Should the Brewers trade their Veteran Pieces?

With the Brewers going into a bit of a rebuilding mode over the next few years, the question right now is what are they going to do with some of their more experienced veterans. We're talking about guys like outfielder Ryan Braun, catcher Jonathon Lucroy, shortstop Jean Segura and starting pitcher Matt Garza. When you look at those three pieces, the hardest to trade is Ryan Braun, who just entering his $100 million plus dollar extension over the next five years. For the Brewers, you probably cannot find a team that would be willing to take on that much money in the process. In my opinion, the Brewers are going to have to deal with having Braun on the team next few years instead of dealing him. Honestly, they need him in the lineup because it adds some much added power to the lineup. If you were to take him out of the line up, you would lose a big of your productivity as an offense. Right now in that lineup, the Brewers' biggest bats are Khris Davis (who is coming off a 20+ home run season), Domingo Santana (who has the potential to put the same numbers Davis put up last year), and Chris Carter (over his last three seasons with the Astros, Carter has hit 90 home runs). To me, if you trade away Braun that loses a lot of what the Brewers built for, which is to hit the home run ball. Those bats I mentioned may not be as dangerous as Braun, Fielder, Hart, Hardy, and Weeks, but they'll still hit plenty of home runs out of Miller Park. The other thing that makes me envision Braun being with the Brewers over the next few years is that you have the option to move him to another position, and I do think this has the potential and I'll say why. The Brewers have another outfielder waiting in the wings in Brett Phillips, and what I think could happen down the line is this. Brett Phillips will eventually man center field. Khris Davis stays in left and Domingo Santana, who is a better corner outfielder than center fielder moves to right. This will make it possible for Braun to move to either second or first base. We know it won't be third because he has already stated that he is against that. The other thing with this and it is uncertain right now is that you don't know if Chris Carter will end up being a two to three year piece at first base for the Brewers. That remains to be seen because if he has a great season his first year in Milwaukee, they could give him a longer deal. If not, it will open up that possibility to move Braun there. Now onto Lucroy and Segura. These two guys are expendable right now especially Segura. The Brewers are absolutely loaded at the shortstop position in their minor league system with Luis Sardinas along with phenom Orlando Arcia waiting in the wings. The question right now with Segura is when you call up Arcia what are they going to do with him. Most likely they would probably end up platooning him with Gennett, Villar, Eric Young Jr. and Perez at second base. Those five guys all together are such a head scratcher because Gennett can't hit lefties to save his life right now. Hernan Perez we haven't seen that much of since he has only played one year in the majors. The Brewers haven't seen what they can get out of Villar and Young yet. So it just makes it such a mess of inconsistency at that spot if you were call up Arcia and move Segura to that spot. In Segura's case, it would be the best thing at some point to move him once you decide to go with Arcia. With Lucroy however, he is one where I would consider trying to move him either now or at the deadline. Jonathon Lucroy has proven that he is one of the best catchers in all of baseball and he has stated recently that he thinks it is in the best interest for them to trade him to a contender and I don't blame him. Lucroy is getting up to his thirties and his window going to close at some point at getting a World Series title. That most likely won't happen with the Brewers because they aren't building for now like they have in the past. The Brewers are quite a ways away from battling for being at the top of the N.L. Central. It is the best thing for them to trade him this year than have him not enjoy being on the team. Lucroy just came out said that he thinks the next few years if he's there aren't going to be that fun. I don't blame him because it is a hard thing to be on a team that is in a rebuilding mode. Trading Segura and Lucroy will really help the Brewers in the long run because they'll get something in return that could be big down the line. As for Garza, in my opinion, I just want him gone and off this team. Yes, I agree he can help provide leadership to the young arms in the starting rotation, but I just think it is better to have this young rotation of Jimmy Nelson, Wily Peralta, Taylor Jungmann, Zach Davis, Ariel Pena and the other young guys to go learn on go and develop together. I look at those guys and see them as decent rotation without him because they have some good young guys there. Garza just like Lucroy doesn't want to be there. He wants to be with a contender. The last thing you want with this Brewers club is having some guys mope and not want to be there. Garza moped about it at the end of last year. Honestly, he has been a waste of a contract with the Brewers, and I know some people will disagree with this statement.  I think his deal is right up there with the Jeff Suppan's deal from 2007. He isn't as bad as Suppan was it just hasn't panned out the way the Brewers wanted to at all. When they signed him that it was going deepen the rotation they had then with Gallardo and Lohse in it and I thought realistically he was a guy that could put up 14-18 wins and maybe get into the CY Young conversation. That hasn't happened at all the first two years of this deal. He's had good outings just the numbers aren't there in some cases. The problem for the Brewers right now with Garza is finding a suitor to take him, and that is the same thing with Braun's deal. That is the case when you commit so much money to one player, it screws you over on the trade side of things if you so choose to deal them at some point. So with that being said getting rid of some of the veterans on this team could pay some dividends for them in the long run at developing another run at a playoff push in the near future.