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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.
Not every pick was a great one for the Packers. Moll just gives them another body for the O-Line until he builds upper-body strength as Moll is a converted TE. No need to rush, the Packers have time.
Moll was not projected to be drafted.
Martin is a decent pick at this point in the draft even though most publications thought he would go un-drafted. Martin has a strong arm and nice size (6-2, 223) and speed (4.71 40). The fact that he can also punt could help him land on the roster. Martin plays better against competition his has no right to as Furman almost upset Pitt two years ago.
Will Blackmon is a great athlete. Some say he was the best athlete on a good Boston College team, as he played receiver as a senior and caught 51 passes because that is where his team needed him. Blackmon in his first three years at BC had a nose for the ball as he had 139 tackles, broke up 13 passes, and had 8 interceptions. Blackmon was projected to be drafted in the second or third round so the Packers got great value with this selection…which should surprise no one as the Packers had the best draft in the NFL this season.
Cory Rodgers was a very productive player in college at TCU. Rodgers has big-time 4.4 speed and caught 150 passes before declaring for the draft after his junior year. Rodgers totaled 2,111 yards receiving and caught 17 TD at TCU, but the thought is that Rodgers was just athletically superior to the competition and that he won’t be able to just run by NFL competition. The real reason the Packers took Rodgers is because he’s an elite kick-returner that averaged over 30 yards per kick return (2 TDs) and 15 yards per punt return……both in the Top Ten in the nation last season.
Spitz has good size (6-4, 305 lbs) but he has a soft body. His lack of conditioning won’t hurt him as bad if he plays center, but he has a big heart and plays hurt. At Louisville, he has played in 44 games (42 starts), so he has a ton of game experience and seems to be the kind of player that can be “coached up”. Spitz should help out on the line soon, and was a good pick at this point in the draft.
