Unlikely proposal regarding Braun

[fleehaw]

I realize there's a 99.99% chance that Braun is playing for the Brewers next year, but if they're serious about upgrading the defense, would people be opposed to dealing him for the 'right' piece? Trading him doesn't make a lot of sense and would make Melvin's job harder to fill the other holes in the roster. But, I'm a little bored waiting for the next deal the Brewers need to make, so here goes.

 

Braun to the Giants for Matt Cain. I think this would trump the Rios for Cain/Lincecum rumor. 5 guaranteed years of Braun for 4 guaranteed years of Matt Cain.

Sheets to the Braves for Francoeur & James. It's been rumored on this site and with other potential moves, makes some sense.

Bush to the Nats for Austin Kearns. Kearns would be a huge upgrade to the OF defense. With the surplus of SP, Bush could be expendable if the deal makes sense.

Hall & Capuano to the Dodgers for LaRoche, Meloan, & Beimel. If the Dodgers lose out on Kuroda, this would make more sense. They've been rumored to be interested in Hall to play 3B, which leads me to believe that Hall>LaRoche (at least for now) in their eyes.

Gwynn Jr & Munson/Rivera to the Rangers for Laird. The Rangers were/are interested in Gwynn and they need OF help. Salty is projected to be their starter behind the plate, so it seems to make sense for them. Laird would compete with Kendall behind the plate and is apparently very solid defensively.

 

Lineup:

Weeks

LaRoche

Hart

Fielder

Kearns

Francouer

Hardy

Kendall/Laird

Bench: Dillon, Gross, Kendall/Laird, Counsell, & Rotino

SP: Cain, Suppan, Gallardo, Villenueva, & James

Bullpen: Vargas (long relief), Beimel & Shouse (lefties), Mota, Turnbow, Torre (MR), Riske (SU), & Gagne.

 

Parra & Meloan are in AAA getting a bit more seasoning, but also provide some depth in case of injury. The OF defense would be incredible and the IF defense would be greatly improved with LaRoche in place of Braun. Cain is pretty much a 5 year younger Sheets. The pitching should be very solid top to bottom.

 

Comments?

[RyDogg66]

That probably isnt a team that competes for a championship, unfortunately.

[endaround]

Its 6 years of Braun, not 5. And while its fun to imagine, any one of those blowing up craps the whole thing.

[kmcasper23]

Why would they do someting so stupid?!

[Tbadder]

Yeah, but so does Braun going down in a heap ala Rowand when he kisses the leftfield wall next summer. I love the idea. Really creative, and recognizes the three most important things in baseball--pitching, pitching, and pitching. It'll never happen. Thing is, I think we could get more than just Cain.

[bklynbrewcrew]

Would you trade a young Albert Pujols? No and that is why you dont trade Braun who will be one of the best hitters in baseball. Sometimes the excitement of possible trades overrides what is smart and trading Braun is definitely not a good idea.

[fleehaw]

That probably isnt a team that competes for a championship, unfortunately.

I'll respectfully disagree. All they'll really miss is Braun's bat, but that very easily could be made up with the improvement on defense at 3B and offensive improvement in other places. IMO, the team listed above would be better than the status quo.

 

Which players would you rather have? (my choices in bold)

1 year of Sheets- 4 years of Cain (I'd probably take Cain over Sheets straight up)

Hall - Francouer

Dillon/Gross - Kearns

Braun - LaRoche

Munson/Rivera - Laird

 

In addition, all of these players would be under Brewer control for a number of years.

 

End, my mistake, 6 years of Braun.

 

I know this idea is far-fetched and I doubt the Brewers would ever trade Braun any time soon. But hey, it's the slow time of year for baseball so...

 

 

 

[Tbadder]

Yeah--I would trade a young Pujos for a young Clemens.

[NievesNoNO]

Flee I like your creativity and we might even be a better team with those moves. However, I agree with others that all those moves would have to fall into place and I'm not sure that Cain is enough for Braun. Hitters are generally more consistent in their production and health from year to year so it's a little much of a gamble for my liking. I really think Braun is one of those special FREAK type hitters that we can't afford to part with (yet).....he's no where close to what his peak trade value will be. IMO

[DuWayne Steurer]

That's a whole lot of trades to be made in one offseason. Certainly creative, but I'd guess there's about a .1% chance that anything close to that could actually go down.

 

I also find it highly unlikely that a team is going to trade a guy, no matter how bad defensively, that put up over a 1.000 OPS as a rookie. That just doesn't happen.

[Tbadder]

Hey, this is the fun of the forum. Here's an intelligent guy making a case that while implausible has merit theoretically. Bravo I say.

 

P.S.

 

Now buy me a beer. I got your back.

[DannoMac21]

Wow this is dumb.

[TooLiveBrew]

I disagree.

 

Hey, this is the fun of the forum. Here's an intelligent guy making a case that while implausible has merit theoretically. Bravo I say.

 

Agree here. I really respect that in such a deal-crazy post, you took the time to make sure you made reasonable proposals, fleehaw. Seriously creative post.

[PeaveyFury]

Wow this is dumb.

 

If you don't like his ideas, say why or provide alternatives instead of insulting them, please.

[SeriesFinale]

It takes 10 days to build a wall and 10 minutes to build it down...I salute fleehaw

 

That said, I wouldn't touch this actual deal(s) with a ten-foot pole, starting with Braun for Cain straight-up

[gregmag]

I love the idea. Really creative, and recognizes the three most important things in baseball--pitching, pitching, and pitching.

With all due respect, why do people keep saying things like this? Baseball is a really simple game: score more runs than you give up, and you win. Score a whole lot more runs than you give up, and you have a good shot at winning a championship. So:

Scoring runs is half the game. Preventing the other team from scoring is half the game.

Pitching is part -- the biggest part, but not the whole thing -- of preventing the other team from scoring. Defense also plays a big role in that. But let's say pitching is 75 percent of run prevention (I'm just pulling that number out of my butt; I'll happily stand corrected by someone who has the numbers). That makes pitching just under 40% of the game.

So why would you say that the three most important things in baseball are pitching? Where does that idea even come from?

 

Put it another way. There's a pretty high likelihood that our expected three best players next year are Fielder, Braun, and Gallardo. If your maxim is right, then -- given the opportunity -- we should trade Fielder and Braun for the best pitchers each would bring. Should we really do that? Of course, if you're right, then the most we'd be able to get for Fielder and Braun are some teams' fourth-best pitchers, since nobody should want to trade one of their top three pitchers for a hitter.

 

I don't get it.

 

BTW, no disrespect intended to the original poster (or to anyone else). I would never trade Braun for Cain, but I respect the logic behind the idea.

 

Greg.

[DrWood]

Braun to the Giants for Matt Cain. I think this would trump the Rios for Cain/Lincecum rumor. 5 guaranteed years of Braun for 4 guaranteed years of Matt Cain.

Sheets to the Braves for Francoeur & James. It's been rumored on this site and with other potential moves, makes some sense.

Bush to the Nats for Austin Kearns. Kearns would be a huge upgrade to the OF defense. With the surplus of SP, Bush could be expendable if the deal makes sense.

Hall & Capuano to the Dodgers for LaRoche, Meloan, & Beimel. If the Dodgers lose out on Kuroda, this would make more sense. They've been rumored to be interested in Hall to play 3B, which leads me to believe that Hall>LaRoche (at least for now) in their eyes.

Gwynn Jr & Munson/Rivera to the Rangers for Laird. The Rangers were/are interested in Gwynn and they need OF help. Salty is projected to be their starter behind the plate, so it seems to make sense for them. Laird would compete with Kendall behind the plate and is apparently very solid defensively.

 

1. braun for cain is severely overpaying. 2. I can't see ATL trading francouer and james for Sheets. 3. Bush for kearns is in our favor, but it's a possibility. 4. Hall and Capuano for Laroche, beimel and meloan doesn't really improve us. it might be a "fair" trade. 5. Gwynn and one of two guys that were picked up on waivers for a starting catcher? They'd have to be in love with Gwynn. overall, it makes the team worse.

[Invader3K]

I would actually probably be OK (if slightly nervous) will all those moves, except trading Braun. I think Braun, Fielder, and Gallardo are my only three that I would consider completely untouchable at this point.

 

Would love to see Laird and Kearns on the Brewers.