We haven't had a good rumor in a while, but Ken Rosenthal is here to fix us right up:

The Brewers' quest for pitching could lead to renewed talks with the Braves, who in the past have targeted Brewers right fielder Corey Hart. The Braves would need to clear their own right fielder, Jeff Francoeur, before acquiring Hart, and no team is hot after Francoeur.

Don't mess around with a guy in shades, oh no. (Jim Prisching / Associated Press)

The problem for the Brewers in trading Hart is their lack of a suitable replacement. Still, the Braves are deep in pitching — and could get even deeper if right-hander Tim Hudson returns from Tommy John surgery in mid-August.

Francoeur's stats, such as they are, are here. You'll notice that he hasn't had an OPS north of .660 since 2007, so you can see why the Braves want to be rid of him.  Corey Hart's stats are here, and you can see he's performing slightly better than last season. Still, a sub-.800 OPS for a corner outfielder is disappointing.

What's interesting about the idea of trading Hart is that we DO have some replacement for him.  For one, Frank Catalanatto, who surprisingly is in fact a Brewer, has a career .820 OPS against RHP, whereas he struggles against lefties.  Meanwhile, Mat Gamel, who will either be headed to 1B or, you guessed it, right field if he can't stick at third, doesn't seem to have a problem against LHP: in the majors, he has a slightly higher OPS against lefites, and in Nashville he pummelled southpaws.  Gerut and McGehee have also seen time in right field.

As to Braves pitching, well, there are two big names that jump out at me right away.  The first is Derek Lowe, though I doubt the Brewers want any part of paying Lowe $15 million per season for the next 4 years.  Still, Lowe has given up 3 or fewer runs in all but 3 of his 2009 starts, making him someone we definitely could use. A more likely target is former Expo Javier Vazquez, who I thought was washed up 5 years ago, but has turned it around, sporting a 3.18/1.05/.228 line in 2009. He is getting paid $11.5 million for each of 2009 and 2010.

For Corey Hart, keep in mind that this is his first year of arbitration.  He's eligible for arbitration in 2010 and 2011, and can be a free agent in 2012 (along with Prince, Rickie, and Todd Coffey).

Assuming Gamel can play in right field, this is an easy way to get him in the lineup more --- after all, we certainly don't want to keep Bill Hall's .197 BA out of the game.  Besides, if the sentiment is that Prince isn't going anywhere until 2012, I think right field will be the only place to put Gamel.  Moreover, I think it's conceivable that we could make a trade like this without giving up a top prospect like Escobar, given how much money is involved.  Although this is (so far) strictly speculation by Rosenthal, I could see some interest in this, at least on the Brewers' end.