Brewers Trade Deadline Thoughts

Let’s talk sports. The MLB trade deadline is only 3 days away, the NFL starts training camps this weekend and college football kicks off their camps shortly. Finally something to get excited about, as the whole World Cup passed by without watching more than 5 minutes total.

Do the Brewers blow up their hitters and focus on adding as many quality arms as possible now or do they ride the year out and try to remake themselves in the offseason? I don’t think there is any way they will trade Prince Fielder in the next 3 days. His value will be greater in the offseason when they would have a better chance of landing 2-3 young power arms.

Part of my concern with Prince is that I don’t see many people willing to take on his future contract demands. If the $200 million the Brewers offered is not enough then who will give him his big payday? The Yankees, Angels, Mets, Cardinals and Phillies all have 1st base covered for the foreseeable future. The Dodgers have a good one that lacks Fielders power. The intriguing option may be Boston. The Red Sox have Youkilis at 1st and Beltre at 3rd. Both are getting up there in years, so they may be willing to buy high. I doubt that the White Sox, Cubs, Rangers or Orioles (previous big spenders) would be willing to bite at his demands. Lastly, Prince won’t sign a contract knowing he will be a full-time DH from the beginning of the deal. It may happen later in the deal, but not starting it.

A lot of talk has centered on Corey Hart and the big year he is having. While I agree his trade value may never be higher I think the Brewers will regret trading him if they do. He is back performing at a level which many expected him to be at. He is a 25/25 guy for the next 5-7 yrs. He is a good defensive outfielder and by most accounts he wants to be a Brewer. That has to count for something.

Trading Hart is like trading Tony Gwynn Jr. in my opinion. They gave up on Gwynn without giving him a chance and got pretty much nothing for him. Had they kept Gwynn they could have traded Hardy for an arm instead of Gomez who has lots of talent, but nothing that says he will put it all together.

This runs counter to conventional wisdom, but I would trade a guy like Bush or Riske or Hawkins or Hoffman to teams needing pitching for the stretch run. I would also consider trading Counsell and Edmonds. Getting a young player in A or AA for any of those guys would be something I would jump at. Then promote another young guy from our farm and give them a chance. Our young players have had their ups and downs, but the experience they have gotten is invaluable and the rest of the year needs to have one eye on next.

I will have a post about the Packers and Badgers soon.