With the July 31st non-waiver trade deadline approaching, the Milwaukee Brewers have seen their name surface in a number of rumors. One of those names was Francisco Rodriguez, and Tuesday he was traded.
The Brewers sent Rodriguez to the Baltimore Orioles for 3B prospect Nick Delmonico. After the worse season of his 12-year career in 2012, K-Rod has been able to bounce back. Without a team to begin the season, Rodriguez signed a minor league deal with the Brewers that gave him a month to make it to the big leagues. He did just that and has posted a 1.05 ERA with a perfect 10 for 10 run in save opportunities for the Brewers. General Manager Doug Melvin was determined to make a move Tuesday…
AUDIO: Doug Melvin says the deal was going to happen Tuesday :14
Delmonico was a 6th round pick in 2011. The 21-year-old was considered the Orioles 4th best prospect before the 2013 season by Baseball America. In 61 games with High-A Frederick Keys of the Carolina League, Delmonico was hitting .243 with 13-homers and 30-RBI.
At 41-58, this may be the first of a few moves the Brewers make before the deadline. Even if Milwaukee starts “selling off” pieces, Melvin doesn’t want to use the word “sellers” for his team…
AUDIO: Doug Melvin says they’re not sellers, it was a good deal :15
Other Brewers that have popped up in rumors are: John Axford, Yovani Gallardo, Norichika Aoki, Kyle Lohse, Aramis Ramirez and Michael Gonzalez. After the July 31st non-waiver deadline, teams will still have until August 31st to strike a waiver deal.