Trade Britton

[jabba72]

For service time reasons I would consider trading Britton for any potential top starter if they have 4-5 seasons of team control left.

[Tryptamine]

4 starts and 2 long relief appearances. I'd agree with you if we're just talking stats, but watching the kid pitch, I couldn't see how people had him as the #1 pitching prospect in baseball - which is where many experts had him - actually, I think many still have him at #1 going into 2017. His stuff is not overwhelming. And while I didn't expect his command to be great at 22, it was worse than I'd expect for a top prospect. I may be premature, but that's how I see it.

Granted I didn't watch any of his major league starts, so perhaps he wasn't on in any of those games, but I can assure when he's on he has otherwordly dominant stuff. No one in the minor leagues can touch him in that regard. He's going to take a bit longer to mature into handling his stuff though, kind of like Gerrit Cole. Cole's Minor league numbers were never great because he hadn't learned to harness his stuff yet.

[markakis8]

We didn't want to give 4 years to Miller, why would we Britton? 

As I stated in the offseason after CD's greatest offensive year 3 years ago, now is the time to trade him and it will NOT hurt our team in the slightest. The ceiling doesn't get any higher than this. We missed a great opportunity not trading CD that offseason. We can easily slide Givens or Brach into the closer role, There will always be some young flamethrower to slide into the closer role. It would be a cheaper option than signing Jensen, Aroldis, or even Melancon to a multi-year deal. There are a couple teams that are in win now mode, could use a closer, and have a decent farm system that would be worth the trade.

#1 Astros - I think this is the team the O's could take advantage of the most. I think we could get a top tier SP prospect in Martes, an OF prospect like Fisher, and a couple other arms. We would probably have to throw in a solid MLB ready prospect or bench player with Britton.

#2 Nationals -  Giolito is off the table. I think we could land Reynaldo Lopez though and Victor Robles as well.

#3 Cubs - Let's start with Schwarber and throw in Dylan Cease. 

#4 Dodgers - Jose Deleon and Alex Verdugo

#5 Pirates - this would be the toughest and I think the Pirates are smart enough to not cough up top tier prospects for a rental closer, but I wouldn't start the conversation without Glasnow. A package that did not include Glasnow but included Bell, Meadows, and Mitch Keller would be perfect but that's insanity for the Pirates. 

[El Gordo]

PA does not like to trade players he thinks are fan favorites. We are in a win now mode through 2018. If we were rebuilding trade Britton. Manny, Jones,. CD, Hardy, what ever. But we are not.

[markakis8]

We can still be in win now mode and trade Britton. 

[25 Nuggets]

It's fun to think about I guess.  I've been talking about this move since the Wild Card game.  But the others are right - the chances of him  going this off season are slim.

[weams]

On 10/21/2016 at 9:54 AM, PaulFolk said:

I'm not sure what your point is. I don't see any correlation whatsoever between team strikeouts and team success.

Just look at this year. The team with the fewest strikeouts in baseball -- by a large margin -- was the Angels, who struck out 100 fewer times than the next-closest team. They finished 74-88 and well out of the postseason race. Second was the Giants, who made the NLCS, and third was the last-place Athletics. Then the Red Sox, who had a great year, followed by the Yankees and Marlins, both of whom missed the playoffs.

The Blue Jays, who made the ALCS, had the eighth-most strikeouts in baseball, more than the Orioles.

Very nice take. 

[Frobby]

9 hours ago, markakis8 said:

We didn't want to give 4 years to Miller, why would we Britton? 

As I stated in the offseason after CD's greatest offensive year 3 years ago, now is the time to trade him and it will NOT hurt our team in the slightest. The ceiling doesn't get any higher than this. We missed a great opportunity not trading CD that offseason. We can easily slide Givens or Brach into the closer role, There will always be some young flamethrower to slide into the closer role. 

I have no problem dangling Britton  as trade bait, and agree that he'll never have a year as good as last year.    But let's not kid ourselves that we don't lose anything by replacing Britton with "some young flamethrower."    If it was that easy, then Britton wouldn't have immense trade value.    The average save rate for closers last year (top 30 in saves) was 86%.   Britton's been at 90, 90 and 100% in his three years as our closer.   Trading him will hurt our bullpen, period, full stop.    It's just a matter of whether we could get enough in return to justify it.    

[Redskins Rick]

1 hour ago, Frobby said:

I have no problem dangling Britton  as trade bait, and agree that he'll never have a year as good as last year.    But let's not kid ourselves that we don't lose anything by replacing Britton with "some young flamethrower."    If it was that easy, then Britton wouldn't have immense trade value.    The average save rate for closers last year (top 30 in saves) was 86%.   Britton's been at 90, 90 and 100% in his three years as our closer.   Trading him will hurt our bullpen, period, full stop.    It's just a matter of whether we could get enough in return to justify it.    

I agree, trade him, if you are offered the world, but keep in mind, that is a big spot you have to replace.

They didnt go 4 years with Miller, I believe, because they already had Britton and ODay. IMO