Brewers also sign Cain for $80M/5yrs. I assume they’re going for a stacked OF, so their OF would be Braun/Cain/Yelich (pretty salty). But that means Broxton, Santana, and Phillips are all probably available. McHugh for Santana? I’m not all that optimistic about what the Brewers are doing. I suppose if they sign Darvish they’ll be able to compete for the WC. But I don’t see them being very strong in the IF or in the rotation.
Sadly I don’t think Houston could get him without giving up Tucker or Whitley. The best package I’d offer would be Fisher, Martes, Stassi, and 2 3rd tier guys (maybe H Perez and Alcala).
Are the Brewers not high on Santana? Why are they trying to trade him? He's good, young, and cheap. Like your sister.
Brian McCann .241 18 hr 62 rbi in 349 AB’s Realmuto .272 17 hr 65 rbi in 532 AB’s Those are not the type of numbers you look to upgrade a position with one of your two best prospects. Astros can benefit from this year’s market of teams trying to stay under the luxury tax and/or save big for next years monster class of free agents. I’m more than fine giving Stassi a shot but if they have concerns about him, sign Lucroy and keep the prospects that will extend the championship window a few more seasons
I’m aware I’m just too lazy too look up/post advanced metrics that probably run parallel in comparison
What he said. Even with Broxton and Braun, they could play him at DH. Oh wait, I forgot they weasled their way into the NL and had their owner boot another team to the AL a couple years later. My bad.
Havent really looked into either one, Assuming Santana is the better one, but if they want Chris Archer for him then we can't compete. Maybe Mchugh and some prospect for Braun or Phillips?
Just not sure McHugh is worth a prospect as good as Phillips much less Santana. McHugh has between $5M and $20M in surplus value depending on how he’s evaluated. If Houston can’t find a team wanting to swap a LF or RP of similar value, then their best bet is to flip him for a super high ceiling prospect in the lower levels. In Milwaukee’s case, I’d be happy with any 2 of Caden Lemons, Kodi Medeiros, Mario Feliciano, Larry Ernesto, Brendan Murphy, Carlos Rodriguez, or JeVan Ward.
If the Astros wanted Braun, I'm sure we could have him pretty cheap. They want out from that contract (34 and still owed 60 million), and they have a glut of OF's and no DH to work with. Only question is what level of prospect they would want to eat some salary, because we aren't taking on that contract outright.
Braun’s contract really isn’t that onerous. Less than $60M over 3 years is probably pretty close to what he could’ve secured on the free agent market. Carlos Santana oye como va’ed his way to a similar contract and Braun has been a slightly more productive offensive player over the total of the last 3 seasons (although he’s a little younger than Braun). Braun and $15M for McHugh would be a good deal for both sides in my opinion.
That is an interesting question. Last year he was a sub 2 war and at his age, the question is whether he had a down year or if he is declining.
Without digging too deep I’d guess it was at least partially just a down year. His 2017 iso, k and bb rates were in line with both his career norms and his excellent 2015/2016. His babip in 2017 was significantly lower last season than his norm (.326). I suspect Milwaukee is going to hang on to him as their lineup gets a lot thinner without him and I don’t think the money is a big issue for them, but I do think both teams could benefit from a McHugh/Braun swap.
If we wanted Santana from Milwaukee, we would be looking at giving up Peacock and not McHugh. I can't imagine the Brewers would even consider McHugh for Santana. I like McHugh, but let's be honest here, he threw 63 innings last year and the year before had a 4.34 era. Yes I know they look at advanced numbers and all of that, but a 30 year old coming off a 63 inning season and a mid 4's era the previous year, for a 25 year old with great on base skills coming off a 30 HR season, probably isn't what the Brew Crew would be interested in. I'm not sure if Peacock would get it done, but he is a year younger, has an extra year of control and is coming off of a great season. Personally, I wouldn't want to give up Peacock with his versatility, but adding a guy like Santana and his on base skills and power to what is an already stacked lineup, and letting Marwin be the true utility guy and not try to force him into LF, might be worth it
While I doubt Santana for McHugh works straight up due to injury and years of control, you make it sound like a 4.34 ERA isn't above average for a starting pitcher. Pitchers typically see their ERA/FIP/xFIP/Sierra improve by about half a run when going from the AL to the NL. Brewers would want a pitcher capable of putting up an ERA/FIP/xFIP/Sierra of 4.34 in the AL if injury and years were different.
I'm pretty confident the Brewers could get a more highly sought out pitcher than McHugh for Santana. Again, i like McHugh, we are incredibly lucky to have a guy like him as an "extra" starter, he would be in most playoff teams rotations. Doesn't mean he could be the key piece in a deal for a guy like Santana though As for Braun, how much better is he as a DH than Gattis? I wouldn't want three years of that contract when we are going to be trying to sign Keuchel, Morton, Marwin after next year and Jose the next. I'm not opposed to adding long term money, but it would need to be someone in a lot better spot than Braun right now
