The Brewers will receive Kevin Mench, Francisco Cordero and Laynce Nix from the Rangers for Lee, Nelson Cruz and a player to be named later. The assumption had been that Lee would be flipped for young players, but instead the key players coming back to Milwaukee are the 28-year-old Mench and 31-year-old Cordero.

This strikes me as an odd and somewhat disappointing package for the Brewers to end up with given all the exciting rumors swirling around for the past month...

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The flip side is that Mench has been much better at home than on the road during his Rangers career, hitting .284 with an .855 OPS in Texas and just .263 with a .769 OPS everywhere else. He's certainly a worthwhile NL-only pickup who figures to put up good numbers going forward, but his stock definitely takes a dip.

Not to be overlooked is Cordero, who just a year ago was amongst the best fantasy closers around. He's struggled too often this season and lost his job to Akinori Otsuka months ago, but could get a chance to replace the recently demoted Derrick Turnbow as the Brewers' new closer.

Cordero's strikeout rate remains excellent despite an ugly ERA, and moving from Texas should help suppress his tendency to serve up untimely homers. He saved 47 games in 2004 and 39 games last season, and Turnbow has been a big enough mess of late that Milwaukee could be ready for a long-term change.

Cruz is perhaps the most surprising part of this deal, as he's the best of the two young players changing teams, yet is leaving the Brewers. He's a little too old to be a big-time prospect, but he's put up great numbers in the minors for several years running, including hitting .302 with 19 homers, 72 RBIs and 17 steals in 103 games at Triple-A this season.

It's unclear where Cruz fits into the Rangers' always-crowded outfield long term, but he profiles as a solid everyday player who has the power potential to have a ton of success in Texas. I expected the Brewers to give Cruz a chance to replace Lee in their outfield, so including him in the deal with Lee is a bit of a shocker.

Last but not least is Nix, who at this point looks like a bust. The 25-year-old Nix is too young to give up on, but he's dealt with a number of injuries, fell out of favor in Texas, has made no improvements in regard to his complete inability to control the strike zone and is hitting just .263 with a measly .743 OPS in 76 games at Triple-A.

On Milwaukee's side, Mench will probably hit fifth and start every day in left field. It'll be interesting to see how well he plays without Buck Showalter jerking him around every other day; it's no secret that the huge-skulled Mench was not King Buck's favorite guy. As one of fantasy's most disappointing players (he hit 26 and 25 homers each of the last two years), Mench is nevertheless definitely worth a waiver play in NL-only leagues. Mench is arbitration-eligible through 2007, but there's a chance he'll be dealt again this offseason. Despite the fact that he's "only" making $2.8 million this year, he's now standing squarely in the way of some good Milwaukee outfield prospects, namely Gabe Gross and Corey Hart (who does, in fact, wear his sunglasses at night). And then there's Cordero, who during spring training was considered one of the safest (and best) closers in baseball, and whose cataclysmic fall from stud to shaky middle reliever is nothing shy of shocking. With the Brewers, who've just demoted Derrick Turnbow, Cordero will no doubt get a chance to close once more, which makes him worth a lot. But that presumes Cordero will find his old form in Miller Park, which is certainly questionable. And, once again, this acquisition puts Cordero in the way of the younger, cheaper and potentially better Turnbow. Plus, the Brewers will have to pay $6 million to exercise Cordero's option for 2007 or set him free.

So there you have it. For fantasy '06, all three of these guys are extremely relevant, but each may turn out to be something of a rental. Frankly, I'm surprised: It seems to me that the Brewers already have decent prospects (or major-league talent) in the outfield and bullpen, and it would've behooved them to try to fill other slots (notably starting pitching). But I suppose this deal is one of those 'tweeners for the fans: they needed to get rid of Lee, who wasn't going to sign with them, but they didn't want to wave the white flag. If next April comes, though, and Milwaukee has nothing to show for having dealt their mega-star, history will treat this deal unkindly.

If next April comes, though, and Milwaukee has nothing to show for having dealt their mega-star, history will treat this deal unkindly.

Melvin said he received offers from other clubs, such as the Los Angeles Angels and Detroit Tigers, but was only offered minor-league prospects in return.

"This was the best deal we could make," said Melvin. "It gives us the chance to continue to run a good big-league lineup out there. If we had done any of the other deals, you'd think we were giving up on this season."

The deal was somewhat surprising in that not only did the Brewers trade Lee but also Cruz, their top outfield prospect in the minor leagues. Cruz was batting .302 with 20 home runs and 73 RBI at Class AAA Nashville, and was considered by many to be the logical successor to Lee if he were traded.

"Giving up Nelson Cruz was tough," said Melvin. "But we had to balance the deal off at the other end to get Mench."

Mench, 28, who has been the Rangers' starting rightfielder, was batting .284 with 12 homers and 50 runs batted in, in 87 games. Manager Ned Yost said Mench will replace Lee in left field on at least a semi-regular basis.

Nix, 25, began the season as Texas' centerfielder but was sent down after batting only .094 (3 for 32) in nine games. At Class AAA Oklahoma, he was hitting .263 with 10 homers and 53 RBI.

Francisco Cordero, 31, established himself as one of the top closers in the majors in 2004 and 2005, when he saved 49 and 37 games, respectively. He got off to a bad start this season, however, and the Rangers switched to Akinori Otsuka as their closer.

Cordero blew 9 of 15 save opportunities before being moved into a setup role. In 49 appearances, he was 7-4 with a 4.81 ERA.

The Brewers have experienced problems in their bullpen recently, with closer Derrick Turnbow losing that role after four consecutive blown saves. Melvin said Thursday he was pursuing relief help on the trade market.

Yost said he would look at both Turnbow and Cordero in determining who would close games for the rest of the season.

"Production will decide who closes games," said Yost. "We still believe in Derrick Turnbow. He's had a couple of rough weeks but he's had a pretty solid year and a half for us."

Julian Cordero, who is not related to Francisco Cordero, was pitching at Class A Clinton and was 2-5 with a 2.91 ERA in 27 games (five starts).