Dodgers and Brewers talking

[SmartBall]

I love Broxton buy if we are getting into huge deals for unproven closers, I would rather just pull a Papelbon and put Parra or Villy at closer and see what happens. I understand the desire for a lights out guy at the end of the bullpen, but Johan Santana, Adam Wainwright, Papelbon, and I am sure many others have been thrown into big-time bullpen roles, why can't we do the same with one of our young guys.

[brewmann04]

man if melvin can get a quality reliever for Mench ,then we have to give Doug his props there.

[MoneyballMan]

Broxton would be an outstanding acquisition, but I would really hate to see CV involved in any deal.

[fondybrewfan]

I say give Chris Capuano and Alcides Escobar, I doubt that is enough but even if we get Broxton I wouldnt like it one bit if we had to give up Villenueva, that is unless we would gettting something on top of Broxton

[valpocrewsader]

Why would we make another hole in our OF?

 

Having Hall in CF *is* a hole. As long as Doug has no plans to move him to the IF where he belongs, I would love for them to move Hall out of the organization. He's a liability in the OF.

[JohnBriggs12]

Broxton would not come cheap. You're not going to get him for a struggling starter like Capuano and a prospect.

 

I love Villanueva too, but I'd be tempted to part with him for Broxton who is even younger than Carlos, and who could be the closer the next 3 years. Closers have a ton a value. If they didn't Cordero wouldn't be quite so rich.

 

The Dodgers are definitely looking for starters. If the get the Japanese guy they might cool on giving up Broxton.

 

Now Beimel is in another class altogether. He's decent, but just a guy. A Capuano for Beimel deal would make sense if you didn't think Capuano was going to make the rotation anyway (which I don't).

[giffted1]

I love Villanueva, but I'd be able to part with him for Broxton. Broxton is still young with great stuff that he can control. He'd probably be the Dodgers closer if Saito wasn't there, and he's a lot better than anyone in the Brewers pen right now.

[Tbadder]

Giving up starters for relivers is generally a fool's game, but I think Broxton is special. I'd give up Hall for sure and even throw in a prospect. Giving up CV would really hurt. If I knew I could depend on Parra to take his place I'd probably do it if I could expand the trade to include a young outfielder.

 

The comment about the Japanese relivers is curious to me. Why isn't Melvin going after someone there.

[twobrewers]

Having Hall in CF *is* a hole. As long as Doug has no plans to move him to the IF where he belongs, I would love for them to move Hall out of the organization. He's a liability in the OF.

First half of the season, I agreed with you. But during the second have Bill really improved. I think this year he will play CF as well as he played 3B.

 

I would hate to sell low on Bill Hall.

[Fear The Chorizo]

While it would hurt to see Villenueva leave via trade, it would be awesome to acquire Broxton.

If Villenueva would be part of a trade to the Dodgers for Broxton (I think it would take more than him to acquire Broxton), here's how the Brewers pitching staff could look:

Starters:
Sheets
Gallardo
Capuano
Suppan
Bush/Vargas

Pen:
Bush/Vargas
Parra
Shouse
Mota
Turnbow
McClung
Broxton

You'd also still have Wise, Choate, and others between AAA and the bigs to round out the staff. While it would hurt to lose Villenueva, I think Parra has the potential to fill CV's role from the 1st part of the 07 season, and it's not unrealistic to expect bounceback years from Capuano and Bush.

I'd like to see if Coletti would bite on a Capuano + Gwynn, Jr. deal for Broxton, or some other trade package that would get Broxton and keep Villenueva on the Brewers.

[MoneyballMan]

Having Hall in CF *is* a hole. As long as Doug has no plans to move him to the IF where he belongs, I would love for them to move Hall out of the organization. He's a liability in the OF.

First half of the season, I agreed with you. But during the second have Bill really improved. I think this year he will play CF as well as he played 3B.

 

I would hate to sell low on Bill Hall.

I tend to agree, but wouldn't make him completely untouchable. If they really believe he's going to return to the offensive form he showed while in the IF, he's then either a) a great asset to have in CF with those kind of numbers or, b) a much more valuable trade chip next December.

[Fear The Chorizo]

Or you could get really cute and try something like this:

 

Sheets

Gwynn Jr.

 

for

 

Broxton

Kershaw

Ethier

 

I don't think it's enough from the Brewers to get all 3 of those players, but one thing that LA has is a ton of young prospects and players that their GM would be willing to deal for good pitcher. They could view Sheets as a "Santana-Lite" and try to make a trade for him (and sign him to an extension) after the Twins deal Santana to the highest bidder.

[TooLiveBrew]

Having Hall in CF *is* a hole.

Take a look around MLB at other teams' CF production. Compare it to Hall's/ours, and keep in mind that 2007 was a real down year from Bill. Not many teams have a CF option that's a solid bet for an .800 OPS each season.

[Team Canada]

I love Villanueva too, but I'd be tempted to part with him for Broxton who is even younger than Carlos, and who could be the closer the next 3 years. Closers have a ton a value. If they didn't Cordero wouldn't be quite so rich.

 

While I appreciate the fact that Broxton is filthy, why would you trade 3 years of great starting pitching (ostensibly) for 3 years of great relief? And who cares if closers have a ton of value on the market? That's like saying Juan Pierre or Gary Matthews has a ton of value.

 

[brewmann04]

I agree i would not like to lose CV at all here.

[fondybrewfan]

Would Manny Parra, TGJ, and a prospect be any closer than Capuano and prospect in terms of a deal fro Broxton?

[valpocrewsader]

Having Hall in CF *is* a hole. As long as Doug has no plans to move him to the IF where he belongs, I would love for them to move Hall out of the organization. He's a liability in the OF.

First half of the season, I agreed with you. But during the second have Bill really improved. I think this year he will play CF as well as he played 3B.

We must have seen different things this year. Watching almost every game right up to the end, I can say his defense improved maybe marginally. From "point-your-finger-and-laugh-uncontrollably" bad to "shake-your-head-slowly-in-emarassment" bad. Up to the last games, he still looked as bad as a catcher trying to play shortstop out there.

 

I don't mind Hall's down year on offense, but GET HIM OUT OF THE OUTFIELD. He's awful out there. A joke for a contending club. Hopefully Doug can trade him since 3B doesn't appear to be a possibility....

[Weirdos19]

I love Matt Kemp.

 

Sheets, Mench, and Gwynn to LA for Kemp and Bronxton?

 

 

I would love that.

[JohnBriggs12]

"why would you trade 3 years of great starting pitching (osensibly) for 3 years of great relief"

 

Two reasons TC. One right now great relief is a bigger need on this team and I'm about winning right now while the core is totally in place. If Melvin knew Villanueva would give him 75-80 innings of the quality relief Broxton has for last two years, would Villanueva be the closer in 2008? I think the answer is yes. Secondly, as much as I like Villanueva, I'd be slightly more confident that Broxton with his stuff will give me great relief than Villanueva will give me great starting. I think there's a better chance of Villanueva being slightly above average to very good than there is of his being great. There just aren't many that can be defined as "great" in either category. Remember Villanueva has not spent an entire year as a starter while Broxton has been up for 2 full seasons.

 

Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't be shopping Villanueva, but I would listen if Broxton's name is brought up. It's a tough call to be sure.

[dadofandrew]

If you're going to get a guy like Broxton, you have to offer something of value. That said, as much as Doug talks about young pitching and pre-arby, ready to-contribute types, I don't see Carlos V going anywhere either.

[wallus]

If we are going to give up a Villanueva or a Parra, we need to get a quality outfielder for them.

[Never Outhustled]

Broxton was completely untouchable last offseason, but is suddenly being shopped this offseason. Why? I'm guessing its because he was grossly overweight this past year, a pretty alarming thing for a 23 year old. That doesn't say much about his work ethic or dedication.

 

I'm sure the Dodgers figure dealing him now is a good idea because he value will only go down from here. I wouldn't deal a core player for him, and I consider both Hall and Villy core players.

[TooLiveBrew]

X ellence, keep in mind that the only thing from that blog entry that didn't look to be pure speculation was that Colletti & Melvin spoke with each other. The guy then just tossed out some names that made sense to him.

[dadofandrew]

He may be reaching, but he beat the others on Riske by 24 hours. Broxton makes perfect sense, as if Doug says closers are too expensive, you look for a set-up guy capable of closing. They don't come much bigger and hard throwing either.

 

EDIT: Wow, the Dodgers abused him last year, 82 games, 83 frames. He did have a bad last month, giving up 5 of his 6 HR's. They might be thinking he's out of shape, when in reality, he was running on fumes from being run out there every other game all year.

[davemakovec]

Maybe it's because I went to the Onion Society for Beer Enjoyment tonight, but I think that keeping CV the Younger and putting him in the rotation would be better, both for the rotation and the bullpen (better starters = less work for the bullpen), than trading him for Broxton and getting 70-ish innings out of him. Edit: him=Broxton.

 

Of course, it may be all the beer that the Onion paid for me to drink. Tough call to make. I'll leave that to you fine folks at bf.net.