This is it. I promise.

1. I can't believe the Angels would offer up Ervin Santana, they are playing for a division win, who would replace him in the rotation?
2. You didn't mention the centerpiece of the trade. Francisco Cordero for 1.3 seasons is worth Lee for .3 seasons easy, very easy.
3. Mench easily outperforms Cruz in '07, i'd put money on it. We have a good shot next year, screw '08, losing Cruz hurts us in the late aughts, sure, but the upgrade for a shot at next season is worth it.
4. The pieces are in place. I wouldn't trade F.Cordero for a high pitching prospect, would you? Interesting to note that Soriano and Tejada are still with their respective teams. Seems we did much, much better than the Orioles and the Nationals did. What do they have to look forward to in '07?

I think the big thing with this deal was timing. Coming out of the break Melvin couldn't deal Lee because of the fans who thought there was a chance. AS the deadline grows to me the value of a "rent a player" goes down. With the return being high for Soriano and the others. Lee got more and more attractive. AS far as the dodgers you don't really know what other deals they had waiting. Whether they told melvin to hold off till they heard back from another team. I would think the phillies getting abreu that lee would make more sense and less money. but it all depends.

But overall, I like Mench in left. I would love to see Corey Hart get a shot. You never know he may be the second coming of Bob Coluccio out there or Danny Walton. Maybe Jenkins has cleared waivers and he may be moved. His value is definately down. I think the Cordero piece was good. With Sheets and Ohka coming back and the trickle down to the bullpen. I think the pitching wasn't what we need. Obviously, after the recent games hitting or lack there of is killing us.

-any of the 3 could have stellar 2nd halves and make us say "carlos lee who?" hell, mench hasn't done so bad in the first few games, has he? jeff mentioned a the possibility of a fresh start doing him well - what if that happens and it turns out we don't need any "prospects"?

-melvin will almost certainly make deals in the offseason with the bullpen and the logjam in the outfield, possibly involving turnbow, cordero, or kolb; and gross, jenkins, mench, clark or any of the other 84 outfielders on the roster.

we're out of the playoff race, so until i see the 25 man roster for opening day 2007, i'm not going to judge this trade just yet (though i still hate the de la rosa for graffinano trade). sometimes i almost wish it would be better if we were 10+ games out, or if one of the real contenders would go on a tear and pull away.

* I don't think the Lee trade is as bad as we're making it out to be.

... I'm just as upset the Brewers didn't get an potential ML star/cusp of the majors kind of player, but what I think Melvin is doing is priming the team up for a few years.  As pointed out earlier, Mench's percentages are similar to Lee, and I think Melvin still wanted to keep Lee, and succeeded with a younger version.  He won't put up Lee numbers, and he's property of the Brewers through '08 if they really want him.  Lee had no such gaurantee.

* Adding Mench is a primer for off season deals.

... All of you know the potential for the team's young outfielders, and it would be a nightmare if they all started at the same time.  Having Mench opens up the possiblity to get rid of Jenkins (finally) in the off season and put Hart in that spot.  And when Mench moves on/becomes expensive at the end of his tenure, I would believe the team could slide Braun in (if they decide to move him) or who knows what other players come in.

* If the team keeps Cordero around next season, then falls out of the race in '07, he's excellent trade bait.

... Expensive?  Yes.  But it could be worth it.

* Imagine a bullpen with Cordero/Wise/Turnbow/Capallen firing on all cylinders.

... Sure right now it's a dream, but those four can bring it when it's going right.  There's four innings of solid relief right there.

* Bell was free

... My hatred of David Bell (or David Boone, makes no difference) is unfounded because the Brewers had to get some help.  He was essentially free and will be gone at the end of the season.

* Tony "Grandpa" Graffanino was unnecessary, but it was necessary

... I guess to remain competitive the team had to stick a guy in there (aside from Mr. Overmatched).  I hate to give up someone like de la Rosa, but Ned the Gamer didn't give him a chance.  I hope Jorge does well in KC, good park to pitch in, too.

Once I got over the idea that the Brewers wasted obtaining potential and picked up a couple solid major leagers, I'm ok.  I still don't believe it's a "compete now" move because the team is clearly out of it, but I can see some reasoning behind it.  We may never know the trades that almost could have been.

I think a lot of the Soriano and Lee trade rumors are bogus. If Aybar and Santana were really offered for Soriano, he would be an Angel right now. And if it was true, that would mean Bill Stoneman and Jim Bowden are both disabled. Bowden . . . maybe. Stoneman, I don't think so.

It's more likely that these rumors were leaked by someone in the Angels organization. If word gets out that the team was offering a young major league pitcher and a very good prospect, Stoneman can say "I did all I could" if a deal doesn't work out. If a deal happens, he looks good because the initial rumors proved to be untrue and he gave up less. Plus, it might force a team that isn't skeptical enough to panic and overpay. I think teams do this a lot.

Also, I would much rather have Mench and the two Corderos than Boof Bonser.

Finally, if the Brewers had traded Lee earlier in the month, the fans would have stormed Miller Park and tore it down with their bare hands. It would be nice to be able to run a baseball team without worrying how the fans will react, but that's not reality.

However, given management's love affair with veterans, the trade ultimately blocks Hart for another year (assuming they don't trade Mench/Clark/Jenkins, of which I think there's a 50/50 chance).

What if Corey Hart can put up Mench-like numbers now, if given a freakin' chance?  What about Gabe Gross (is he still on the team?) and Tony Gwynn?  I wouldn't be at all surprised that if you compared a full season of Mench/Clark/Jenkins to a full season of Hart/Gwynn/Gross, that the latter group is at least comparable, if not better.  Certainly a better value: what, $1 million vs. $15 million, give or take?  (Plus we'd have Cruz as insurance.)

Even if they suck, we'd have the 2nd half of 2006 to figure that out.  Or, if they prove they don't suck, then think how exciting 2007 would be.

If you want to trade for major-league ready guys, fine.  How about trading for guys at a position where we're less strong?  Like I've ranted before, it's not like we have no room for improvement.

On the plus side, I'm glad we didn't keep Lee for a compensatory pick --- unless Cruz becomes a superstar, this trade is better than that option.    Plus, with Cordero, 2007 is better --- you can argue that if we had Cordero sooner, that we wouldn't be in as sad a shape as we are.

I guess we have to follow Griswald and see what happens in the offseason.  This could end up being great for the organization, or Melvin could sure screw it up royally.  Before this deal went down, I'd assume the former; looking at it now...it could go either way.

That makes me sad.

(Yes, I realize Upton was just called up.)