Counsell: Braun’s our left fielder

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. — If Craig Counsell was simply saying what a manager has to say in these situations, he did so very convincingly when the prospect of a Ryan Braun trade was raised during a wide-ranging question and answer session on Wednesday at the Winter Meetings.

“I hope he’s the left fielder. I’m planning on him being the left fielder,” Counsell said.

Is everybody in the Brewers’ Winter Meetings suite in agreement on that?

“Yeah, I mean, he’s our left fielder,” Counsell said. “I don’t see anything changing.”

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On one hand, what else was Counsell to say? Braun is the Brewers’ left fielder, signed for four more years and $76 million. He is coming off a healthy and productive season in which he reached 30 home runs for the first time since 2012 and ranked in the National League’s top 10 with a .903 OPS. Next May, he will achieve 10 years of Major League service, all with the Brewers, who drafted him fifth overall in 2005.

On the other hand, Counsell’s comments carried weight since he had spent parts of two days listening to ideas and proposals bounce around the Brewers’ suite with general manager David Stearns and other club officials.

The factors that make Braun so valuable to the Brewers also comprise a compelling argument to trade him while his value is at its peak and while Stearns can still send him to one of six teams not on Braun’s no-trade list. That list has changed since the end of the …

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