So yesterday I woke up and something smelled wrong. Turned out Gorman had crapped in the kitchen and CC Sabathia had signed with the Yankees. Today I woke up and something smelled worse. Gorman crapped in the kitchen 4 times overnight and the Brewers traded Mike Cameron for Melky Cabrera. At this pace, tomorrow I'm going to wake up to discover the entire lower level of my house is flooded and the Brewers traded Yovani Gallardo for Jeff Francoeur and a sharp stick to poke themselves in the eye with later.

I was moderately pissed about this move before, but this paragraph in Tom H.'s story is the one that threw me over the edge: This happens all the time. You have something another team wants. They call and offer something that's not as good as what you've got. You ask for more, they say no. Then you DON'T MAKE THE TRADE. Tom H. makes it sound like the Yankees backed Doug Melvin into a corner at the Bellagio, stole his lunch money and Mike Cameron, and flipped him Melky Cabrera so he wouldn't call the cops.

Brewed Sports is about as excited as I am, and all of a sudden their 74 win prediction for 2009 seems a lot more feasible. It is about the money, stupid isn't real excited about having Cameron in New York. Melky Cabrera isn't what this kid wanted for Christmas either.

Melky Cabrera's OPS+ over the last three seasons: 95, 89, 68.
Gabe Gross's OPS+ over the last three seasons: 118, 95, 96.

Gabe Gross could get non-tendered by the Rays. Melky Cabrera got traded for the best centerfielder on the market.

Noted in the Tom H. story above is the possibility the deal could be expanded to include Bill Hall. That would make it better, but unless they're getting high-level pitching for Hall and Cameron, it still won't be good.

I'm going to do the rest of the front office stuff in bullet points to keep this rant as short as possible:

• Melvin said he doesn't anticipate making an offer for Ben Sheets.
• He has, however, targeted Randy Johnson, who does not appear to have any interest in coming to Milwaukee.
• Differences in taxes and incentives might have made the Brewers' offer closer to the Yankees' offer for Sabathia.
• In the end, though, Sabathia was lured to New York by the possibility of getting to eat Yankee Stadium.

Ok, let's talk about something else. The Rule 5 Draft is today at 10:30. Beyond the Box Score thinks someone should choose James Skelton.

I mentioned this in a FanShot yesterday, but in case you missed it, here's Minor League Ball's ranking of the Top 20 Brewer prospects. Depending on how things come together the rest of today, I may have a new prospect project up later.

On the increasingly Hot Stove:

Blue Jays: Are reportedly talking to Michael Barrett about coming in as a backup.
D-backs: Agreed to a one year deal with Felipe Lopez.
Dodgers: Appear to have dropped efforts to re-sign Derek Lowe, and appear to be bidding against themselves for Manny Ramirez.
Mariners: R.A. Dickey has opted for free agency instead of accepting an outright assignment to AAA.
Marlins: Released Matt Treanor, their 2008 opening day catcher.
Mets: Completed a three-team, 12-player deal with the Mariners and Indians that sends J.J. Putz to the Mets and Aaron Heilman and Franklin Gutierrez to the Mariners. J.J. Putz and Francisco Rodriguez are both Mets now, which could be a problem because Putz wants to close.
Nationals: Released reliever Jesus Colome.
Orioles: Both the Orioles and Nationals appear to have made offers to Mark Teixiera that exceed $150 million and could be as high as $200 million, depending on your source.
Phillies: Acquired Ronny Paulino from the Pirates for minor league catcher Jason Jaramillo. May also be close to a deal with Chan Ho Park.
Rays: Sent Edwin Jackson to the Tigers for prospect Matt Joyce.
Reds: May have a deal for Jermaine Dye after all.
Royals: Have reportedly agreed to deals with Kyle Farnsworth and Horacio Ramirez.

That's all for today. Drink up.