Brewers finally making some noise

Doug Davis was known to be on the trading block…Johnny Estrada was known to be on the trading block…but I don’t think anybody expected the two of them to switch places.

The Brewers traded Davis, lefty starter Dana Eveland, and center fielder-with-an-attitude Dave Krynzel to the Diamondbacks for Estrada, starter Claudio Vargas, and reliever Greg Aquino.  It’s an interesting move for the Crew: apparently Doug Melvin wasn’t comfortable going into spring training with Damian Miller as his starter and Mike Rivera and JD Closser as possible backups.  Estrada will, presumably, split time with Miller.

The fascinating part of the deal to me is the pitching swap.  Melvin likes to build his bullpens creatively, and it would’ve shocked me if he didn’t pick up at least one high-upside arm like Aquino before March.  And both teams gain some years of cheap pitching: the Brewers replace Davis with Vargas, who they’ll have under their control for three more years.  Vargas slides into Davis’s rotation spot.  Eveland only has about a year of service time, so if he pans out, the D-Backs get him for five more years.

UPDATE: I’ve posted a little more analysis of the deal at my Brewers blog, along with some quotes from Doug Melvin on his three new acquisitions.

By Jeff Sackmann