Brewers Acquire Felipe Lopez

They're looking for starting pitching, but one of the biggest problems for the Brewers this season has been picking up offensively what they've missed from Rickie Weeks. Craig Counsell has filled in decently at 2nd base in the injured Weeks absence, but Craiggers is 38-years old, and is not an everyday guy. McGehee could play second, but he's needed at third because Bill Hall is terrible and Gamel is still working on his defense. So with the asking price for starting pitching insanely high right now, the Brewers went another route in the trade market, scoring Felipe Lopez from the Diamondbacks.

Lopez will be the Brewers new leadoff hitter, and can bat from both sides of the plate as well as play multiple infield positions. It looks like he'll be a stopgap for the Crew this season until Weeks is healthy next year, although some have mentioned we could extend Lopez and move Weeks to center. The Brewers will pay about $1.5 million for his services for the rest of the season, and have parted ways with OF Cole Gillespie and RP Roque Mercedes as part of the deal.

Unfortunately for Gameltoe fans, this trade means that Mat Gamel is going to be sent back down to Nashville. I had originally been against sending Gamel back down, but with McGehee playing the way he has Gamel just isn't getting the at-bats. It's probably better for both the Brewers and Gamel that he gets regular time in Nashville for awhile before coming back up as a September call-up.

Will this trade win us the division? Maybe not. But it was one of the many things the Brewers needed to do if they are going to seriously and not half-heartedly contend for a playoff spot. Next of course, would be to acquire a starting pitcher, something I'm not sure is going to happen though. Hopefully Felipe Lopez isn't it for the Brewers, but it's a good start.