Are you telling me we couldn't beat that deal.... Gonna be a long winter.

BREWERS ACQUIRE OUTFIELDER CARLOS GOMEZ

The Milwaukee Brewers today acquired outfielder Carlos Gomez from the Minnesota Twins in exchange for shortstop J.J. Hardy.

Gomez batted .229 with 3 HR, 28 RBI and 14 stolen bases in 137 games with Minnesota this season. He made 86 starts in center field and committed just one error. The highlight of his season came on October 6 vs. Detroit when he scored the game-winning run in the bottom of the 12th inning of the Twins' victory in the American League Central tie-breaker game.

There goes the Pie deal to Milwaukee. Maybe just as well.

Wow, Gomez blows.

So does Hardy, IMO.

How much time left on the Hardy contract?

"How much time left on the Hardy contract?"

I believe three years. I think he may be a super two this year.

I kinda figured the Brewers weren't going to offer him arbitration which means trading him but I thought they would get more than Gomez for sure. I was hoping we would go after him but I guess AM is going to stick with Izzy as the starter for the final year of his contract.

"So does Hardy, IMO."

Last year. Hardy put up some pretty good numbers for two full years. He's also an exceptional fielder.

Start to google him and you'll get everything from his girlfriend to "does JJ have herpes"? LOL! The guy's going on 28 and looking forward to free agency. Frankly, I'd rather keep Pie and we lose nothing defensively at short.

Career avg .262 and obp .323? A little over 2000 at bats and not all that exciting.

Does have a cute squeeze!

"Does have a cute squeeze!"

Yeah, but what could the Orioles do? Trade Roberts' wife for her? The market is surprisingly "soft."

Well he plays pretty good defense and puts up power numbers at a position not normally known for power. It's a no brainer for me to see that we should have made a move on him. Plus he's under team control for three more years I believe. Gomez, good grief man, we could have done better then that without giving up Pie.

Yeh, I'm not suggesting the warehouse should have stood still. The guy hit 75 home runs on 2075 at bats. That's probably 12 more homers a year if he replaces Izturis. You're right suggesting he's likely an upgrade but my feeling is, he's not super exciting and not a long term answer to our ss needs.

When those young arms mature in our starting rotation we'll do better than Hardy.

Good deal for the Twins though. Gomez won't even be good in the NL. Same can be said for Hardy with the AL, but Hardy is the better player for sure.

" he's not super exciting and not a long term answer to our ss needs."

I'm not seeing it that way, in fact the more I think about it the more pizzed off I get.

"When those young arms mature in our starting rotation we'll do better than Hardy."

I can't help but get my curiosity up just enough to ask you what in the heII the young arms have to do with the shortstop. We ain't got nothing in the minors (major league ready) other than Blake Davis and believe me when I say he's not the answer.

First, I'm not really "fighting you" and his home run production better than I first calculated. His numbers currently average about 18 hr's per season. Andino/Izturis account for about 5 so the gain is roughly 13/14 HR's per season. His .262 AVG and .323 OBP easily surpasses our guys. His glove is not quite the equal to Izturis. On balance and seeing what he was traded for? Yes, he would have been an upgrade over next three seasons. However, he'll be gone in three years and our rebuild enters the final stretch this coming season. O's do not compete until 2011/2012 albeit Hardy would still be here.

Regarding the young arms? I think Bell will be a solution to either 1st or 3rd. We perhaps sign one more power bat next winter depending on what kids on the farm do this season. But, a long term solution to ss will come via trade. Our best trade bait being some of the young arms moving up or currently on roster.

We will not know what the pitching staff actually looks like until next season and we have some potential studs for sure. The only way this club begins to think it can compete is by having a "glut" of arms mid summer. Then you'll get your ss who is hopefully a true 1st/2nd hitter guy and he'll be young! Speed, glove, better AVG, good OBP!

Cannot really see it happening any other way.

"The only way this club begins to think it can compete is by having a "glut" of arms mid summer. Then you'll get your ss who is hopefully a true 1st/2nd hitter guy and he'll be young! Speed, glove, better AVG, good OBP!"

Like to see you find one. At least one that's available I should say. Hardy was the best chance we had at a legit shortstop on the cheap and AM blew it as far as I'm concerned.

I share your enthusiasm though. As for Bell he needs to stay at third b/c from what I've read about hi m he has a rocket for an arm and possesses pretty decent footwork. The knock on him is that he's a switch hitter and can't hit lefties worth a dayum. He'll need to correct that problem if he intends to stay in the Majors for any length of time. Scouting reports are much better up in the Majors.

On a side note I'd like to add that bell was given the award for best defensive third baseman this year in the Carolina League. Voted by all Carolina League coaches.

I'm with you on that one Star Man. The O's could have gave Milwaukee more than that. Hardy would have been a nice fit in Baltimore.

The ss we're looking for is in somebody's farm system. It'll be Izturis/Andino for the next two seasons. Not great but it is what it is.

"The O's could have gave Milwaukee more than that."

I'm not totally sold on Hardy, I'm not sure we'd have wanted to. I'm definitely not a Gomez fan (never have been), but two years ago the guy was among the most coveted young players in baseball - so he still has some of that "upside." Obviously we'd have been able to give more and get him, obviously we could have gotten Hardy for Pie or Scott or Hernandez or Hernandez or Berken, but that would have been paying too much.

So here's a little perspective:

"Tony Massarotti of The Boston Globe says that the Red Sox "had been engaging with the Brewers in on-and-off discussions involving (J.J.) Hardy since the trading deadline." Massarotti's source says the Brewers wanted either Clay Buchholz or Daniel Bard, but Boston was only willing to part with Michael Bowden."

If true, that's a terrible decision to go with Gomez over the strike-throwing, out-getting Bowden. I know a lot of guys had a ginormous collective crush on Gomez as recently as two seasons ago (I never have because not a good OBP guy but everyone loves his speed and he put up good numbers in a full season at AA and partial season at AAA, he plays solid defensively in center field), and I know he's definitely one of those "potential" / "upside" guys. Notably, I absolutely would NOT have been willing to give up someone of Bowden's quality to get Hardy. Even though Hardy is a nice buy-low guy, I think it would have taken Pie to get him and I don't think I would have been willing to do that deal.