Editorials

Dodgers Rumors: LA Still Interested in Brewers’ Ryan Braun

The Los Angeles Dodgers added to their rotation depth on Monday and now are looking to add to their lineup. Ryan Braun maybe the answer to the Dodgers’ problem with left-handed pitching, according to Jon Paul Morosi of MLB Network. Last season, the club had a MLB-low .623 OPS while the Dodgers were trying to acquire the MLB veteran.

Compared to the Dodgers .625 OPS in the 2017 season, so far, Braun has a career 1.029 OPS against left-handed pitching.

In the case of Ryan Braun, he has two dates that will determine this future in the Majors.

  • May 24
  • July 31

The Dodgers are one out of six teams in the majors that can acquire Braun “without his permission.” After May 24, Braun will officially have 10 years under his belt “and the complete no-trade protection that comes with 10-and-5 rights,” said Morosi.

“Last year [the no-trade clause] was relatively significant because the trade almost happened and there were conversations about how we would address that,” Braun told MLB.com on Wednesday. “Other than that, I don’t think it’s really going to be much of a factor at all. I have such a great relationship with [Brewers owner] Mark Attanasio, [general manager] David Stearns and [assistant general manager] Matt Arnold. We’re all really on the same page when it comes to my situation.”

[graphiq id=”aKobyavJI8Z” title=”Ryan Braun 2017 Complete Batting Splits” width=”640″ height=”603″ url=”https://w.graphiq.com/w/aKobyavJI8Z” ]

Braun has real estate in the Los Angeles area and is “comfortable” with playing in Southern California, according to Morosi. Braun and the Brewer’s management has had talks about this possible trade and knows that there will be no surprises.

“It’s something I greatly appreciate,” Braun said. “It’s not something they needed to do, by any means. It’s something that meant a lot to me. It was a unique position to be in.”

“More than anything, it gives me perspective on what everybody else deals with, [players] who’ve been through it multiple times and had no idea it was coming. I couldn’t imagine — for other guys who have families, who have wives, who have children in schools — have to uplift their lives and move somewhere else… It gave me greater appreciation of how fortunate I’ve been to spend my first 11 [season] in the big leagues with the same organization.”

The Brewers picked Braun in the 1st round (5th overall) in 2015 and has exceeded expectations. Braun, 33, has 287 home runs, 941 RBIs, and 182 stolen bases with a line of .304/.366./.910 in his career with the Brewers.

The Mission Hills native won the NL Rookie of the Year award in 2007 and the NL MVP Award in 2011. The 6-time All-Star and 5-time NL Silver Slugger Award winner was suspended 65 games in the 2013 season for violating the Major League Baseball’s Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program.

But if the Dodgers do sign Braun, we will have to wait to see if he can be an asset to the Dodgers lineup and in the outfield.

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