The Floodgates are Open

ESPN is reporting that Carlos Lee is on his way to the Rangers, along with minor-league OF Nelson Cruz, in exchange for Francisco Cordero, Kevin Mench and Laynce Nix. Lee will be a free agent at the end of the season, and to me, this is a really nice deal for the Brewers. Mench will be a serviceable substitute for Lee in LF, and Cordero will provide them another powerful arm for their shaky pen. Brewers' fans can digest this deal as a shot at improving the team and staying in the race in addition to getting something in return for a player who they could not sign to a contract extension. Cordero had a bad outing on Wednesday in New York, but prior to that he had allowed an earned run in only two of his last 15 outings, covering 15.2 innings, and of course he has been a successful closer in the past. Derrick Turnbow has been terrible of late, and Cordero should help plug that leak along with Danny Kolb.

As for the Rangers, Lee will add some pop to their OF, but picking up Cruz could be more important in the long run, as he is tearing up AAA (.302/.378/.528 with 20 HR, 73 RBI). The Brewers may feel that they can afford to deal Cruz because when J. J. Hardy gets healthy, they could slide Bill Hall to 2B and Rickie Weeks out to the OF. Tony Gwynn and Corey Hart are also talented young OF for Milwaukee who could help replace Cruz on the depth chart.