Brewers left fielder Ryan Braun revealed Saturday that he made one change to his no-trade clause during the offseason, though he didn’t offer details, reports Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. The only teams to which Braun couldn’t block a trade in 2016 were the Angels, Diamondbacks, Dodgers, Giants, Marlins and Padres. He nearly ended up with the Dodgers last August, of course, but the Brewers haven’t engaged in serious talks regarding Braun with LA or any other club since, according to Haudricourt. If the Brewers don’t deal Braun by May 24, he’ll gain 10-and-5 rights and have the ability to prevent Milwaukee from sending him to any of the majors’ other 29 teams. Nevertheless, the Brewers feel no urgency to move the longtime franchise cornerstone anytime soon. “He’s signed for four more years, and a lot of these players have a chance to be here for the same period of time, so this group is going to be together and he’s going to be one of them,” declared manager Craig Counsell. The 33-year-old Braun is still due $76MM, including a $4MM buyout in 2021.
More from the National League:
- The myriad trade rumors centering on Pirates right fielder Andrew McCutchen during the winter were “more smoke than fire,” general manager Neal Huntington informed Jayson Stark of ESPN.com. Even if that’s true, Stark is skeptical that the 30-year-old McCutchen will finish 2017 in a Pirates uniform. Huntington, though, hasn’t ruled out retaining the five-time All-Star until at least the expiration of his contract after the 2018 season. “Occasionally, we’ve traded a player like (Neil) Walker or (Mark) Melancon,” Huntington said. “So that’s become the narrative, that we’re always going to trade those players before their contract expires. But that’s just not the case.” McCutchen, for his part, felt “disrespected” at certain times during a down 2016, sources told Stark, but Huntington “would love him to be a Pirate for the rest of his life.” However, Huntington knows that finding “financial common ground” with the former center fielder will be challenging.
- With a new front office in place, “there’s a sense of urgency” for the Diamondbacks to bounce back from a disastrous 2016 and break their five-year playoff drought, center fielder A.J. Pollock told Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic. Pollock, who missed nearly all of 2016 after fracturing his right elbow April 1, has never reached the postseason and could be running out of chances to accomplish that feat with the D-backs. The 29-year-old is scheduled to become a free agent after the 2018 campaign, which would give him a max of two more seasons to get to the playoffs in Arizona if the team doesn’t re-sign him. He realizes, too, that GM Mike Hazen could decide to rebuild during that period if the club doesn’t show significant improvement this year. “You do think about it,” Pollock admitted. “A lot of guys – we’re talking about it. I think the best record I’ve been a part of on this team is 81-81. We really, really want to do well. We’ve got a lot of work to do, obviously.”
- Jung Ho Kang’s legal troubles might affect how the Pirates deploy second baseman Josh Harrison this year, writes Rob Biertempfel of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. Harrison could go from the team’s top option at the keystone back to a utility role, which he had filled prior to last season, if Kang misses notable time on account of his third DUI arrest. Harrison is open to shifting around the diamond, telling Biertempfel: “Regardless of where I played last year, certain instances might call for me (to move). Who would I be to say, ‘No, I won’t go (to third)?'” Regarding Harrison, manager Clint Hurdle commented that there’s a “buy-in (to move) that’s real with him. I do think his versatility can help him.” Harrison batted a meager .283/.311/.388 last season, though the torn thumb ligament he suffered in 2015 may have contributed to his drop-off. “If it was cold or if I didn’t hit a ball right, just rolling over that joint sometimes would be painful enough to where I would know that it was still there,” said Harrison, who’s now healthy.
So jayHay had a “meager .283/.311/.388”, but don Kelly’s slash with a below Mendoza BA was “modest.” The adjectives always get me
Yeah I always wonder “Chris Davis batted a slightly above average .230 BA” but Harrison’s .283 is “modest”
Nobody cares about batting average, you have to look at the whole slash line. Chris Davis’ slash line was above average whereas Harrison’s was well below average.
It’s obviously the other more important numbers that are above average
Also different people write the articles….
Using “modest” to describe Kelly’s abysmal slash line was certainly strange, but I see no issue with calling Harrison’s slash line meager.
It’s the lack of pop really
OBP dude
“We would love for him to be a Pirate for life” translates to “we would love to keep him but we can’t so we will trade him as soon as we can. If we had gotten a halfway decent package in trade he would have already been gone”. Cutch is gone as soon as he shows some life in his bat again.
Yeah, that “narrative” is out there because it’s exactly what Pirates do with any expensive player. And, sure, they’d LOVE to have Cutch for life, if he’ll accept humiliating 1-year deals for <$10M for a couple of years, then end his days on minor league deals with invites. I don't know who Huntington thinks he's fooling. We know the Pirates. We can SEE you, Huntington!
Now that you point it out, it makes perfect sense that Ryan Braun remains a Brewer. I didn’t think of it that way because of the Brewers’ rebuilding. The Brewers project that their other players are producing within Braun’s current contract.
If Braun were a FA and didn’t have his PED history, he’d get a lot more than 4 years and $76 million. He’s still a premier offensive force. The Brewers have a nice wave of young talent already in the big leagues or close to it. Even with Braun, they’ve got the lowest payroll in the game. Trading him just to trade him makes little sense. He’s 33, not 37, and should have several more highly productive years left.
His one failed PED test 6yrs ago is meaningless regardless of what MLBTR, etc spew via an anonymous source. Plenty of guys that have failed have received contracts for market value. And, again, its been 6yrs. Not 1-2. He’s also signed for 4/80 since there’s a mutual option in 5th year with 4M buyout. Barring injury he’s going to continue to produce because guys like him don’t come around too often. Stearns would never trade Braun without getting a fair return. If he finds that he’ll trade him given the deep OF prospects coming through the system now. If he doesn’t and the prospects are performing well something will happen as you can’t have a 36yr old Braun taking a spot of a 25yr old with upside and controllability.
I’ve heard all the rumors on trading Andrew McCutchen, but I have not heard one about him being resigned. I was upset thinking this conversation didn’t happen before, and now after reading Andrew’s article to Pirates fans, I’m mad. This player has done more for the franchise in the last 20 years than anyone. Isn’t it worth discussing whether he thinks he is worth $25M a year, or $15M. IF it is any close to the lower amount and he starts 2017 off like the McCutchen of old, I’d sign him for another 5 years. Then Austin Meadows, top “prospect” in all his glory, becomes your true blue trade chip.
ps. Drew Hutchinson trade worst of Huntington era!
Can you name a third contract signed by a star player/franchise icon that is NOT currently an albatross?
Mauer? Votto? Pujols? Ellsbury? Carl Crawford?
The Pirates need to get whatever they can for Cutch and give the job to Meadows.
It’s a young man’s game once again. The fact that the Pirates cannot afford third contracts is now an advantage.
And no trade will ever be worse than Jason Bay. They knowingly traded their best player for AAAA guys to fill out the roster instead of just signing some AAAA guys and getting a real prospect for him.
Without the Liriano trade, the Pirates don’t have Nova or Hudson right now.
I’ll give you credit for mentioning Jason Bay. That, along with Walker for Niese get honorable mentions for me. Remember, it wasnt just Liriano they gave up for Hutchinson. And we’ll need to agree to disagree on Cutch. If he returns to form, I’ll take 5 more years of him over Meadows and other unproven prospects any day.
There’s a good amount of old players that still produce like Votto, Braun, Cabrera, Lester, Cano, Cruz, and Longoria. Big contracts aren’t always bad
Sorry, the worst Pirates trade ever was Aramis Ramirez Kenny Lofton for Bobby Hill and a bag of balls.
I don’t know if Pollock will make it to the postseason with the D backs. They have more than two years to go I think, and by then he will probably be on another team
We would love to keep Cutch a Pirate for life, but no snow this year has really hurt my Seven Springs. I need to make some of that lost money up, and we will do that by dealing Cutch at the deadline, whether we are contending or not.
If Dodgers would of Traded for Braun last year I think they would of won World Series ………. When they played the Cubs there were so many key spots were they needed another RH hitter