What could Braun bring from the Dodgers?

[adambr2]

I hope to keep Braun myself unless blown away with top quality pitching.

 

You are delusional if you think Ryan Braun and his contract will be bringing back top quality pitching.

 

Ha except LA in the Puig/McCarthy is taking 40million off of Braun's contract. Sure better be a top pitching prospect or hitter coming back. Yadier Alvarez cost 32million. Yusniel Diaz cost 31million. Better believe taking a 78million contract for 4years and reducing it to 36million is worth a top pitching prospect. Nevermind getting rid of the mistakes named Puig and McCarthy who at this point is worse than Matt Garza.

 

MrTPlush said:

 

Then why is he still a Brewer? Why are we needing to pick up $30mil+ in salary? Why does no one want him for just the contract no prospects? It actually sounds like the total opposite is true. Not sure how people think Braun still has tons of value and has a team friendly contract. Neither is very accurate.

 

Next response by MrTPlush

That is great and all but he already has power to block most trades. The only teams not on his no trade list that are even possible landing spots are the Dodgers and a long shot the Giants. If a trade doesn't work out with the Dodgers he might as well have 10-5 rights. I am simply saying a trade may not materialize period if the Dodgers go a different route which is a very possible thing. I don't think he is all but gone as the off season will give them many other good options.

 

 

You seem to understand, but don't. He has the power to block the trades to all but 6teams. Atlanta I understood in an article was blocked by Braun in a claim/trade.

 

Now put Arizona, San Diego, LA Angels, and Miami as 4 of those 6 teams and why bother claiming him this season? None are in the Playoff picture. This leaves 2 teams and 1 of them claimed and tried to trade for Braun. San Fran, well they traded Bickford and Susac. I'd find it hard for Milwaukee to see any ideal prospect to gain worthy of Braun. The two teams had discussions before the deadline so they knew what Braun's value was to Stearns to just know. If we claimed him, He's pulled back and are inability to please Stearns' demands ends all there is to be discussed.

 

What purpose is it of the other 23 teams to claim Braun, when they are on his no trade clause?

 

 

I feel Jose De Leon was the prospect piece unable to agree upon. This was a prospect pitcher who with Hill, Kazmir, and Kershaw had the door open to be called up but wasn't before September. I think his possible involvement in the trade is why he was kept down.

 

You act like Puig is just dead weight. If he was, the Dodgers would have let us take the contract.

 

Puig is a significant acquisition in this deal. DeLeon in my opinion is not a realistic target for Braun. I believe the two prospects were much lower level, Adam Lind type return prospects, perhaps a bit more, like a Marcos Diplan. I think Puig would have been the biggest piece in the deal.

 

De Leon not being promoted til September had a lot more to do with him not being on their 40 man roster than anything else.

[endaround]

At best the top prospect coming back would be like Billingsley. De Leon is only a slight possibility if the Brewers were picking up another $25-30 million of Braun's contract. Braun is basically worth his contract or slightly less, but given how over 30 players have been getting significantly less in free agency (Gordon, Fowler, Zobrist) than Braun is set to earn other teams may think Braun is overpaid given his age.

[Greenleaf1]

Sorry to those saying nobody wants Braun's contract, but if Braun was a FA after this year, he'd be getting a contract bigger than what he already has.

 

Just because we're offsetting cost in the trade doesn't mean nobody wants Braun's contract. It just means it isn't worth it to pay his entire contract (which is a fair deal for a great player) AND give up top quality prospects.

[brewcrewdue80]

You act like Puig is just dead weight. If he was, the Dodgers would have let us take the contract.

 

Puig is a significant acquisition in this deal. DeLeon in my opinion is not a realistic target for Braun. I believe the two prospects were much lower level, Adam Lind type return prospects, perhaps a bit more, like a Marcos Diplan. I think Puig would have been the biggest piece in the deal.

 

De Leon not being promoted til September had a lot more to do with him not being on their 40 man roster than anything else.

 

He is dead weight if we're talking involving Ryan Braun. The value I'd put on him for a trade would be Kirk N., Ramon Flores, Michael Reed, Kyle Wren, and Tyrone Taylor. Dodgers take your choice.

 

Of course LA pulled Puig from waivers with Milwaukee's claim, give a small chance that there is a trade possibility and find out what you can get in return.

 

Saying Puig is batting well in small sample, he's 5 for 18 3HRs. Against SD, Arz, Mia, and at Yankees. HRs of Christian Friedlich, Robby Ray, 8th inning bullpen of Yankees named James Pazos with LA up 6-2 his 2nd appearance on the season. For this September, LA plays just SF and those Yankees in NY of teams above .500. 9games total. Otherwise, it's SD, Arz, Col. Which must be the easiest September schedule in Baseball.

[JosephC]

Saying Puig is batting well in small sample, he's 5 for 18 3HRs. Against SD, Arz, Mia, and at Yankees. HRs of Christian Friedlich, Robby Ray, 8th inning bullpen of Yankees named James Pazos with LA up 6-2 his 2nd appearance on the season. For this September, LA plays just SF and those Yankees in NY of teams above .500. 9games total. Otherwise, it's SD, Arz, Col. Which must be the easiest September schedule in Baseball.

 

I wasn't even aware of how much playing time Puig was receiving. Since the beginning of September the Dodgers have played 12 games and Puig has started 5 games, been a pinch-hitter in 3 games and hasn't gotten off the bench in 4 games. Of the 5 games he's started, 4 of those have been when the opposing starter is a lefty...so essentially the Dodgers are just using Puig as a platoon player at this point.

 

I guess in general the forum will just have to agree to disagree on Puig's value. He is an elite talent, no doubt. But his performance the last couple years hasn't been very good, there are the attitude issues and after a recent demotion he currently appears to be relegated to platoon player status. If this is the centerpiece of a Ryan Braun trade...then the Brewers just need to keep Ryan Braun on their roster.

[Mudville9]

Maybe we can get an extra prospect now!? This guy may be cursed...

 

http://www.unsportsmanlike-conduct.com/blog/this-dodgers-fan-that-got-her-tooth-knocked-out-by-a-souvenir-isnt-helping-to-fix-too-many-stereotypes

 

The guy is on a tear lately, trying to move beyond the bad press. Dodgers win the game and he catches the last out and chucks a souvenir into the stands....and knock out a girls tooth.

[A Swing and A Drive]

Sorry to those saying nobody wants Braun's contract, but if Braun was a FA after this year, he'd be getting a contract bigger than what he already has.

 

Just because we're offsetting cost in the trade doesn't mean nobody wants Braun's contract. It just means it isn't worth it to pay his entire contract (which is a fair deal for a great player) AND give up top quality prospects.

 

 

This is dead on. Braun with his "fair market" contract/length is of interest to other teams. However, his current value with his contract/length to other teams is not that of an elite type prospect(s). Clubs have the option to keep their elite type prospects and simply sign a similar free agent. Even if they have to pay above market contract/length for the free agent, they may be willing to do that rather than give up cost-controlled elite type prospect(s).

 

Here's the deal...The more of Braun's contract that is offset by players coming back in a potential deal (unwanted-i.e. Puig or slightly bad contract-i.e.McCarthy), the more the Brewers could get in prospect value included. With that said, even with BOTH Puig and McCarthy coming to us in the almost completed Dodgers deal, I'm willing to bet that Braun's value STILL doesn't net us an elite type prospect (an organizational top 3 prospect- i.e. De Leon, Alvarez or Bellinger).

 

Instead, I would guess that Sterns would be able to net us a couple of 2nd-tier type prospects (organizational top 20 prospects- i.e. Buehler, Stewart, Adullah, De Jong, etc.)

 

I still think this is would be a good return for Braun, as Puig could have a breakout-type season as a Brewer in 2017 or 2018 and bring a substantial return on his own. Additionally, McCarthy's contract is also "fair market" value if he can remain healthy, and also bring back a decent future trade return.

 

The sheer quantity of prospects the Brewers could net in this type of deal over time, leads me to believe this is the type of deal a rebuilding club should consider doing.

 

Also, Top prospect lists be damned, it's all guesswork. MLB Prospects "stock" goes up and down all the time.

 

I'd actually prefer acquiring a player like RHP Walker Buehler, who has as much upside as someone like RHP Jose De Leon, and he better fits our next contending window, IMO.

[adambr2]

You act like Puig is just dead weight. If he was, the Dodgers would have let us take the contract.

 

Puig is a significant acquisition in this deal. DeLeon in my opinion is not a realistic target for Braun. I believe the two prospects were much lower level, Adam Lind type return prospects, perhaps a bit more, like a Marcos Diplan. I think Puig would have been the biggest piece in the deal.

 

De Leon not being promoted til September had a lot more to do with him not being on their 40 man roster than anything else.

 

He is dead weight if we're talking involving Ryan Braun. The value I'd put on him for a trade would be Kirk N., Ramon Flores, Michael Reed, Kyle Wren, and Tyrone Taylor. Dodgers take your choice.

 

Of course LA pulled Puig from waivers with Milwaukee's claim, give a small chance that there is a trade possibility and find out what you can get in return.

 

Saying Puig is batting well in small sample, he's 5 for 18 3HRs. Against SD, Arz, Mia, and at Yankees. HRs of Christian Friedlich, Robby Ray, 8th inning bullpen of Yankees named James Pazos with LA up 6-2 his 2nd appearance on the season. For this September, LA plays just SF and those Yankees in NY of teams above .500. 9games total. Otherwise, it's SD, Arz, Col. Which must be the easiest September schedule in Baseball.

 

Ha, come on now, if Puig could have been had for any of those guys, he'd be a Brewer. If the Dodgers wouldn't let us take his contract for free, do you really think Kirk Nieuwenhuis or Ramon Flores would have tipped the scales?

 

I have no idea what you're saying with that second paragraph, since they didn't pull him back until AFTER the trade talk was dead. Since we couldn't work out a deal they still could have let us take his contract. Again, if he WERE dead weight, that's exactly what they would have done.

[DrugBust]

Making sense of the rumored Ryan Braun trade

 

The trade from the Dodgers’ perspective

 

The Dodgers would get a good hitter, and they would give up a disgruntled enigma. By adding Brandon McCarthy’s salary, they would even out the monetary advantage that comes with having Puig’s contract.

 

...

 

No, that’s it. That’s the trade from the Dodgers’ perspective, and it looks pretty sweet. They would get their middle-of-the-order slugger, and they wouldn’t have to pay $150 million like they would for Yoenis Cespedes. They wouldn’t have to gamble on a player having a down season and possibly on an irreversible slide, like Jose Bautista. They would exchange the slugger they want Puig to be for the slugger that Braun actually is. He fits the Dodgers’ win-now window perfectly.

 

The trade from the Brewers’ perspective

 

Also, I would assume that there would be prospects coming back to the Brewers in this scenario, which would give them a cake-and-eat-it scenario. Braun is owed $80 million over the next four years, which is less than it would take to get him (or a comparable player) on the free agent market. Other teams will be interested, even with his, uh, checkered public relations past. The Brewers could get some serious prospects for him, possibly more than the Dodgers could for Puig. So now the Brewers have their low-cost Braun replacement, a possible contributor for the rotation in the short term, and prospects. Not bad.

 

If you think the Brewers are going to contend in the next two years.

[A Swing and A Drive]

From the same article as the above post:

 

"Ah. If the Brewers want nothing but prospects for Braun, they’re not going to get them from the Giants, at least not top quality ones."

 

 

So basically, middle reliever Will Smith had FAR more trade value than Braun currently does.

 

Understandably hard for Brewer fans to accept regarding their "franchise" player's actual trade value, but none-the-less true.

[JosephC]

 

Here's the deal...The more of Braun's contract that is offset by players coming back in a potential deal (unwanted-i.e. Puig or slightly bad contract-i.e.McCarthy), the more the Brewers could get in prospect value included. With that said, even with BOTH Puig and McCarthy coming to us in the almost completed Dodgers deal, I'm willing to bet that Braun's value STILL doesn't net us an elite type prospect (an organizational top 3 prospect- i.e. De Leon, Alvarez or Bellinger).

 

 

Agree and disagree.

 

If a team takes on Braun's entire contract, I wouldn't expect the Brewers to get much back in a trade. For example, if dealing with the Dodgers, I would expect trading Braun and no money (or taking no contracts back) would return something like OF-Starling Heredia, RHP-Imani Abdullah and maybe a third "fringe" prospect.

 

However, if the Brewers take on the deferred portion of Braun's contract (18 million), as I've stated in "best guesses" earlier, I would anticipate the return being something like a top 100 prospect plus. Best guess would be something like Braun + 18 million for RHP-Yadier Alvarez + Heredia + Abdullah. I originally started with Grant Holmes but he was traded to the A's. Went with Verdugo after that but his status may have elevated him out of this particular scenario.

 

But if the scenario includes trading Puig's contract (14 million guaranteed after this season) and McCarthy's contract (20 million guaranteed after this season)...that's 34 million the Dodgers are subtracting with the addition of Braun's deal. Now I'll be the first person in line to raise questions about Braun's health, the length of his deal and the potential BIG downside if his performance slips. His contract guarantees him 80 million after this season, but when subtracting out the 34 million of contracts going back to the Brewers it basically becomes a 4 year deal for LA at a guaranteed price tag of only 46 million. At 11.5 million per season, the potential gain in acquiring a top 20 OPS player (currently 17th) and top 25 offensive WAR player (currently 23rd by fangraphs) overwhelmingly outweighs the downside of what Braun's performance level might be in 2020. I definitely think this should land the Brewers a top 50 prospect plus. Note that a top 50 prospect wouldn't be an absolute necessity, but comparable value in "quantity" should be heading back to Milwaukee.

 

To beat the dead horse just one more time, a big part of it depends on the value the Dodgers place on Puig. I would argue that the value would be "very minimal" but we'll just have to wait and see on that. They sent the player to the minors, seem to only be using him as a platoon player currently...and from information obtained in this thread 90% of MLB teams passed on him when on waivers and to this point not one team has offered the Dodgers anything over just taking his contract in trade talks. Add in the attitude problems and he doesn't seem like a player that holds much value at this point in time. And if that's the case, I don't think the Dodgers are going to find a better bat option on the market at a price tag of 4 years, 46 million dollars. If the Brewers can't land an absolute minimum of 1 top 100 prospect under these circumstances, then they just don't make a deal with the Dodgers. Complete no-brainer in my book.

 

And just to bring up Buehler one more time...has front-line potential but could just as easily be another Zack Wheeler. I really, really like Buehler's potential but just too risky to be the top prospect coming to the Brewers in a Braun deal UNLESS the Dodgers just absolutely overwhelm Stearns with a "quantity" offer (say something crazy like Braun for Puig, McCarthy, Buehler, Heredia, Stewart, Abdullah, Brito and one more fringe prospect).

[Greenleaf1]

Yeah we already took two of the guys we would be interested in from the Giants. It would be hard to believe that we'd trade Braun away and not even get a prospect as highly regarded as the one we got for Will Smith.

[adambr2]

From the same article as the above post:

 

"Ah. If the Brewers want nothing but prospects for Braun, they’re not going to get them from the Giants, at least not top quality ones."

 

 

So basically, middle reliever Will Smith had FAR more trade value than Braun currently does.

 

Understandably hard for Brewer fans to accept regarding their "franchise" player's actual trade value, but none-the-less true.

 

It's not an apples to apples comparison. The age, price, injury, scandal history, and control are different, and most importantly, it's an entirely different position and role on the team, and the trade market for relievers was out of this world at the deadline.

 

So I guess if you want to ask the question of would the Giants have given us Bickford and Susac for Braun without requiring us to take on any salary, then I guess the answer is yes, Smith did have more value.

[adambr2]

Had Lucroy not rejected the trade to the Indians, we would have received no prospects for him rated higher than Bickford at the time, including Mejia.

 

Every situation is different and unique. You can't just look at it as 'Well look who we got for this reliever, so we should be able to demand even more for Braun.'

[splitterpfj]

From the same article as the above post:

 

"Ah. If the Brewers want nothing but prospects for Braun, they’re not going to get them from the Giants, at least not top quality ones."

 

 

So basically, middle reliever Will Smith had FAR more trade value than Braun currently does.

 

Understandably hard for Brewer fans to accept regarding their "franchise" player's actual trade value, but none-the-less true.

 

Swing, you're missing the point here - the writer wasn't saying Smith is worth more than Braun - far from it. He's saying the Giants' farm system isn't strong enough right now to get Braun from Milwaukee - they don't have the horses to make the offer that gets it done.

 

He's right - they don't, they have a completely pedestrian farm system right now - they'd have to include MLB talent in an offer to get Braun out of here. The same is true of the Angels and the Marlins - the reason this is going to be the Dodgers is, among the teams Braun cannot block a trade to, they are the only ones with the prospect depth it will take for the Brewers to make the move.

 

The Padres are rebuilding, so they're out, the Diamondbacks' system has already been stripped, the Giants had a very average farm system before they traded a strong prospect to the Twins and an even better one to Milwaukee, and the Marlins and Angels are fighting for, "Worst Farm System in the World."

 

The Dodgers are the only real match, but fortunately for Milwaukee, they have prospect depth, and they have a player in Puig, who could still return a good prospect from a third team if he plays well. I expect the lack of competition to keep the return down a little bit, but the Brewers will get what they need in the deal.

[pacopete4]

From the same article as the above post:

 

"Ah. If the Brewers want nothing but prospects for Braun, they’re not going to get them from the Giants, at least not top quality ones."

 

 

So basically, middle reliever Will Smith had FAR more trade value than Braun currently does.

 

Understandably hard for Brewer fans to accept regarding their "franchise" player's actual trade value, but none-the-less true.

 

 

I read this as the Giants don't have top quality ones to begin with. Only one player in the Top 100 prospects (Christian Arroyo). So if the Brewers are looking at getting top guys, they won't/can't get them from the Giants.

[A Swing and A Drive]

You are missing the point Splitter. Ryan Braun will not bring back a prospect currently rated higher than RHP Phil Bickford, even if they take on Puig and McCarthy.

 

If, on top of taking on those two, the Brewers agreed to pay all $18 million of Braun's defered money, then maybe the Dodgers would part with a Top 50 elite prospect in a Braun deal.

 

However, the Dodgers have all the money in the world to work with and would likely rather pay the $18M themselves and keep the better prospects instead.

 

Splitter does make a good point that no other team matches up well with the Brewers on a Braun trade, therefore, giving the Dodgers most of the leverage in negotiations. And they will have even more leverage in the offseason then they did at this deadline.

 

The Brewers leverage would be that they could simply keep Braun.

 

This would not mean much to the Dodgers, because they could simply turn elsewhere, and would have the entire offseason to do it.

[MrTPlush]

Couples things:

 

1. You people cannot take Puig's salary and subtract that from Braun's contract. Why? Because we aren't doing them a favor by taking on Puig. Puig is not an Aaron Hill or a Brandon McCarthy. Puig is not dead weight therefor acting like we are doing them a favor is inaccurate. The Dodgers are going to save that Puig money whether we take him or not. Many teams will be looking to trade for Puig this off season. The money we are picking up in the deal is Brandon McCarthy. That is the dead weight money we are taking off their hands. So the real cost of Ryan Braun to the Dodgers is about $14.5mil a year after subtracting McCarthy's $23mil future earnings. Not the $11mil people are throwing around.

 

2. Yasiel Puig has been on a tear more than just since his call up(18ABs). He was on a tear all of June/July where he had about 100 ABs.

[A Swing and A Drive]

I agree with Nyjer Morgan. Puig has some value and is not dead weight. He also could help lead the Dodgers deep into playoffs this season, increasing his value. But like Braun, Puig with his contract/issues has little to no real trade value right now. And a contending team like the Dodgers don't want to deal with his issues, where a rebuilding team like the Brewers could afford to do that until he increases his on-field value. If the Brewers acquire him, I'd expect them to deal him within a year but there is some risk involved that they would be stuck with him and his contract. But keeping Braun and his contract carries similar risk.

 

Braun's current production/future risk make more sense for a contending team.

 

Puig's current risk/future possibility of production make more sense for a rebuilding team.

 

It's really as simple as that.

[reillymcshane]

Sorry to those saying nobody wants Braun's contract, but if Braun was a FA after this year, he'd be getting a contract bigger than what he already has.

 

Why didn't any team make a claim on Braun, and just hope Milwaukee let them have him and his contract? No one did, so that seems to indicate that Ryan Braun isn't worth 4 years/$76M (with about $4M deferred annually) to other teams (plus whatever he gets for the rest of the year).

[pacopete4]

 

Why didn't any team make a claim on Braun, and just hope Milwaukee let them have him and his contract? No one did, so that seems to indicate that Ryan Braun isn't worth 4 years/$76M (with about $4M deferred annually) to other teams (plus whatever he gets for the rest of the year).

 

Because teams are smarter than this. They know the Brewers aren't letting Braun walk out the door just for his contract. It really is that simple. Most teams don't want to give up something while paying the contract. That's fine. But all it takes is one (the Dodgers) to step forward. There is no doubt in my mind that Braun gets what his contract is now on the free market. Maybe more.

[MrTPlush]

 

Why didn't any team make a claim on Braun, and just hope Milwaukee let them have him and his contract? No one did, so that seems to indicate that Ryan Braun isn't worth 4 years/$76M (with about $4M deferred annually) to other teams (plus whatever he gets for the rest of the year).

 

Because teams are smarter than this. They know the Brewers aren't letting Braun walk out the door just for his contract. It really is that simple. Most teams don't want to give up something while paying the contract. That's fine. But all it takes is one (the Dodgers) to step forward. There is no doubt in my mind that Braun gets what his contract is now on the free market. Maybe more.

 

Don't buy this argument for a second. If that was the case the D Backs or someone else would have claimed him to block teams like the Dodgers.

[MKE81]

Which is why you can't answer the question I've posed several times now about who are these "many teams" that are going to get involved for Puig.

 

And a better option can always pop up after a trade is completed. That can be said regarding every trade.

 

Forget about Puig for like 5 seconds. I am not talking about the Dodgers finding a better deal surrounding dumping Puig. I am talking about finding a different big time player to acquire. In the off season there are going to be more players on the block. There are going to be other big time players on the block. Now will any of those players be attractive to the Dodgers and will they be interested in those players at their price tags? I don't know and none of us do.

 

Yes, but once again I am not talking about it in such a general sense. A week or two after the world series very little is going on and teams are still processing the prior season. It is very similar to trading for players in June. The market just isn't there yet and nearly every team in every case will wait till the deadline or in this case around the winter meetings when teams actually start to move/sign players. Neither team has any motivation to complete this trade before things pick up in the off season.

You can attempt to reframe your position to a general stance all you want but you still can't answer the question. Who are these "many teams" with these "big time players" LA could acquire that would prevent Braun from becoming a Dodger?

 

You want me to ignore Puig and that's the problem because he's part of the Dodgers offseason plan. If we eliminate Puig from the conversation and apply your thought process then it still leaves LA with Puig on their roster and they don't want that. You're failing to comprehend that LA wants Puig 100% gone so if this trade happens then Puig is replaced with Braun and that's where it ends all the way down to the financial landscape not even changing. Literally, nothing changes other than 2 players swapping teams. How does that affect anything else the Dodgers want to do?

 

LA would still have 60M+ coming off the books to resign their FAs, target new one's or make additional trades to fill in the pieces. All the other players are still potential trade candidates for the right offer (but if they're fielding offers involving Puig they'll have to get better than Braun to take it). But LA doesn't need to find a "different" player they like better, as in an alternative to Braun, they need to find additional players to compliment the existing pieces.

 

It doesn't matter if you were speaking in generalities or not regarding the second point. It doesn't change the fact that something better can always come along afterwards. It's no different than anything else in life.

[pacopete4]

 

Why didn't any team make a claim on Braun, and just hope Milwaukee let them have him and his contract? No one did, so that seems to indicate that Ryan Braun isn't worth 4 years/$76M (with about $4M deferred annually) to other teams (plus whatever he gets for the rest of the year).

 

Because teams are smarter than this. They know the Brewers aren't letting Braun walk out the door just for his contract. It really is that simple. Most teams don't want to give up something while paying the contract. That's fine. But all it takes is one (the Dodgers) to step forward. There is no doubt in my mind that Braun gets what his contract is now on the free market. Maybe more.

 

Don't buy this argument for a second. If that was the case the D Backs or someone else would have claimed him to block teams like the Dodgers.

 

Why would the Dbacks give two craps if the Dodgers get him in August? They have less wins than we do and can't block it after the season. Again, teams are smarter than this.

[MrTPlush]

Why would the Dbacks give two craps if the Dodgers get him in August? They have less wins than we do and can't block it after the season. Again, teams are smarter than this.

 

So the Dodgers don't acquire a cheap and controllable star player? Why wouldn't any team competing with the Dodgers claim him? Teams do it all the time to block other teams. Also why wouldn't a team who wants him just try to get him? Maybe once the offer is ticking down for 48 hours they decide $80mil in the bank sounds great and they cut him lose for nothing but salary relief.

 

If a team wanted Braun for just his contract or very little other than that they WOULD have claimed Braun. Why would you not try if you wanted him? If a GM doesn't claim a player because he figured such player will be pulled back that GM is a complete idiot. You don't go about things like that. There is zero risk or penalty for claiming a player and not making a deal.