MLB Trade Rumors: Ryan Braun To The Washington Nationals

Ryan Braun is putting together another successful season in 2016. In 147 plate appearances, he is batting .364, with seven home runs, 28 RBIs, 21 runs, two stolen bases, and a .429 OBP. Unfortunately, he has missed nine games this year due to injury, which isn’t surprising considering his injury history throughout his career. Braun’s success in 2016 could make him a hot commodity on the trade market near the deadline in 2016.

 

One of many teams who will be interested in Braun is the Washington Nationals. The Nationals’ outfield has struggled mightily at times in 2016. A lot of these struggles have come from Ben Revere, who is batting .182, with zero home runs, five RBIs, six runs, and a .225 OBP. Revere’s backup, Michael Taylor, is batting a whopping .192, with four home runs, six RBIs, 14 runs, six stolen bases, and a .234 OBP.

 

Clearly, they are not getting the job done, which is why Braun would be a huge upgrade to their lineup. This move makes sense for both sides considering the Brewers are looking to rebuild and the Nationals are in need of a bat since they are trying to win now.

 

 

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Blue Jays Off-Season Recap: Who Will Be The Closer?

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The Blue Jays acquired Drew Storen from the Washington Nationals for Outfielder Ben Revere.

There has been a lot of discussion whether Roberto Osuna the current Jays closer, will stay a closer for the Toronto Blue Jays, or will be a setup man, or even potentially a starter.  

With spring training coming closer and closer everyday, the Jays still have many decisions to make and some limited routes to choose this off-season.

Roberto Osuna played professional baseball since the age of 16 in Mexico. You often hear the term, “A closer is a failed starter” which means just that, and an example of this is Brett Cecil.

This quote can also apply to other roles in the bullpen such as a setup man.

A popular suggestion can be to make Roberto Osuna a starter, keep Aaron Sanchez in the bullpen and make Drew Storen the Jays closer. This method could potentially work out very well, or it could go very wrong.

The good thing is, if Osuna gets enough experience as a starter, he could potentially be more comfortable with his pitches, and another positive to this method is if Osuna isn’t a successful starter, he can then go back into the bullpen giving Sanchez a chance to start.

A negative to this method is, if Osuna doesn’t pan out as a starter, it can mess with his confidence and make him a less-effective bullpen pitcher.

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Odds To Win The 2016 MLB World Series

Yoenis Cespedes led all LF for HRs with 35 on the campaign in 2015. He picked a contract year for his best season to date out of the 4 years he has been in the Major Leagues. Cespedes hit 17 HRs with the Mets in 2 months, after smacking out just 18 in the first four months with Detroit. Cespedes finished in the top 40 for both leagues in respective big fly’s, and was tied for 13th overall with Manny Machado and David Ortiz.  New York brought him back for at least another year, where he helped the Mets go 34 – 23 down the stretch.  Expect more of the same in 2016.  Mets are the best bet of the week for the ‘Fall Classic’ value wise.

Hunter Stokes (Featured Writer) Follow @stokes_hunter21

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A couple of things have happened over the last week.  The Mets signed Yoenis Cespedes and no odd was changed after this.  Very strange indeed.

With adding the Cuban slugger, the Mets have almost assured their fanbase for another post season berth in 2016.  This club is more like it was in the last 2 months than it was in the 1st four months.

Even if the Nationals were to have an unbelievable year – the Mets should still make the postseason as the #1 Wild Card seed.

I have the Mets as a 96 win team after this move, with the Nats listed about 93 victories.  Had the Nats picked up Cespedes, I would have given Washington a 95 – 92 win advantage over New York.

Philadelphia Phillies State Of The Union For 2016

The Phillies have not had a winning season since 2011 after putting forth a decade straight of them. A promising second half to the year – coupled with full seasons by Aaron Nola and Maikel Franco could have them inch closer back to achieving that mark in the next few years. The management finally started the rebuild halfway through the year, have continued it so far this winter – and the financial flexibility in going forward should really be shaped up in a few more seasons.   It may be a tough campaign in 2016 for the win loss column, however the team has a lot of young players to watch and be excited about.

Chuck Booth (Owner/Lead  Analyst) Follow @chuckbooth3024

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I was lucky enough to watch a record 224 MLB Games live last year – spread across all 30 MLB parks in every day of the campaign last season.

Unfortunately I saw the most home games (33 Games) in Philadelphia with my brother living close by.  There is nothing wrong with Citizens Ball Park, it was the team that was tough to watch.

When you have Jeff Francouer as your #4 hitter for half of the year, there is something wrong with that. I love the guy, and Frenchy had a decent year, it just said a lot about the depth of the Roster in 2015.

At the end of the year Philadelphia’s management started to trade away Veterans from the glory days of the World Series, and you can start to see the healing begin.

The dealing continued with Ken Giles sent to Texas for a bunch of stud arms coming back. Now the Phillies are looking forward to a bunch of young talent coming to the big leagues in the next few seasons.

The old guard is still there with Ryan Howard and Carlos Ruiz holding down the Starting First Base and Catcher respectively.  Howard is an average offensive threat only now that makes $25 MIL.

Toronto Should Trade For Ryan Braun

Ryan Braun has been the starter in RF for the Brewers for almost a decade. However, he has battled several thumb injuries, and is now 32 Years Old.  Since Milwaukee will not likely be contenders for the next 3 – 4 years in a tough NL Division, they should really start to rebuild.  Toronto also needs to look past 2016 – when both Encarnacion and Bautista are Free Agents.  If they can’t come up with the funds to sign either of them in extensions, they should pursue Braun in the next 6 – 8 months.

Hunter Stokes (Chief Writer) Follow @stokes_hunter21

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The Toronto Blue Jays have played it conservative for 2016, but still have a realistic shot to win in 2016 because of their offense.  Going beyond 2016 looks extremely difficult when you factor in they may lose both Edwin Encarnacion and Jose Bautista following next year.

This would be a shame, but both players should be able to command around $20 MIL per year for at least the next 2 – 3 years after this upcoming one.  That may be too much for the Canadian club to afford.

Our website has spoken at length of how Toronto must capitalize on this opportunity.  As of right now, I don’t think they have enough pitching to get it done in the playoffs either.

Free Agency will be a tough sell for the franchise to bring in any ace pitchers or premiere offensive stars in the coming years.  You also may have a tough time to crack those deals when the Canadian dollar is hovering around 70 cents for every American Greenback right now.

I say go after Ryan Braun via a trade in the next 6 – 8 months.