Saying El Ca-Bye-O: The Perspective from Milwaukee
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by user Coreyisarealboy
I had faith in Brewers' GM Doug Melvin. He was the one, after all, that gave us one of the ultimate steal trades of all time, sending Richie Sexson to the Arizona Diamondbacks for Chris Capuano, Lyle Overbay, Junior Spivey, Chad Moeller, Craig Counsell and Jorge De La Rosa. Spivey, of course, was traded to bring in Tomo Ohka, and Overbay traded this offseason to bring in Dave Bush, Zach Jackson and Gabe Gross.
He was also the one that claimed a little known, bushy-haired relief pitcher whose only prior claim to fame was being the first one to test positive for steroids, albeit for Olympic competition. He ended up saving 39 games for Milwaukee in 2005.
Melvin also brought in Doug Davis and overhauled the farm system to the tune of guys like Rickie Weeks, Prince Fielder and Tony Gwynn Jr.. Along with those guys, players like Yovani Gallardo and Carlos Villanueva are making him seem like even more of a genius.
Last but certainly not least, Melvin gave the Brewers (and their fans) Carlos Lee, and along with Lee came hope. Not the same kind of hope that the Weekses and Fielders bring, the hope that it wasn't always going to be about next year or two years from now.
So when Lee was abruptly (I say abruptly because of the fact Melvin had been laughing at the idea for months) traded to Texas on Friday, my jaw dropped. Then when I read that they had included Nelson Cruz in the deal, my jaw dropped some more. Then I saw who the Brewers received in return for Lee and Cruz, and my jaw dropped even more. Hell, by the time I was done reading the article you could've driven a bus through my mouth (and I was hoping someone would, but we'll save that for later in this article).
The Brewers have also acquired David Bell from Philadelphia and Tony Graffanino from the Royals, suggesting that they are not sellers but buyers at the trade deadline, so why give up their best power (and possibly overall) hitter?
It's simple really, the Brewers obviously weren't going to be able to sign Lee for the $15 million a year he was demanding. Had they held him until the end of the year and allowed him to test the free agent market, his price would've no doubt gone even higher than that, which it still will if the Rangers allow him to become a free agent. This gave them absolutely no shot in signing him.
So rather than part with him and get nothing in return, they got two major leaguers in Kevin Mench and Francisco Cordero, one supposed major league-ready outfielder in Laynce Nix, and another young arm (Julian Cordero) to fit in with the rest of the stockpiled young arms in the farm system.
In Mench, the Brewers receive a decent outfielder who will replace Lee in left. In the elder Cordero, they get bullpen help, although his nine blown saves suggest otherwise. In Nix, they receive a one highly-touted prospect. In the young Cordero, the Brewers bolster their pitching depth in a minor league system that already boasts the likes of Zach Jack, Carlos Villanueva, and Yovani Gallardo.
It's obvious the Brewers believe that the pitching was the problem. They wanted an extra, experienced arm in the bullpen for the times when they are clinging to (and more often than not giving up) one run leads.
My question is this: If the Brewers were so worried about clinging to one run leads, why in the world would they give up the one guy who has been ensuring larger than one run leads all season, especially when they have a guy on the other side of the outfield who has been doing all he can to keep games close?
Yes, Geoff Jenkins is utterly useless, and his $7 million salary does nothing more than confirm that statement. Friday night, the Brewers' corner outfielders went a combined 0-for-7. Jenkins is now batting a scorching .262 and has 97 strikeouts already this season, well on his way to his most productive season in that category.
Oh, but Jenkins is still in Milwaukee, and what really makes his continuous presence in right field a head-scratcher is that Melvin included Cruz in the deal. I was anxiously awaiting the day that Cruz, a 26-year-old right fielder who was batting .302 with 20 homers and 73 runs batted in at Triple-A Nashville, would assume the role of starting right fielder in Milwaukee, relieving the incompetent Jenkins of his duties.
Sadly, that day will now never come. Jenkins is the longest tenured Brewer, having been with the team since he was brought up from the minors in 1998. If there is one thing I've learned from watching the subsequent seven seasons, it's that those years, and the players responsible for them, should be left behind.
Jenkins couldn't be moved somehow? I mean, the Pirates wouldn't even budge? Oh yeah, that's right, they've already got a former Brewer right-fielder screwing up their lineup.
However, releasing Jenkins' salary could've meant the resigning of Lee and the opportunity for Cruz. Now, I'm left to wonder if the Brewers are in love with Jenkins and the way he's been loyal to the team. Some may even call him the face of the franchise. Is that supposed to be a compliment? The face of a franchise that hasn't had a winning season in 14 years.
It's possible, however, that the Brewers are not interested in keeping Jenkins around either. After all, Corey Hart is available to replace him. It's possible that the dealing of Cruz opened the door for Hart to take sole responsibility for claiming the position once Jenkins is gone. The Brewers do have Gwynn and Gross to be backups or future starters as well.
If this is the case, the Brewers may still have to ride out Jenkins' salary for another year, delaying the impact of Hart or Gwynn or Gross. Melvin has infinite patience it seems. By contrast, his fans do not. After 14 years, we are still seeing the promise of the season fall by the wayside. We are seeing our team act like buyers, but look like sellers.
But it's almost certain now that the only thing left to be accomplished at the trade deadline is to acquire more pitching, because the offense that Melvin has assembled (or disassembled depending upon how you look at it) sure doesn't look to be able to score a whole lot of runs.
If the only reason to like this trade, as a milwaukeebrewers.com online poll would suggest, is because the Brewers got something in return rather than nothing, I'm not prepared to like it. There were better ways.
Unless nothing short of a miracle happens in Milwaukee, this team is done for the rest of the season, and there is nobody else to blame but the Doug Melvin, the same man so many Brewers fans have put our undying faith in for the last few years. Jenkins better be on his way out as well, or I'm becoming a Twins fan.
Date
Fri 07/28/06, 10:05 pm EST
