With only two days before the trade deadline hits August 1, the Milwaukee Brewers are receiving quite a bit of serious interest for the remainder of their players that are primed to move.
Jonathan Lucroy, the Brewers’ All-Star catcher, is having a fantastic year to say the least, and is one of the most frequently mentioned names in trade talks this season. Players of this caliber rarely hit the market to begin with, so considering his numbers at the plate (.300/.360/.484) with 13 home runs and 50 runs batted in, on top of an extremely friendly $4 million salary for 2016 and $5.25 million 2017 option, there’s no question he is a hot commodity for any contending team with questions behind the plate.
Lucroy has already gotten considerable interest from a wide variety of teams including those who only aim to compete in the future, such as the Atlanta Braves, but for the time being it seems to have whittled down to three likely candidates – the New York Mets, the Texas Rangers and the Cleveland Indians.
Both teams would satisfy Lucroy’s request from earlier this year — if he was to be traded at all, he’d prefer to go to a contending team — and the Mets and Indians are both most certainly that. However, there are complications, as Lucroy’s contact allows him to block a trade to eight teams, one of which happens to be the Indians. This doesn’t mean that a trade can’t still happen between the two clubs, but it does add complications to the process.
On the other hand, the Mets are not on the list of teams he can block a trade with and seem to have quite a bit of interest in the veteran catcher as recently as Friday.
Whether or not the teams will actually come to an agreement is still purely speculation at this point, as a source from the Mets stated only days ago that the Brewers are “overreaching” in what they are asking for Lucroy. With that said, even after an initial offer including Travis D’Arnaud was rejected by Milwaukee around the same time, the teams have since reconvened to continue talks. When the Brewers asked that all teams interested in Lucroy make offers that “met minimum standard,” the Mets were noted to have submitted an offer to the team as requested.
Although seemingly ruled out as buyers recently due their more intense concentration on finding starting pitching, the Texas Rangers also seem to be back in the mix of parties interested in Lucroy, according to Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News. He suggests that instead of getting the catcher as a standalone piece, the Rangers may choose to take a much more roundabout approach in acquiring the pitching they need by packaging multiple Milwaukee players.
The Brewers have numerous options in terms of pitching, as they are actively shopping and receiving interest for relievers Jeremy Jeffress, Will Smith, and even Tyler Thornburg, who has shown proven success in starting, long relief, and setup situations.
Jimmy Nelson (3.42 earned run average, 93 strikeouts in 123.2 innings) is also a possible option as a mid-to-late rotation starter who has proven to be perennially serviceable and is only signed through 2016 with a $522k contract. Junior Guerra and and Zach Davies are also possible candidates as they’ve both shown boatloads of promise this season, although the Brewers are more likely to see them as integral parts of their current rebuild over trade chips.
Of course, there are also talks of the Brewers moving first baseman Chris Carter or shortstop Jonathan Villar, but little has surfaced publicly on moving either one, meaning there is either limited interest from other teams, or limited interest on the Brewers’ end in moving two surprisingly productive new members of their soon-to-be-burgeoning club.
Regardless of whether any players get moved before the deadline hits, the team’s rebuild has been strong enough to move their farm system into the MLB’s top five. Even with the high asking prices the team is placing on its moveable players, considering the talent they possess in the lineup, starting rotation, and bullpen, they really can’t seem to lose either way – unless you count their record this season.
Jonathan Powell is the Brewers Staff Writer for Outside Pitch MLB. Follow me on Twitter @JP_OPSN.
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