Monday Frosty Muglet

Wow…that haul feels like just about half the Brewers system.

Two things I thought of while reading it:

1. If Gamel is the “untouchable” prospect in this trade, Green’s value is reduced assuming Gamel can stick at 3rd. Don’t get me wrong, I love the guy, but if Gamel is going to man the hot corner for years to come, including him in the deal is a lot easier to stomach.

2. The inclusion of Cain in the deal would be deal breaker for me. I think CF and C are two of the positions the team is going to need to find in-house cheap replacements for next year in order to handle the payroll increases. Outside of Cain, I don’t see anyone on the immediate horizon that is even close to manning CF.

I feel the inclusion of some combination of Lucroy/Salome and Green/Gamel would be the best bet for the Brewers of including high-level prospects without significantly impacting the holes in the organization.

I guess I’m just not that excited about Bedard or Washburn, but I’ll freely admit they’re a big step up from the Bush replacements the Brewers are struggling to toss out there every 5th game. I don’t think they’re a step up from Bush himself, though.

This gives me that feeling that they might actually attempt to pull something off for Halladay. My thinking over the last several weeks has been that they wouldn’t be willing to part with the necessary prospects that would be required and that their interest was mostly superficial with no real weight, but the interest that management seems to be portraying makes me actually wonder if they are serious about going after the big fish for the 2nd year in a row.

But I don’t see such a significant intra-division trade happening. Additionally, if Dusty has any say in the matter I don’t think J.J. meets the minimum age requirement for trade targets.

Please remember that as good as Escobar’s defense is and as much as he is young enough to develop with the bat, he is going to be a pretty bad offensvie player, at least for the time being.

His MLE projects to something like a .267/.297/.335 line (I did the translation a few days ago, but don’t recall off the top of my head).

He is basically Jason Kendall with quite a bit fewer walks and a bit more power (though my 7 year old has more power than Kendall).

I don’t know if I would be too excited about a guy with a .300 OBP leading off.

If they move Hardy and go with Escobar AND trying to win this year, they need to assume that whatever they are getting pitching wise is going to make up for the possibly significant loss in offense (at least for this year).

He was available for 1 year $5 mil before the year. He shouldn’t fetch anything more than a middling prospect. He makes some sense, though.

And it’s the Bo Sox so they’ll want a ton in return

It’s no longer 2007.

rec

I wonder how many starts Counsell will get at 3B against LH pitching. If Counsell is starting, I would plug him into the 7 slot and move Hart up to 5. That puts LH batters in the 1, 4, and 7 slots.

So we aren’t quite out of the woods until Kendall’s not on the 25-man roster anymore.

Counsell could bat second and play third against a RHP with Cameron hitting fifth or sixth, ahead of or behind Hart.

if not for one of the best and most durable pitchers in the game?

Bernie’s Crew suggested: SS Alcides Escobar, LHP Zach Braddock, RHP Wily Peralta, C Angel Salome, and CF Lorenzo Cain

I think its a forgone conclusion that Escobar is required. Supposedly, the Jays want young pitching and in our case it would have to be very young pitching. Salome or Lucroy seem logical because we have a little depth with 2 catching prospects.

I’m not so sure about Cain. Toronto has Wells locked up for a long time, and we really need a CF after this year. I would try to substitute someone else there, but other than that, I think this is about what it would take.

It all makes sense now… Melvin’s gunning for a return to the homeland.

I will add this, regardless of the outcome of all this, trade talk is soooo much more exciting when your team is involved.

I could see a package centered around Hardy and Gamel working for both teams. The Brewers would probably still have to throw in a few more B/C prospects but they’d have SS set for the future with Escobar and would only have to worry about C, CF and possibly 3B next year. I think they’ll try to keep Cain to give him a shot to win the CF job next year. Catcher shouldn’t be any more of a hole than it is this year regardless of who they plug in, whether it is a stopgap FA or one of the young guys. If Casey McGehee keeps looking like the real deal, they won’t have a hole at 3rd and Gamel won’t be missed nearly as much.

Giving up too much there.

I’d target Zach Duke from the Pirates. He’s a lefty, tied for the NL lead in complete games (3) and is 11th in the NL in WHIP (1.20). Plus the Pirates aren’t in a position to ask for a ton. Give them a couple of pitchers out of the farm and a decent other prospect.

Otherwise, I’d look at Erik Bedard. Brad Penny would be okay if we don’t have to give up a whole lot.

However, Melvin seems to make deals with teams that he either has a history with, or knows somebody in their organization – Diamondbacks, Mariners, Blue Jays. If I had to put money on it, I’d say a deal for pitching would come from Seattle, as he’s already done his deal with the Dbacks and I think he’ll stay away from Halladay because the price will be too high. Otherwise, he’ll make a minor deal for pitching depth rather than a front end starter with a team clearly out of the race – something like Lannan from the Nats, Volstad from the Marlins, Brett Anderson from the A’s, Pavano from the Indians, Meche or Bannister from the Royals, or Duke from the Pirates.

that the brewers tend to play down to their opponents’ level?

In other words, I don’t see us doing extremely well in the second half, despite the easier schedule.