I know I'll take a lot of heat for this, but for the benefit of the Milwaukee Brewers franchise, Prince Fielder should be traded. I love Prince and I always will, but he's on a tear this season and his value right now is higher than it may ever be. With the Brewers top pitching porspect Jeremey Jefress's career in jeapordy and failures with Mark Rogers and Mike Jones, the Brewers need young starting pitching who have mor sure-fire talent than huge upside. Sure, we have several 19-21 promising pitchers in our system, but most of these players, such as Jake Odorizzi and Evan Frederickson, have high ceilings for failure as well.

Though it will undoubtedly infuriate thousands of fans if Prince is traded, the Brewers could reel in tons of great pitching, move Gamel to first, acquire another bat, and prepare Taylor Green or Adam Heether for the future at 3rd base. The Giants and Braves seem like very logical suitors for Prince, as they would benefit greatly from a left-handed big hitter and they definitely have the prospects and young players to make such a deal, with the Angels lacking pitching to trade us.

I would love to re-sign Prince, but with Scott Boras as his agent, signing Prince and Yovanni Gallardo to long-term deals with more room for potential deals to players such J.J. Hardy, Corey Heart, Mat Gamel, and Alcides Escobar, seems impossible. Prince IS the leader of our team and he would be greatly missed, but for the Brewers to remain in playoff contention every year for 5-10 more years, Doug Melvin and Attanasio should try and at least field offers for this one.

Yes, this would probably take us out of contention for the playoffs this year, but making this trade now would keep the Brewers prominent for very long. Our goal of reaching the playoffs came true last year and we are now dreaming bigger. We are dreaming for a World Series. It is very unlikely that this year our current starting rotation could outduel that of  The Dodgers, with the Phillies, who are in a similar position with us, have a much steadier offensive line-up.

 If we could aqcuire a starters such as Matt Cain, Jurrjens, or Tommy Hansen to go along with a strong reliever, pairing with Yovani Gallardo, the Brewers would be a serious World Series contender in a couple of years for 2-4 years. When Suppan's contract runs out, another power bat could easily be signed to compliment our offensive line-up, which could look like this possible 2011 line-up:

1. Alcides Escobar - SS

2. Rickie Weeks/J.J. Hardy/Brett Lawrie - 2B

3. Ryan Braun - LF

4. Jermaine Dye/Adam Dunn/Maglio Ordonez (2011 FA) - RF

5. Matt Gamel - 1B

6. Salome/Lucroy/ or 2011 FAs AJ Pierzynski/Victor Martinez - C

7. Taylor Green - 3B

8. Lorenzo Cain/Corey Hart/Rickie Weeks - CF

       * (/) signifies possible starter, not bench player

1. Yovanni Gallardo

2. Matt Cain

3. Tedd Lilly (2011 FA)

4. Dave Bush (2011 FA) /Jeffress (2012 is more likely if he can get his act together)

5. Eric Arnett/Evan Anundson

Starters gone include: Braden Looper, Bill Hall, Jeff Suppan, Trevor Hoffman, Mike Cameron, either J.J. Hardy or Rickie Weeks, and possibly Corey Hart.

Ted Lilly is probably a cap reach, but I wouldn't be surprised if the Brewers could afford to give 93+ million to players in 2011.

Manny Parra in my mind is suited for the Bullpen. The Brewers also have many minor league players who could have very strong careers in the Bullpen

Let's face it, the chances of us re-signing Prince are probably 15 to 1, so Doug Melvin must make up his mind in the next couple of months which direction this organization should head.

 No. If you trade Prince you're giving up on the season.. Which doesn't make much sense when your leading the division halfway through the season....

Prince is having a huge year and if you trade him, your throwing in the towel.. I would guess tho, after next year there's a strong possibility you see him traded to the Red Sox.

Simple answer. No, they shouldn't. The Brewers built up a huge amount of goodwill with the fans by picking up Sabathia last July and riding into the playoffs. That generated huge amounts of revenue in the form of ticket sales, merchandise, ballpark concessions, etc. To trade away one of the team's key players at this point in the season with the team tied for first place would kiss away a lot of that goodwill and cost the team a ton of money. I think they'll focus on this one after this season is over.

 I like how you have it all mapped out.  Im sorry but im never trading prince unless i get sandoval AND lincecum.  Prince has next year than another year of arb. so we still have a certain 2.5 years of the big fella.  No reason to trade him now.

 Umm....no.

jfra94:

I know I'll take a lot of heat for this, but for the benefit of the Milwaukee Brewers franchise, Prince Fielder should be traded.

 First, I'm against trading Fielder, for all of the above reasons, secondly, I don't see how you could sign all those FAs that you inserted in the lineup, Ted Lilly, AJ Pierzynski, Jermaine Dye/Magg/Adam Dunn is going to take a lot of money, not to mention Matt Cain and Gallardo would have contracts by then.

Also how is Rickie weeks a possible CF? Just wondering.

I like your idea about trading him while his value is high.  Really if we traded him right now or after this season we could get a ton for him.  If he wasn't playing well like last season everybody (or the vocal minority) would be all over this.  Just like last season. 

However my contention for quite a while is Prince is the best hitter on the team and what really makes this team go.  I would have a real hard time trading him.

But you know what after thinking about it after the season the Brewers should offer him a 3 year extension taking over after next season for like 45-60 million if he doesn't take it.  See what is out there if they get a Teixeira type offer it would be really hard to pass up.  

Here is a view from a fantasy perspective.  Although all of the prospects haven't panned out yet for the Rangers they definitely added cheap depth with very high upside potential.

http://www.freefantasymagazine.com/2009/05/keeper-league-talk-the-mark-teixeira-trade-revisited/

So would I trade Prince Fielder?  Well I would offer a fair extension for a couple of years and if he didn't accept then I would see what was out there for him very quietly.  If a team wants to empty the cupboards for him I would have a very tough time passing it up.  This would definitely be after this season though

shipitdear:

jfra94:

I know I'll take a lot of heat for this, but for the benefit of the Milwaukee Brewers franchise, Prince Fielder should be traded.

Prince is one of the best hitters in baseball.  The kind of player that can carry a team to the playoffs.  Isn't that the goal?  If there's a trade to make it probably won't be until the 2011 season - his last in Milwaukee - and even then only if the compensation is more compelling than getting one last season's worth of Prince plus draft picks.  But that's a couple years away so let's enjoy him while we can. 

No, losing in round one of the playoffs in 5 games is no longer the goal. Now that the Brewers finally made the playoffs, we have higher expectations. With our current team, sure, we can make the playoffs this year. But another round 1 ousting isn't our goal. Let's face it, our rotation is very bad and will be for a couple more years because of our lack of major league-ready starting pitching, unless we trade gamel and escobar. No way we get passed round 2 of the playoffs with our current rotation. I know it's a touph pill to swallow to "give up" on the playoffs like this, but if you're thinking World Series you gotta consider trading Prince for pitching. There's no way Prince hits .310 this time next year or in 2 years. And if you really want to get to the playoffs this year, there's no reason a Prince-less Brewers couldn't compete with the Cards and Cubs. 

Wisblue- you make a very valid point and that obviously is the problem with trading one of your franchise's centerpieces while in playoff contention. It's obviously much less riskier and much easier on the fans to trade Prince when you know he won't be back the next season.

But I think we have to take risks. At least, if we're looking World Series in a couple years, we do.

jfra94:

No, losing in round one of the playoffs in 5 games is no longer the goal. Now that the Brewers finally made the playoffs, we have higher expectations. With our current team, sure, we can make the playoffs this year. But another round 1 ousting isn't our goal. Let's face it, our rotation is very bad and will be for a couple more years because of our lack of major league-ready starting pitching, unless we trade gamel and escobar. No way we get passed round 2 of the playoffs with our current rotation. I know it's a touph pill to swallow to "give up" on the playoffs like this, but if you're thinking World Series you gotta consider trading Prince for pitching. 

C'mon, If you think we can get to the playoffs, the Brewers have just as good of a chance as anybody else to win the World Series.  If Philly taught us anything from last season you can win with bad pitching that pulls it together. 

The_Igniter:

jfra94:

No, losing in round one of the playoffs in 5 games is no longer the goal. Now that the Brewers finally made the playoffs, we have higher expectations. With our current team, sure, we can make the playoffs this year. But another round 1 ousting isn't our goal. Let's face it, our rotation is very bad and will be for a couple more years because of our lack of major league-ready starting pitching, unless we trade gamel and escobar. No way we get passed round 2 of the playoffs with our current rotation. I know it's a touph pill to swallow to "give up" on the playoffs like this, but if you're thinking World Series you gotta consider trading Prince for pitching. 

C'mon, If you think we can get to the playoffs, the Brewers have just as good of a chance as anybody else to win the World Series.  If Philly taught us anything from last season you can win with bad pitching that pulls it together. 

The Phillies had arguably the best Bullpen in the NL to go along with the best 2-3-4. They at least, had two consistent guys with an ERA under 4 as well, and I don't see Bush, Suppan, or Looper making that jump

jfra94:

The Phillies had arguably the best Bullpen in the NL to go along with the best 2-3-4. They at least, had two consistent guys with an ERA under 4 as well, and I don't see Bush, Suppan, or Looper making that jump

Well, without looking at stats I would say the Brewers are close to having one of the best bullpens this year and who is the best 2, 3, and 4?  Jamie Moyer is OK but nothing great,  Brett Myers is a mid 4 ERA guy and they had 2 guys with 39 starts with a 5.5 ERA.

They added Joe Blanton mid-season but I don't think they gave up much and even he had a 4.96 ERA before he was traded and a 4.20 after the trade.  I don't really think they had anything better than Bush Suppan and Looper as their 2, 3, 4.

Edit- I didn't know you meant batting order.  Well I would put Braun and Prince up with any 3, 4 in the league and if JJ is on he can be the best hitter in the league over a 3 week stretch.

jfra94:

shipitdear:

jfra94:

I know I'll take a lot of heat for this, but for the benefit of the Milwaukee Brewers franchise, Prince Fielder should be traded.

Prince is one of the best hitters in baseball.  The kind of player that can carry a team to the playoffs.  Isn't that the goal?  If there's a trade to make it probably won't be until the 2011 season - his last in Milwaukee - and even then only if the compensation is more compelling than getting one last season's worth of Prince plus draft picks.  But that's a couple years away so let's enjoy him while we can. 

No, losing in round one of the playoffs in 5 games is no longer the goal. Now that the Brewers finally made the playoffs, we have higher expectations. With our current team, sure, we can make the playoffs this year. But another round 1 ousting isn't our goal. Let's face it, our rotation is very bad and will be for a couple more years because of our lack of major league-ready starting pitching, unless we trade gamel and escobar. No way we get passed round 2 of the playoffs with our current rotation. I know it's a touph pill to swallow to "give up" on the playoffs like this, but if you're thinking World Series you gotta consider trading Prince for pitching. There's no way Prince hits .310 this time next year or in 2 years. And if you really want to get to the playoffs this year, there's no reason a Prince-less Brewers couldn't compete with the Cards and Cubs. 

Wisblue- you make a very valid point and that obviously is the problem with trading one of your franchise's centerpieces while in playoff contention. It's obviously much less riskier and much easier on the fans to trade Prince when you know he won't be back the next season.

But I think we have to take risks. At least, if we're looking World Series in a couple years, we do.

jfra94:

shipitdear:

jfra94:

I know I'll take a lot of heat for this, but for the benefit of the Milwaukee Brewers franchise, Prince Fielder should be traded.

Prince is one of the best hitters in baseball.  The kind of player that can carry a team to the playoffs.  Isn't that the goal?  If there's a trade to make it probably won't be until the 2011 season - his last in Milwaukee - and even then only if the compensation is more compelling than getting one last season's worth of Prince plus draft picks.  But that's a couple years away so let's enjoy him while we can. 

No, losing in round one of the playoffs in 5 games is no longer the goal. Now that the Brewers finally made the playoffs, we have higher expectations. With our current team, sure, we can make the playoffs this year. But another round 1 ousting isn't our goal. Let's face it, our rotation is very bad and will be for a couple more years because of our lack of major league-ready starting pitching, unless we trade gamel and escobar. No way we get passed round 2 of the playoffs with our current rotation. I know it's a touph pill to swallow to "give up" on the playoffs like this, but if you're thinking World Series you gotta consider trading Prince for pitching. There's no way Prince hits .310 this time next year or in 2 years. And if you really want to get to the playoffs this year, there's no reason a Prince-less Brewers couldn't compete with the Cards and Cubs. 

Wisblue- you make a very valid point and that obviously is the problem with trading one of your franchise's centerpieces while in playoff contention. It's obviously much less riskier and much easier on the fans to trade Prince when you know he won't be back the next season.

But I think we have to take risks. At least, if we're looking World Series in a couple years, we do.

As a fan, you might rather see the team win the World Series than make the playoffs and exit early 2 or 3 years in a row but, from a business perspective, contending for and making the playoffs on a regular basis is much more lucrative, especially in a market like Milwaukee. Throw in the fact (as others have pointed out) that, once a team makes the playoffs, its chances of winning the Series are pretty much the same as everyone else's, and I think the Brewers should be more focused on making the playoffs this year (and then next year) than giving up on them this year to take a crapshoot at 3 years from now.

I will go on record as saying that, if the Brewers make the playoffs this year AND next year, I will be thrilled even if they bow out in the first round each time.