I am of the mind that you never (or very rarely) address need at the minor league level, especially when you are years away from contending. Get the best talent and when you have redundancies deal that talent to fill needs later. I would agree that power bats and pitching is where we are thing, but I think Stearns is getting the high upside pitching at the lower levels where you can get it for cheap like the Lind deal. It's like the Bruce Seid/Melvin days. Yeah you needed pitching but you drafted a bunch of crappy pitchers and accumulated zero value. If you drafted bats that didn't suck you at least are adding value to the organization. In addition you have the Fangraphs article showing that adding to strengths helps more than adding to weaknesses. (Offense begets offense - adding a bat to an already elite offense helps more than adding that same bat to a weak offense). A ridiculously good offense with mediocre pitching will probably be a better team than a team that is above average at both. Given Stearns' background I would trust that he would agree.
I really hope that Sale and Quintana are not really on the block because that would really hurt the Lucroy market. The less elite talent on the market the better for the Brewers.
In reality i think they are grandstanding so they don't appear delusional, even though they are. If I'm the Dodgers I offer up Urias + for Sale. If that were to happen it doesn't hurt the Lucroy market. Boston or Texas chasing Sale does.
Cleveland makes the most sense to deal for Lucroy and they definitely have the prospects to get a deal done.
The Brewers don't have one young player on the roster to build around. We should be willing to deal every guy on this team.
Doug Melvin would absolutely love my fantasy team; they hit tons of HRs and are terrible at everything else.
Josh Hader pitched pretty well last night: 6 Innings 3 hits 2 walks 2 runs and 6 strikeouts. The big star of the night was Isan Diaz who hit a triple and 2 HRs. He now has 15 HRs which I think leads the Midwest league.
Will Smith not helping his trade value. I am increasingly getting a negative outlook on what we are going to do at this deadline. There just doesn't seem to be any rumors about Lucroy and Smith wont be moved till the Yankees decide what to do with Chapman.
Really wasn't even Smiths fault. This worthless Jake Elmore made an error on a double play ball that would have ended the inning.
Corey Ray went 0-5 today with 3 strikeouts and is hitting .213 for Brevard County. I know its really early in his career but I really wish we went in another direction with that pick. Hopefully next draft the GM will let Montgomery do his job and make the pick himself.
I don't even want d'arnaud as a secondary piece for Lucroy much less the headliner. I don't want to deal with the Mets at all unless they have their top prospect Rosario in a deal.
I think the rumors of packaging bull pen arms with Lucroy was a way to get non catcher needy trade partners to step up for Jeffress/Smith/Thornburg, but it doesn't do anything to help the Lucroy market.
I know that Chapman is much better than Smith and Jeffress but both of our relievers have a ton more control left. We really should be able to get some good prospects for both of them.
Cleveland should be tripping over themselves to get Lucroy. From what I have read they have a very good minor league system. Lucroy fits them perfectly and with his small contract amount money isn't a factor.
Does Houston even give Gomez a QO? I forget, if you are one of the 10 worst teams, do you give up any picks? I know it isn't the first rounder.
If they extend the offer and we sign him we would lose our second round pick. If an offer isn't made I could definitely see him back in Milwaukee on a one year deal where he looks to regain value before becoming a free agent again. Gomez said he wants to retire a Brewer so the interest is definitely there on his part.
Wouldn't mind doing a one year deal with a team option for a second year that is somewhat closer to where his restored value would be. Pretty much just a way for them to maybe get a second year out of him if he bounces back.
I could see him being willing to take a deal like that but with Boras as his agent a one year deal is more likely. Then again you know the last contract he signed with us which bought out two free agent years was something he did on his own without the approval of Boras. I am ok with a one year deal and if he has a bounce back year we get a draft pick.
Really we would only want him back because he is fun to watch. We are going to lose 90 plus games again next year so its not like Gomez will make us contenders. Still if we are going to be bad lets at least have some exciting players on the team.
This is what I'm thinking. You still need to put together a major league roster and he is a guy the fanbase likes. There is a comfort level in Milwaukee that maybe helps him regain his form. I am all for the rebuild process, but what they've put out there in the outfield has been a rough watch.
I was watching MLB Now and they were making it out like there isn't much interest in Lucroy and that he might not get traded till the offseason. This would be a colossal failure. If the Indians don't make a legitimate offer for him they are complete idiots.
@Jim_Duquette: David Stearns is asking for teams their "number 1 prospect and 1 or 2 mid-level guys" for Jeremy Jeffress
Jim Duquette is a moron. We want a solid return but it doesn't have to be a teams number one prospect. Its such a misleading statement anyway; obviously we wouldn't ask the Dodgers for Urias but we might try to get the number one prospect from a team without much minor league talent.
I really hope that David Stearns has told Sandy Alderson to fuck off. First that joke offers d'arnaud straight up for Lucroy and now he tells Rosenthal that the Brewers are overreaching in what they are asking for in return. He played games with us when he pulled out of the Gomez deal last year (lucky for us he did because that deal was terrible) and now he is being a jackass with our new GM.
Cleveland supposedly offered a lot for Chapman. They would be dopes not to make a big play for Lucroy when they have the worst set of catchers in baseball. I have to think something will get done by the deadline with either Cleveland or Texas.
 Jerry Crasnick – Verified account @jcrasnick  The #Brewers Jonathan Lucroy talks are intensifying. Offers getting more serious. Momentum building toward a trade by the deadline. Rangers, #Indians, #Astros, #Mets, #Redsox have been mentioned in Lucroy mix. And believe it or not, there appears to be a "mystery team.''
Tom @Haudricourt 40m40 minutes ago Will this be Jonathan Lucroy’s last day with #Brewers? I hear talks ratcheted up with more than one team in last 24 hours. One call away.
https://twitter.com/jonmorosi/status/758699964960616448 Jon Morosi–Verified account @jonmorosi Jonathan Lucroy not in #Brewers lineup today. While it is a day game after night game, sources say trade talks have intensified
I go back and forth between Morosi and Rappaport of sports writers I'd like to see get punched in the face.
Whether or not a deal gets done today Lucroy should not play again till he is traded. Too much risk in him getting injured.
Screw these rumors coming from the Mets. I would rather take the draft pick after next season than deal with them. Lucroy is the best player on the market and we better get a big return.
I am hoping that the antics from last year with Gomez left the Mets with an IOU to the Brewers and are trying to help drive the market.
Really feeling like we are going to screw this Lucroy situation up. If we trade him to the Mets for their scraps Stearns will have failed miserably in his trade deadline. It's one thing to move the likes of Lind and Segura but this is our only chance to receive a great package for one of our players.
Cleveland still makes the most sense but all the rumors are Mets related. Part of that is a New York thing but still it makes no sense. The only way I trade Lucroy there is if Matz or Conforto is in the deal.
Are we really going to take d'arnoud and Nimmo for Lucroy? If Stearns actually makes a deal like this he is showing that he is in over his head. We might actually get less for Lucroy than the Padres received for Cashner who sucks.
At this point I have very low expectations so I will probably be content with anything other than trading him to the Mets. We can and must do much better than that.
I cant even begin to express how disappointed I am in this Lucroy trade or this GM. Mejia looks like a solid prospect but the other two are pretty much worthless. Sorry but an all star catcher with 1.5 years remaining on his contract for very little money should return a lot more. We really needed to get either Zimmer or Frazier and McKenzie in this deal. Between the Corey Ray draft pick and selling Lucroy for such an underwhelming return I have lost all faith in David Stearns. We really have gone the opposite direction from Doug Melvin where Stearns just doesn't value power hitting as we have nearly none of it in our system.
I know that I have a tendency to fly off the handle and act a little too negatively but this is just not a good trade at all. Its better than the Mets lousy offer but not good enough for an asset like Lucroy. Fact is the Padres may have gotten more for Andrew Cashner than we did for Lucroy and that says it all to me.