Fantasy Milwaukee

The Brewers apparently don't feel content walking down the Cubs in regular fashion (they are only 3 1/2 games back) and have instead decided, according to Tom Haudricourt's Brewers Blog at the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, to trade for C.C. Sabathia.

I just was told by a reliable club source that the Brewers have a deal in place with Cleveland for left-hander C.C. Sabathia, contingent on the paperwork being done and medical records exchanged.

But believe me, folks, that's a deal. All that other stuff is formality.

All I know so far is that top prospect Matt LaPorta is in the deal. I was told two lower-level minor leaguers also are included. The Brewers refused to include another top prospect such as Alcides Escobar or Mat Gamel.

Obviously this is huge news; Sabathia has been the primary name mentioned in all major trade talks over the past few months. Word had not-so-quietly leaked that the Indians were willing to concede this season in the AL Central and look to acquire young talent in exchange for the free agent to be. LaPorta fills that need as he ranks at the top of the Brewers farm system and could be an impact player in Cleveland in the near future. More details as the facts surrounding the trade get released.

Manny Parra has always been a talented young lefthanded arm in the Brewers organization. He has struggled for the early part of this season though, particularly with his walks, and more particularly with his BABIP. As you may recall, I was bullish on Parra's chances earlier this year (although it's taken some time for him to really come around).

Parra's stupidly undervalued right now -- people were sweating him when he got run in the rotation but now that his stats are out of whack (5.40 ERA, 1.85 WHIP), everyone wants to bail on him. Realistically, he's young, so you have to expect him to struggle some, but he's also been unlucky in that he's "allowing" a .361 BABIP so far in 2008. Optimistically too, he's K'ing more than a batter per inning; he needs to get his walks down...

He did not pitch well that week. And frankly, he did not pitch well for several weeks. But four of his last five starts have suddenly been pretty freaking good.

He got shelled at Washington with seven hits and six earned runs -- the fifth start. But in the other four, he has racked up over 25 innings pitched while only allowing three earned runs and striking out 24.

I've always been one for letting my employer decide when I'm no longer capable of doing my job, but Eric Gagne and Jason Isringhausen apparently feel differently, being "honest" enough to let their managers know they're no longer worthy of the closer role. (Update: Gagne can apparently close again!) Either way, not a lot of confidence. What they did is rare in the sense of being voluntary, but it certainly underlies the basic fantasy notion that saves are easy to come by.

In Milwaukee, if you're looking for saves, you actually love Gagne flip-flopping; Ned Yost will probably go back to the well with him, and you'll have an easier time going after the guy who will probably end up getting the saves. Salomon Torres, Guillermo Mota and David Riske are the official closer by committee. (The reality is they shouldn't have let Francisco Cordero walk, but that's neither here nor there at this point). I've been saying that Riske is my guy since early in the season, but in fairness, he hasn't pitched perfectly. Then again, neither has Torres, so I'm sticking by my guns here and saying Riske ends up with the most saves in the Milwaukee pen this year (unless Yost does something cr-r-r-r-azy and puts Carlos Villanueva in the spot).

The Cardinals end of things appears to be a little more cut and dry, in the sense that Ryan Franklin is the new go-to guy from the bullpen in St. Louis. Russ Springer and Randy Flores are apparently in the mix as well to a degree, but when you look at Springer's walk count -- five! -- since Izzy went down, it's hard to imagine Tony La Russa trusts him. Plus, Franklin is actually locking down the ninth. And the guy you want to grab for your fantasy league.

Milwaukee Brewers third baseman Bill Hall is the kind of player that drives fans – and fantasy owners – crazy. Is he the guy who cranked 35 HR in 2006, or the one who never hit more than 17 HR in any other season? Is he the crusher who swatted four HR by April 9, or the player who has only hit three more since then?

Moving back to third base gave Hall more fantasy value this year – in theory, at least. It turns out that, at least for NL-only leagues, the outfield is possibly shallower than third base. Regardless, owners who cackled with glee at the way Hall burst out of the gates are singing a decidedly different tune right now. Hall is batting just .217 and has not shown much plate discipline, adding only 12 walks the whole season.

So, what's the story here? Is Hall going to be a drag on your batting and/or on-base average, and even if that's the case, is he going to be able to justify it with quality power statistics?

Deeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep breaths, Brewers fans and fantasy owners. Yovani Gallardo is headed to the 15 day disabled list with a torn ACL that he suffered during yesterday's game against the Cubs. And 15 days is something you might be praying for in a few hours/days when the team makes the call on whether or not he'll have surgery.

Because real life is a bear, I was not able to watch the game. Fortunately, we have video after the jump -- the commerical is only eight seconds long. And as Snyds was able to watch the game, because he makes millions off of TGSOE, he relayed that after the ridiculous fall that Gallardo took, he never hit more than 85 mph on the gun, 78 with offspeed stuff. Yeah, that's right. He went back out on the mound after this.