Jonathan Lucroy wants Brewers to trade him to a contender
Veteran catcher Jonathan Lucroy wants the Milwaukee Brewers to trade him to a contending team, he told Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
“I’m not going to sit here and say we’re going to compete for the playoffs this year,” Lucroy said. “If I did that, you’d call me a liar. I’d lose credibility and respect.
“I want to win and I don’t see us winning in the foreseeable future. I want to go to a World Series. That’s what all players want. Rebuilding is not a lot of fun for any veteran guy.”
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Lucroy, a six-year veteran who will turn 30 in June, posted diminished numbers in 2015 after his first All-Star season the year before. In 2014 he hit .301 with an .837 OPS and finished fourth in MVP voting, while in 2015 his batting average dropped to .264 and he played in 50 fewer games as he spent time on the disabled list with a concussion and broken toe.
As the Brewers embark on their reconstruction efforts after going 68–94 last season—tied for fourth-worst in the league—Lucroy hopes to take his skills to a team that can benefit from them while he still has them.
“Yeah, absolutely. I want to win,” Lucroy said. “It’s not guaranteed that I’m going to win if I am traded. But I’m going to be a 30-year-old catcher. I can’t put numbers on how much longer I’m going to play, but as players we want to win. I don’t care about the money; I just want to win. That’s the bottom line.”
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Lucroy clarified he has not demanded a trade from newly hired general manager David Stearns, though he has been a subject of trade talks with two years left on the $11 million contract he signed in 2011.
Brewers pitchers and catchers report for spring training on Feb. 19.
- Erin Flynn
