Quake Griffin wrote:speak on them.
It was more of a hypothetical than having something specifically in mind. However, in addition to pursuing Shohei Otani, my long-term plan is to sign Manny Machado and possibly even Bryce Harper during the winter 2018 free agency period. Obviously, we can't count on getting any one of those big-time players--nevermind all three--but I'd be making moves with that grand scheme in mind.
For instance, if the Orioles are resigned to the eventuality of losing Machado, then I'd trade both Verdugo and Calhoun easily to jump start the process. It'd very likely take more than that to acquire him but I'd weigh that against just waiting out the process and signing him outright as a free agent after next season.
At the same time, acquiring Braun doesn't really keep us from fulfilling my free-agency aspirations since he doesn't play the same position as any of those aforementioned players, is willing to change positions, and we should have the payroll flexibility to accommodate him provided that the Brewers eat half of his contract.
I'm more willing to stick with the club as is since we have a Bellinger close to being ready and are primed to make a big splash in the highly anticipated free agent class of 2018. Of course, if a Mike Trout were to be made available, I'd unload the farm for him, which is a different position I started out with based on the realization that the Angels should be able to easily shop him to other clubs; my previous position was based on their need for quality prospects and that the Dodgers are one of the few organizations with the kind of depth to invigorate the Angels' barren developmental pipeline...but I digress.
Bellinger and Harper (should we eventually sign him) do nothing to address our need for right-handed power bats, which makes Machado the #1 target. Otani would also be 1a or 1b but our imposed restrictions for international signings make him an unlikelier possibility. In any case and hypothetically speaking, I'd rather go after Andrew McCutcheon than Ryan Braun with all things being equal.
We should be good enough to compete for a World Series title right now, so I'm not inclined to make a big move unless it's a no-brainer, so with that in mind, I'd rather save our bullets (prospects) for such a trade.
