Thoughts on the Hardy-Gomez Trade

On Friday the Milwaukee Brewers traded shortstop J.J. Hardy to the Minnesota Twins for center fielder Carlos Gomez.  Thursday, I read a rumor on sportsillustrated.com that said Minnesota and Milwaukee were in talks about Hardy but the player Milwaukee would get in return would be left-handed starting pitcher Glen Perkins.

I was excited at the possibility of the Brewers adding a former 1st round draft pick (University of Minnesota) and 26-year old lefty who had won 12 games in 2008.  But Friday we found out that a pitcher would not be a part of the deal.

Having read the rumor, I was a little disappointed when I heard the news Friday.  But the upside is there.  Gomez was the key prize for the Twins in the Johan Santana trade a few years back.  He was a highly-regarded “5-tool prospect” who could do it all, like a faster version of Jose Reyes is you can believe that.  Scouts even expect him to develop some power in his bat.  But, so far two organizations have given up on him which is alarming for a “top prospect.”

Brewers GM Doug Melvin says “Carlos brings to our club great speed, athleticism and energy at a position that we needed to fill.”  That means the team says goodbye to MIke Cameron, who had 49 homers but led the team in strikeouts the past two seasons.

Ok let’s cut to the chase, some things worry me about Gomez.  He has never hit better than .258 in the bigs, never had an on-base percentage above .300, and for all his speed on the bases and good coverage ability in center field, Gomez led baseball in getting picked off and errors in the outfield in 2008.

What the Brewers hope is that Gomez will blossom playing everyday, something he didn’t do last season in Minnesota.  Hardy was expendable with the ascending star Alcides Escobar showing he belongs in MLB.  If Weeks stays healthy and leads off, Escobar and Gomez stay play everyday, that is a lot of speed in the lineup.  The guys just have to prove they can do something with that speed now.  And hopefully with the money saved by getting 24-year old Gomez (they control him for 4 years) and dumping Cameron’s $10 million, the Brew Crew can add some sort of pitching help next season.

Gotta love baseball, even when the long season is over, the trade and free-agent acquisition talk continues until pitchers and catchers report in just over 90 days!  Can’t wait for the hot stove to get cooking again…