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  • Would You Do This Trade? Josh Donaldson to the Brewers for …


    Tom Froemming

    We’re still a ways out from the trade deadline but with the Minnesota Twins off to a horrible start some ideas are being bounced around early. MLB Network’s Mark DeRosa threw out a hypothetical deal that would send Josh Donaldson to Milwaukee. Let’s take a closer look.

    Image courtesy of © Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports

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    Before we get to the actual proposal, I just want to make sure to be extra clear that this is a hypothetical scenario that DeRosa is throwing out there. This isn’t a trade in the works that’s being reported or even a trade rumor. This is DeRosa just spitballing an idea he feels makes sense.

    Does it? 

    DeRosa has Josh Donaldson and $15 million in cold, hard cash going to the Milwaukee Brewers for veteran center fielder Jackie Bradley Jr. and left-handed pitching prospect Antoine Kelly. 

    Donaldson is owed the prorated amount of his $21.75 million salary for this year, that full amount for next season and has a $16 million option for 2023 that comes with an $8 million buyout. Bradley Jr. signed a two-year $24 million deal prior to this season and is playing terribly for the Brewers (.160/.228/.294 in 180 plate appearances). Kelly is ranked by MLB Pipeline as Milwaukee’s No. 6 prospect. He’s also broken. The 21-year-old is recovering from surgery to correct thoracic outlet syndrome.

    Here’s video of the segment in which DeRosa explained the logic behind the idea:

    Basically, this would be the Brewers (30-26) taking a shot at what appears to be a very winnable NL Central while the Twins are primarily getting salary relief, though sending that large a chunk of cash along with taking on Bradley’s money negates that to a degree.

    I encourage you to share your thoughts in the comments.

    For me, this doesn’t make sense for the Twins. It is, however, a great example of the type of deal the Twins may be faced with if they did try to trade away Josh Donaldson. Even though I don’t think this is a particularly great trade hypothetical, I do appreciate getting an unbiased thought from DeRosa here.

    With the Twins struggling, it’s easy to say they need to trade veterans for prospects but players who are owed large sums of money often actually have negative trade value. If there’s anything to take away from DeRosa’s proposal, I think it’s that. 

    I think Twins fans as a whole have been disappointed in Donaldson’s production thus far, but he’s actually hit better for the Twins than he did in the season he played with Atlanta prior to coming here, in terms of league averages. Donaldson had a 124 OPS+ in 2019 and has a 133 mark so far with the Twins. I wouldn't be desperate to trade him away. Speaking of desperation, I know Bradley Jr. would fill the Twins' current need for a center fielder, but it doesn't sound like Byron Buxton is too far off from a return.

    I expect the Twins to be open to the idea of trading Donaldson, but don’t think packaging him with a bunch of cash for an overpaid and underperforming player and a broken prospect is what they’d have in mind. OK, maybe that’s selling Kelly a bit short. He was a second rounder in 2019, about a dozen picks after the Twins took Matt Canterino, but TOS just scares me. That can be such a mysterious injury.

    Still, this proposal serves as a good reality check in terms of what Donaldson’s perceived trade value is right now.

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    On 6/5/2021 at 3:30 PM, old nurse said:

    I can’t remember the name of the former frequent commenter from New York who was a frequent advocate for trading for DeRosa. Maybe DeRosa is still butt hurt that the trade never happened. 

    Vodka Dave 

    it became a running joke. 

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    2 hours ago, 70charger said:

    Vodka Dave 

    it became a running joke. 

    What became of Vodka Dave? Saw little of him after the Dozier to the Dodger trade speculation.

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    1 hour ago, Rigby said:

    What became of Vodka Dave? Saw little of him after the Dozier to the Dodger trade speculation.

    He caught a lot of grief for his inside sources being wrong.

    He can’t post because he forgot what email address he used tp sign up

    He couldn’t be raucous and somebody banned him.

    Got bored.

    Won the lottery and is now too good for TD

    All are possible reasons, but as much fun as people could have on an off day speculating, we shouldn’t here

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    Remember when the joke was throwing in the Brian Duensing for Mark Derosa trades back in the day. Well that makes about as much sense what Derosa proposes as those wishful deals did. No I would not do this deal and I don't see the Brewers doing it either. Would I try and conjur up something with the Giants who just lost Longoria for some considerable time, maybe on the Donaldson front I would rather get some pitching back from the Giants than do anything with the Brewers. 

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