Wright and Mendoza Acquired By Brewers in Prospect Trade with Yanks

Today, the Milwaukee Brewers aquired former Yankees pitchers Chase Wright and Ramiro Mendoza in a trade involving rookie prospect Eric Fryer from Class-A West Virginia.

Milwaukee's thin bullpen does not go unnoticed to Brewers fans with the departures of eight year starter Ben Sheets, CC Sabathia, Brian Shouse and closer Salomon Torres the club is left with its starting five and a handful of relievers.  Perhaps in the short run, aquiring Wright and Ramirez may add perceived depth to the bullpen. The question now is how will that depth pan out in the long run and will we come to regret the loss of Eric Fryer? 

Fryer is coming off his rookie season in the minors during which he focused on catching.  He batted .335 with a .407 on-base percentage with 10 HR, R63 RBI and 15 SB.  

Lefty Wright had his first majors appearance last season in three games for the Yankees in which he had a 2-0 record and a 7.2 ERA.  During his time in the minors, he went 10-3 with an ERA of 2.72. He is unproven in the majors.

Mendoza first appeared in MLB in 1996 and played for the Yankees with sporadic Red Sox seasons until 2005 when he pitched his last game.  He has a career record of 59-40 with an ERA of 4.30 and 62 games saved out of 342 games and is on the preliminary roster for Panama's World Baseball Classic team.

The Brewers boast a deep farm system whose roots can be traced to the beginning of the Doug Melvin/Mark Antanasio era. 

In the current age of baseball, it is wise to zealously guard young talent, especially in small to middle market teams. It will be interesting to see how these three aforementioned players perform over the next season.

I personally question Mendoza's pitching as he's been unused for several years now.  Wright has yet to prove himself. Perhaps this will be his breakout season. 

Depth is depth but talent is still talent, especially when it's young.