Ryan Braun

NL Notes: Brewers, Braun, Reed, Lagares, Urias

By Jeff Todd | June 16, 2016 at 11:25pm CDT

Brewers owner Mark Attanasio says that his club is “not actively shopping” either Jonathan Lucroy or Ryan Braun, as Tom Haudricourt of the Milwakee Journal-Sentinel reports. Both have drawn their share of trade speculation; indeed, the pair landed atop my recent list of 15 top trade candidates. (To be clear, that ranking is a subjective analysis based upon MLBTR’s assessment of both value and potential availability.) When asked about the volume of chatter thus far, Attanasio said there has been “very little, actually, for whatever reason.”

Here’s more from the National League:

Speaking of Braun, the Giants reportedly have at least had some contact with the Brewers about the slugger. Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle took a look at that concept, reporting that talks were “cursory” and citing a team source as saying: “It’s far-fetched to go from a conversation to a trade.” As Schulman goes on to explain, there are a whole host of reasons that a match likely won’t come to fruition.
The Reds announced that young lefty Cody Reed will be promoted to make his MLB debut on Saturday. The 23-year-old was one of three southpaws who came over in last summer’s Johnny Cueto deal. He has impressed in his first run at the Triple-A level, working to a 3.20 ERA in 64 2/3 innings with 8.8 K/9 against 2.4 BB/9. At this stage of the year, future Super Two qualification is not a major concern. For more on Reed, check out this scouting report from Baseball America’s J.J. Cooper.
Mets outfielder Juan Lagares is headed to the 15-day with a sprained left thumb, the club announced. He’ll be replaced on the active roster by Ty Kelly. New York suffered another scare tonight when infielder Wilmer Flores was hit on the hand by a pitch, but it appears that he escaped any significant damage.
Dodgers phenom Julio Urias has followed two iffy starts with two good ones, but his time in the majors doesn’t seem long — for 2016, at least. As Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times reports on Twitter, manager Dave Roberts said today that Urias will get two more starts before the team assesses his status, with the focus on watching his innings tally. The 19-year-old is up to 58 frames on the year between Triple-A and the bigs, and has not yet topped 87 2/3 total innings in a single season as a pro.

Heyman’s Latest: Teheran, Ventura, CarGo, Lucroy, Myers, Turner

By Steve Adams | June 16, 2016 at 6:42pm CDT

Writing at todaysknuckleball.com, Jon Heyman breaks down the woes of the Dodgers and Angels. Both teams face difficult decisions over the summer. The Dodgers, at least, still seem positioned to contend and could play an interesting role on the trade market.

Here are more notes from the column:

Amidst the considerable amount of Julio Teheran chatter, one Braves source tells Heyman, “I don’t see the Braves trading Teheran.” That’s a less-definitive statement than the one Heyman received regarding Freddie Freeman, as a source told him the first baseman is “totally off limits,” which lines up with GM John Coppolella’s offseason comments. Heyman adds that the Braves have “tried to dangle” Erick Aybar in trade talks, but he has no value at this point and could simply end up being released, creating an opportunity for one of Atlanta’s top-tier shortstop prospects (Dansby Swanson and Ozhaino Albies).
Robin Ventura is on the hot seat with the White Sox, Heyman writes (adding more detail here). A team source tells him that there’s a feeling that “patience has been shown” and a change could benefit the team. Bench coach Rick Renteria, who formerly managed the Cubs, could succeed Ventura. Not that it’s particularly surprising, but Heyman adds that former skipper Ozzie Guillen wouldn’t be a candidate to return to his old post.
The Rockies haven’t yet started receiving calls asking about Carlos Gonzalez, but they’re expected to listen to offers despite hovering around .500 to this point of the season. GM Jeff Bridich tells Heyman that his current focus is on winning and adds that prized righty Jeff Hoffman, who headlined the prospects acquired in last July’s Troy Tulowitzki blockbuster, is “closer than he is far away.”
While Jonathan Lucroy is perhaps the most-cited trade candidate in baseball, GM David Stearns tells Heyman that an extension can’t be entirely ruled out. Heyman notes that if the Brewers are able to move Ryan Braun, they could look to reallocate some of those funds to locking up Lucroy, who is more open to an extension now that the Brewers are performing better than most pundits expected. There could, of course, be some level of gamesmanship there, as it would make sense for any team official to downplay a prime trade target’s availability.
The Padres are “open” to trading Wil Myers in the right scenario, says Heyman, but it still seems unlikely that’ll come to fruition. San Diego has received hits on Jon Jay and Derek Norris, though, and presumably the organization is more willing to part with those players.
There was talk of the Tigers pursuing Chris Davis over the winter, and Heyman says that was indeed the case. The club was considering an offer in the $180MM range for the slugger, per the report. Owner Mike Ilitch also pushed for Yoenis Cespedes over Justin Upton, but the club elected to grab the younger player. That choice is certainly up for debate after their respective starts.
The Phillies are obvious sellers, but most of their marketable assets reside on the pitching side of the equation. But the club sees infielder Andres Blanco as a plausible piece, with Freddy Galvis also potentially on the block. Blanco isn’t quite repeating his surprising 2015 season, but is hitting at around the league average rate and could be a useful utility piece.
With continued uncertainty surrounding Felix Hernandez, the Mariners are likely to explore the rotation market this summer. The club has received a nice boost from James Paxton of late, but many of its starters have long-term injury questions so it isn’t surprising to hear that the club is readying for an addition in that area.
Heyman also floats the idea that the Nationals could dangle top position player prospect Trea Turner in trade talks this summer. He wonders whether he could be the chip that lands a top-end reliever, citing Yankees hurler Andrew Miller and Aroldis Chapman. From my perspective, that would be rather surprising: Turner has shown himself ready for a full crack at the big leagues and is widely considered one of the game’s twenty best prospects. Even if the Nats don’t make him the starter in 2016, he’s a critical part of the team’s middle infield depth right now and an important future piece.
Veteran outfielder Shane Victorino has rejected several opportunities to join teams on minor-league deals, says Heyman. Victorino is holding out for a shot to join a big league roster.

Giants, Brewers Have Briefly Discussed Ryan Braun

By Steve Adams | June 14, 2016 at 7:39am CDT

JUNE 14: The Brewers and Giants have thus far had only one “minimal” discussion surrounding Braun, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. Rosenthal reminds that the Giants are one of six teams to which Braun cannot block a trade (along with the Angels, Dodgers, D-backs, Padres and Marlins, as Rosenthal initially reported back in March), but there are nonetheless obstacles to a deal. Chief among them is that Brewers owner Mark Attanasio is more concerned with ensuring that the Brewers receive premium talent than he is shedding a portion of Braun’s notable contract. The Giants’ farm system is considered below average in recent rankings from Baseball America (19th in baseball) and ESPN’s Keith Law (21st), so other teams may be able to offer a better package to meet those demands. Rosenthal also notes that the Giants will need to restock their bullpen after the ’16 season, and spending heavily on Braun limits their ability to do so by pushing them considerably closer to the luxury tax threshold (even with the aforementioned contracts coming off the books).

JUNE 13: With Hunter Pence on the disabled list due to a torn hamstring, the Giants are “looking everywhere” for another outfielder, reports Bob Nightengale of USA Today Sports (on Twitter). To that end, they’ve had preliminary discussions with the Brewers about Ryan Braun, according to Nightengale, though he also cautions that there’s nothing imminent between the two teams.

Braun’s name has been mentioned frequently as a potential trade candidate — he sat at No. 3 on Jeff Todd’s most recent trade candidate rankings here at MLBTR — in large part because he’s having one of the most productive seasons of his career on a rebuilding Brewers club. The 32-year-old is batting .316/.378/.541 with 11 homers, 11 doubles and five stolen bases through his first 217 plate appearances this season.

That production aside, the common consensus surrounding the controversial slugger is that the Brewers would likely have to absorb some salary in order to move him. Braun is in the first season of a five-year, $105MM contract extension that was tacked onto his initial eight-year, $45MM deal back in 2011. He’s earning $19MM this season (with about $11.5MM remaining) and is owed a total of approximately $87.52MM through the end of the 2020 campaign. From a contractual standpoint, the Giants can likely afford Braun; Angel Pagan, Santiago Casilla, Gregor Blanco, Jake Peavy, Sergio Romo and Javier Lopez are all free agents at season’s end, and the team has an extremely affordable arbitration class with only George Kontos ($1.15MM in 2016) and Cory Gearrin (pre-arb) looking at raises.

That massive extension for Braun (the largest in Brewers franchise history) came before his 2011 NL MVP Award and also before a messy PED scandal in which Braun accused a test collector of tampering with his urine sample before publicly admitting to steroid use more than a year later in the wake of the Biogenesis investigation.

While Braun certainly comes with some past baggage, he’s regained much of his production and hasn’t failed a test since serving a 65-game suspension to close out the 2013 season. With both Pence and Pagan on the disabled list, the Giants have been relying on a combination of Gregor Blanco and rookies Jarrett Parker and Mac Williamson to flank Denard Span in the outfield corners. None of that trio, however, is enjoying a particularly productive 2016 campaign to date. Pagan has hit well when healthy enough to take the field, but he’s also spent three weeks on the DL with a hamstring injury and missed 10 days earlier this season with that same injury.

What remains unclear at this time, though, is the Giants’ sense of urgency in getting a deal done. Pence tweeted that he underwent his operation last Thursday, and the Giants may not want to make a drastic move until having a clearer picture of his ability to return to the field. Indeed, Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle notes (links to Twitter) that the Giants are hoping to hold down the fort until Pence’s return, making a more incremental trade likelier in the short-term. ESPN’s Jim Bowden discussed a Braun/Giants scenario earlier today as well (Insider subscription required), writing that it shouldn’t be a surprise if the Giants pursue Braun and linking prospects Tyler Beede and Christian Arroyo to the Brewers, though it’s not entirely clear if those names are mentioned in speculative fashion. Like Schulman, Bowden implies that a significant move for the Giants would happen at the deadline as opposed to seven weeks in advance, where we presently stand.

Central Notes: Stearns, Braun, Pirates, Burnett, Shaw

By Mark Polishuk | June 12, 2016 at 9:55pm CDT

Here are some news items from both the NL and AL Central…

In an interview with Jim Duquette and Jim Bowden on MLB Network Radio on Sirius XM (audio link), Brewers GM David Stearns discussed that his team’s plan “at this stage [is to] acquire and develop the best young talent we possibly can,” and thus if teams come calling about Milwaukee’s young players, Stearns would want an “exceptionally high” return. Stearns, however, didn’t exactly say that this makes a veteran player like Jonathan Lucroy or Ryan Braun more likely to dealt. In fact, he noted that the possibility of trading Braun hasn’t been something that he’s had to seriously consider in his brief time as Milwaukee’s GM, and “there is no motivation for us to move…an elite-level player.” That said, Stearns did say he’d already talked to both Braun and Lucroy about the trade rumors circling around both men and said he’d keep them appraised of any developments should they arise. Stearns expects “active discussions” leading up to the trade deadline he said the Brewers “are in a situation where we need to be open-minded and we need to be open to any possibility.”
If the Cubs keep running away with the NL Central, ESPN’s Buster Olney (subscription required) feels the Pirates may focus on deadline acquisitions that can help them in 2017, as reaching the coin flip that is the Wild Card game isn’t worth giving up substantial talent for a short-term rental.
While the Pirates may have a need at catcher, both Clint Hurdle and Neal Huntington felt John Jaso’s past concussion history ruled him out of consideration for work behind the plate, Bill Brink of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette tweets. Chris Stewart and the newly-acquired Erik Kratz look to handle the catching duties while Francisco Cervelli is on the disabled list.
It doesn’t appear that Sean Burnett will exercise his June 15 opt-out clause even he isn’t on the Twins’ Major League roster, Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer Press reports (via Twitter). Burnett signed a minor league contract with Minnesota in May, his fourth minors deal with as many clubs since November following prior agreements with the Braves, Dodgers and Nationals. The veteran southpaw has a 2.66 ERA over 20 1/3 relief innings at Triple-A this season as he looks to return to the bigs for the first time since undergoing Tommy John surgery in 2014.
Bryan Shaw had another tough outing on Saturday, leading Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer to wonder if the Indians need to look for a more reliable setup man at the deadline. Shaw’s season has been a roller-coaster, going from a terrible April to lights-out in May and thus far shaky in June, all adding up to a 5.18 ERA, 9.25 K/9 and 3.33 BB/9 over 24 1/3 innings. Shaw’s main problem has been the long ball, as his whopping 2.2 HR/9 is more than triple his career average prior to this season.

Cafardo’s Latest: Brewers, Teheran, Kemp, Hudson

By Connor Byrne | June 12, 2016 at 4:45pm CDT

In regards to Brewers left fielder Ryan Braun’s potential availability this summer, one American League executive told Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe, “That’s the name I’m waiting for.” Braun is in the first season of a five-year, $105MM extension, and both the money he’s owed and his PED history are roadblocks standing in the way of a possible deal, reports Cafardo. The writer adds that the quality of return in a hypothetical Braun trade will come down to how much of his contract Milwaukee eats. The 32-year-old has dealt with injuries this season, but he has still slashed an outstanding .316/.378/.541 with 11 home runs through 217 plate appearances.

NL Notes: Braun, Loney, Shields, Pomeranz, Vargas

By Jeff Todd | May 29, 2016 at 9:38pm CDT

Brewers outfielder Ryan Braun may be generating trade buzz with his huge offensive numbers, but he’s also now dealing with a new malady, as MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy reports. While back issues have limited early, with prior wrist and thumb problems also posing some long-term concern, Braun has most recently been limited by a stiff neck. He’s now missed the starting lineup in eight of fourteen games, though GM David Stearns says that the organization expects to manage the injury (and his lingering back trouble) without the need for a DL stint. The general manager acknowledged a “level of interest” in the slugger from other organizations, but also said that the team “fully anticipate[s] Ryan is going to be a Brewer for a very long time.”

Here’s more from the National League:

The Mets are expected to activate just-acquired first baseman James Loney for action on Tuesday, manager Terry Collins told reporters including Adam Rubin of ESPNNewYork.com (Twitter link). Acquired yesterday from the Padres, the veteran is expected to help fill in for injured first baseman Lucas Duda.
Padres righty James Shields addressed the recent trade chatter surrounding him, as Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune writes. The veteran hurler says that he’s used to the rumors. “I don’t really think about that kind of thing too much, to be honest with you,” said Shields. “I’ve been in the game long enough to where these things get thrown out there. I think my name gets thrown out there every single year. I don’t really put too much emphasis on it.”
A prospective deal that would send Shields from the Padres to the White Sox would make sense for both organizations, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports opines. While Shields certainly doesn’t profile as an top-of-the-line starter any longer, Rosenthal says he’d unquestionably help the pitching-needy South Siders.
Rosenthal notes that other Padres arms, including southpaw Drew Pomeranz, have drawn interest as well. Pomeranz had his worst outing of the season today, though he still managed to set down nine hitters via strikeout in just five innings of work. The 27-year-old is an interesting player to watch, as he comes with two more years of cheap control and has turned in the most promising work of his career thus far for the Pads.
Meanwhile, the Padres learned that they will be without right-handed starter Cesar Vargas for a stretch, Lin also reports. Elbow soreness is the culprit, and it remains unknown how long he’ll miss. Vargas had been a nice surprise in the early going, though he was hit hard yesterday as his elbow flared up. The Friars are expected to bring back fellow righty Colin Rea to step into Vargas’s rotation spot. He had been optioned in order to limit his innings and maintain his availability for the rest of the season.

Cafardo’s Latest: Braun, Moore, CarGo, Bruce, Santiago

By Connor Byrne | May 29, 2016 at 9:00am CDT

Brewers left fielder Ryan Braun is “the hot name out there” on the trade market, a National League scout told Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe. The scout listed the Astros, Cardinals, Giants, Mets, Phillies, Red Sox and White Sox as potential buyers for the 32-year-old Braun, who has resembled his past NL MVP-winning self offensively this season in slashing .351/.424/.583 with nine home runs in 170 trips to the plate. Braun is in the first season of a five-year extension that could be worth either $94MM or $105MM, depending on what happens with the contract’s mutual option for 2021.

Here’s more from Cafardo’s weekly column:

With prospect Blake Snell knocking on the door and Alex Cobb nearing a return from 2015 Tommy John surgery, the Rays could soon have a glut of starting pitching. Thus, they’d be willing to deal southpaw Matt Moore for both a major leaguer and a quality minor league piece. The soon-to-be 27-year-old Moore is controllable through 2019 on a cheap contract, but the former top prospect already has a Tommy John surgery under his belt and has run up a bloated 5.37 ERA in 120 2/3 frames since last season.
If the Rockies decide to trade right fielder Carlos Gonzalez, one talent evaluator told Cafardo that the Red Sox could be an ideal fit. “Their offense is cranking right now, but there’s an outfield position there that could possibly be enhanced if the Red Sox don’t think Brock Holt or Blake Swihart or Chris Young are the answer. They might be. But Cargo fits them as a top all-around player with power.” After slugging 40 home runs last season, Gonzalez has hit .294/.333/.471 with a somewhat modest seven homers this year. Gonzalez would presumably play left for the Red Sox, whose left fielders have hit .241/.321/.377 with four long balls. Their struggles haven’t exactly crippled baseball’s highest-scoring offense, however. Gonzalez, who will turn 30 in October, is making $17MM this year and will rake in another $20MM next season.
While Reds right fielder Jay Bruce is available, he won’t come cheap if the team has its way. The Reds nearly sent Bruce to Toronto during the winter, but the deal fell through after Cincinnati got cold feet over the health of one of the prospects whom it was supposed to acquire. The lefty-swinging Bruce was coming off two uncharacteristically subpar offensive seasons at the time, but he has perhaps rebuilt some of his value with an above-average .261/.313/.497 line to pair with eight homers in 176 PAs this year. Bruce, 29, is currently on a $12.5MM salary and has a $13MM club option ($1MM buyout) for 2017.
Angels left-hander Hector Santiago is a name to watch around the trade deadline if the Halos drop out of the race, though he’ll likely need to start faring better if the team wants to move him. Santiago, who’s collecting $5MM and has a year of arbitration eligibility remaining, has thrown 55 innings of 4.58 ERA ball this year to accompany a 7.04 K/9 and 3.44 BB/9.

NL Notes: Braun, Soler, Ryu

By Connor Byrne | May 14, 2016 at 6:57pm CDT

If the Brewers shop star left fielder Ryan Braun this year, his contract will serve as a deterrent to many clubs, according to MLB Network’s Jon Morosi, who adds that Braun’s wrist is also a concern (Twitter link). The Brewers scratched Braun from their game Saturday because of a sore right wrist, the severity of which is currently unknown. Notably, he has dealt with significant right thumb issues in past seasons. Braun, 32, is hitting a red-hot .367/.434/.586 with seven home runs in 143 plate appearances this season and has another five years and $76MM, including a $4MM buyout in 2021, remaining on his contract after 2016.

NL Central Notes: Braun, Smith, Grichuk, Straily

By Steve Adams | May 13, 2016 at 10:17am CDT

This summer could be the perfect time for the Brewers to trade Ryan Braun, writes ESPN’s Buster Olney. The 32-year-old will gain 10-and-5 rights early next season, allowing him to veto any trade. Braun can already block trades to 23 teams, with the D-backs, Angels, Dodgers, Marlins, Padres and Giants representing the only teams to which he can be traded without his consent. Olney spoke to a number of executives and evaluators regarding Braun, and the general consensus was that his heightened 2016 play has made the once-near-impossible thought of a trade much more plausible. Braun’s contact rate is the best of his career, and he’s enjoying the second-lowest swinging-strike and out-of-zone swing rates of his career. One evaluator noted to Olney that Braun has learned to lay off the high fastball that was once a pitch with which he could be put away in two-strike counts. An executive from another club opined that the Brewers will still have to eat a considerable amount of Braun’s salary to facilitate a deal, however; by my calculation he’s owed $90.85MM through 2020, including the remaining money on this year’s $19MM salary and the $4MM buyout of his 2021 option.

More on the Brewers and their division…

Left-hander Will Smith will throw off a mound today for the first time since tearing the LCL in his right knee in a freak Spring Training accident (while taking off his shoe), reports Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. Smith, whose workouts to this point have included running on an anti-gravity treadmill, is hoping to avoid surgery and will begin a throwing program if today’s mound session goes well. However, Haudricourt notes that if he experiences problems, surgery could be the ultimate outcome anyway. Smith, 26, came to Spring Training with a chance to become the Brewers’ closer, but right-hander Jeremy Jeffress has seized that role with eight saves and a 2.63 ERA in 13 2/3 innings thus far.
Cardinals outfielder Randal Grichuk spoke with MLB.com’s Jenifer Langosch about the 2013 trade that brought him from Anaheim to St. Louis and some of the struggles he endured with the Angels. “I got injured so much in that organization, that I felt like I got put on the back burner,” Grichuk said of the Angels. “They didn’t really expect much out of me at that point. I definitely think that this trade helped rejuvenate my career. I’m definitely thankful for it.” As Langosch notes, living in the shadow of Mike Trout was also a difficult task. The two were inevitably compared to one another as they were selected with back-to-back picks in the first round, both play center field and were even born just six days apart. Grichuk and Trout remain close, and Trout told Langosch that he’s happy to see his friend succeeding, even if it’s in another organization.
Waiver claim Dan Straily has been an early success story for the Reds, writes Zach Buchanan of the Cincinnati Enquirer. The right-hander has benefited from pitching coach Mark Riggins, who taught him a grip for a two-seam fastball with which Straily is comfortable. Straily tells Buchanan that he’d never used a two-seamer much in the past because he hasn’t been successful with the pitch, but his new grip is helping him keep left-handed opponents off balance. Interestingly, president of baseball operations Walt Jocketty tells Buchanan that his team actually got some trade inquiries on Straily earlier this year but elected to hang onto him. “We felt we needed him more than what we could get in return for him,” said Jocketty. Straily has walked 10 of the 66 lefties he’s faced, so he could still stand to improve his control, but he’s locked down a rotation spot for the time being with a 3.47 ERA in 36 1/3 innings. And, as Buchanan points out, he has four more years of club control remaining beyond the 2016 campaign if he can continue his success.

Big-Name Rumors: Chicago, Braun, Angels, Orioles, Lincecum

By Connor Byrne | May 8, 2016 at 11:20am CDT

The latest rumblings on a slew of established players who could change uniforms in the coming months:

The White Sox have $13MM to spend as a result of Adam LaRoche’s March retirement and are in need of another left-handed bat, which means they’re a potential fit for outfielders Jay Bruce, Brett Gardner, Carlos Gonzalez, Seth Smith and Nick Markakis, according to Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe. The Angels could also be in on those players, per Cafardo. It’s difficult to imagine a pitching-devoid team with a barren farm system dealing assets for an outfielder, however, especially considering the respective price tags those five players carry. The least expensive player of the group is Smith, who is making $6.75MM this season and has a $7MM club option for 2017, but he’s a solid part of a first-place Seattle team that’s trying to break a 14-year playoff drought and fend off the Angels, among others, in the AL West.
Like their crosstown rivals, the Cubs could also pursue Bruce, Gonzalez and Markakis, in addition to Ryan Braun and Josh Reddick, reports ESPN’s Jim Bowden. The 23-6 Cubs don’t look like a team in need of a major acquisition, though they did lose a highly useful outfield cog early in the season when Kyle Schwarber suffered a catastrophic knee injury. In Schwarber’s absence, the depth-laden Cubs have divvied up left field playing time among star third baseman Kris Bryant, Jorge Soler and Matt Szczur.
Orioles general manager Dan Duquette told Bowden on MLB Network Radio that the team is monitoring the Tim Lincecum market, but he expects the two-time Cy Young Award winner to sign somewhere west of the Mississippi (Twitter links).

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