2018-19 Offseason Trade Candidates

[pacopete4]

Since the meaningful trade time has passed, I thought I’d kick this off for moving forward after the season. Something to talk about anyways.

 

 

Trades:

-Hopeful that we can find takers on Thames, Santana and Davies. It’d be great if those guys had big months during September and into the postseason maybe.

 

-Wade Miley can’t be back, can he? He’s been great but I want Burnes, Peralta and even maybe Woodruff to get a shot at the rotation. Could we maybe move Anderson? Got a pretty friendly contract.

[RollieTime]

Since the meaningful trade time has passed, I thought I’d kick this off for moving forward after the season. Something to talk about anyways.

 

 

Trades:

-Hopeful that we can find takers on Thames, Santana and Davies. It’d be great if those guys had big months during September and into the postseason maybe.

 

-Wade Miley can’t be back, can he? He’s been great but I want Burnes, Peralta and even maybe Woodruff to get a shot at the rotation. Could we maybe move Anderson? Got a pretty friendly contract.

 

I see Davies returning next season and being traded next offseason. His value is way too low to be traded right now. Same with Santana. He’s a good bounce back candidate and I don’t see him being given away cheaply.

 

Thames is probably the player on the roster most likely to be traded in the offseason. No room for him anymore on this team at all, especially if Moose comes back next season. Aguilar, Braun, Shaw, and Moustakas could all see time at first. The outfield is mostly locked up with Cain, Yelich, Braun, and Perez with Santana being a possibility. Corey Ray is knocking on the door and is a possibility to be brought up mid season after Super 2 has passed.

 

I see Peralta and Burnes vying for the rotation next season as well. Those two plus Davies, Chacín, Anderson, and hopefully a healthy Nelson will make for a strong rotation. Those 6 plus having Woodruff as a 7th option will make for a solid rotation next season that can still be effective even if they sustain a few injuries.

[mrn1ceguy]

My vote is Thames and two of Anderson, Guerra and Chacin (mainly because Davies will have no value). I think trading a set of those three gives us the most return we can get with the most replaceable pieces. This would leave a projected roster of:

 

OF: Yelich, Cain, Braun, Santana, Broxton

IF: Aguilar, Schoop, Arcia, Shaw, Perez, Dubon

C: Pina, FA Signing

SP: Nelson, Davies, the one not traded, Peralta & Burnes

RP: Jeffress, Hader, Soria, Knebel, Williams, Cedeno, Barnes, Jennings

 

Maybe go crazy and trade all 3 SP and put Hader in the rotation? Also, this still leaves us with possible mid season upgrades with Hiura & Ray & Woodruff.

[JohnBriggs12]

Not sure Thames has much trade value after this season. 1B/corner OF bats who only have power as a tool are a dime a dozen.

 

If the Brewers do keep Moose, then Shaw might be the guy to sell high on, ideally to a team with an established starter with at least 2 years of control that isn't rebuilding. Example Shaw to Toronto for Marcus Stroman? I realize Stroman's having a bad year but he's just 27 and a year removed from a very solid year.

[pacopete4]

Not sure Thames has much trade value after this season. 1B/corner OF bats who only have power as a tool are a dime a dozen.

 

My jaw just dropped.

[MrTPlush]

Nelson, Davies, Anderson (let’s just go with him), Peralta, and Burnes.

 

Do we ever actually want to compete? Nelson is a total mystery, Davies moving forward is highly questionable, Anderson is just solid, Peralta...yikes, and Burnes should be decent.

 

I’d bet that rotation is no better than the current one. I’d probably bet worse.

[adambr2]

I'd honestly hold on Santana now. If we weren't happy with the offers for him last season, we'll probably have to basically give him away now after this season.

 

Broxton should probably be traded as he is out of options and our roster will be too full for him on opening day.

 

I'm fine with shopping Thames. Bringing back Miley as insurance if Jimmy isn't effective right away wouldn't be bad.

 

Even trading Aguilar would not be a bad sell high if you can get someone to overpay, but that's a tough move to sell to the fans right now.

[ThisIsMyCrew]

Maybe Gio pitches well and loves the chemistry. Does a one year “show me” deal.

[Devinep]

Not sure Thames has much trade value after this season. 1B/corner OF bats who only have power as a tool are a dime a dozen.

 

My jaw just dropped.

 

[Boomer5]

Ray is hitting 236 in AA. Yeah he hits HRs and steals bases which is great but unless his hit tool and defense improve dramatically he can’t be considered as a meaningful addition to Milwaukee in 2019.

 

Sadly we can say the same about Hiura. He needs to hit better in AA. I really thought he would be our 2B possibly by late this year. I’d strongly consider selling high on them.

 

C: Pina has done enough to warrant coming back

1B Jesus

2B I guess Schoop but at $10M he doesn’t have much value.

SS: Arcia even if he hits poorly.

3B Shaw. Solid not special and Moose isn’t accepting a one year deal

LF Yelich

CF Cain

RF Braun/Santana

 

Bench Backup Catcher not on roster, Perez, Broxton, Salad man

 

SP: Chacin

SP: Anderson

SP: Nelson

SP: Davies

SP: Peralta/Burnes

 

CL: Hader

CL: JJ

RP: Knebel

RP: Barnes

RP: Cedeno

6-8: some sort of mess out of Lyles Albers, QTC, etc etc etc.

 

Of that list I’m not seeing a lot of tradable assets that we can afford to trade and would have much value in return?

 

We can’t trade Shaw because we can’t replace him unless we empty the bank to give Moose an extension and Chacin is insurance if Davies and Nelson can’t come back to 2017.

[Austin Tatious]

I’m going to wager that the Brewers make a Yelich level trade this offseason, but for a high upside pitcher. Someone like Syndergaard. Maybe they sign a second guy, like a Gio if he shows anything the rest of the way. Gio can be better than Quintana. But, at 32 he’s a risky proposition. I don’t know if you can get him on a three year deal. Nelson is a big question mark but he’s possibly a third addition. We can look at stats all day long, but our starters aren’t good enough.

[reillymcshane]

I’m going to wager that the Brewers make a Yelich level trade this offseason, but for a high upside pitcher. Someone like Syndergaard.

The Key is - with what assets?

 

Thor - or someone like him - is going to take a package such as Hiura, Burnes and Ray. And that might not be enough.

 

I would love Syndergaard or another top-of-the-line pitcher, but I just don't know if we will pull the trigger. I'd certainly investigate such a deal - but I'm not sure we will do something this dramatic.

[clancyphile]

I can see the Crew trying to move:

Albers

Guerra

Jennings

Thompson

Wilkerson

Broxton

 

I'd like to see them also try to ship out Arcia.

 

In some cases, get some lottery tickets at the full-season A or rookie levels. Arcia might be useful for closer prospects (someone will overpay for web gems). But recharge the system a little.

 

I know there are pending free agents, but I want Moose back, and go with Schoop at short and Shaw at second for the whole season.

[ThisIsMyCrew]

Hopefully Dubon comes back strong from his ACL. He would allow us to shop Arcia if we wanted or he could be our second baseman. Not as flashy defensively as Arcia but every bit as solid. Makes the routine plays look routine.

[MrTPlush]

What are we shopping Arcia for? A bag of baseballs. Looks like overall he still is hitting terribly with the bat. Sad a hot streak for him is nudging his OPS over .600. I would be a bit surprised if they commit to moving on from him. Seems destined to be right back here.

 

Hopefully we can get a nice utility player if/when he flops again. I’d hate to go into the season with Schoop/Arcia up the middle with little to back them up.

[DHonks]

With Guerra having a decent year, I think we need to consider moving him. We didn't get anything last time and could have.

[Lathund]

Thames is the obvious candidate. 2 1B only types on the roster, neither of whom can be optioned, is limiting when you prefer to run a 4-man bench. Aguilar is obviously a candidate too, but he's also seemingly better offensively as well as younger and under team control for more years at a lower cost. All of those things would outweigh the extra return he'd get.

 

So trade one 1B, and instead put a proper RF on the roster. Whether that's a 4th OF or a Domingo Santana if he bounces back (I'm doubtful of that though) remains to be seen. I honestly wouldn't be surprised to see Corey Ray up a lot earlier than most people expect as the speed/power combination, left-handed bat and defensive ability in RF/CF is such a good fit with the roster, even if there would be growing pains. Anyway, if said RF isn't Broxton or Santana, then obviously look to trade them too.

 

I'd also look to trade a starter, but at the same time you can't ever have too much SP depth. So it's all a matter of trying to piece together a roster with consideration for who has options and not, which young starters you want to give starting MLB experience to, who is healthy and who is not, who can do a good job in the bullpen. Perhaps there's a way to field a competitive rotation while at the same time getting the ones that don't fit in there a AAA starting role or a meaningful bullpen role. In which case you only trade someone for an overwhelming return, and I don't see one of those for anyone we'd want to part with.

[Devinep]

Trade Thames because he doesn’t fit on the roster. They should non tender Schoop if he’s gonna get 10 million. Better off signing Marwin Gonzalez who is actually versatile (not throw-in-a-new-spot Brewer versatile). He can play 2B until Huiras up then move wherever needed (Arcia if he can’t hit for example).

[Brew Crew Buster]

Erich Thames is not a viable trade candidate at this point:

 

2019 Contract details by year $6,000,000

2020 Contract details by year $7,500,000

The 2020 contract does include a $1 M buy out.

 

There is no market for a left handed hitting first baseman/designated hitter with a stat line of .224 .305 .491 .796.

 

There may be a market for Aguilar though. And something like Aguilar for the Triston Mckenzie from the Indian's system could possibly work. Probably less than 1 year away from the majors. A top ten pitching prospect.

[Roderick]

With Guerra having a decent year, I think we need to consider moving him. We didn't get anything last time and could have.

 

Nobody is going to give us anything for Guerra after the way he has pitched since August 3. He is a cheap insurance policy.

[Roderick]

I can see the Crew trying to move:

Albers

Guerra

Jennings

Thompson

Wilkerson

Broxton

 

I'd like to see them also try to ship out Arcia.

 

In some cases, get some lottery tickets at the full-season A or rookie levels. Arcia might be useful for closer prospects (someone will overpay for web gems). But recharge the system a little.

 

I know there are pending free agents, but I want Moose back, and go with Schoop at short and Shaw at second for the whole season.

 

I don't think we could even get a bag of used balls for Albers, even with his cheap contract. Jennings isn't going to have any positive value over what he will get in arby. Thompson basically made it through NL waivers when they picked him. Guerra won't get enough to move him. Wilkerson will get you a lottery tix. Broxton may intrigue someone to give a real prospect of sorts, especially if they don't have a decent OF right now.

[Brew Crew Buster]

The reality is there isn't much to trade if the Brewers want to compete next year. They don't have prospects that they want to give up and the bad contracts that they may have going into next year are not items that other teams may want. I am more interested in whom they keep or discard. Santana will be arbitration eligible. As will Broxton. Do they make an offer to either of them?

A big question is Schoop? He is in his last year of arbitration and likely will make around 10M. Jennings? Knebel?

 

Should they say good bye to all of them in hopes of signing a pitcher with the money?

[coolhandluke121]

The problem is the reason the Brewers have a so-called "logjam" is the same reason it will be so hard to clear. Namely, it's a lot of serviceable players without any clear standouts. Teams aren't giving up anything of value for guys like that, so the Brewers may as well keep them for depth - just like they did this year. They might make one or two big moves like Cain/Yelich if the price is right (I suggested an Arrieta deal for Keuchel in the 2019 rotation thread), but overall they'll probably have to focus on depth.

 

I think people are projecting their own wishes when they assume they're going to get rid of Thames. If Moustakas stays, sure, but I doubt that happens. Beyond that, a dangerous LHB back-up 1B/RF is a good fit on the team and they're not going to jettison him unless they get something of value in return, which I doubt they will. You can scream he's not needed with Braun and Santana on the team until you're blue in the face, but this year showed us they don't give a darn about that argument. You can't rely on Braun as the primary back-up 1B, and in fact I think that experiment might be over completely. I think Santana burned his last option, but they can live with 6 OF/1B's. Arcia/Schoop/Shaw/Perez should be good enough for the other 3 infield spots. They don't have to have a bunch of Sogard/Saladino types again next year. If Santana doesn't get his spot back, maybe it's Broxton. When they keep 13 hitters, it's also Saladino or something equivalent.

 

Santana and Broxton are arguably the most likely to be traded because they might actually be worth something (compared to Thames). They're both young and under cheap team control, and they're both kind of redundant (Santana and Braun, Cain and Broxton). Thames has been terrible lately, but he bounced back from a comparable slump last year at about this time and ended up being a productive hitter overall. I expect that again this year and probably next. Big-time slugging without a lot of other skills means you have to live with ups and downs, but it's still valuable in the end.

[MNBrew]

Erich Thames is not a viable trade candidate at this point:

 

2019 Contract details by year $6,000,000

2020 Contract details by year $7,500,000

The 2020 contract does include a $1 M buy out.

 

There is no market for a left handed hitting first baseman/designated hitter with a stat line of .224 .305 .491 .796.

 

There may be a market for Aguilar though. And something like Aguilar for the Triston Mckenzie from the Indian's system could possibly work. Probably less than 1 year away from the majors. A top ten pitching prospect.

I think Aguilar's exactly what Stearns has been very overt about trying to acquire -- controllable & very productive young talent -- and thus exactly who you don't trade. Worth something in trade? You bet! But all we'd then be looking for is the next Aguilar and wondering why we're paying Thames more for sub-Aguilar production.

 

So in reality Thames is a $6M dude next year -- not shabby but not a total treasure, either -- and, Lord knows, a total underpay for a Yankees' bench guy -- and at least the $1M buyout in 2020 unless he's worth keeping at $7.5M. That's not worth a ton, but he's a very serviceable if unspectacular player most of the time.

[FVBrewerFan]

Indians gave up Aguilar for nothing, they're certainly not going to trade McKenzie to get him back. But if they offered, I would even drive Aguilar to the airport myself.