Zach Britton

[Fear The Chorizo]

Britton's name has come up in some of the Machado sweepstakes discussion with "sources" indicating that Baltimore may try to package the two rentals to get a better prospect package in return from certain teams (Dodgers, Red Sox, and Yankees, namely). However, with his string of recent quality outings and increasing velocity as he rounds back into form following recovery from a ruptured right achilles tendon during a Dec 2017 workout, I think he may wind up deserving his own thread as the Orioles will probably get the most value by trading Machado and Britton separately. I wouldn't be surprised if Baltimore holds onto Britton right up until the deadline and there winds up being a bidding war for two months of a potentially dominating reliever.

 

The injury history is a concern and likely means teams aren't going to need to offer the moon for him like they would have going into the 2017 season - but if a contender can get two healthy months plus playoffs at anything like his 2016 season, Britton would help the bullpen on any team with postseason hopes. I can see the Cubs being particularly interested with many of their current late inning options already dealing with minor issues, and they aren't very deep. Houston would be an interesting fit as well. I'd actually like to kick the tires on a Britton trade, but probably will quickly lose interest assuming there are going to be a good number of suitors that really inflate his trade value way over what a reliever rental price should be.

[Fear The Chorizo]

Continuing to keep an eye on this guy as he keeps putting up solid appearances and the velo is back. I know getting Albers back will help the pen, but adding Britton would give the brewers yet another solid late inning reliever - and perhaps open the door for a less defined closer role to give CC plenty of options to finish games out.

 

There are plenty of teams showing interest, to be sure...

[brewmann04]

If we get a starter that could go more than 5 think the pen will be ok with a healthy Albers

[Ron Robinsons Beard]

If we get a starter that could go more than 5 think the pen will be ok with a healthy Albers

 

Agreed. Need more length from the starting rotation. I think that comes with the acquisition of a starter, and Counsell loosening his short leash on some of the current starters.

[bill hAll Star]

If we get a starter that could go more than 5 think the pen will be ok with a healthy Albers

 

Agreed. Need more length from the starting rotation. I think that comes with the acquisition of a starter, and Counsell loosening his short leash on some of the current starters.

 

It's 2018. Sure I'd like to trade for deGrom, but given cost - if we're talking about just for this season - what's wrong with adding more bullpen arms? We're not far from September where if we have an absolutely loaded bullpen we won't have to worry about taxing it much. There's nothing against basically going 5-1-2-1 or something to that effect for innings the rest of the way.

 

I'm not sure about Britton specifically, but anyone that is begging for a longer leash from Counsell and to go all-in on acquiring better starters has not been paying attention to where baseball is going in 2018 and how the Brewers have made a great team out of an OK starting rotation.

 

I understand that a depleted bullpen during a long stretch of games was a bit of a recent bad spell, but I am all aboard the current strategy of bullpen ball. The positives outweigh the negatives with the current roster construction.

[adambr2]

Brewers are "in the mix" for Britton, whatever that's worth since we seem to kick the tires on every player available.

[adambr2]

Cubs are also in the mix, with what, I am not really sure. That farm system is horrific. Literally their top 3 prospects would not be top 10s in many systems.

[superfly]

Brewers are "in the mix" for Britton, whatever that's worth since we seem to kick the tires on every player available.

 

A good fellow named Ted Thompson used to kick tires on everyone available.

[Fear The Chorizo]

Cubs are also in the mix, with what, I am not really sure. That farm system is horrific. Literally their top 3 prospects would not be top 10s in many systems.

 

The problem the Cubs have is while their system is rated very weak, they likely have some talented players at really low levels. Their upper levels are gutted, meaning they probably would need to send a quantity package of A and rookie level prospects that even they aren't certain about in exchange for rental-level MLB players. That means those trade packages always look less appealing to a team if there are multiple offers and it forces them to include more lotto tickets, but a team could also poach some standout talent that hasn't had time to develop if their scouts are right.

 

That said, I maintain that the Cubs should be looking to trade either Schwarber, Happ, or Almora for impact pitching - with Schwarber being the most likely candidate to move since he's closest to arbitration and his OF defense is horrific. He'd still have plenty of value to headline a significant trade when coupled with low level lottery ticket prospects. Not a Britton rental, something more controllable and impactful.

 

Problem is Schwarber has a cult following among Cub fans - even though dealing him makes the most baseball sense to allow Happ and Almora to play everyday and further improve a stellar defensive team without sacrificing much at all offensively.

[KeithStone53151]

Cubs are also in the mix, with what, I am not really sure. That farm system is horrific. Literally their top 3 prospects would not be top 10s in many systems.

 

Right? And I believe their top prospect is injured while their 3rd best got busted for PEDs. The Cubs could offer up their top 10 prospects, and the Astros would trump that offer by offering their 12th best prospect. I'm not sure why the Orioles are even listening to the Cubs, unless they'd offer someone like Happ or Russell...which to me seems a bit crazy for a rental...but then again, it is all-in Theo. I wonder if he'll bail on the Cubs after he screws up their future with these all-in moves like he did the Red Sox.

[Ron Robinsons Beard]

I think you guys are possibly overestimating what Britton is going to cost. Considering what Familia was dealt for, I don't think the cost for Britton is going to be significant.

[Fear The Chorizo]

I think you guys are possibly overestimating what Britton is going to cost. Considering what Familia was dealt for, I don't think the cost for Britton is going to be significant.

 

I agree, ultimately it depends on the fit between Baltimore and whoever acquires Britton - I think he'll either command 1 solid #50-150 level prospect, or 3 low level prospects/international signees that haven't been around long enough to know what their ceiling is. Even a team with a system like the Cubs could pull together the latter of those two types of deals.

[KeithStone53151]

I think you guys are possibly overestimating what Britton is going to cost. Considering what Familia was dealt for, I don't think the cost for Britton is going to be significant.

 

I think some teams were kinda annoyed that the Mets dealt him so quickly. It sounded like other teams were willing to make better offers than that one. Also, Britton is LH and much more established than Familia. Way more teams are in on him than were in on Familia. I suspect Britton gets 3 or 4 times the value that Familia got, minimum.

[IntentionalHBP]

Depending on the price we could possibly pick up Britton and put Burnes in the rotation.

[MDCrew]

Depending on the price we could possibly pick up Britton and put Burnes in the rotation.

 

I like this move a lot. If they get Britton they are actually making 2 moves as it would allow Burnes to go into the rotation. With Suter now out this move makes sense to me.

[Fear The Chorizo]

Seemingly every contender is interested in adding Britton, including teams with loaded systems like the Astros, Braves, and Yankees - teams like the Astros and Cubs probably view him has their closer moving forward...As I mentioned leading off this thread, someone is going to overpay for a two month reliever rental based on demand.

[adambr2]

Yep. People are going to Familia and look to that as a comp for saying Britton shouldn't cost much, but comp doesn't outweigh demand in the market.

 

I wouldn't be surprised if Herrera ends up being a closer comp. Maybe even more.

[Dadbauer]

Looks like Britton to the Yankees. Curious to see what he nets in return.

[Warning Track Power]

[brewmann04]

Dillion Tate the center piece is what I read and heard tonight