The Rangers Hope to Ride El Caballo to the Postseason

There were a few trades made today, just 3 days before MLB's July 31st trade deadline. The Brewers were involved in two of them.

There was the minor deal in which the Brew Crew got third baseman David Bell from the Phillies for a minor league pitcher.

The trade that didn't involve the Brewers was between the Atlanta Braves and Los Angeles Dodgers. The Braves added another arm to their bullpen after last week's deal to get Bob Wickman from the Indians. They sent utility man Wilson Betemit to the Dodgers for set up man Danys Baez.

Then there was the big trade, well, as big as it may get this season.

Convinced they weren't going to be able to re-sign left fielder Carlos Lee this offseason - hearing only silence in response to their 4 year $48 million offer to him - the Brewers completed a six-player trade with the Texas Rangers.

So far this season Carlos Lee is batting .286 with 28HR and 81RBI. Lifetime, in his eighth season with his third team, Lee has 212 HR with a .285 career average. In other words, the man can hit.

Still, I'm not sure if it's what the Rangers really need.

They sent three Major League players (outfielders Kevin Mench and Laynce Nix and reliever Francisco Cordero) to the Brewers for a bat they probably don't even need. Of course, Rangers GM Jon Daniels sees it a different way.

"Carlos is an impact bat that we need right now. He's a middle-of-the-order hitter, a run producer, big makeup, leader, just entering
his prime. We feel strongly he can be a big piece for us as we make a run at the pennant."

Well, the Rangers are batting .278 with 108HR and 507 runs as a team. Not exactly lighting it up, but not struggling either.

On the other hand, the Rangers have a team ERA of 4.60, and opponents are batting .275 against them. The starters' numbers are even worse with a 5.05 ERA and a .291 average against them.

That's getting lit up.

The Rangers bullpen on the other hand has been one of the better pens in the American League. They have a 3.81 ERA with battershitting only .241 against them. In fact, the Rangers probably wouldn't be in contention right now if it weren't FOR their bullpen.

So getting rid of Cordero for Lee could end up biting them in the ass.

Now, it's no mystery that Cordero hasn't been the same pitcher this year as he was for the Rangers last two seasons, racking up 86 saves.

He lost his job in April to Akinori Otsuka after blowing 5 saves. Still, he had proven to be pretty reliable as a setup man for the Rangers.

The Texas Rangers have only reached the postseason three times in their history (96, 98, and 99) and have never won a series. In fact they are 1-9 in the postseason. The reason? While the Rangers have always been a team that can hit the ball, they've never been a team that could pitch it.

Pitching is what wins championships in this game, and it seems the Rangers still have not figured that simple fact out yet.

The Brewers on the other hand did pretty well for themselves. After acquiring Lee from the White Sox before the 2005 season started for Scott Podsednik and Luis Vizcaino, they were facing the prospect of losing Lee for nothing.

Instead they were able to get three players they can use right away as they wait for some of the youth in their prospect-rich minor league system to develop. So while they may be conceding the fact that they won't make the playoffs this season, they're setting things up for a possible run in 2007.

Source:Unable to sign Lee, Brewers deal slugger to Rangers-ESPN.com