Trade Rumors: Teams still interested in Jonathan Lucroy

We all suspected a rebuild was going to happen in Milwaukee. When finally the Brewers traded Carlos Gomez and Mike Fiers there was no longer room for doubt. The questions became about who would be traded next and what prospects we could hope for. After an astounding nine trades this offseason, David Stearns still has his biggest trade chip hanging around. Jonathan Lucroy by himself could feasibly net a return on the level of the Gomez/Fiers deal. But the concussion at the end of the season and his poor production have made a trade difficult. But now that teams are getting a chance to see him play in spring training, with health questions aside, it's possible we still see a Lucroy trade before the season begins.

Reports have been few and far between when it comes to Jonathan Lucroy's trade market. Certainly any and every team would love to have him for the right price. Of course the Brewers are not going to sell low. That's the whole reason why he's still with the team and why we suspected that if he was going to be traded this offseason it would happen during spring training. So the following Ken Rosenthal tweet isn't exactly a surprise or even really news per se:

Sources: #Rangers remain interested in #Brewers' Lucroy, but no recent talks. #Astros, #Athletics were among other clubs interested earlier.

— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) March 14, 2016

However it's important to know that at least one team is still interested in Lucroy. The fact that there have been no recent talks doesn't concern me as yet. It's still relatively early in spring training. I said a while back that if he was going to be traded in spring training, it would be after Lucroy has played in back-to-back games a couple of times. We're just getting to the point in springing training where that will start to happen.

Once interested teams see that Lucroy is healthy they'll probably start putting together their final offers for Lucroy. The Brewers traded Jean Segura to the Diamondbacks in February. But Stearns said those conversations began in December during the winter meetings. A Lucroy trade figures to be a mammoth trade. Stearns has proven patient and diligent in the past. So it shouldn't be surprising that he's okay waiting this long to trade Lucroy.

It is of course very possible the Brewers wait even longer to trade him. The only thing that is keeping Lucroy in a Brewers uniform is trade offers. Stearns will wait until he thinks he has the best offer possible. So my only question now is if a team will pony up now or at the deadline. At the moment I have no idea what the answer is. But we're just 21 days away from opening day. And teams will want their starting catcher to have familiarity with their pitching staff. So I think it's likely if Lucroy isn't traded in the next 10 days or so, he'll be with the Brewers on opening day.

What do you all think? Does Lucroy get traded before the season starts? Do you think the Brewers wait until sometime during the season? They don't have to wait until the trade deadline. It doens't happen often, but they could trade him in April after teams see him play for a week or two. Or do you think they end up waiting until next winter? Vote in the poll and let me know your thoughts in the comments.