Lucroy Trades/Proposals (part 2)

[monty57]

The concussion concern is real. It took Justin Morneau a few years to get over his. Joe Mauer has admitted his concussion has effected his vision and Mauer's came from a foul tip. Lucroy's already had one which means he's more susceptible to others.

 

There is also a lot more concern over concussions than there has been in the past. Whether it's from fear of lawsuit or genuine concern over player health, teams in all sports are taking concussions very seriously. I wouldn't be too surprised to see Lucroy moved off of catcher if he gets another concussion like he had last year.

 

Plus, the thought that other teams wanted to see him catch wasn't to wait for him to get a foul tip off the head. After his concussion last year, he came back and played first base. There had to have been concern this offseason that he may not be able to catch anymore. Now that we're a few weeks into spring and he's catching, that concern should be lessened. If he has been the everyday catcher and remains uninjured by trade deadline, that fear will be pretty much non-existent.

 

It looks at this point as if Lucroy will be the Brewer catcher for the first half of this season. Stearns is gambling a bit by holding out to get a monster deal, and hopefully his bet pays off.

[FVBrewerFan]

Stearns is gambling a bit by holding out to get a monster deal, and hopefully his bet pays off.

 

How do we know Stearns is holding out for a monster deal? We don't know what's being offered, but it could be nothing acceptable has been offered. Plus, it further complicates things if another team is looking for Smith or someone else to package. So everyone thinks about it forever, never gets done. While in the heat of a pennant chase, those decisions are made in a day.

 

For example, what if someone offered a return similar to the Lind trade? Would you do that? I wouldn't, concussion concerns or not. I don't believe Stearns is waiting for a monster deal, or perfect deal- just a fair return. And I'm completely in his corner on that one.

[monty57]

Stearns is gambling a bit by holding out to get a monster deal, and hopefully his bet pays off.

 

How do we know Stearns is holding out for a monster deal? We don't know what's being offered, but it could be nothing acceptable has been offered. Plus, it further complicates things if another team is looking for Smith or someone else to package. So everyone thinks about it forever, never gets done. While in the heat of a pennant chase, those decisions are made in a day.

 

For example, what if someone offered a return similar to the Lind trade? Would you do that? I wouldn't, concussion concerns or not. I don't believe Stearns is waiting for a monster deal, or perfect deal- just a fair return. And I'm completely in his corner on that one.

 

Search "Lucroy" on MLBtraderumors, and every article says something like "the price tag on Lucroy is steep." Stearns has been asking a lot for Lucroy (as he should), and the fact that Lucroy is still a Brewer shows that he is not coming down to what other teams are willing to give up. There's basically no chance that the best offer was comparable to the Lind deal. It's more likely whether he'll get four top prospects instead of three.

 

I didn't mean to imply that this is a bad thing, just that he is betting that at some point teams will come up to his price tag. If Lucroy stays healthy and productive, they probably will. The concern is that he gets hurt, which could mean we get nothing in return. Therefore, the question shouldn't be (as someone posed earlier) "would you take a bad deal over offering a QO," but rather "is the relative difference between a great return vs. a good return worth the risk of potentially ending up with nothing?"

 

That risk is probably small, but it's there. Stearns probably wouldn't be holding out if he was really concerned about Lucroy getting hurt, so that's a good sign. I just hope it works out and someone bites at Stearns' price tag.

[Boomer5]

We have until opening day to trade Luc, which is plenty of time to make a deal.

 

After that, the risk outweighs the reward unless a key catcher gets hurt, but knowing the Brewers luck, we know that key catcher will have a french sounding last name.

[fondybrewfan]

Lucroy was hurt at the end of the year. It is completely reasonable to expect other teams offers to be pretty weak at this point. They might not want to give up the farm for a guy who had what would be considered a major concussion (Morneau anyone). I would absolutely expect the offers to improve considerably by the all star break if Lucroy is putting up a good year. Plus all it takes is one major catcher injury for a contending team for the package to improve as well. I am fine hanging onto Lucroy until he proves he is healthy to the world.

[JohnBriggs12]

Lucroy was hurt at the end of the year. It is completely reasonable to expect other teams offers to be pretty weak at this point. They might not want to give up the farm for a guy who had what would be considered a major concussion (Morneau anyone). I would absolutely expect the offers to improve considerably by the all star break if Lucroy is putting up a good year. Plus all it takes is one major catcher injury for a contending team for the package to improve as well. I am fine hanging onto Lucroy until he proves he is healthy to the world.

 

It's more than Morneau, it has to do with catchers specifically. Mauer had to move. Matheny retired early. Concern over Lucroy can't be discounted. Still as good as Lucroy might be, it'll take a team that sees him as the missing piece to really fetch a great return. He'll need to be having a great season. Even then, like they did by including Fiers with Gomez, it might take adding another quality player because that lessons the risk for a team that's giving up 2 or 3 of their top prospects.

[MrTPlush]

I'd be more upset if they held on to him and got nothing but a comp pick back. That's such a Doug Melvin move to have a super talented, cheap, just about to leave his prime player on a losing team.

 

Really? How many times did Doug Melvin hold onto a player in a losing season just to get only a comp pick?

 

Zero...I count zero. How many times did Doug Melvin even have a "losing team"? Which in this case, to me, is defined by knowing you won't compete before the season starts. Doug Melvin hasn't been in this situation the past decade so the Melvin comparisons just don't add up.

[Hammer]

Even then, like they did by including Fiers with Gomez, it might take adding another quality player because that lessons the risk for a team that's giving up 2 or 3 of their top prospects.

 

This is something that I think makes a ton of sense. Packaging both Lucroy and Smith together should yield an amazing return...and I hope this is the route taken by Stearns sooner than later.

 

My non-expert shot at the trade:

 

Milwaukee out: Lucroy, Smith

 

Texas out: Lewis Brinson, Dillon Tate, Ariel Jurado, Ti'Quan Forbes, and Ronald Guzman

[bensheeps]

This USA Today article makes it sound like Lucroy is shocked to still be here.

 

http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/columnist/bob-nightengale/2016/03/23/reds-jay-bruce-brewers-jonathan-lucroy-trade-rumors/82156896/

 

Doesn't have place to live in Milwaukee lined up yet.

Talks of 3 team trade involving Astros and Braves from a month ago.

[NievesNoNO]

I still believe he gets traded before opening day. I have to believe there's a fair deal on the table. I mean he's pretty much proved he's healthy this spring. I can't see his value increasing. He works for any team out there with his contract. It's not like the receiving team couldn't turn around and trade him themselves if they fall out of the race.

[MrTPlush]

This USA Today article makes it sound like Lucroy is shocked to still be here.

 

Not really outside of the title. Nothing Lucroy said made it sound like that was the case. Though he made it pretty clear he expects to be traded at some point. But surprised he hasn't yet? No.

[Warning Track Power]

This USA Today article makes it sound like Lucroy is shocked to still be here.

 

Not really outside of the title. Nothing Lucroy said made it sound like that was the case. Though he made it pretty clear he expects to be traded at some point. But surprised he hasn't yet? No.

The fact that he doesn't have a place to live in Milwaukee yet 12 days from Opening Day pretty much removes all doubt as to whether he is shocked to still be a Brewer.

[MrTPlush]

This USA Today article makes it sound like Lucroy is shocked to still be here.

 

Not really outside of the title. Nothing Lucroy said made it sound like that was the case. Though he made it pretty clear he expects to be traded at some point. But surprised he hasn't yet? No.

The fact that he doesn't have a place to live in Milwaukee yet 12 days from Opening Day pretty much removes all doubt as to whether he is shocked to still be a Brewer.

 

I missed that chunk the first time. Skipped over too much trying to ignore the Brice stuff...because honestly I didn't care about his problems. Interesting he thought he was going to be traded 5 different times this winter. Must mean a lot of talks have been going on.

[MKE81]

A lousy trade for Lucroy won't happen to begin with. Maybe Stearns settles for one less prospect in the deal but it certainly won't be lousy. Keeping him for 2 years would be a lousy decision. Stearns will absolutely get much more in value than a comp draft pick. I would absolutely package another valuable player with Lucroy to sweeten the return.

[brewmann04]

I sure Stearns keeps in contact with all teams interested

[brewerfan82]

This USA Today article makes it sound like Lucroy is shocked to still be here.

 

Not really outside of the title. Nothing Lucroy said made it sound like that was the case. Though he made it pretty clear he expects to be traded at some point. But surprised he hasn't yet? No.

The fact that he doesn't have a place to live in Milwaukee yet 12 days from Opening Day pretty much removes all doubt as to whether he is shocked to still be a Brewer.

 

Not to mention this quote from Lucroy, "I felt like I was going to get traded five times this off-season. I don’t know why it didn’t go down."

[JohnBriggs12]

The way Stearns has been pulling the trigger, I'm sure virtually every Brewer who's wasn't acquired by him figured they'd be next to go.

[brewcrewdue80]

Interesting. So Braves/Astros 3team deal was in the works. With Astros working on Lucroy. I wonder how the Braves were attempting to work in to the deal based on how they've been in rebuild trades as well. I'd think maybe Hill was on table to be sent to Atl? Maybe it's taking Jason Castro from Houston? I just feel that a 3team trade may have cost some of the Brewers value, But then again maybe the pedigree of prospect is higher coming from Atl. According to MLB ranks 8 of their first 12 prospects are Pitchers. With Houston only 5 of first 12.

 

With all this talk of Lucroy's failed trade deals, it's fairly reasonable to see him traded within due time. It'll come down to Houston/Texas where a slow start by their catchers especially if hurting them in winning games will create the Reactionary trade that isn't prominent to this point. Lucroy is very consistent and clutch. And in the AL where there'll be 100more PAs potential for him he can accrue some wins over who's he replacing.

[brewtank34]

Interesting to see today's line-up. Wily Peralta on the mound who is our opening day pitcher and they have Maldonado catching for him. You would think that with 1 or 2 outings left in spring for Wily, that they would want to pair him with the catcher who's going to be catching for him.

 

Just a conspiracy theory of mine. Lucroy isn't even in the line-up today after a day off. Very interesting.

[jerichoholicninja]

Interesting to see today's line-up. Wily Peralta on the mound who is our opening day pitcher and they have Maldonado catching for him. You would think that with 1 or 2 outings left in spring for Wily, that they would want to pair him with the catcher who's going to be catching for him.

 

Just a conspiracy theory of mine. Lucroy isn't even in the line-up today after a day off. Very interesting.

 

Lucroy's caught him for 3 years. More when you count the minors. I'm sure he knows all he needs to know about him. It's probably more about keeping Jon from getting hurt or worn down. He's proven he's healthy there's no reason for him to catch anymore this spring. Get him some DH at bats and get ready for opening day, wherever that may be for him.

[Boomer5]

A lousy trade for Lucroy won't happen to begin with. Maybe Stearns settles for one less prospect in the deal but it certainly won't be lousy. Keeping him for 2 years would be a lousy decision. Stearns will absolutely get much more in value than a comp draft pick. I would absolutely package another valuable player with Lucroy to sweeten the return.

 

Right now there is certainly a good deal on the table now for Luc. Stearns is holding out for a great deal I would assume and he has 11 days to do it.

 

Past that he is just being reckless with his number 1 trade chip.

[MrTPlush]

I thought a lot of the day's Maldonado started were on days Peralta started. Both speak Spanish so it kind of makes sense. Not sure it really means anything.

[reillymcshane]

I still think there's a good chance something happens in the next week. It just takes one person to cave into our demands to make it work. It's not like there's only one team that could use Luc. He's looking good, hitting the ball well - someone will be convinced that he's good to go for 2016 and pull the trigger.

 

If that great deal doesn't come in, we can wait. Luc will still be valuable at the deadline or next off season. I just think it'll happen sooner than later.

[jerichoholicninja]

It's probably too late at that point but it may be in the Brewers best interest to give Jason Castro some chin music or forget that you can't run over the catcher anymore when they finish Spring Training in Houston.

 

I only jest of course.

[Lee16]

I am absolutely astounded that Lucroy hasn't bothered to get a place to stay in Milwaukee. I realize the odds are good he won't be here all year, but not bothering to rent a spot for your family to live, "just in case" seems foolish. Is he worried he wouldn't get a deposit back or something? Sheesh.