Sigh…I made the mistake of listening to Heller & Murphy on ESPN 1070 Radio in Madison on Monday…I like them, because they are about the only local show that talks about the Brewers (everything else is Badgers and Packers).
One of them stated, and I’m paraphrasing, that the Brewers needed to make a trade for an OF, and that Doug Melvin would make a trade; the other agreed that the Brewers needed to make a trade, but it was for a starting pitcher.
Essentially, they wanted to trade Geoff Jenkins and/or Derrick Turnbow and/or Tony Gwynn, Jr. I, of course, had to call in and give them a reality check, stating the obvious: no one is going to give up anything of any value for Jenkins or Turnbow; they agreed that Jenkins stunk (one of them even stated that Jenkins had a bad ’06 and was bad this year, and wouldn’t let me point out that Jenkins actually had around 50 RBI’s by early June last year before he slumped).
About 10 minutes later, Buster Olney of ESPN came on to discuss Brewers’ trade possibilities. He immediately indicated that Jenkins had no trade value currently, and that Turnbow’s name was only being discussed as part of a 3-way deal with the Red Sox and White Sox that was far from getting done. He did, unfortunately, indicate that the only player that the Brewers had that is in demand and tradeable is Tony Gwynn, Jr.
I hope they don’t trade him; besides likely needing him at CF next year (after Jenkins is gone via free agency and Mench is traded and Hall is moved to LF), they need Gwynn’s speed. Also, remember how sons of former MLB ballplayers have done: Ken Griffey, Jr. has hit way more home runs than Ken Griffey; Barry Bonds has hit more than his father Bobby; Cal Ripken, Jr. was better than Cal, Sr., and even Prince Fielder is showing more promise than Cecil Fielder. Only Pete Rose, Jr., fared worse.
So, relax everyone…the Giants aren’t going to trade us Matt Morris for an aging, overpaid, streak outfielder like Geoff Jenkins; we’re not going to get a Nick Markakis, Alex Rios, or Brad Hawpe for Derrick Turnbow. We probably can’t even get a Wily Mo Peña for a Tony Gwynn, Jr. And, even if we could, we won’t…or shouldn’t.
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