"It's probably not going to happen."

Thank God!

As a result of speculative circumstances, it appears that the whole "Mike Cameron for Melky Cabrera and possibly some sucky Japanese guy" deal has been declared dead. Mike Cameron is going to be back as a Brewer in 2009.

You all know where I stand on this. I'm jumping in my cubicle this morning. I never liked the deal to begin with. Mike Cameron is a damn good baseball player. Good D. Hits bombs. Good in the clubhouse. Runs well. Veteran. All that jazz. He was the starting CF for a playoff team last year, and well...I wasn't looking forward to a decrease in production from that spot, which is what Melky Cabrera would have been.

So now it's starting to look like all the Brewers position players (again, from the PLAYOFF team that won 91 games last year) will be coming back. Sure there may be a minor change (Hall platooned with Lamb...maybe Gamel fills in somewhere) but basically it's the same core of our nucleus players with good veterans in key spots and in the backup positions.

It's been beaten to death...but this team needs a starting pitcher. Everything you read has Melvin quoting the market is drying up...they're going to wait until mid-January...everybody needs starting pitching...etc.

It's funny how 1 guy/1 position could potentially swing things. As the roster stands right now, the Brewers (barring injury) are probably an 80-85 win team. Depending on who (if) they get as an additional starting pitcher, that will determine if they can jump back into the 85-90 win range...which is playoff range.

Again...get to work Doug. In Doug I trust.

Doug Melvin Trade History

MLB Trade Rumors has a history of all of Doug Melvin's trades, both as GM of Texas and Milwaukee.

Interesting to scroll through these. Melvin has traded lots of big names during his tenure as GM of the two clubs: Jose Canseco, Ryan Dempster, Juan Gonzalez, Andres Gallaraga, Richie Sexson, Carlos Lee, Alex Sanchez, etc.

As I look back through these during his Brewers days, the only two trades I don't like are the trade for Estrada with Arizona, and the trade for Linebrink with the Padres.

And Doug has made some absolute dandies. The Sexson trade, obviously, given the situation the franchise was in at the time, is probably his best deal. He got lots of useful major leaguers for Sexson, whom he traded at the absolute peak of his value.

Other trades that I particularly liked - the trade for Carlos Lee, the trade for Villanueva, the trade for Brian Shouse, and the trade for Mota (K bye, Estrada). Getting cash for Manny Alexander was a prety good trick. Oh, and that CC trade was OK too.

All in all a pretty solid record in Milwaukee.

Mother Hen Still Sitting On His Draft Picks

Ted Thompson (pictured above, protecting precious 4th round draft picks) wouldn't give up a second round pick for 3 years of Tony Gonzalez.

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According to Bob McGinn:

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This was another example of Thompson’s unwillingness to pull the trigger on a blockbuster trade to obtain another weapon on offense.

In 2006, Thompson had the chance to send a high draft choice to San Diego Chargers for running back Michael Turner.

A year later, Thompson didn’t push hard enough to get wide receiver Randy Moss under contract and watched the New England Patriots acquire him from the Oakland Raiders for a fourth-round selection.

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He'll probably find a guy better than Tony Gonzalez in next year's 2nd round.

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I know I just broke my self-imposed ban on Packers posts, but I couldn't pass up the chance to use the mother hen analogy.

Cubs Add Harden, Supplement Medical Budget

Chicago responded to Milwaukee's addition of CC Sabathia by trading for Rich Harden and Chad Gaudin in exchange for 4 players, 3 of whom have spent time on the Cubs 25-man roster this year. I assume Gallagher and Patterson were the keys to the deal from Oakland's perspective.

This is a calculated gamble by Chicago, which was already a good team without Harden or the 4 players that they gave up (these were bench guys for them right now). Harden can be wicked when healthy, but he's also been on the DL 6 times.

I thought this was a funny quote from Cubs GM Jim Hendry about Harden's injury history:

"Obviously there's some risk involved. He's missed some time but he's never had any surgery," Hendry said. "We did extensive work with their doctors."

Here's a reasonable guess about what Oakland's doctors said to the Cubs:

"Yeah, sure, Rich is fit as a fiddle, no problems there, I'd do the deal, you bet...."

Get Catering On the Phone - We Need To Supplement the Usual Order

The 1,501st post on this modest blog is a noteworthy one:

The CC Sabathia deal is done, according to Tom Haudricourt.

Sabathia will be in the starting rotation on Tuesday at Miller Park against the Rockies. That's Manny Parra's normal turn, so I'm sure there will be some re-jiggering of the starters. Has Bushie pitched well enough to save his spot as a starter? Does McClung go back to long relief, on account of his dead arm? Will the Brewers un-retire Capellan's #52?

So many questions.

The Boo Birds were out last night!

Last night I led a dominating performance in the Tosa Men's softball league in which my team took down the undefeated team sponsored by Colonel Hart's by doing a massive infield shift on their 4 large left-handed middle of the order beasts.

Then I remembered I write for a Brewer Blog and figured I should go to the game.

We arrived in the 3rd. The Red-headed step child had already gotten out of a couple jams. My buddies who were already there let me know..."wait until Bill Hall comes up again...you'll love it."

He was booed. I saw a few random guys standing up and clapping, but the overall crowd booed Bill Hall. Indeed...I did love it.

Here are my last official comments regarding this whole "want to be traded thing:"

Bill Hall has no proverbial legs to stand on here. He's sucked this year. I'm not linking any numbers anymore because we've already beaten it to death. Dude just can't hit right now...ESPECIALLY against right-handed pitching.

So what happens? With a Brewer team that is in a "win-now" mode struggling to find offense...they bring up a guy who is raking in AAA to spell Bill Hall. Hall is pissed (naturally). Yost claims its not a strict platoon, basically stating that he will play who is hot. Right now...Branyan is "hot." Hall is not. It's that simple Bill. The Brewers want to win.

Within 10 days of Branyan being called up, Bill Hall demands a trade. Unbelievable. Right in the middle of the season. Right in the middle of a WINNING STREAK. Remember in the middle of 06 when Yost starting "platooning" Jenkins & Corey Hart? Jenkins was pissed. He stated he wanted to be an everyday player. He had been in the Brewer system for 10 years or whatever. DID HE EVER DEMAND A TRADE? NO.

It's not like we DFA'd Hall. We just told him we need guys in the lineup that produce. He wasn't producing. A classy ballplayer would have gotten a huge chip on his shoulder and work his way back as the everyday player. Not Bill Hall though. He felt in his twisted mind that the Brewers "owed" him the everyday spot at third, since they've never given him a shot to prove he can play a single position. How quickly he forgets the $24 Million dollar guaranteed deal that the Brewers gave him.

So the man who is batting .228 demands a trade. His agent thinks the Brewers could "get a good pitcher" for him. Who is more drunk? Hall or his agent? A "good" pitcher?? Freaking who? Ben Hendrickson? Victor Santos? Dude is owed 15 million after this year? What team is going to trade a "good" pitcher to take that contract on? Give me a break.

The whole situation just stinks. It really does. It's ridiculous, laughable, and bothersome all at once.

So we end up back at Miller Park. Bill Hall was once the fan favorite. Drafted and brought up by the team. Superman. Can play anywhere. Team player. Team MVP. Bill Hall chants were prevalent all over the stadium.

Not anymore. Now he gets booed. Congratulations Bill, you are officially an asshole.

This Outfield Only Has Room for One Gabe

On a day when Gabe Gross had his best game of the season and scored the winning run in an extra-innings affair against St. Louis, we learn that he has been traded to the Tampa Bay Rays for a Class A pitcher carrying a 6.35 ERA. I can only assume that this means that Tony Gwynn Jr. is set to re-join Milwaukee in time for tomorrow's game.

Thus ends Team Gabe - I maintain that those of us brave enough to listen to/watch that game today saw history: It must have been the first time in MLB history that two guys named Gabe batted back-to-back in the lineup and played next to each other in the outfield of a major league game.

Good luck in Tampa, Gabe.

EDIT:

I did some quick searching about the prospect that Milwaukee got from Tampa. Here's what a Rays Blog had to say about pitcher Josh Butler before the season started.

Talk about a tale of two seasons. Butler had arguably the best numbers of a very talented Columbus Catfish staff, but got called up to Vero Beach toward the end of June and simply got rocked, missed nearly a month of starts, came back and was slightly more effective.
The University of San Diego product was a surprise 2nd-rounder in 2006, as his draft stock had been falling in concert with his productivity, which sparked concerns over his durability. At his best, Butler throws a low-90s fastball with good sinking actions as well as two serviceable breaking pitches and a changeup. But something really got out of whack in Vero Beach: In 49 innings there, he allowed 9 homeruns. In his previous 357 innings(combined college and pro), he allowed a total of 13.

Before the 2006 draft, BaseballAmerica mentioned that a taxing delivery might be to be blame for his decline over the course of his junior year. The report was that he didn't incorporate his lower body enough, and that's practically inviting an arm injury. Judging from the poor 2nd-half statistics and the time missed, I'd say the concerns over his delivery are as alive as ever. Part of the decline can be chalked up to being promoted a level, but the sharp HR rate increase makes me think it's something else, such as not finishing on his delivery and leaving more balls up.
2007 was the second straight year Butler underwhelmed toward the end. I can probably be accused of saying this too much, but I think it applies to Butler perhaps more than anyone: I think he should make a move to the bullpen. If it is a durability issue, limiting his innings could help. Also, if efforts are made to clean up his delivery, pitching in shorter spurts might allow him to better focus on incorporating those changes.

Then again, perhaps his poor finish was a result of the injury(I can't for the life of me find out why he missed those 3-4 starts). He was dominant in his final outing(7 innings, 2 hits, 7 strikeouts), so it might be best to see if a fully healthy Butler can be successful in Vero Beach as a starter. Either way, VB is almost certain to be where he opens 2008, and he's still got plenty to prove.