So here's what I'm thinking. I've heard that Milwaukee might be going after Hamilton this winter. Which might mean this is as good a time as any to go after Braun. So why not package Andrus, Olt and Perez together with one or two other pieces and see if we can make a deal. The combined savings Milwaukee recieves would help them sign Hamilton plus they would get insurance for the perpetually injured Aramis Rameirez at 3rd and a backup for Cory Hart at first in Olt. A future #2-#3 rotation arm with lots of service time in Perez. All to go along with one of the top SS in the game in Andrus. Their infield would feature Rameirez, Andrus, Weeks and Hart. Not to mention being able to plug Hamilton into the outfield.

The Rangers would get their Hamilton replacement for the next few years and still should have enough room in the budget to add Greinke to without topping the $135 mil mark.

So how bout it?

Pretty sure the point of them getting Hambone is to pair him with Braun

yeah.... love the enthusiasm arp but no

The Rangers would get their Hamilton replacement for the next few years YOU have to be kidding, he is no replacement for Hamilton, as a CF, yes, but hide his bat... wow. this dude has NO power..

yeah, sounds great for Milwaukee

Based on your 2 posts I've seen, are the meds kicking in this afternoon? By NO power, are you implying Braun has NO power? 41 & 33 HR & OPS north of .900 in back to back seasons implies power to me.
My little foray into this allows me to state the VERY obvious, this will never happen in a million years, not even in a Bizarro Universe. I agree with the above statement, pretty sure their idea to get Hamilton is to have someone pair with Braun, not replace him.

The idea of trading for Braun is incredibly tempting, but I'm pretty sure that, if they were to even entertain such an idea, it might deplete the Rangers' farm system completely.

Perhaps the idea is to team him with Braun or perhaps its to reunite Hamilton with Narron who is seemingly the only person Josh will listen too. Frankly I don't buy the idea of Braun and Hamilton teaming up because it would put Milwaukee's salary north of $120 mil per year which isn't a number they have ever approached.

And really this idea has more to do with the return you get for Elvis anyway, because if your going to commit to sending Elvis packing in favor of Profar you damn well better get something better than Justin Upton in return. Braun is much more capable of filling the offensive void left by Hamilton than Upton is plus he is considerably cheaper than Hamilton for the next few years as well. Thus allowing the FO to continue their pursuit of Greinke.

If Milwaukee is hesitant then the Rangers can always raise the stakes seeing as they still have a top five farm system and their depth has gotten significantly better with the last several draft classes. And not saying this will or even should happen but if JD really wanted to he could probably prospect whip Milwaukee into submission.

Feliz and Joseph have this right. The point to getting Hamilton would be to pair him in the middle of the lineup with Ryan Braun. Braun has $121M of guaranteed money coming in over the next 8 seasons (~$15M AAV), which is extremely affordable if you figure he'll still be in his prime for the next 4-5 years.

It takes more than a prospect whip to acquire a perennial MVP candidate who doubles as the face of Milwaukee's franchise.

...because if [you're] going to commit to sending Elvis packing in favor of Profar you damn well better get something better than Justin Upton in return.

I don't understand when fans say things like this. Upton has yet to reach his prime and has generated 16.4 fWAR over the last 4 years. He's due a mere $38M over the next three years, so if we're talking about getting the most bang for your buck, Upton may very well add more surplus value to his contract than Braun through 2015.

I'm just not of the opinion we should trade Elvis along with a solid portion of our prospect bank for really expensive players. Upton is highly affordable, still allows us to do virtually anything we want on the free agent market, and would be a formidable MOTOB in a lineup in desperate need of one.

There is zero chance that we can get Braun. i'd like to get him. He is honestly a better player then Hamilton over all, and signed to what is more reasonable contract then he would currently sign.