More than a week removed from the Brewers-Twins trade that sent shortstop J.J. Hardy to Minnesota for center fielder Carlos Gomez, reports continue to emerge about the other offers that Brewers GM Doug Melvin passed up.
The latest comes from FoxSports.com, which suggested in a series of reports that the Pirates offered either catcher Ryan Doumit or closer Matt Capps for Hardy — the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette had the same Capps rumor — but that Melvin wanted one of Pittsburgh’s left-handed starters: Zach Duke or Paul Maholm. Fox cites a Major League source who said the Pirates rejected that idea.
It would have been a nice haul for Melvin, considering that all 29 of his rival GMs knew full-well that he would trade Hardy this winter. Duke is under contract for two more years and coming off his best big league season with a 4.06 ERA, three complete games (nearly four) in 213 innings. Maholm also has two more years, plus a club option for 2012. He has made at least 29 starts in four straight seasons and has a 4.33 career ERA.
Assuming the Fox report is accurate, Doumit is an interesting name considering that the Brewers are in a transition period behind the plate. Given Melvin’s statement last week that he might not be able to spend $5 million on a catcher next season (that was Jason Kendall’s salary in 2009) it may have been a cost issue with Doumit. According to FoxSports.com, the 28-year-old is to earn $3.55 million this next season and $5.1 million in 2011, with a $7.25 million club option for ’12 and an $8.25 million club option for ’13.
Durability is also a big issue. Doumit had a breakthrough season in 2008 (.318 average, 15 homers, 69 RBIs in 116 games) but was limited to 75 games in 2009 because of wrist, back and knee injuries.
Then there’s the issue of trading within the division. Reds GM Walt Jocketty told MLB.com that he, too, expressed some interest in Hardy but was told by his good friend Melvin that the Brewers preferred to move the player out of the National League Central.
In the end, Melvin was focused on acquiring a young starting pitcher or a young, defensively-sound center fielder for Hardy. He pulled the trigger for Gomez.
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