Prospects for Prospects

[crickets]

This article got me thinking on the topic. We are in a situation where we are not in a position to surrender any prospect types for MLB talent(although we did give up Sneed for Villar).

 

What if the Brewers were to go about this type strategy for a trade or two. What are peoples thoughts on trading prospects for prospects?

 

http://www.baseballamerica.com/minors/ask-ba-proposing-interesting-prospect-prospect-trades/

 

In this article, Colorado would be dealing Ryan McMahon to the Astros, which the Astros seem to have some decent depth in the minors. What about instead to the Brewers as McMahon will not be seeing the field anytime soon with Arendado at 3B. What if we dealt from depth in the minors in a hypothetical situation. I would not want to give away anymore arms but maybe would have to, but what about an OF type like Victor Roache/Coulter and SS type like Yadiel Rivera for McMahon trade? We have over 13 players graded out at 50+ and 1 at 55 and 1 at 60, McMahon grades out at 55 according to mlb prospect rankings.

 

Colorado doesn't have really many high prospect OF's with 2 graded over 45 and you'd think their power would be a great fit for Coors field. We have depth at MI and pitching in the minors and Colorado isn't looking for MLB talent.

 

Thoughts?

[JohnBriggs12]

Brewers are deep in some areas and light in other so prospect for prospect deals should absolutely be explored.

 

I'm of the opinion that not all veterans need to be traded for prospects either. Trades where one veteran player is traded for another should not be ruled out in all instances either. Brewers have a handful of young starting pitchers on the verge. Maybe they wish to create a spot for Jorge Lopez. Say the Brewers get a call for Peralta from the Rockies who are offering Charlie Blackmon who is also entering his first arbitration year. The relative abilities of each player aside, isn't it likely that Peralta would be moved a year from now regardless for prospects and couldn't you do the same with Blackmon who'd need to be moved to make room for Phillips? In fact Blackmon would be less of an injury risk than Peralta as a position player. I won't even get into whether getting a young, with the emphasis on young, major leaguer back for Lucroy should not be ruled out either.

[bill hAll Star]

I'm not very high on Peralta and his trade value, but I wouldn't bring back Charlie Blackmon. He's AAAA fodder that is dressed up as an All-Star at Coors Field, just like DJ Lemahieu. Maybe a AAAA CF like Blackmon would be fair return for Peralta given Peralta's stock being down, but I'll pass. There's at least an ounce of a chance that Peralta "figures it out." Blackmon is a finished product mid-.600s OPS hitter.

 

In terms of making room for Lopez, I don't really care about that either. He'll have a spot in the rotation when he needs it. If we're dying to get him a spot at some point this year, we can move a lower ceiling guy like Jungmann to a long relief role - unless he's really tearing it up.

[NievesNoNO]

I think it's worth exploring as well.

 

I just think it doesn't happen often as typically that would mean a GM trading away "their guy". It's also probably easier to explain your draft pick/prospect just failing as opposed to having the guy you traded for failing or trading away a player who becomes a star on another team.

[Outlander]

I think it's worth exploring as well.

 

I just think it doesn't happen often as typically that would mean a GM trading away "their guy". It's also probably easier to explain your draft pick/prospect just failing as opposed to having the guy you traded for failing or trading away a player who becomes a star on another team.

In the Brewers case then it might be more possible since none of these guys are Stearns guys with the possible exception of the players obtained in the Gomez trade. Of course he would still have to find a trading partner on the other side.

[Kelbysdaddy]

Trading for a guy like McMahon is a fantastic idea. 3b is a position we have an obvious need for. If we could give coulter for him, I'd do it in a heartbeat. It'd probably take one of our top pitching prospects though, based on Colorado's needs.

[Jenkins5]

Trading for a guy like McMahon is a fantastic idea. 3b is a position we have an obvious need for. If we could give coulter for him, I'd do it in a heartbeat. It'd probably take one of our top pitching prospects though, based on Colorado's needs.

 

I wouldn't trade Coulter for him. Coulter is going to bust out this year offensively even more so than he did in Wisconsin. BC is death for a hitter like him, increasingly so once you get into the humid season where the air is too heavy and thick for the ball to travel. FSL & BC will hurt any hitter who has lift in his swing. Slap hitting, short & low line driver, and ground ball hitter are only ones who really excel. Biloxi and Southern League are perfect for bats like his to shine. Moreover, we need 1B just as bad as 3B. If Brewers are willing give up on arguably their top outfield arm in system, Coulter is a prototypical power 1B. With the logjam we have in OF in the near future, 1B is probably the best bet for him.

[Kelbysdaddy]

Then they should've moved him to first already. They want to keep him in right because he has a cannon for an arm. I do agree that he has the build for 1b and it wouldn't be the worst thing if his future is there. I've never really been impressed by Clint though. I saw a lot of him when he played for the t-rats.

[CheeseheadInQC]

Brewers are deep in some areas and light in other so prospect for prospect deals should absolutely be explored.

 

I'm of the opinion that not all veterans need to be traded for prospects either. Trades where one veteran player is traded for another should not be ruled out in all instances either. Brewers have a handful of young starting pitchers on the verge. Maybe they wish to create a spot for Jorge Lopez. Say the Brewers get a call for Peralta from the Rockies who are offering Charlie Blackmon who is also entering his first arbitration year. The relative abilities of each player aside, isn't it likely that Peralta would be moved a year from now regardless for prospects and couldn't you do the same with Blackmon who'd need to be moved to make room for Phillips? In fact Blackmon would be less of an injury risk than Peralta as a position player. I won't even get into whether getting a young, with the emphasis on young, major leaguer back for Lucroy should not be ruled out either.

 

I don't disagree with you in a general sense. You take value wherever you can get it, whether a minor leaguer or a young big leaguer, and I have nothing against the Peralta trade you suggested in theory. With this specific trade, though, I don't know that Blackmon is who we should be targeting. While who knows the accuracy of some reports, there are said to be enough teams "in" on him that I doubt you are going to get him for the value of his road splits. He'll probably be valued as somewhere between a .730-.750 OPS guy, and he'll have to better that to hold his trade value when he's more expensive and a year closer to free agency. I'd rather give Broxton a chance to see what he is capable of. Whatever you thought of the Rogers trade, he's a Brewer now and wouldn't cost anything additional. He has a better chance of falling flat but also has a better chance of actually increasing his trade value. I know you're opposed to tanking, but when you are rebuilding a roster, sometimes you have to take calculated risks with young guys. I think it makes more sense to take a chance with Broxton this year and see what you have. But who knows, maybe I'm just more bullish on him than most.

[JohnBriggs12]

Broxton will soon be 26 and he's done nothing yet in the major leagues and his minor league numbers show a guy who strikes out a ton without the premium power that you need from a contact challenged hitter. I think we as Brewer fans overvalue him because they gave up Rogers who we liked for him. Reality is they likely had already been negotiating with Carter and felt confident they'd sign him and that meant no role for Rogers so they took the best offer they had for Rogers who's market value wasn't very high. Broxton is the Brewer equivalent of Junior Lake. Might get a few people excited for a while but he'll be discarded for no return when actual prospects arrive because he's not a major league quality regular. I'd rather have a guy in CF who'll bring something back when it's time to make room for Phillips.

 

Blackmon's value in the trade market is depressed because of his road splits, but Colorado guys get used to playing there and that makes it even tougher for them closer to sea level. Get them out of Coors and they probably do better than their past road splits because they become more accustomed to hitting away from altitude. Dexter Fowler was about a .700 OPS guy out of Coors as a Rockie. Since he left Colorado, he's been about a .765 OPS guy.

 

If Brewers got a hot 4 months out of him, his value would be high.

[CheeseheadInQC]

Broxton will soon be 26 and he's done nothing yet in the major leagues and his minor league numbers show a guy who strikes out a ton without the premium power that you need from a contact challenged hitter. I think we as Brewer fans overvalue him because they gave up Rogers who we liked for him. Reality is they likely had already been negotiating with Carter and felt confident they'd sign him and that meant no role for Rogers so they took the best offer they had for Rogers who's market value wasn't very high. Broxton is the Brewer equivalent of Junior Lake. Might get a few people excited for a while but he'll be discarded for no return when actual prospects arrive because he's not a major league quality regular. I'd rather have a guy in CF who'll bring something back when it's time to make room for Phillips.

 

Blackmon's value in the trade market is depressed because of his road splits, but Colorado guys get used to playing there and that makes it even tougher for them closer to sea level. Get them out of Coors and they probably do better than their past road splits because they become more accustomed to hitting away from altitude. Dexter Fowler was about a .700 OPS guy out of Coors as a Rockie. Since he left Colorado, he's been about a .765 OPS guy.

 

If Brewers got a hot 4 months out of him, his value would be high.

 

I'm not arguing that Blackmon won't be a better player than his splits indicate. I'm arguing that an extra 60-80 points or so of OPS above his road splits has already been worked into his value. If teams valued him at his splits a) no one would want him at the salary he'll be set for and b) the Rockies wouldn't trade him because he'd have no value. Let's put it this way, a .730 OPS Broxton probably has as much net trade value as an .800 Blackmon (deducting for what Blackmon would cost to get) and I think there is a better chance Broxton puts up a .730 OPS than Blackmon puts up an .800.

[Bnowell4evr]

The A's would match up nicely for a prospect for prospect swap. They have a glut of infielder prospects but are completely devoid of any relevant OF prospect. Of course they might be a fit for someone like Khris Davis as well.