Monday, August 10, 2009
Brewers scrambling to stay relevant with Weathers trade
Posted by Evan BrunellAt 55-56, the Milwaukee Brewers are on the fringes of both the division and wild card race, six back of both leaders.
The Brewers have had a tough go of it this year, losing second baseman Rickie Weeks and being unable to shore up their concerning lack of starting pitching depth. An uninspiring deadline trade brought Claudio Vargas to town to help address this issue, but improvement was still needed.
Former Brewer David Weathers (1998-2001) will come in and try to give the Brew Crew a shot in the arm out of the bullpen. Weathers has spent the last five years in Cincinnati and has served an underappreciated and undervalued role as a primary setup man/pinch-closer. In 2007, he saved 33 games while leading baseball in 60 games finished.
The Brewers certainly aren't going to win the division or wild card based on the addition of Weathers alone, but an incremental upgrade is better than no upgrade at all.
Evan Brunell is currently editor of Fire Brand of the American League, a Red Sox blog he began in 2003. He also scores games at Fenway Park for MLB. He was the co-founder and president of MVN, an independent sports media web site.
What exactly did he cost? Equipment money or a AA guy the club has given up on that is probably likely to be more useful as a bat boy?
Yeah… not earth shattering but definitely not going to kill the team in payroll or talent.
Good for the Reds to free up money to pay for that awful Rolen contract they just saddled themselves with!