The Brewers missed out on Francisco Cordero by just $4MM. They didn’t feel Cordero was worth more than Billy Wagner, though Wagner signed several years ago. Scott Linebrink also left for greener pastures. Though GM Doug Melvin is giving the idea lip service, he can’t be serious about entering next season with Derrick Turnbow back at closer. There is one internal option I like – Dave Bush closed in college.
The trade market offers Joe Nathan and Chad Cordero, according to Tom Haudricourt. Jose Valverde, Kevin Gregg, Ryan Dempster, Brian Fuentes, Salomon Torres, Dan Wheeler, and Huston Street could be available as well. An excess of starting pitching could be used to obtain one of these guys.
Melvin still has plenty of free agent options: Eric Gagne, Octavio Dotel, Keith Foulke, Troy Percival, and Kerry Wood. He could even get creative with a starter like Brett Tomko or Randy Wolf, if he doesn’t like the Bush idea. Al at the fine Al’s Ramblings blog doesn’t seem terribly concerned.
