The Brew Haus - Brewers Land Torres, Winter Meetings Roundup
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The Milwaukee Brewers traded for a Pittsburgh Pirate on Thursday, but it wasn't the one I was hoping for.
The Brewers dealt a pair of minor league relievers in exchange for right-handed reliever Salomon Torres from the Pirates in a move yet again made to solidify the bullpen.
Torres is another power arm among the many the Brewers have been acquiring in light of the loss of closer Francisco Cordero. They had previously traded for Guillermo Mota from the New York Mets and signed David Riske, most recently of the Kansas City Royals in hopes of giving the club options should Derrick Turnbow not work out in his return to the closer role.
The Brewers landed Torres by dealing two mostly unknown relief prospects, Marino Salas and Kevin Roberts.
Milwaukee hopes Torres can put his feuds with his former club behind him and become a valuable part of a bullpen in need of some help.
Winter Meetings Roundup: The Brewers were among some of the biggest rumors in the winter meetings when word broke about a possible deal that had Chris Capuano headed to St. Louis for Scott Rolen, but the deal never came to fruition for a number of reasons.
First, the Brewers were hesitant about Rolen's health and, therefore, the amount of money they were going to have to pay him if he continues to struggle with injuries, and second, Cardinals' new GM John Mozeliak was sketchy about trading within the division.
However, Tony La Russa made no secret of his ongoing feud with Rolen, scathing the third basemen publicly during the meetings, so Rolen is obviously still on the trade blocks, but whether he comes to Milwaukee is another question entirely.
Another rumor that never developed was of another blockbuster that would've sent Ben Sheets and Bill Hall to the Los Angeles Dodgers for Andre Ethier and Matt Kemp. According to GM Doug Melvin, the first he had heard of the trade was when Boston Red Sox GM Theo Epstein congratulated him on getting the deal done after seeing it in USA Today.
Melvin insists Sheets' name didn't pop up in any of his discussions, though he did sit down with Dodgers officials.
Still Shopping: With neither of those trades apparently happening, the Brewers are still in need of help at either third base or left field, and one name on the list is Philadelphia Phillies' second baseman Tadahito Iguchi, who was firmly declining the notion of moving to third base but has since relaxed his position, now saying that he would be open to the possibility.
Melvin said that Iguchi is on the shopping list, but because of the position switch -- and the subsequent switch to left field NL Rookie of the Year Ryan Braun would have to make -- the Brewers are viewing Iguchi as a last resort if nothing else can be done to fill the hole.
Zduriencik Honored: Brewers' scouting director Jack Zduriencik was named Baseball America's Executive of the Year, the first time a non-GM has ever won the award.
Zduriencik, a holdover from the pre-Melvin era, is responsible for drafting several of the young talent the Brewers debuted in 2007, such as Corey Hart (11th round, 2000), J.J. Hardy (second round, 2001), Prince Fielder (first round, 2002), Rickie Weeks (first round, 2003), Yovani Gallardo (second round, 2004), and Ryan Braun (first round, 2005), as well as two other prospects expected to rise to the majors in 2008 in Manny Parra (26th round, 2001) and Tony Gwynn, Jr. (second round, 2003).
Zduriencik's latest addition to a growing list, outfielder Matt LaPorta, was just named the Brewers' top prospect and is expected to begin the season in Double-A Hunstville.
Based on his accomplishments, expect Zduriencik to be high on the list of future GM candidates.
- Corey Kempf covers the Milwaukee Brewers beat for ArmchairGM. His other Brew Haus entries can be found here.
