Braun waits to see if he'll remain with Brewers

At present, all is quiet on the Ryan Braun trade front.

The question is: Will it stay that way all winter?

Braun made his annual Thanksgiving trip to take part Wednesday morning in the Milwaukee Brewers’ food drive at Miller Park, in conjunction with the Hunger Task Force.

The topic of possibly being traded could not be avoided by the just-turned 33-year-old outfielder.

“It complicates things, for sure,” said Braun, who has a wife and two young children to consider after the birth of son Greyson in September. “It does for anybody who has kids and anything going on outside of the baseball field.

“As far as not knowing 100% where we’ll be playing, it definitely complicates things. My top priority in life is them and making sure they are comfortable. So, if things come up, it’s a part of the business, part of the profession. If something were to happen, we’d figure it out when we got there.”

Braun knows he came close to being traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers on Aug. 31 because the club kept him apprised of talks that broke off before the midnight deadline for post-season eligibility. Those talks led to the common perception that the teams are destined to re-engage on Braun, but it hasn’t happened yet.

Braun revealed that he made one change on his no-trade list after the season but wouldn’t reveal the team he substituted. The previous list allowed trades without his permission to the Dodgers, Angels, Giants, Diamondbacks, Padres and Marlins. Braun, who lives in Malibu, Calif., played college ball at Miami but might have changed that team because it is so far from his growing family.

Braun said he knew things were quiet on the trade front because he had not heard from general manager David Stearns, who also was on hand for the food drive.

“I think if anything gets more serious, we’ll have more contact,” Braun said. “We’ve stayed in general contact but nothing along those lines has come up where we’d need to have a conversation about it.”

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Beyond Braun’s significant no-trade protection, his contract makes any trade difficult to negotiate. He has four years and $76 million guaranteed remaining on a five-year extension, though $14 million is deferred to future years. There were health concerns as well after back surgery in October 2015 but Braun enjoyed a productive season over 135 games (.903 OPS, 30 HRs, 91 RBI) and said Wednesday he “felt great.”

Stearns said he understood the possibility of a Braun trade is a popular topic on the hot stove circuit but indicated no talks had progressed with any club.

“I’m very happy that Ryan is a member of the Milwaukee Brewers,” Stearns said. “I expect him to be a member of the Milwaukee Brewers going forward.”

Asked later if that meant he didn’t expect to trade Braun, Stearns said, “Nothing has changed. Unless we get to a point where we are close to a deal, I’ll continue to expect Ryan to be part of the organization going forward.”

As for the likelihood of any personnel moves in the coming days, Stearns said, “I don’t know that we’re on the cusp of doing anything. But we’re certainly having substantive dialogue.

“We’ll do our best to push the agenda forward and contribute to the organization where we can. We have very clearly defined goals in what we want to do.”

Braun is the last man standing in terms of established regulars after a slew of trades since July 2015, mostly for minor-league prospects. He realizes it might make sense for the club to maximize his value in terms of future talent as well but said the Brewers are doing things right during this rebuilding process.

“I said at the end of the year it’s exciting to look at our future and see where we’re headed,” Braun said. “Clearly, they have a vision and a plan. I think that was the most important thing coming in, to be able to stick to that plan and recognize the most important thing was to get it right, and not to try to rush it.

“I’m sure they’re going to try to do everything they’ve had planned to put us in the best long-term position to be successful.”

Only time will tell if Braun remains in those plans for the future.