Brewers GM Doug Melvin said he had conversations with several clubs before trading J.J. Hardy to the Twins this morning. One of them was Cincinnati, according to our Reds beat reporter Mark Sheldon. From a story he filed today after talking to GM Walt Jocketty:

The Reds are still looking around for a regular shortstop but can cross J.J. Hardy off their list. Hardy, who was dealt from the Brewers to the Twins for center fielder Carlos Gomez, was on the Cincinnati radar.

"We talked to [the Brewers] several times," Jocketty said. "We didn't match up and they didn't want to trade within our division, which was understandable."

Which other teams might have made sense for Hardy? It seemed he was involved in Red Sox rumors for the past two years and that seemed like a great potential fit because Boston also wants a bat. I saw some mention of the Mariners as a possibility, though it appears they are working to extend shortstop Jack Wilson.  The Blue Jays also came up in rumors and the Tigers could be in the hunt for a shortstop, too.

Whichever team inquired, none offered the kind of pitching Melvin was seeking. So he did what he viewed as the next-best thing in acquiring Gomez, a top-flight defender in center field who should presumably benefit Brewers pitchers.

*

Follow Brew Beat on Twitter.

I thought I would pass along some thoughts from Twins GM Bill Smith about Friday's trade. Thanks to our great Twins reporter Kelly Thesier for passing them along, even if she's a Michigan State girl:

"There are some risks on our end to trade Gomez because he's got some great raw skills. He's still learning to play the game. There is some risk there but we felt it was worthwhile to get a regular, high-quality shortstop like J.J. Hardy that we are going to have for a number of years.

"We're all on board that this guy is a good acquisition for us. It was a good fit. We had one too many outfielders and they had one too many infielders so it's a good fit."

*

Was he happy to address two offseason issues with one deal?
"I know we put Gardy [Twins manager Ron Gardenhire] in a tough spot this year and all the players. It's tough when you have five guys who need to play everyday and you can play only four of them including the DH. I tip my cap to Carlos Gomez because when Gardy went to him, I know Gardy tried to get everybody in and keep everybody playing.

"Finally he had to say, 'I'm going to go with a more set lineup.' That put Carlos on the bench and he took to it. He said if it makes us better, if you need me for defense, I'll be ready for defense. One time I know he compared himself to Joe Nathan saying, 'When I come in a game, I'm like a closer.' I tip my cap to Carlos because he always has been team-first and I talked to him this morning. I told him he's going to get a chance to play every day. For that he was happy but  he was sad, he said I've got a lot of good friends in Minnesota. But this was an opportunity for us to take something where we have some depth and fill a hole."

*

How much did it affect J.J.'s value that he had the extra year before free agency?
"To give up Calros Gomez, where we are going to give up four years of control, it's important to get somebody that we are going to have for more than a year. It's a positive for us to have J.J. Hardy and the ability to keep him for a couple years. We'll see what happens. We might keep him for a lot longer than that."

*

Follow Brew Beat on Twitter.

Welcome to Milwaukee, Carlos Gomez. Or rather, welcome back.

Gomez, who made his Major League debut at Miller Park for the Mets on May 13, 2007, was at home in the Dominican capital of Santiago on Friday morning when he got a call he never expected.

"[Twins GM] Bill Smith called me and said, 'I have good news and bad news,'" Gomez said. "I wanted the bad news first and he said, 'I traded you. We needed a shortstop.'"

Gomez had been traded to the Brewers for shortstop J.J. Hardy in a swap of players coming off disappointing seasons.

Then came the good news.

"It's going to be good for you," Smith told Gomez, "because you need to play."

He did not always get that opportunity in Minnesota. After a slow start at the plate in 2009, Gomez split time in center field with Denard Span but he'll face no such logjam in Milwaukee. In making Friday's trade, the Brewers formally cut ties with free agent center fielder Mike Cameron, a veteran who had manned center field and kept peace in the clubhouse for the past two seasons.

Gomez is just as slick defensively and is one of baseball's fastest players but remains raw at the plate. In 348 games over parts of three Major League seasons, he's a .246 hitter with a .292 on-base percentage, 12 home runs, 99 RBIs and 59 stolen bases in 70 tries.

"Coming back to the National League is exciting," said Gomez, who began his career with the Mets. "It means you have a chance to play every day. Even if you don't start, you're probably going to get a chance as a pinch-hitter. In the American League, if you don't start, you don't play.

"But I don't have pinch-hitting in my mind. I want to play every day."

After speaking with Brewers GM Doug Melvin, Gomez felt assured he would get that opportunity.

"I don't want to be a backup player. I'm too young to be a backup," he said. "If Milwaukee wanted me, they know I can play every day. They want me to be an exciting player, but to make more contact, work the count. Get on base.

"It's going to be exciting. I can't wait to start."

Gomez was also excited to meet his new fans in Milwaukee. He plans to take part in the Brewers' Winter Warm-Up event in January.

*

Follow Brew Beat on Twitter.

On a busy day for the Brewers, the team declined reliever David Weathers' club option and made him a free agent. The option would have paid Weathers' $3.7 million in 2010; instead he gets a $400,000 buyout.

Weathers split the 2009 season between Cincinnati and Milwaukee, going 4-6 with a 3.92 ERA in 68 games. After an Aug. 9 trade to the Brewers, he was 1-3 with a 4.88 ERA while appearing in 25 of the team's final 51 games. The Brewers sent cash to the Reds after the season to complete the trade.

The Brewers have one more option decision looming. Braden Looper's deal includes a mutual option for 2010 that calls for a $6.5 million salary or a $1 million buyout. The Brewers have until Nov. 14 to decide, and general manager Doug Melvin would not tip his hand in a conference call with beat reporters on Friday.

*

Follow Brew Beat on Twitter.

I just spoke to J.J. Hardy, who was traded to the Twins today in a move he saw coming.

"In the words of Prince Fielder, that's just baseball," Hardy said with a chuckle. "I definitely expected to get traded, but I had no idea where I was going to be traded to. I definitely thought the Twins were a possibility."

The Brewers got speedy outfielder Carlos Gomez in the deal. Hardy didn't see that one coming.

"I definitely thought I was going to get traded for a pitcher," he said. "Still, I wasn't real shocked when I got the call. I think knowing I was going to get traded from the day I got sent down [to the Minors, on Aug. 12] kind of helped me prepare for it. It's been a few months now that I've known I would get traded, so it makes it easier."

He spoke Friday morning with Twins GM Bill Smith and was to take part in a conference call with Minnesota reporters at noon CT.

"I don't know a whole lot about that team, other than what I saw playing them twice a year for the last five years," Hardy said. "That's a good team and it's a good opportunity for me. They have a new stadium. I feel like it's a decent situation for me."

The Twins will have Hardy for at least two more years thanks to the Brewers' well-time demotion in August. Had they sent Hardy to Triple-A Nashville one day later, he would have amassed enough service time to qualify for a full year. Instead, he fell short, and thus will have to wait one extra year -- until after the 2011 season -- to test the free agent market.

"That still hurts a little bit," Hardy said. "But bring traded, that's baseball. I had a good five years in Milwaukee and I wouldn't take anything back. They were the ones who gave me the opportunity to be in the big leagues and show what I can do. There's no hard feelings.

"Milwaukee drafted me as a shortstop when a lot of teams didn't want me as a shortstop. They wanted me as a pitcher. The Brewers were the team that brought me to the big leagues for the first time. So I definitely want to look at everything in a positive way. There are things I could look at in a negative way, but I don't want to do that. That doesn't serve anyone."

Hardy was excited to reunite with Twins star Joe Mauer. They met in Hermosillo, Mexico when Hardy was 15 as part of a junior national team and played together a number of times. Hardy and Mauer were roommates during one tournament in Canada and also played together in Panama.

The Twins will work this winter on signing Mauer to a contract extension.

"I know they're already working on it, and I'm excited about that," Hardy said. "I really like him. We clicked right from the start."

*

Follow Brew Beat on Twitter.

A few more tidbits about the newest Brewer, 23-year-old speedster Carlos Gomez. The Brewers picked him up today in a trade that sent shortstop J.J. Hardy to the Twins.

This section is from the story I filed about the trade a few minutes ago:

The Twins acquired Gomez as part of the mega-trade that sent pitcher Johan Santana to the Mets in February 2009 and Gomez made 90 starts as Minnesota's leadoff hitter that year. He hit .258 with 59 RBIs, 79 runs scored and 33 steals, enough to enter 2009 as the Twins' center field incumbent.

He lost the starting job after hitting .195 through the season's first month and spent the year in a timeshare agreement with Denard Span. For his career, Gomez has made 101 of his 263 starts in the leadoff spot and is just a .240 hitter with a .279 on-base percentage.

Twins manager Rob Gardenhire loved Gomez's speed and his range in center field but conceded before Game 2 of this year's American League Division Series against the Yankees, when Gomez made a start, that his offensive game was a work in progress. 

"He irritates people," Gardenhire said. "Sometimes me." 

The skipper was asked to expound. 

"We've been trying to get him to calm down and get him to control the situations, and sometimes the situation controls him," Gardenhire said. "There are times when, yes, you're like, 'Go-Go, you have to see what we're trying to do here.' We just had a 25-pitch inning from our pitcher, and he goes up and falls down swinging on the first pitch.

"Those things get you irritated as a manager, because we want him to recognize what we're doing in a game. But he can play, and he's fun to watch. He's very, very talented and has a lot to learn, yes, but like I said, when you see him out there in center field covering all that ground and then some of the offensive things that he can do that other people can't do, that's why the guy is in the big leagues."

So it appears that Brewers hitting coach Dale Sveum will have some work to do if the Brewers are to reign-in Gomez. He's an intriguing addition.

Here's what Brewers GM Doug Melvin had to say about Gomez in the team's announcement of the deal:

"Carlos brings to our club great speed, athleticism and energy at a position that we needed to fill," said Melvin.  "His defense will serve as a key component to us improving our pitching.  At only 24 years of age, Carlos can further develop the offensive aspect of his game and give us a different look to our lineup."

*

Follow Brew Beat on Twitter.

It didn't take long for the Brewers to make the trade everybody saw coming. 

The ticker tape was still falling in Manhattan on Friday when the Brewers dealt shortstop J.J. Hardy, a staple of trade rumors this year, to the Twins for speedy center fielder Carlos Gomez. The Brewers announced the trade on their official Twitter feed.

The move could have multiple consequences: 

-  It eased the shortstop logjam between Hardy, a former All-Star, and Alcides Escobar, the organization's top prospect, essentially handing the baton to Escobar for 2010.

- It gave the Brewers their center fielder and perhaps their leadoff hitter, making Milwaukee even more unlikely to pursue two of outgoing free agents. Mike Cameron, who manned center field at Miller Park in each of the past two seasons, and Felipe Lopez, who was excellent in the leadoff hole after a July 2009 trade from Arizona, will probably move on. 

[True, at least in terms of the center field half of that paragraph. Brewers GM Doug Melvin said he left a message with Cameron on Friday explaining that the Brewers would not pursue him in free agency. And Melvin reiterated his commitment to second baseman Rickie Weeks, meaning there probably isn't a place for Lopez.]

- It could allow the Brewers to use second baseman Rickie Weeks in a spot other than leadoff. Weeks has always been viewed as a future run-producer, but was forced to the top of the order out of necessity.

[Nope, at least according to Melvin in a conference call on Friday. He said the Brewers will leave Weeks in the leadoff hole and let Gomez develop his hitting skills elsewhere in the order.]

Gomez does not turn 24 until next month but has already played parts of three seasons in the Major Leagues. In 348 games, he's a .246 hitter with a .292 on-base percentage, 12 home runs, 99 RBIs and 59 stolen bases in 70 tries.

*

Follow Brew Beat on Twitter.

The Brewers and the American Hockey League's Milwaukee Admirals announced the continuation of the "2-Man Advantage" ticket promotion that was introduced for the 2008 season.  The joint ticket opportunity is a part of a partnership established in 2005 that recently was extended through the 20010-11 Admirals season.

For $32, fans get two "Stern & Bow" tickets to one of two Brewers promotion nights at the Bradley Center for an Admirals home game and two Terrace Reserved tickets to one of two select Brewers games at Miller Park in 2010. That's a $30 savings over regular price.

Here are the available dates:

Saturday, Dec. 5, 2009 - Admirals vs. Manitoba 7:30 p.m. (Brewers/Admirals Winter Scarf Night)
-or-
Friday, Feb. 19, 2010 - Admirals vs. Houston 7 p.m. (Brewers/Admirals Cap Night)

-and-

Tuesday, April 27, 2010 - Brewers vs. Pittsburgh, 7:10 p.m.
-or-
Monday, May 10, 2010, - Brewers vs. Atlanta, 7:10 p.m.

These packages are also available at Brewers.com/admirals.  The package will be available through Friday, February 19, 2010.

The Admirals are an affiliate of the NHL's Nashville Predators.

Let the offseason begin.

When the Yankees clinched the World Series on Wednesday night, it kick-started the season after the season for all 30 teams, not to mention the dozens of unattached players looking for new homes. Thursday began a 15-day period for those players to formally file for free agency, during which they may only negotiate with their current team.

The Brewers have seven such players, including two -- center fielder Mike Cameron and catcher Jason Kendall -- who have been fixtures in the starting lineup in the past two seasons. The other players eligible to file are outfielder Frank Catalanotto, infielder Craig Counsell, second baseman Felipe Lopez, outfielder Corey Patterson and pitcher Claudio Vargas.

Two others must wait to learn whether they will join the free agent pool. The Brewers have 10 days after the World Series to decide whether to exercise their half of Braden Looper's $6.5 million mutual option and whether to pick up reliever David Weathers' $3.7 million club option.

Looper, who led the team with 14 wins and tied for the National League with 34 starts but ran up a 5.22 ERA and led the Major Leagues by allowing 39 home runs, is a particularly interesting case. The Brewers would have to pay a $1 million buyout if they declined his option. 

In August it seemed a foregone conclusion that the Brewers, who are short on pitching prospects at the top levels of the Minor Leagues, would bring Looper back. But a high-ranking club official indicated during the final week of the season that Looper's future with the team was now up for debate. He went 5-2 in September/October but posted a 6.58 ERA and a .349 opponents' average. With general manager Doug Melvin intent on bringing in two new starters -- his stated goal last month -- and the Brewers' four other '09 starters under contract for 2010, Looper could conceivably be one of the odd men out. 

If the Brewers decline Weathers' option, they owe him a $400,000 buyout. 

Among the players already eligible for free agency, Cameron, Counsell, Kendall and Vargas are the likely priorities. Lopez was excellent after a July trade from Arizona to Milwaukee -- .with a 320 batting average and a .407 on-base percentage in 297 plate appearances -- but Melvin made it clear that he is committed to Rickie Weeks at second base. If that's the case, it appears the Brewers don't have a spot for Lopez. 

Also on Thursday, the Brewers learned that Cameron, Kendall and Lopez all qualified as Type B players in the Elias Sports Bureau's ranking system and that Looper and Weathers would also rank as Type Bs should they reach free agency.

That system considers a player's last two seasons of statistical output and is used to determine which free agents are eligible for Draft compensation. In order to qualify, a free agent must be offered arbitration by his former team, but decline the offer and then sign elsewhere.

The former club of a Type A free agent receives the player's new team's first- or second-round pick in next year's First-Year Player Draft, depending on where that team finished in the standings, plus a "sandwich pick" between the first- and second rounds.  The former club of a Type B free agent receives only the sandwich pick.
 
Lopez was one spot shy of qualifying as a Type A player. National League second baseman, shortstops and third basemen are grouped together by Elias, and Lopez was the first Type B, with a rating of 71.889. Marlins second baseman Dan Uggla was the final Type A, at 72.350.

For more on the Brewers' free agent-eligibles, see my story on Brewers.com.

Of the players in question, who would you like to see back? Who should the Brewers let go?


*

Follow Brew Beat on Twitter


 

As the Yankees and Phillies get set for Game 6 of the World Series, I wanted to note two stories filed yesterday as part of our World Series coverage that included some thoughts from new Brewers pitching coach Rick Peterson. Jennifer Langosch solicited feedback from around baseball about the Yankees' use of a three-man rotation against the Phillies, and John Schlegel wrote about an issue near but not-so-dear to Brewers fan's hearts: The general shortage of pitching in baseball.

Both stories were buried amid the mountain of coverage from yesterday's workout at Yankee Stadium, so I wanted to call them out to those of you Brewers fans who have been following. Peterson, who continues to work on a side venture -- 3P Sports -- that helps pitchers avoid injuries, had interesting thoughts in both stories.

"The Yankees have a definite need," Peterson told me for the short-rest story. "They don't have a fourth starter. If we were talking about a couple of years ago and [Chien-Ming] Wang was coming off 19 wins, they would go with four starters, I guarantee it. But they don't have a choice right now, because they only have three guys, and they made sure those three had ample rest coming down the stretch."

One of those guys is lefty Andy Pettitte, who was scheduled to start Game 6 as the Yankees tried to clinch.

*

Follow Brew Beat on Twitter