Ok, so it's now no secret that JG is a large fan of the Oakland A's GM, Billy Beane, often referring to him as the smartest man in baseball. Now while I am in no way questioning his sports intelligence, I'd simply like to make a case for Milwaukee's own Doug Melvin as being mentioned in the same paragraph as Mr. Moneyball.
In case you don't know by now, the Brewers jetisoned utility man Keith Ginter last winter to the A's in exchange for two minor league prospects, OF Nelson Cruz and P Justin Lehr. Lehr was recently called up to the big leagues by the Brewers and after tearing up the AA league and appearing in the Futures Game, Cruz is now tearing up AAA. In fact, I don't think it's an exageration in the slightest to call Cruz the Brewers top prospect in their entire minor league system for anyone whose last name is not Fielder. Believe me, Cruz will be amongst the players called up when rosters are expanded in September.
Since being called up to the Nashville Sounds, he is batting .358 with four dingers and 10 RBI's in 67 AB's. The one big peg against him is that he apparently likes to strike out a lot, being K'd 16 times against drawing only 12 walks.
While Lehr certainly hasn't looked like a lights out hurler in the big leagues, as of yesterday he is carrying a 4.50 ERA through only 2 IP. He appears to have some decent stuff and is earning his stripes at this point. I don't think any Brewers fan is grumbling over having Lehr, someone with a fair amount of upside, in the bullpen instead of Tommy Phelps.
So what about Ginter you ask? Well the man Billy Beane acquired from Doug Melvin in exchange for two very legit prospects has already been sent down to AAA once this season, and is currently back with the A's, batting a paltry .168. Advantage Brewers...Big time. Keep in mind that Ginter was dead weight, pure and simple. Where would he have fit into this teams season/future in an infield already with a few log jams featuring Billy Hall, Russell Branyan and Jeff Cirillo at 3B, J.J. Hardy and Hall at SS and Rickie Weeks at 2B? Exactly, he doesn't. He probably would have been sent packing or designated for assignment at the end of spring training. How Melvin parlayed so much in return is case in point that Melvin could very well be the top GM in the game.
Now, before you all go frantically hitting the "post a comment" button, let me state that I fully understand every GM, no matter how great will take his share of lumps along the way, and that appears to have been the case here with Beane. His shrewd deals far outweigh his blunders, but make no mistake about Melvin getting so much in return from such an established baseballman.
The A's RF Swisher was batting .245 through yesterday's games. Don't you think Billy Beane might think of how nice Nelson Cruz might look in a white and green uniform right now with his team leading the AL Wild Card?
Time after time while overseeing the Milwaukee Brewers, Doug Melvin has proven his worth as one of the top men in the sport at this GM game. This trade might prove that to me more so than anything else he has done while at the helm of the Crew save the Richie Sexon deal.
I for one, am extremely excited for when Cruz is brought up to the big leagues.
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I totally agree with you Fabos, that was a genuine fleecy. As a matter of fact I think you and I both pointed that out at the time of the deal (check the archives.) Doug Melvin is definitely among the smartest minds in baseball and I would even say he is top four, but he's no Billy Beane. The things that he has done for the better part of seven years now, on that payroll and the things he sees in players. Look at this year, they were counted out before the season began, and left for dead after May, but he didn't panic. He said he knew they would take their lumps early, but once they got some playing time and gelled together he thought they would be the most talented group he has had yet. Looks like he's right so far. Good points though.
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