Sunday, July 19, 2009

Brews-D'Backs Make Incomplete Deal

The Brewers traded Cole Gillespie and Roque Mercedes to the D'Backs for Felipe Lopez.

Brewers Side: The Brewers pick up a utility player in Lopez in the midst of a career year (again). Lopez is currently hitting .305-.368-.416 as the D'Backs everyday 2Bmen. Moving to Milwaukee, he likely will take the same role. Is this truly an upgrade? Looking at stats, you would say yes, however lets look deeper. This acquisition either pushes Casey McGehee (continuing his torrid hitting at .310-.341-.452 in July) or Mat Gamel (who needs AB's) to the bench. This also means Counsell will have to break out of his slump (or regression to the mean depending on your view) with sporadic pinch hit AB's. Lopez is also likely going to lead off and with a net OBP of just .63, if he suffers any drop in batting average or luck, his value will be diminished.

D'Backs Side: Gillepsie (24) inexplicably made a jump from High A (.349-.431-.605) to AAA (.242-.332-.424). If I were the Diamondbacks, I send him to AA and let him hit around .260-.270 and get acclimated to the organization as you try to teach this kid some pop so that he can be a corner outfielder. Mercedes (22) is a reliever in High-A and has a 1.08 ERA in 41.2 IP, racking up 45 strikeouts against 15 walks. Both these prospects have some potential, but are likely 2 Grade C prospects.

Analysis: Yes, the Brewers have improved themselves. However, they just dealt 2 assets to the Diamondbacks (that the Diamondbacks obviously liked) and did not fill their biggest need (starting pitching). This means the D'Backs price on Doug Davis (who the Brewers must have inquired about) is either exorbitant or the Brewers have a better option. I am not a big fan of this acquisition for Milwaukee, he has always been a + .60 OBP guy, which is useful, just not as a lead off hitter. They didn't give up much in sure things, but Gillespie has always been able to command the strike zone (though I doubt he shows enough to be an everyday guy) and should be able to fill in as a bench guy down the road. Mercedes, who knows? I will give the win to the Brewers, just because they didn't have to give up a possible everyday player to get one back./

1 comment:

  1. I kind of see this as a small win for both teams, but may end up close to meaningless. The DBacks saved a couple mil and picked up two decent prospects they obviously liked a bit. The Brewers added depth and another option for the top of the order without giving up guys who really fit into their future. I like Gillespie's offensive game, but his arm limits him to left. He hasn't shown the power to stick in left.

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