First Baseman Byung-ho Park

[MrTPlush]

I'm hoping this makes Ploufe available to the Brewers. Could be a nice fill in guy for us and possible a tradable guy going forward.

Plouffe is a good player, but he only has 2 years until free agency. I want longer term players - not just a couple of years of a guy. Perhaps if we were contending, but I don't see that happening the next two years.

 

I guess I see it differently as in he is a guy that can be our guy there for this season (at least until July) as well as next season until July. We get .5 to 1.5 years out of him as a filler for us as well as flipping him for prospects for the future years. Just because we may not contend in the next 1-3 years doesn't mean we shouldn't be signing/trading for some of these guys that can fill now and also help our future.

 

Why are you trading for filler? Where does this help us for the future. A .750 OPS third baseman with above average defense isn't going to be cheap. What are the chances he gains notable value before we trade him? Is it even worth the risk? No, probably not...

[pacopete4]

Why are you trading for filler? Where does this help us for the future. A .750 OPS third baseman with above average defense isn't going to be cheap. What are the chances he gains notable value before we trade him? Is it even worth the risk? No, probably not...

 

Depends on what you have to give up. Like many other have said, a trade with the Twins could make a lot of sense. Maybe there is a larger package of players involved where he is a toss in because the Twins now have viable options at 1B/3B/DH.

[reillymcshane]

I'm hoping this makes Ploufe available to the Brewers. Could be a nice fill in guy for us and possible a tradable guy going forward.

Plouffe is a good player, but he only has 2 years until free agency. I want longer term players - not just a couple of years of a guy. Perhaps if we were contending, but I don't see that happening the next two years.

 

I guess I see it differently as in he is a guy that can be our guy there for this season (at least until July) as well as next season until July. We get .5 to 1.5 years out of him as a filler for us as well as flipping him for prospects for the future years. Just because we may not contend in the next 1-3 years doesn't mean we shouldn't be signing/trading for some of these guys that can fill now and also help our future.

It's not like Plouffe is free. You still have to trade for the guy. He's a good player, and (as noted by others), won't be cheap.

 

I have no problem signing guys or trading for guys that make sense. I just don't see the smarts in dealing valuable assets to acquire a guy in Plouffe's situation.

[jerichoholicninja]

Whatever you give up for Plouffe now, you won't be getting equal or greater value for when you trade him unless he goes gangbusters. Doesn't make any sense to do it.

[bill hAll Star]

Why not just take the prospects straight from the Twins instead of worrying about Plouffe being in a Brewer uniform for a few months simply to trade him again?

[MrTPlush]

Why not just take the prospects straight from the Twins instead of worrying about Plouffe being in a Brewer uniform for a few months simply to trade him again?

 

The only way it makes sense is if Plouffe is better than prospects being offered, but you really want Berrios so you want a deal to work out. So you take Plouffe hoping to later trade him for the good prospects you wanted originally while still getting Berrios. So maybe a 3 team deal type of thing makes sense, but in no way would I ever trade for Plouffe and let him ever have an at-bat here.

 

That is literally the only way Plouffe to the Brewers would make sense...and really he isn't ever going to be a Brewers in that situation it is just a pit stop.

[JohnBriggs12]

Glad we dodged that one. Put Jason Rogers in the Korean League and he puts up numbers similar to Park. Have to question Stearns thinking. Why not just use some of that money he allotted to that failed attempt to re-sign Lucroy who is the exact same age as Park?

[Madhawk23]

I posted this in the other "Twins" thread, but what about this deal:

 

Brewers get:

Trevor Plouffe

Max Kepler

Kohl Stewart or Nick Burdi

 

Twins get:

Jonathan Lucroy

Will Smith

 

Gives us another year or two to develop a 3B internally, we get our 1B of the future in Kepler and we get a good young arm that we can take our time with.

 

Twins get one of the best catchers in baseball as they are ready to win now, and a good bullpen piece.

[MNBrew]

Glad we dodged that one. Put Jason Rogers in the Korean League and he puts up numbers similar to Park. Have to question Stearns thinking. Why not just use some of that money he allotted to that failed attempt to re-sign Lucroy who is the exact same age as Park?

Do we know the Brewers were actually IN the bidding for Park?

Or was it more just a matter of lacking confirmation by those doing the snooping that the Brewers weren't in it?

 

Some folks hated that Melvin was usually quite good at guarding his hand and often took it as an angst-inspiring sign that the Brewers weren't active in trade or FA discussions. Especially if the answer to the above questions isn't known, I'd love it if Stearns routinely proves to play his cards closer to the vest than Melvin!

 

Here's the other thing. There was no failed attempt to re-sign Lucroy. Lucroy approached the Brewers and THE BREWERS weren't interested in those talks at that time.

[MrTPlush]

Glad we dodged that one. Put Jason Rogers in the Korean League and he puts up numbers similar to Park. Have to question Stearns thinking. Why not just use some of that money he allotted to that failed attempt to re-sign Lucroy who is the exact same age as Park?

 

Park contract 29-33 age seasons...$8mil or so average salary

 

Lucroy contract 32-36 age seasons...$15mil or so average salary

 

Not to mention resigning Lucroy means no elite prospect package and means spending even more money.

 

Also you never know how numbers are going to transfer to the MLB. It is almost a gamble and you just have to trust your scouts. That Korean did pretty swell for the Pirates and his stats or similar or lesser to Park's. Japanese players work out either way depending on their stats in Japan. Are you saying just because Rogers could mash in Korea he can have similar stats to Kang had last year for the Pirates? No, Rogers can't even dream about a 124 OPS+.

 

I am not saying we should have signed Park(I don't think we should have), but what you said is flat out wrong and doesn't make sense.

[bill hAll Star]

Given that we're trading half of the rest of the team's veterans, I'd have been fine with signing Park, trading Lucroy soon, and depending on Park and the team's development...trade him.

 

Heck, if you do that, if you are really dying to get Lucroy back, offer him a boat load of cash to come back after his current deal runs out at that point (I am not actually endorsing this).