The Yankees and the Brewers have been discussing a possible swap of Mike Cameron and Melky Cabrera for nearly a week and with a possible deal in place the Yankees have put talks on hold.

Melky CabreraAccording to Tyler Kepner, the two sides may have an agreement in place, but the Yankees have put the deal on hold for baseball reasons. The deal could include Cabrera and Kei Igawa heading to the Beer Makers in exchange for Cameron and Bill Hall.

The Yankees are in no rush to complete the deal, which is smart. This is not the type of trade that will make or break their next season and something better might come along if teams are looking to cut payroll in an uncertain economy.

Cameron isn’t a certain upgrade either. He’ll provide about the same average and a slightly higher OBP and a much higher slugging percentage. On the other hand a Melky and Brett Gardner platoon would provide more than adequate defense and a lot of speed on the bases. They would also be better in sacrifice situations.

There are still about about two months left in the off-season and the Brewers are still going to want Cameron’s salary out of Milwaukee in February. So the Yankees are being smart by stopping to see what their other options could be.