Haudricourt: Brewers looking to go big with Manny Machado, who is an absolutely perfect fit

Tom Haudricourt | Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

PITTSBURGH – If you’re surprised that the small-market Milwaukee Brewers are competing with some of the game’s biggest spenders for Manny Machado, you shouldn’t be.

As team principal owner Mark Attanasio likes to say, the Brewers never have been afraid to “punch above their weight.” They did it in 2008 by acquiring CC Sabathia and again before the 2011 season by trading for Zack Greinke.

Not coincidentally, those are the last two seasons the Brewers advanced to the postseason. Go big or go home.

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The Brewers are not pursuing Machado merely because he is the best hitter on the trade market, however. They are trying to trade for the talented Baltimore shortstop because he is a perfect fit for the club at this point in time.

I will say that again. An absolutely perfect fit.

The now-sagging Brewers have the second-best record in the National League not because of their offense but in spite of it. Yes, there have been some breakthrough games and brief stretches where the hitters carried the load, but for the most part they have kept the pressure on the pitching staff to do the heavy lifting.

That is a difficult formula to sustain over the course of a 162-game season, of which general manager David Stearns is well aware. In particular, the Brewers have gotten little or no offense out of three positions: shortstop, second base and catcher. The team's .559 OPS at short ranks 29th among the 30 clubs, and the other two positions are not much better.

Compare that lack of production with the season Machado is putting together: a career-best .957 OPS entering the weekend with a .316 batting average, 23 home runs and 64 runs batted in. He has walked 42 times while striking out only 51 times.

And Machado just happens to play shortstop. OK, he’s probably better at third base but he wants to play shortstop, and that is a position of great offensive need for the Brewers, to say the least.

The Brewers had high hopes that young shortstop Orlando Arcia would hold his own at the plate after a solid 2017 season in which he batted .277 with 15 home runs and 53 RBI, plenty good for a hitter who normally occupies the No. 8 spot in the order.

But Arcia got off to a terrible start at the plate this season, began pressing and got completely out-of-whack mechanically at the plate. Always a free swinger, Arcia was hacking at everything when management did him, and the team, a favor by sending him to the minors for a second time a few weeks back (he was bailed out the first time when replacement Tyler Saladino was injured).

The plan is for Arcia to return to shortstop next season, but in the meantime the offense could use a second-half jolt. And Machado is just the hitter to do it.

Imagine a top half of the lineup that looks something like this:

Lorenzo Cain, CF

Christian Yelich, RF

Manny Machado, SS

Jesus Aguilar, 1B

Travis Shaw 3B

Depending on who’s pitching, you can plug in Ryan Braun or Eric Thames next, though both are currently on the DL, and go from there. With Machado batting third, the spot once controlled by Braun before age and injuries diminished him, scoring runs should be considerably easier.

As has been reported, the Brewers hardly are alone in their pursuit of Machado. Depending on which source you believe, the Dodgers are the favorite. Or the Yankees. Or the Phillies. Some consider the Brewers the team to watch in this contest, and we usually have the dreaded “mystery team” in there somewhere.

The Los Angeles #Dodgers, Milwaukee #Brewers and New York #Yankees have separated themselves from the pack of teams who have inquired about #Orioles All-Star shortstop Manny Machado, with no clear-cut favorite at the moment. — Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) July 12, 2018

This is where each team’s general manager must ask himself the same question: How much am I willing to give up to get Machado? The Orioles, obviously, are looking for the biggest return in prospects they can get, with the understanding that Machado is a two-month “rental” determined to hit the free-agent market after the season and break the bank.

If the Orioles insist there is no deal without second baseman Keston Hiura, the Brewers’ No. 1 prospect, Stearns should walk away. Hiura has the look of a hitting prodigy and could be an offensive force for years to come at his position, with an ETA not that far into the future.

Pitching prospects Corbin Burnes and Freddy Peralta, fast risers who have pitched in the majors this season, should be kept as well. But that gives Stearns plenty of other trade bait to toss at the Orioles, including pitcher Luis Ortiz, outfielders Keon Broxton and Brett Phillips, and assorted others from a farm system that is still well-regarded despite the group traded to Miami for Yelich in January.

This is where teams such as the Dodgers and Yankees have the advantage over the Brewers. They can afford to trade top prospects because they can always go out on the free-agent market and replace them with high-priced studs. The Brewers, with a bottom-third budget, cannot raid their farm system to an extravagant extent without paying a price down the road.

With so many interested teams and the unique opportunity of adding one of the best young sluggers in the game, the Orioles should maximize their return while not overplaying their hand. When you look at how the current club has been run, there’s no guarantee they won’t mess this up.

Word is the Orioles don’t want to trade Machado before the All-Star Game on Tuesday because he was elected as the American League’s starting shortstop, and they want him wearing a Baltimore uniform to give their fans a little something to cheer about this year. That’s akin to placing a butterfly bandage on a complete compound fracture but whatever.

If true, Stearns should put together what he considers his absolute best offer and tell the Orioles he wants an answer Wednesday. If you’re going to give up some of your best prospects, you need to have Machado in the lineup when play resumes Friday. Each day that passes before the July 31 deadline is a day in which Machado could hit two homers to lead your club to victory.

You can bet that Stearns has many fishing lines in the trade waters at present. He’s quite good at doing due diligence and keeping a completely open mind on every possibility. With true admiration, Attanasio calls it an agnostic approach to running the team, and it’s why the Brewers quickly moved through the rebuilding phase and back to competitive baseball.

Without knowing what other teams might be offering, Stearns has to see this Machado thing through before moving on to other possible trade opportunities. There are other available players who could improve the club’s chances of making the playoffs for the first time in seven years but none to the extent of Machado.

Until Stearns sees Machado go to another club, he has to assume the Brewers have a chance to get him. Only then, do you move on to others on your wish list.

Go big or go home. It worked in 2008 and 2011. We should know soon if 2018 is another of those years.