Nyjer Morgan: Washington Nationals Trade OF to Milwaukee Brewers

I love when teams trade for a player who is about to be released, and that's exactly what the Milwaukee Brewers did on Sunday.

The Brewers acquired OF Nyjer Morgan from the Washington Nationals for minor league prospect Cutter Dykstra and $50,000 in cash. Yes, Dykstra is the son of former major leaguer and self-professed investment guru, Lenny Dykstra.

Morgan was expendable because the Nationals are more than happy to go with Rick Ankiel and Jerry Hairston in center field. Morgan wore out his welcome in Washington with his poor 2010 season and the sideshow he became on the field. For those of you who don't remember, he started a bench-clearing brawl in Florida a week after he elbowed St. Louis Cardinals' catcher Bryan Anderson in the head crossing home plate.

The Nationals did well to get something for him. According to Baseball Prospectus, Dykstra was the 16th-best prospect in the Brewers' organization. He is listed as a third baseman, but is still trying to figure out what position he plays best.

The 21-year-old hit .312/.416/.411 in 353 plate appearances at Class-A Wisconsin in 2010. Dykstra was the Brewers' second-round pick of the 2008 First-Year Player Draft.

As for the Brewers' side of this trade, I am a little bit confused.

If the point of acquiring Morgan was to have him platoon with Carlos Gomez in center, two wrongs don't make a right. Morgan hit .253/.319/.314 with no HRs and 34 SBs. He also was caught 17 times.

On the other hand, Gomez hit .247/.298/.357 with five HRs and 18 SBs in 318 PAs. If the Brewers want the right-handed Gomez to play against left-handed pitching, they might be in trouble. Gomez hit only .196 against left-handed pitching in 2010, and for his career, he is only a .234 hitter against lefties.

If the point of this trade was to make Morgan the backup outfielder and keep Gomez as the starter, then this trade even makes less sense to me. Why not just wait a week until he was released? Why give up a prospect for a guy who produced a 0.9 WAR in 2010?

Granted Dykstra isn't a top prospect, but the Brewers' farm system is pretty bare right now, and they need all the prospects they can get.

They are barer than the random girl walking behind me said she was on Saturday morning. Here is an actual conversation that took place as I was walking back to my apartment from Pick A Bagel on Third Avenue and 22nd street:

Random Girl: Last night was a long night. I woke up in my bed completely naked.

Friend of Random Girl: Was there a guy next to you?

Random Girl: No, but he could have left earlier. I don't remember.

And that conversation right there is why New York City is the greatest place to live in the world.

You can follow The Ghost of Moonlight Graham on Twitter @ theghostofmlg.