucroys value has to be pretty low after this year.

 

Urias is probably the most untradeable prospect in baseball right now. With Friedman running the show now it's going to take a young, controlled superstar to get him. Trout and Harper are probably the only guys they would consider for him.

 

Prospects are simply not that valuable, especially to teams with $300M payrolls. That said, I don't think 30+ Braun and mediocre-2015 Lucroy are what they would want for Urias.

[Polish Falcons]

How about Braun & Lucroy for Urias and Puig? Brewers pay part of Braun's salary. Is that realistic? I think Braun has too many issues, and Lucroys value has to be pretty low after this year.

 

Urias is probably the most untradeable prospect in baseball right now. With Friedman running the show now it's going to take a young, controlled superstar to get him. Trout and Harper are probably the only guys they would consider for him.

 

Prospects are simply not that valuable, especially to teams with $300M payrolls. That said, I don't think 30+ Braun and mediocre-2015 Lucroy are what they would want for Urias.

 

Ok, so Urias is out of reach. Guess it's time to go back to the drawing board.

[bill hAll Star]

While Grandal and Pederson hit swoons, I think the Dodgers will hold on to both of them.

 

As the resident schedule analyst, I'd note at these two basically crushed a ton of HR @MIL, @Col, @AZ early in the season, both being guys that are lefties that crush bad RHP. The schedule was heavy towards those matchups early.

 

Joc hit 10 HR in those stadiums against the atrocious RHP, almost all of those games were in the first half.

 

Grandal got @Philly, @Mil, @AZ to make his season.

 

Of course, both had issues. Joc was young and Grandal was injured. I think both guys are somewhere in the middle, but in neither case would I really spend much time "upgrading" to Braun or Lucroy (who would both also struggle playing half of their games at Dodger stadium) - and yes - I know that Braun has good career numbers there.

[tmwiese55]

How about Braun & Lucroy for Urias and Puig? Brewers pay part of Braun's salary. Is that realistic? I think Braun has too many issues, and Lucroys value has to be pretty low after this year.

 

Urias is probably the most untradeable prospect in baseball right now. With Friedman running the show now it's going to take a young, controlled superstar to get him. Trout and Harper are probably the only guys they would consider for him.

 

Prospects are simply not that valuable, especially to teams with $300M payrolls. That said, I don't think 30+ Braun and mediocre-2015 Lucroy are what they would want for Urias.

 

While you're not wrong in this point, anyone running a big money team like this should be looking at the Yankees the last 15 year for exactly what not to do. Having young cost controlled players consistently coming up will allow for big contracts when needed at other spots (Greinke, Kershaw, etc.)

 

I want nothing to do with Puig. I do think they're a possible partner for Braun though so could lead to something. Though I think we'll just keep Braun.

[Boomer5]

Braun to LA makes a lot of sense. Id look at the Tulo package of a premium prospect back if we take on a bad contract in the trade.

 

I do think a Luc/Braun trade to them will land us virtually anyone(s) not named Urias back though. However, I would think they would think long and hard about a straight up trade of both of those guys for Urias in return though given how close they are to getting over the hump.

[tmwiese55]

I don't think they have a use for Lucroy though with Grandal in place already. Would be the ideal way to trade Braun if not for that being in the way.

[bill hAll Star]

Braun to LA makes a lot of sense. Id look at the Tulo package of a premium prospect back if we take on a bad contract in the trade.

 

Coors and roids inflation not withstanding, Braun just doesn't have the value of Tulo due to position/defense.

 

If we assume Braun is forever an .850 guy in Miller Park and sliding downhill going forward, that's like acquiring a Shin-Soo Choo, a CarGo out of Coors, maybe even a Lind-type player. A good hitter at a corner position (not 3B) that plays OK defense.

 

Tulowitzki, probably en equal hitter to this list when he's not in Coors plays a really good SS. His trade value is much, much higher.

 

I'm not even sure we'd get the premium prospect.

[JohnBriggs12]

I don't think they have a use for Lucroy though with Grandal in place already. Would be the ideal way to trade Braun if not for that being in the way.

 

Unless Grandal was part of the package back.

[pacopete4]

I don't think they have a use for Lucroy though with Grandal in place already. Would be the ideal way to trade Braun if not for that being in the way.

 

Unless Grandal was part of the package back.

 

This would excite me. Get back a younger, competent catcher and replace a fading one? A deal the Brewers should be looking to get. Plus it would add a switch hitter to our lineup which gives it some versatility.

[tmwiese55]

I don't think they have a use for Lucroy though with Grandal in place already. Would be the ideal way to trade Braun if not for that being in the way.

 

Unless Grandal was part of the package back.

 

This would excite me. Get back a younger, competent catcher and replace a fading one? A deal the Brewers should be looking to get. Plus it would add a switch hitter to our lineup which gives it some versatility.

 

For the same reason you love it, why would they do it then? Give up a young cost controlled guy for a 30 yr old you're going to have to pay big in the next two years. I think Grandal fell off a bit at the end of the year and I don't have his stats handy but I would guess most would take him straight up over Lucroy based on a combination of youth/contract/ability.

[Boomer5]

Braun to LA makes a lot of sense. Id look at the Tulo package of a premium prospect back if we take on a bad contract in the trade.

 

Coors and roids inflation not withstanding, Braun just doesn't have the value of Tulo due to position/defense.

 

If we assume Braun is forever an .850 guy in Miller Park and sliding downhill going forward, that's like acquiring a Shin-Soo Choo, a CarGo out of Coors, maybe even a Lind-type player. A good hitter at a corner position (not 3B) that plays OK defense.

 

Tulowitzki, probably en equal hitter to this list when he's not in Coors plays a really good SS. His trade value is much, much higher.

 

I'm not even sure we'd get the premium prospect.

 

Trust me, you don't have to sell me on Braun not being all that valuable. I guess its just wishful thinking we can get out from his contract because I think he has maybe two years of 850 left in him before he falls apart for the remainder of the extension.

[LouisEly]

Jose Bautista is still going pretty strong for a just-turned-35-year-old corner OF who missed significant time with injury in 2012 and 2013, so I don't think it is a given that Braun starts falling off at age 33 or 34.

 

If the interest is there for Braun and a contract needs to come back, Andre Ethier had a nice bounce back season to the tune of an .850 OPS in a pitcher-friendly park. If he can play 1B, he's a LH good OBP bat that can fill a position of need for a few years and he's locked up at most for three more seasons, possibly two with a $2.5M buyout for 2018 but it can vest. If he can't play 1B then he doesn't have much value to a team with a lot of young OFs coming up.

 

Once upon a time Lind was a corner OF who moved to 1B. Ethier had a higher OPS in a pitcher's park last year than Lind had in a hitter's park. Trade Lind for prospect(s), pick up Ethier and prospect(s) from LA, and get a good LH bat at 1B sounds like a win to me.

 

Edit: Ethier became a 10/5 guy this season so he can nix any trade.... scrap that idea.

[MrTPlush]

Puig>Braun

Urias>Lucroy

 

Also Andre Ethier was really good last year. I don't know if he really constitutes a salary dump. In all honesty his value is probably pretty darn close to Braun's. Braun might be more valuable, but I don't think it is a massive difference. Ethier might be ok with a trade...doesn't he hate being in LA because that outfield is so stuffed? We could just flip him to a contender as a part of a three team deal.

 

I don't think the Dodgers would want a damaged goods OFer in Braun though. They have quite a few of those right now.

[DuWayne Steurer]

I sometimes think people believe the Dodgers are just adding payroll to add payroll. Braun has a lot of baggage right now (that has nothing to do with his steroid scandal). He has the back/intercostal injuries that have been hounding him. The thumb injury. He's now on the wrong side of 30 and while his contract isn't about to get "super expensive" it's also not exactly cheap for a guy who's now got a pretty significant injury history in the past few years.

 

Braun is no longer a "mega-superstar" that he was 3-4 years ago. He's not in his prime, and he's not going to be a 7-8 WAR player like he used to be. He could give 2-3-4 more seasons of being a 4-5 WAR player or so, but that comes with the caveat that he may miss significant time as well. He's not going to be a coveted target.

[tmwiese55]

Puig>Braun.

 

I hope you're factoring in total picture (contract, youth) and not ability to play baseball next season. I think it would be a no brainer if you could pick one player to play next season that everyone would take Braun. For trade purposes though, due to youth I think Puig would be better than Braun due to age/upside.

 

It's not an easy trade to work with LAD. If they needed a catcher I think it would be a perfect matchup, but they don't. They also have no need for Lind.

[endaround]

Taking Puig over Braun just on baseball terms is not a bad move given that, you know, Braun is hurt constantly. Puig is a plus defender, Braun is bad. Add in that cost difference and age difference it is not really that close.

 

As for Grandal, he's all of 18 months younger than Lucroy and given Lucroy's deal is likely going to cost 3-4X as much. But that doesn't mean the Dodgers will pay a huge rate to get the incremental increase over Grandal.

 

I see no match with the Brewers and Dodgers save maybe for bullpen arms and possibly Segura but that would hardly be exciting. If you are looking to move Braun, the team to look at is the Nationals who need to replace Werth.

[tmwiese55]

Didn't realize Grandal was that old, still the contract situation would make sense to keep him over Lucroy.

 

Puig was injured and/or bad this season at age 24, factor in the attitude issues and who knows what comes of him. If you're just playing next season you take Braun. Of course youth/contract wise he has higher value than Braun though. This is a very tough trade to pull with LAD. Especially with Ethier having had a good season last year, so the only garbage contract they have left is Crawford's to take back. And you still have Puig/Ethier/Peterson in the OF.