Milwaukee traded two of their pending free agents last week to NL central competitors. The Brewers dealt RHP Jamey Wright and cash to St. Louis for OF-S Chris Morris and player to be named later on Thursday. Then on Saturday, they sent Mark Loretta and cash to Houston for two players to be named later.

As we discussed when the Cardinals acquired reliever Jeff Fassero, St. Louis wanted another starter to bolster their rotation after Matt Morris' injury. The Brewers were set to lose Wright as a free agent at the end of the season and wanted to receive something in return with free agent compensation eliminated in the new CBA.

Wright doesn't possess a particularly strong skill set, as he's prone to walking an overabundance of batters and has a fairly low strikeout rate. This season with the Brewers, the 27-year-old allowed 115 H and 15 HR in 114.1 IP with a 69:63 K:BB for a 5.35 ERA. Unfortunately, those skills indicate he's no better than the Cardinals' internal starting options. St. Louis was attracted to his ability to pitch into the sixth inning and beyond in most games, which will take pressure off their bullpen and makes him a better option than Luther Hackman.

However, now that Garrett Stephenson and Woody Williams have returned, the Cardinals will only need two of Jason Simontacchi, Andy Benes, and Wright in the rotation unless they encounter another double-header or injury. The team was only short on starters last week because they played two doubleheaders. Simontacchi should not be bumped from the rotation before the end of the season, though he won't be eligible for the playoffs as they sent him down to make room for Woody Williams activation from the DL. Benes has displayed better skills than Wright this season, so as long as everyone's able to make their starts, Wright should be relegated to the bullpen for the remainder of the season. St. Louis shouldn't use him in relief unless one of their starters suffers a blowup and they need someone to pitch several innings.

The Cardinals drafted Chris Morris out of The Citadel in the 15th round of the 2000 draft. After signing, he spent the remainder of the 2000 season at Bluefield in the Rookie-level Appalachian League. In that partial season, Morris stole 42 bases in a preview of what he'd do the next season at A Peoria in the Midwest League, when he finished the season with 111 stolen bases. Despite a fairly high strikeout rate, Morris has maintained promising plate discipline in the past with an almost equally high walk rate. The 23-year-old has slowed down a bit at A+ Potomac in the Carolina League this season, where he's hit .249 with a .348 OBP and .299 SLG on 105 H, 17 2B, 2 3B, a 58:92 BB:K, and 55/74 SB% in 422 AB.

I prefer power prospects to speed guys, but it's still disappointing that St. Louis relinquished someone with this much upside for an insurance policy, particularly when Milwaukee will also receive a player to be named later of unknown value. Hopefully, the Brewers won't squander their prize by mishandling Morris' development.

In the second trade, the only information we know about the players the Brewers will receive for Loretta is that reportedly one will be a pitcher and one a hitter. However given that Loretta is also a pending free agent, the Brewers were smart to acquire whatever they could now.

With Julio Lugo likely out for the season, the Astros wanted another infielder available so that Jose Vizcaino and Geoff Blum can rest occasionally. For some reason they chose not to look at their AAA team, where Morgan Ensberg has spent the last three months following an unjustified late May demotion. Ensberg's hit .285 with a .398 OBP, and .417 SLG on 82 H, 11 2B, 3 3B, 7 HR, a 49:54 BB:K and 9/14 SB% in 288 AB. The 27-year-old's skills are evident and he likely could have matched Geoff Blum's production at third this year.

Expending resources to acquire Loretta when Ensberg's available at no cost in the minors was a very poor decision on the Astros' part. I don't believe Loretta will even be eligible for the playoff roster if Houston makes it that far, since even though he was acquired before the end of September, he wasn't activated on the 31st.

I'm pleased that Brewers' GM Dean Taylor took action to move a few of his pending free agents to improve the organization's farm system, though the franchise will need to improve their development practices before their minors begin to provide them with real talent.

The team recalled Dave Pember to fill the roster spot of the traded Wright. Milwaukee drafted Pember out of Western Carolina University in the 8th round of the 1999 draft. He spent 2000 at A Beloit in the Midwest League and then split 2001 between Beloit and A+ High Desert in the California League. This year the Brewers assigned him to AA Huntsville in the Southern League, where he's continued to display excellent skills. In 156 IP, he's compiled a 111:53 K:BB with 157 H and 13 HR allowed for a 3.17 ERA. I think he certainly shows potential but likely needs to spend at least some time in AAA before he's ready for the majors.

Milwaukee also decided that Ben Diggins will make his major league debut on Monday. Unfortunately, they failed to finalize their decision until after he'd begun his start today. Diggins reportedly threw around 35 pitches in the first inning of his AAA start before the team pulled him and told him of his promotion. I've no idea why Pember can't start Monday with Diggins at least pushed back until Tuesday given his partial start today.

We discussed Diggins earlier this season when the Brewers acquired him from LA in the Tyler Houston trade. Since the trade, he's compiled a 34:15 K:BB with 26 H allowed in 37.2 IP for a 1.91 ERA at Huntsville. While these are again good numbers, he's not pitched above AA and likely needs some time at AAA before joining the Brewers rotation. I certainly don't understand why he needs to be up now. Given their place in the standings, Milwaukee's moves should certainly focus on the future more than the present, and this move needlessly jeopardizes an important part of their future.

In addition to Diggins, the Brewers promoted shortstop Bill Hall as a part of roster expansion today in another example of poor player development. Hall should never have been promoted to AAA this year after only 160 AB at AA last year. He certainly doesn't deserve a September call-up hitting .228 with a .272 OBP, and .301 SLG on 106 H, 20 2B, 1 3B, 4 HR, a 25:105 BB:K and 17/27 SB% in 465 AB at AAA Indianapolis in the International League.

I'm somewhat surprised that the Brewers didn't take greater strides to move Jose Hernandez, who should have been one of the most valuable trade commodities. Even if they dealt him, they'd be free to re-sign him in the off-season. Now they'll be faced with the decision of whether to sit Hernandez or face the possibility that he might strike out more than 200 times this season. This should not be a difficult choice. Hernandez is easily their second best offensive player and should remain in the lineup. He'd be a stronger player with less strikeouts and more walks, but that isn't his skill set, and if he's good enough to play for the first five months of the season, he should be in the lineup until the end of the season. Sitting him would be disrespectful to the fans of the Brewers. Additionally, the Brewers can argue the 200 strikeouts as a negative when negotiating with him as a free agent and potentially re-sign him at a discount.