JJ Hardy to Twins for Carlos Gomez

[The Truth]

"Carlos brings to our club great speed, athleticism and energy at a position that we needed to fill," said Melvin. "His defense will serve as a key component to us improving our pitching. At only 24 years of age, Carlos can further develop the offensive aspect of his game and give us a different look to our lineup."

 

He is a fantastic defensive outfielder. He had a .997 fielding percentage as a full-time starter in '08. Once considered the top prospect in the Mets system, part of the Johan Santana trade. This is no Tony Gwynn Jr here...

 

That said, I'm shocked we couldn't get more for Hardy. Evidently either we Brewers fans greatly over-value JJ Hardy or Doug Melvin is over-the-hill.

[bklynbrewcrew]

Explain to me why we would trade for a guy whose main offensive attribute is speed when he cant even get on base. Also why would we trade for speed when Macha doesnt let anyone run. JJ Hardy had to have more value than this. You must get a pitcher in return for Hardy, even a guy like Morrow who at least has upside. This is by far the worst trade Melvin has ever made.

[ryne100]

My guess is Melvin had been calling around and found there wasn't that much demand for Hardy.

It's November 6th there's still time.

[chuckiehacks]

While its nice to have money to spend on pitching, there in nothing in DM's history that gives me any confidence about how he's going to spend it. I don't think this makes us players for Lackey (and I'm not sure I'd want us to be). Maybe it gives us some flexibility in picking up a contract in a trade, but who is out there, on the trade block, with a big contract? Derek Lowe?

 

I really thought Hardy would fetch a minor league pitcher, maybe even one with some upside. Now it looks like we're going to have to get two pitchers in free agency, which means that one of the two will probably be a Mulder-type reclaimation project.

 

Not the start to the off-season I wanted.

[PrinceEatMeat]

I would have to think that Melvin is targeting someone in free agency with the money that would've been spent on Cam, and possibly the money that Looper would be getting.

[joepepsi]

It frees up a lot of cash. That has to be considered the underlying point of the deal. If they decline Looper's option that makes about $20 million to use elsewhere. Add in the $20 million they'll be free of after 2010 when Suppan and Hall are off the books, and the team has a lot more flexibility than they did going into the 2009 season. Hopefully that's used for a difference making pitcher or to extend Prince.

[Flood Pants]

I think we need to waive the "no cuss" rule for this thread.

 

Not only is the centerfield position being severely downgraded, but Cameron will likely be replaced by a pitcher who won't contribute as many wins to the club as he will. Here's to another losing season...

 

We need to find the malicious alien being who laid eggs in Melvin's brain and kill him.

[DocLuna7]

I am absolutely shocked right now. What??

[clancyphile]

It's official... Macha and Doug Melvin managed to do WORSE than the Broncos did in the Cutler fiasco.

 

ARRRGHHH!!!!!!!!!

[jlau20]

Somewhat shocking...I'm sure 99% of us thought that it would be a pitcher on the other end of a Hardy trade, regardless of who it would have been based on how much other teams think JJ can get close to those numbers from a couple years ago. I think most of us thought JJ being gone was all but a forgone conclusion...just not for Carlos Gomez.

[brewizard]

Yuck. Melvin Melvin Melvin. Mishandled Hardy.

 

Got junk.

 

Methinks Hardy will rebound nicely for Twins next year. Good luck to him.

 

Here comes Escobar...

[kramnoj]

This is no doubt disappointing. Maybe Melvin has spent the last month testing the waters with Hardy and this is the best he could get. I would be surprised if that's true, but maybe it is. I would be less disappointed if the Brewers didn't have a couple of CF prospects that could be ready in 2011 or 2012. Getting a return of Gomez when he could be replaced in a year doesn't make a lot of sense to me, and then the Brewers would be in a position of possibly selling low again a year from now.

 

I was sure that Hardy would have more trade value. Not a #2 starter as some had hoped, but I think I would prefer a cheap #4 starter over Gomez. Maybe teams are holding on so much to pitching that even that wasn't possible.

[Invader3K]

It frees up a lot of cash. That has to be considered the underlying point of the deal. If they decline Looper's option that makes about $20 million to use elsewhere. Add in the $20 million they'll be free of after 2010 when Suppan and Hall are off the books, and the team has a lot more flexibility than they did going into the 2009 season. Hopefully that's used for a difference making pitcher or to extend Prince.

This is making me think more and more that they either make a very aggressive play for John Lackey (though I think he'll end up as a Yankee), or extend Prince Fielder. I would be happy with either.

[Tailgat0r76]

It's official... Macha and Doug Melvin managed to do WORSE than the Broncos did in the Cutler fiasco.

 

ARRRGHHH!!!!!!!!!

The Bronco's are 6-1; I wouldn't hate an outcome like that...

[wibadgers23]

Wow, what a bizarre trade. I was 99.9% sure that Hardy would be traded for pitching, not a CF. It frees up a lot of money to sign a pitcher now, but the free agent market for pitchers isn't exactly stellar this year. So I wonder what the batting order will look like. Gomez leading off followed by Weeks?

[jerichoholicninja]

Could the money saved be intended for a Fielder mega-extension?

[Fatter than Joey]

By keeping Hardy in the minors exactly 20 days, the Brewers pushed back his free agency until after the 2011 season, making him more palatable in a trade.

 

I think we can put to rest the concept that demoting JJ helped his trade value.

 

Carlos brings to our club great speed, athleticism and energy at a position that we needed to fill," said Melvin. "His defense will serve as a key component to us improving our pitching

 

I doubt Gomez will be a huge improvement to our pitching over what Cameron was doing.

 

We need to find the malicious alien being who laid eggs in Melvin's brain and kill him.

 

Or just fire Melvin, I don't think the Brewers insurance plan covers egg extraction.

 

It frees up a lot of cash. That has to be considered the underlying point of the deal.

 

Hopefully this is the case, and there is no doubt that so far we are saving money -- I have an icky feeling though that the Brewers may be punting on 2010, trying to reload for a later date, and there is no reason pay guys like Cam and JJ if we are punting.

[CportBadger]

Gomez has basically the same career OBP against both lefites and righties, but has more pop against lefties. Is a platoon with Gerut possible?

[Oldcity]

I'm not sure it's all that horrible. Gomez is even better defensively than Cameron. I like that they're serious about defense. Gomez is only 23, and hit more in the minors... This could work out alright. It frees up a ton of money.

 

I will say they can't possibly re-sign Kendall now. Escobar, Gomez and Kendall in the same lineup is dreadful.

[Invader3K]

To be honest I'm scratching my head more and more at some of the reactions here.

 

Yes, I would have liked to get a bit more for Hardy...but I think Melvin probably was able to get a good assessment of what Hardy's trade value was. Just because it's "only" November 6th doesn't mean he hasn't been calling multiple teams since the off-season began.

 

What happened to all the Billy Beane worshipers around here? Melvin is doing what he probably should have done last off-season...trading rising salary guys, letting aging veterans go, and replacing them with younger cheaper players with high upside. He's going to use the savings to get starting pitching help (something he has reiterated as an obvious need this off-season). He's being more ruthless with his own players, and more aggressive in making moves so far. I like it.

[YostInfection]

Hmmm, this is an interesting quote from Haudricourt:

Gomez made $437,500 this year and I believe he qualifies for arbitration this winter exactly with the 2 years, 141 days needed for "Super 2" status.

If he's arby-eligible, that would be a bit of a downer...

[GoudaBrew]

Wow, what a bizarre trade. I was 99.9% sure that Hardy would be traded for pitching, not a CF. It frees up a lot of money to sign a pitcher now, but the free agent market for pitchers isn't exactly stellar this year. So I wonder what the batting order will look like. Gomez leading off followed by Weeks?

Gomez has a 0.292 career OBP in the majors. He'll be batting 8th (or 9th) unless he figures out how to hit and walk. Weeks will probably lead off until Escobar figures out the same. Boy this team is losing a lot of power and OB skills going from Cam/Hardy to Escobar/Gomez.

 

We can NOT afford to have Kendall in this line up too. We need a legitimate bat in there. Please give the job to Salome

 

edit: typo

[Flood Pants]

A fielder mega-extension would be a nice silver-lining to this deal. However, Melvin has stated that he's after two pitchers. We figured one would come via this trade. Who else is left to trade who we can afford to part with? So two free-agent pitchers it is... That would leave approximately negative 10 million dollars left for a fielder extension. Bad news.

[Fatter than Joey]

This is making me think more and more that they either make a very aggressive play for John Lackey

 

I don't. I don't think the $$ involved in this deal gets us significantly closer to getting Lackey

[clancyphile]

It's official... Macha and Doug Melvin managed to do WORSE than the Broncos did in the Cutler fiasco.

 

ARRRGHHH!!!!!!!!!

The Bronco's are 6-1; I wouldn't hate an outcome like that...

Is Gomez gonna blossom the way Kyle Orton did?

 

We're losing Cameron, one of the best CFs in the NL, and we dealt a guy who had been one of the best SS in the NL from 2007-2008, and who had slumped in 2009 (big variable in that one - did Ned Yost's departure hurt more than thought?).

 

Escobar may or may not be good. He's fast, but not much power, and OBP skills are lacking. Gomez is fast, and Cameron-level D, but no OBP/power.

 

Overall, this year's been a slump for Melvin. The Lopez trade stank (I'd have just called Escobar up to play second), and the Hardy situation became a year-long soap opera.

 

Shortstop was not broken after 2008. Macha and Melvin managed to take us from one of the best to a great prospect who may or may not live up to his predecessor.