Sonny Gray- Let's GO FOR IT! Here's a plan...

[A Swing and A Drive]

Between Brewers pitching coach Derek Johnson having coached Sonny in College at Vanderbilt and new Brewer Stephen Vogt having caught him Oakland, I'm certain the Brewers have plenty of inside people putting an educated opinion in on Sonny.

 

I think the Brewers could beat the package most of those interested teams are offering except maybe the Astros.

 

I also think it would be tough to beat a Cubs package headlined by either Kyle Schwarber or Ian Haap.

[Lathund]

DJ and Vogt do add another dimension to it. I already trust Stearns and his analytics/scouting departments, but with the extra knowledge involved here I feel that whatever the decision is on Gray, it'll be a well-founded one. I still fear the price will be too high for my taste, but I also have far more confidence in Stearns than in my own ability to judge that I still suspect that the starter we end up with won't necessarily be one we expect. It could be a cheap (In terms of prospects, maybe not salary) rental or 1½ season type veteran. Or a mid-backend starter who's stock has fallen but where there's potential. I know the overall ambition is young and controllable talent, but with plenty of that in the minors there's no contradiction in making short-term deals if they don't cost us much in the way of prospects.

[KCBrewerfan34]

Per Jon Heyman smart $ says Brewers could be team for Sonny Gray. crew pitching coach derek johnson was gray's coach at vanderbilt. the 2 r VERY close.

[brewmann04]

I think Jon is trying to make something up at this point

[Invader3K]

This is starting to sound like the same kind of logic that made people sure Josh Hamilton was going to be a Brewer at some point.

[MrTPlush]

This is starting to sound like the same kind of logic that made people sure Josh Hamilton was going to be a Brewer at some point.

 

I am think it is a little more legitimate than the logic behind Hamilton. We need a starter pretty badly and a connection to the pitching coach is a tad more meaningful than Narron being Hamilton's baby sitter back in the day.

[JohnBriggs12]

I think Jon is trying to make something up at this point

 

Relationships are important in baseball. Acquiring a guy who'd come in and feel comfortable, not just with the pitching coach, but with Vogt and Sogard as well seems like the right fit for a team where chemistry has been a big ingredient in it's success. Carfado wrote that the Brewers "are showing the most interest" in Gray. Stay tuned. With pitchers going down all over, it might behoove them to act soon. Heck maybe they could turn around and get a minor piece for Garza by month's end if Gray pushes him out.

[Jenkins5]

I'd like our top 3 heading down the stretch

Jimmy Nelson

Sonny Gray

Chase Anderson

 

Garza has been fairly consistent for us so not a bad 4

 

But Davies & Guerra are huge liabilities right now. Davies is maybe the luckiest pitch in MLB. He can walk out there & get shelled for 5 innings & still come out with a win every game. His run support is unreal.... lol if Ben Sheets gave up 1 run, his chances for a win free fell.... Davies gives up 5,6,7 runs... he's getting the win.

 

Still hope Woodruff can get a look prior to Anderson coming back, maybe push Davies & Guerra out. Guerra just has dead arm & throwing meatballs for guys to crush

[LouisEly]

To add to your list Geezy, if the Brewers swing a deal for Gray the rotation for the next 2-4 weeks will look like this:

 

Nelson/Gray/Garza and two of Davies/Suter/Guerra

 

Once Anderson (early/mid August) and Woodruff (late July/early August) are healthy it could look like this:

 

Nelson/Gray/Anderson/Garza and one of Suter/Davies/Guerra/Woodruff

 

That's a pretty good rotation.

 

Which leads me to another thought - what if the Brewers included Davies in the package for Gray instead of a top pitching prospect? What would the Brewers have to add to Davies to pull in Gray?

[markedman5]

https://www.mlbdailydish.com/2017/7/16/15977820/mlb-trade-rumors-sonny-gray

[Jenkins5]

Think adding Davies would be great considering he is appealing in that he has control & shown ability to succeed. Really, I don't think he is as bad as he has been this season, I just don't think he is in long term plans here. Guys ahead of him. Established MLB pitching holds a lot of value as well.

 

Davies (fills A's rotation), Phillips (CF of future), and maybe Peralta (exciting young arm) or Coulter (There power OF/DH type they like). Prob a filler player in there as well.

 

Kind of sucks that he has been on tear as of late to bring stock up higher.

 

Stearns is all about value & think he will try to add a reliever as well in the deal. Only this I dislike about that is none of their relievers that have value are older & no team control really left. Maybe Doolittle or Madsen would be packaged in but think both are in final year of deals (not sure though).

 

That don't have really any bad contracts, Brewers could eat rest of Madsen's contract or add R. Davis to deal & eat that to help out. A's have always been known as a cheaper team & could be interested in saving some money

[liveforoctober]

Dolittle and Madsen BOTH traded as of an hour ago.

[Jenkins5]

Dolittle and Madsen BOTH traded as of an hour ago.

 

Well, crap lol

 

No relievers will be added anymore, those were only two I'd consider in first place.

[82brewcrew82]

I don't agree that it's too much to give up for Gray and will bet anyone that the A's actually get more for him via trade.

 

Ray and Clark are hitting .241 and .227 respectively at high A level of the minors this season.

 

Good chance at least one of them doesn't even make the bigs and the other is a replacement level regular.

 

Hope I'm wrong.

 

Add to it that they play a position, OF, that the Brewers have a glut of organizational depth.

 

Dubon is a nice hitter and MI and I think he'll have a fine MLB career but not at an All-Star level.

 

Diplan likely settles in as a 4-5 type starter in the bigs, which is valuable but nothing to prevent a big trade from happening on a contending team.

 

If the Brewers turn around and trade Gray in a year or two before he's a free agent, they can recoup much of their prospect asset loses.

 

If the A's insist on Brewers swapping in Brinson or Woodruff, I'd be fine with Stearns passing.

 

 

If all these guys are garbage, why would the A's do this deal? If the A's wouldn't do this deal, why propose it?

[Eye Black]

Dolittle and Madsen BOTH traded as of an hour ago.

 

Well, crap lol

 

No relievers will be added anymore, those were only two I'd consider in first place.

Does the return to the A's for those two players seem very underwhelming? Return was RHP Blake Treinen, LHP Jesus Luzardo and 3B Sheldon Neuse. Luzardo could be exciting, but he is still just a teenager (who has already had a TJ surgery).

[bensheeps]

Was hoping the Dolittle/Madson trade would net the A's their centerfielder so Brinson would no longer be an emphasis for them in a Gray deal. No such luck.

[Jenkins5]

So A's targeted an MLB arm & two low level kids. Does that give us any clues at all? In this market for relievers, I'm surprised by trade a bit. I don't think Nationals really had to give up too much. A down year reliever (good first 3 years though) a Lucus Erceg 22 year old A+ bat and a higher profile (higher ceiling) younger Carlos Herrera? Doolittle & Madsen I think are rentals (could be wrong) which plays a role.

[jerichoholicninja]

So A's targeted an MLB arm & two low level kids. Does that give us any clues at all? In this market for relievers, I'm surprised by trade a bit. I don't think Nationals really had to give up too much. A down year reliever (good first 3 years though) a Lucus Erceg 22 year old A+ bat and a higher profile (higher ceiling) younger Carlos Herrera? Doolittle & Madsen I think are rentals (could be wrong) which plays a role.

 

Both have multiple years of control. I'm sure the A's took Treinien with the hope he turns it around and he's flipped next year.

[JosephC]

In last year's market that would be a horrible return for Madson and Doolittle but if this year returns to normalcy it's probably pretty reasonable.

 

Madson is a non-closer who is 36 years old and doesn't have a huge contract but it's pretty significant for a non-closer of his age. Doolittle threw 52 2/3 innings in 2015-2016 and missed a big chunk of time already in 2017. In a normal market these are players who have value but shouldn't go for ridiculously high prices. Maybe each is worth a "top 10 organizational" type prospect and that's pretty much what the return was. I'm kind of interested in what the A's really think of Blake Treinen? He was good last year but is basically at replacement level this year.

 

There is still a lot of time left between now and the deadline, so I could be proven wrong about this, but I just don't see the relievers in this market getting the huge returns that we saw last year. The Chapman/Miller bidding really seemed to throw the rest of the market out of whack. Thankfully there was a smart young guy in Milwaukee that took full advantage of it.

[clancyphile]

To add to your list Geezy, if the Brewers swing a deal for Gray the rotation for the next 2-4 weeks will look like this:

 

Nelson/Gray/Garza and two of Davies/Suter/Guerra

 

Once Anderson (early/mid August) and Woodruff (late July/early August) are healthy it could look like this:

 

Nelson/Gray/Anderson/Garza and one of Suter/Davies/Guerra/Woodruff

 

That's a pretty good rotation.

 

Which leads me to another thought - what if the Brewers included Davies in the package for Gray instead of a top pitching prospect? What would the Brewers have to add to Davies to pull in Gray?

 

That does make a bit more sense to me. Using someone like Davies would keep the pitching prospects home.

 

Davies, Ray, Lara, and Medeiros would be a good package, IMO.

 

This is also where I think the Garrett Cooper trade bites us where it hurts. I think a Davies-Jesus Aguilar combo would have meant the Crew might be able to get away with tossing in just one of Ray/Lara/Orimoloye/Harrison.

 

I'd still think about offering Davies and Aguilar, but now, the question becomes who spells Thames against tough lefties? Cooper was ready, now... Cordell? Braun to first?

[Eye Black]

Davies, Ray, Lara, and Medeiros would be a good package, IMO.

I hope you're right because I'm not quite as high on Gray as some others, but I would do that deal in a heartbeat. To be clear I don't think it is that off base because Davies and Ray are certainly significant pieces, but to get the deal done with only losing one top prospect in the system (and that top prospect being Ray) would be a relief.

[djd1228]

To add to your list Geezy, if the Brewers swing a deal for Gray the rotation for the next 2-4 weeks will look like this:

 

Nelson/Gray/Garza and two of Davies/Suter/Guerra

 

Once Anderson (early/mid August) and Woodruff (late July/early August) are healthy it could look like this:

 

Nelson/Gray/Anderson/Garza and one of Suter/Davies/Guerra/Woodruff

 

That's a pretty good rotation.

 

Which leads me to another thought - what if the Brewers included Davies in the package for Gray instead of a top pitching prospect? What would the Brewers have to add to Davies to pull in Gray?

 

That does make a bit more sense to me. Using someone like Davies would keep the pitching prospects home.

 

Davies, Ray, Lara, and Medeiros would be a good package, IMO.

 

This is also where I think the Garrett Cooper trade bites us where it hurts. I think a Davies-Jesus Aguilar combo would have meant the Crew might be able to get away with tossing in just one of Ray/Lara/Orimoloye/Harrison.

 

I'd still think about offering Davies and Aguilar, but now, the question becomes who spells Thames against tough lefties? Cooper was ready, now... Cordell? Braun to first?

 

I disagree, i think Jesus is a very capable platoon guy with thames who clearly needs ddays off pretty regularly. Cooper is unknown at the MLB level and is imo at best a .800 ops guy but more likely .750

[MilwaukeesBest]

Umm why play with switching positions mid season, in a pennant race?

[Jenkins5]

I'd stay clear of trading any MLB bat, you could throw off chemistry & rotation when our offense has been clicking.

 

Davies doesn't really hurt at all since we are upgrading & chemistry shouldn't be hurt much.

 

Think any deal will need a near ready OF to get done. I know many hate Ray so through him out there in all these proposals but he is not close enough to help there ancient & unproductive OFs.

 

I have a feeling it will be Phillips that we lose. Cordell preferably. Wren would be great add for them actually. He is a moneyball guy. He won't get a shot here with being so blocked. He's more of a throw in than headliner though

[82brewcrew82]

To add to your list Geezy, if the Brewers swing a deal for Gray the rotation for the next 2-4 weeks will look like this:

 

Nelson/Gray/Garza and two of Davies/Suter/Guerra

 

Once Anderson (early/mid August) and Woodruff (late July/early August) are healthy it could look like this:

 

Nelson/Gray/Anderson/Garza and one of Suter/Davies/Guerra/Woodruff

 

That's a pretty good rotation.

 

Which leads me to another thought - what if the Brewers included Davies in the package for Gray instead of a top pitching prospect? What would the Brewers have to add to Davies to pull in Gray?

 

That does make a bit more sense to me. Using someone like Davies would keep the pitching prospects home.

 

Davies, Ray, Lara, and Medeiros would be a good package, IMO.

 

This is also where I think the Garrett Cooper trade bites us where it hurts. I think a Davies-Jesus Aguilar combo would have meant the Crew might be able to get away with tossing in just one of Ray/Lara/Orimoloye/Harrison.

 

I'd still think about offering Davies and Aguilar, but now, the question becomes who spells Thames against tough lefties? Cooper was ready, now... Cordell? Braun to first?

 

I disagree, i think Jesus is a very capable platoon guy with thames who clearly needs ddays off pretty regularly. Cooper is unknown at the MLB level and is imo at best a .800 ops guy but more likely .750

 

Why are we dinking around with this? Suter straight up and call it a day!