Headlines

  • Rangers Trade Dane Dunning To Braves
  • Kyle Gibson Announces Retirement
  • Yankees Interested In Mitch Keller
  • Pirates Trade Adam Frazier To Royals
  • Mets, Yankees Among Teams To Show Recent Interest In David Robertson
  • Stuart Sternberg Has Agreed To Sell Rays To Patrick Zalupski, Deal Expected To Be Final By September
  • Previous
  • Next
Register
Login
  • Hoops Rumors
  • Pro Football Rumors
  • Pro Hockey Rumors

MLB Trade Rumors

Remove Ads
  • Home
  • Teams
    • AL East
      • Baltimore Orioles
      • Boston Red Sox
      • New York Yankees
      • Tampa Bay Rays
      • Toronto Blue Jays
    • AL Central
      • Chicago White Sox
      • Cleveland Guardians
      • Detroit Tigers
      • Kansas City Royals
      • Minnesota Twins
    • AL West
      • Houston Astros
      • Los Angeles Angels
      • Oakland Athletics
      • Seattle Mariners
      • Texas Rangers
    • NL East
      • Atlanta Braves
      • Miami Marlins
      • New York Mets
      • Philadelphia Phillies
      • Washington Nationals
    • NL Central
      • Chicago Cubs
      • Cincinnati Reds
      • Milwaukee Brewers
      • Pittsburgh Pirates
      • St. Louis Cardinals
    • NL West
      • Arizona Diamondbacks
      • Colorado Rockies
      • Los Angeles Dodgers
      • San Diego Padres
      • San Francisco Giants
  • About
    • MLB Trade Rumors
    • Tim Dierkes
    • Writing team
    • Advertise
    • Archives
  • Contact
  • Tools
    • 2025 Trade Deadline Outlook Series
    • 2025-26 MLB Free Agent List
    • Contract Tracker
    • Transaction Tracker
    • Agency Database
  • NBA/NFL/NHL
    • Hoops Rumors
    • Pro Football Rumors
    • Pro Hockey Rumors
  • App
  • Chats
Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Brewers Trade For Scott Linebrink

By Tim Dierkes | July 25, 2007 at 5:54pm CDT

According to MLB.com, the Brewers have acquired setup man Scott Linebrink for prospects Will Inman, Joe Thatcher, and Steve Garrison.  Let’s take a look at this deal.

Linebrink turns 31 in early August.  Trade rumors swirled around him this offseason, especially involving the Phillies.  His strikeout and walk numbers over the past three seasons have been consistent.  However, in 2006 his less controllable numbers like hits allowed and home runs spiked somewhat.  He was still worth a good 3-4 wins last year according to Baseball Prospectus.

However, Linebrink fell off a cliff this year.  From Day 1 his strikeout rate has been way down; he’s allowed a ton of home runs. You almost have to wonder whether he’s healthy.  He got by for the first two months with the reduced strikeout rate, but it caught up to him in June and especially July.  Even as a seventh inning guy his value is very questionable.  The Crew should recoup a draft pick or two when he leaves after the season, so that’s something. 

My trusty Baseball America Handbook tells me that 20 year-old righty Inman is clearly the jewel of the trade.  He’s a tough competitor; his 1.71 ERA in Low A ball last year was ridiculous.  He does not offer dazzling stuff or projectability, however.  He succeeds on the strength of his command and breaking stuff rather than velocity.  He breezed through High A this year, posting a 1.72 ERA in 13 starts. 

However, Baseball Prospectus’ Kevin Goldstein questioned how his "below-average stuff and elite-level command" would play at Double A.  The results in his first eight starts at that level have been mixed at best.  He’s taken a couple of shellackings, but has looked solid in his last three efforts.  Goldstein wonders whether he may be a Yusmeiro Petit type, a guy who used deception to post some great minor league numbers despite mediocre stuff.  Petit fooled the Marlins enough for the Mets to snag Carlos Delgado, at least.

Inman is very young for Double A; put him in PETCO in 2009 and I don’t see why he can’t keep his ERA under 5.  Doesn’t blow you away but innings eaters are fetching $8MM annually these days.  Great move by Kevin Towers, because he won’t miss Linebrink.  He can’t lose.

Didn’t know much about the other two prospects.  Thatcher is a 25 year-old southpaw reliever, another guy with average stuff.  The results have been excellent through Triple A though.  He’s got a cut fastball, sweeping slider, and fine control.  He was ranked 23rd among Brewers prospects by Baseball America.

Garrison is a 21 year-old southpaw starter, ranked 27th on the Brewers’ list.  He’s working in High A currently.  He too has average stuff without great velocity, another command guy.  See a theme here?  The pitchers plucked by Kevin Towers don’t light up radar guns or make scouts drool, but still look like big league contributors.

You have to give this one to Towers, who traded from a position of strength to snag three pitchers known less for projection than probability.

Share 0 Retweet 0 Send via email0

Milwaukee Brewers San Diego Padres Joe Thatcher Scott Linebrink Steve Garrison Will Inman

Tim Brown’s Latest: Willis, Hillenbrand
Main
MetsBlog Podcast Now Available
View Comments (0)
Post a Comment

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Please login to leave a reply.

Log in Register

    Top Stories

    Rangers Trade Dane Dunning To Braves

    Kyle Gibson Announces Retirement

    Yankees Interested In Mitch Keller

    Pirates Trade Adam Frazier To Royals

    Mets, Yankees Among Teams To Show Recent Interest In David Robertson

    Stuart Sternberg Has Agreed To Sell Rays To Patrick Zalupski, Deal Expected To Be Final By September

    Nationals Select Eli Willits With First Pick Of 2025 Amateur Draft

    2025 MLB Draft, First Round Results

    Red Sox Place Hunter Dobbins On 15-Day IL Due To ACL Tear

    Astros Promote Brice Matthews

    Red Sox Likely To Activate Alex Bregman Tomorrow

    Phillies Reportedly Targeting Controllable Relievers

    Yankees Prioritizing Pitching, Also Searching For Infield Help

    Orioles Trade Bryan Baker To Rays

    Yankees Release DJ LeMahieu

    Trevor Williams To Undergo UCL Surgery

    Nationals Fire PBO Mike Rizzo, Manager Dave Martinez

    Brewers Activate Brandon Woodruff

    Clarke Schmidt Expected To Undergo Tommy John Surgery

    Bobby Jenks Passes Away

    Recent

    Brewers Place Sal Frelick On Injured List

    Reds Sign First-Round Pick Steele Hall

    Mets Interested In Danny Coulombe

    Rangers Select Cody Freeman

    Diamondbacks Sign Sergio Alcántara, Place Ketel Marte On Restricted List Due To Personal Matter

    Fantasy Baseball: Anticipating Bullpen Holes

    Rockies Place Thairo Estrada On IL With Thumb Sprain

    Ryan Burr To Undergo Season-Ending Shoulder Surgery

    Max Kranick To Undergo Elbow Surgery

    Trade Deadline Outlook: Minnesota Twins

    MLBTR Newsletter - Hot stove highlights in your inbox, five days a week

    Latest Rumors & News

    Latest Rumors & News

    • Sandy Alcantara Rumors
    • Luis Robert Rumors
    • Alex Bregman Rumors

     

    Trade Rumors App for iOS and Android App Store Google Play

    MLBTR Features

    MLBTR Features

    • Remove Ads, Support Our Writers
    • Front Office Originals
    • Front Office Fantasy Baseball
    • MLBTR Podcast
    • Trade Deadline Outlook Series
    • 2025-26 MLB Free Agent List
    • Contract Tracker
    • Transaction Tracker
    • Extension Tracker
    • Agency Database
    • MLBTR On Twitter
    • MLBTR On Facebook
    • Team Facebook Pages
    • How To Set Up Notifications For Breaking News
    • Hoops Rumors
    • Pro Football Rumors
    • Pro Hockey Rumors

    Rumors By Team

    • Angels Rumors
    • Astros Rumors
    • Athletics Rumors
    • Blue Jays Rumors
    • Braves Rumors
    • Brewers Rumors
    • Cardinals Rumors
    • Cubs Rumors
    • Diamondbacks Rumors
    • Dodgers Rumors
    • Giants Rumors
    • Guardians Rumors
    • Mariners Rumors
    • Marlins Rumors
    • Mets Rumors
    • Nationals Rumors
    • Orioles Rumors
    • Padres Rumors
    • Phillies Rumors
    • Pirates Rumors
    • Rangers Rumors
    • Rays Rumors
    • Red Sox Rumors
    • Reds Rumors
    • Rockies Rumors
    • Royals Rumors
    • Tigers Rumors
    • Twins Rumors
    • White Sox Rumors
    • Yankees Rumors

    Navigation

    • Sitemap
    • Archives
    • RSS/Twitter Feeds By Team

    MLBTR INFO

    • Advertise
    • About
    • Commenting Policy
    • Privacy Policy

    Connect

    • Contact Us
    • Twitter
    • Facebook
    • RSS Feed

    MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com

    Do not Sell or Share My Personal Information

    hide arrows scroll to top

    Register

    Desktop Version | Switch To Mobile Version