December 19, 2010 the Brewers traded Jake Odorizzi (minors), Lorenzo Cain, Alcides Escobar and Jeremy Jeffress to Kansas City for Yuniesky Betancourt, Zack Greinke and cash. Now Greinke has not been great by any means, and Betancourt has struggled all season long for the most part. Losing Lorenzo Cain and Alcides Escobar in my opinion was huge and so far this trade has been about even. The talent the Brewers gave away in this trade was too much in my opinion.
On March 27, 2011 Brewers traded Cutter Dykstra (minors) and cash to the Washington Nationals. Received Nyjer Morgan. This was one of the trades that the Brewers did well on. Morgan has been more than the Brewers could have hoped for. July 12, 2011 Brewers traded two players to be named to the New York Mets and received Francisco Rodriguez and cash. This was another trade that was good all dependent on who the Brewers have to give back to the Mets. This was an interesting trade, but the question will be what happens next year and down the road.
Now today the Brewers acquired Jerry Hairston Jr who is 36 years old from the Washington Nationals. Who did the Brewers give up in return for this journeyman Erik Komatsu, 23, was batting .294 in 93 games with Double-A Huntsville this season. He was taken in the eighth round of the 2008 draft, and was the Brewers' minor league player of the year last season. Now this is just too talent to lose all for the sake of winning right now when there are no guarantees. GM Doug Melvin has gambled everything on this season, and if it does not work he has really hurt the Brewers for years to come. There is always a price to pay when you trade away talent. I hope the Brewers do not pay a price later down the road.
