Brewers off the board for Lee and Washburn

And then there was one.

Early Wednesday, the Phillies snared Cliff Lee from the Indians (and the Brewers’ chances of adding him) at about the same time the Mariners solved their shortstop problem by trading for the Pirates’ Jack Wilson…meaning that the M’s will no longer be interested in a Brewers’ shortstop for Jarrod Washburn.

With Dave Bush out for at least another two weeks, and his replacements (Seth McClung, Mike Burns, and Carlos Villanueva) still struggling, Brewers’ GM Doug Melvin has his back up against the wall in terms of finding another starter.  Make that two starters if Jeff Suppan has to go on the DL.

So, it is back to Roy Halladay, who is in play now that the Phillies won’t be bidding…still, as many of noted, one pitcher might not make a difference as to whether or not the Brewers make the postseason.  The remaining options appear to be:

1. Royals’ starter Brian Bannister–the 28 year-old righty is 6-7, 3.80 on the season and possibly on the block.

2. Bullpen pitcher Mark DiFelice–a starter for Italy in the WBC, DiFelice has been in the bullpen for the entire 2009 campaign for the Brewers.

3. Free agent Mark Mulder–the former Athletic and Cardinal pitched just 1.67 innings for the Redbirds last year and is recovering from shoulder surgery.

4. Justin Duchscherer–another former A, recovering from shoulder surgery,,,was impressive in ’08, but has yet to pitch an MLB game in ’09.

My choice for now–DiFelice deserves a start to show what he can do…besides being in the fold, he’s been impressive out of the bullpen and has started in the past.  But I’d like to see the Crew give Mulder a workout in the near future.