The Brewers have been busy trying to add pieces to their team to make a run for the wildcard.  With that in mind the Brewers acquired David Bell from the Phillies for single-A pitcher Laureano.  Bell has been white hot in July posting a .361 average.  For the season Bell is hitting .278 with 6 homers and 34 RBI in 91 games.  Bell also is a very good defender.

Laureano was 3-2 with a save and a 3.96 ERA in Single A.

The Milwaukee Brewers traded their best player Carlos Lee and outfielder Nelson Cruz to the Texas Rangers for Kevin Mench, Laynce Nix, Francisco Cordero and Julian Cordero.  Lee was having an awesome season for the Brewers hitting .286, with 28 homers and 81 RBI.  Nelson Cruz was having a good season in AAA hitting .302 with 17 steals.

In return the Brewers got some quality back.  Francisco Cordero has pitched well since losing his closer job at the end of April, posting a 2.87 ERA the last three months.  Cordero will immediately be the new closer of the Brewers after Derrick Turnbow’s meltdown.  Cordero has a career record of 23-22, with 117 saves and a 3.44 ERA.  Kevin Mench will replace Lee in left-field and was having a decent year himself hitting .284, with 12 homers and 50 RBI.  Laynce Nix has potential, but was only hitting .263 in AAA this season, he might get another shot in September.  Julian Cordero was just a throw-in, and not one of the better young arms in the Rangers system.

This trade should give the Brewers a shot in the arm in their quest for the Wild Card.

The Packers made everyone happy at the Tollefson house as he was not projected to be drafted.  His past injury history plus the fact that he played at NW Missouri State were the reasons he was available at pick #253.

Culver is undersized and lacks the top end speed to compete at the NFL level.  He looks like a special teams, practice squad player type.

The Packers once again get tremendous value with this pick.  Jolly only dropped because he’s recovering from ankle surgery.  In his last 35 games Jolly has put up good numbers for an interior DL as he has made 203 tackles, 23 tackles for loss and had five sacks.  Jolly, if healthy, should really help the D-Line.