"We are not a seller."

As the trading deadline approaches, I thought it would be a good time to re-open the discussion of what Brewers will or should be headed out the door.  Our new owner is quite clear about his stance on the matter:

Some guys whose names have come up:

1. 
   
2. Lyle Overbay.  The Brewers keep saying no.  But if I were Doug Melvin and the Mets could be convinced to part with Victor Diaz and Yusmiero Petit, I'd have a hard time not making that trade.  It'd be a steep price for the Mets, and I wouldn't do that deal were I Omar Minaya, but the Mets have shown both last year (Benson-for-Huber, Zambrano-for-Kazmir) and in the offseason (Mientkiewicz-for-Bladergroen) that they'll sell the proverbial farm.
   
3. Ricky Bottalico.  If somebody offered to take him right now and pay his salary, I'd be all for it.  With so many mediocre relievers on the fence between AAA and the bigs, I don't see the benefit in paying Ricky more money to be an older Jeff Bennett.
   
4. Tomo Ohka.  I never got around to writing much about the Spivey/Ohka deal, but I'd just like to tip my cap to Doug Melvin again on that one.  Check out Ohka's stats: ERA+'s for the last three years of 131, 119, 122.  (An ERA+ of 100 is average; anything above 130 or 140 is really darn good.)  For all the talk about A.J. Burnett this trading season, his ERA+'s in his last three full seasons have been 104, 121, 112.  It's an awkward time to write this after he got hit hard yesterday, but Ohka is a heck of a pitcher, and at worst is a mid-rotation innings-eater, the kind who the Yankees should be calling Doug Melvin every day about.  Had Ohka been pitching anywhere but Montreal the last three years, we never would've gotten him, and he'd be making $8M/year on a 3 yr deal just like all the other slightly-better-than-mediocre starters are doing right now.
   
5. Geoff Jenkins.  I haven't heard many people talk about moving Jenkins since he went on his tear, but as any savvy fantasy player can tell you, that's just the time to do it.  As some of us discussed earlier in the season, either Overbay or Jenkins will probably have to go to make room for Prince Fielder.  Right now, Jenkins could probably bring more in trade, and what's better, Overbay would cost less.  The Yankees would probably sign over their hi-A farm club to us (not that we want it, but that's another story) to have Jenkins in left and move Matsui to center.  I would imagine the Braves would be interested in the streaking Jenkins, as well.
   
6. Bill Hall.  Given the chance to play every day, Hall may never turn into an all-star, but he could be a solid player for many years.  Unfortunately, I don't know if he'll be able to do that in Milwaukee, especially if he doesn't inspire any more confidence with his play at third base.  With Rickie Weeks and J.J. Hardy as the DP combo for the forseeable future, Bill Hall may be of the most use to the Crew after being converted into a couple of, say, Dodgers pitching prospects.
   
7. All those young relievers.  I suppose you can never have too much depth when it comes to the unreliable mid-to-late-inning guys, but it seems like we could deal from a position of strength.  Justin Lehr, Jeff Bennett, Tommy Phelps, Julio Santana, Matt Wise, Mike Adams, even Rick Helling, who's starting in Nashville.  All of those guys are probably better than the 6th and 7th men in most bullpens, and they're all better than most of the guys in the Red Sox and Yankees pens.  I'd be sad to see Matt Wise go, but anything we could get for a couple of those other guys would feel like a giveaway.
   

I should point out, I'm not advocating any of these deals; though I'd probably pull the trigger on a Bill Hall deal and a Tomo Ohka deal if a team would give back something substantial.  

I've also added a poll below; go vote in it!