Snow = Winter Meetings, I Thinks So

The snow has been falling in Green Bay, WI all day. This can mean only one thing that means another thing. Get it? Me neither. Anyway, it’s December in Wisconsin and with December comes the annual MLB Winter Meetings.

This year, MLB front office executives will gather in Las Vegas from Dec. 8-11. Big and small trades will be made, fans will both fall in love and get their hearts broken, and Hank Sneinbrenner will lose a lofty bet to his brother Hal over who has the least most baseball knowledge.

(I heard Joe Morgan wanted in on the bet but they didn’t want to listen to his endless blabber about “small ball,” second basemen, and Joe Morgan.)

Right Field Bleachers will be bringing you additional posts regarding the meetings. Since there will be at least one post about likely or wishful Brewers trades, I thought I’d take a quick look at activity by the Milwaukee Brewers during the last few Winter Meetings.

The past couple of Winter Meetings were rather uneventful for the Brewers. In 2007, the Brewers made not a single transaction. However, a likely result of talks at last years Winter Meetings yielded the Crew Salomon Torres on the day after the Meetings concluded. 2006 was very much uneventful on the Brewer front with no trade activity before, during or after that years Meetings.

The Crew did make some noise during the 2005 Winter Meetings. All the action came on one day. On Dec. 7, 2008 the Crew traded fan favorite Lyle Overbay to the Blue Jays for RHP David Bush, LHP Zach Jackson, and OF Gabe Gross. With Prince Fielder ready for every day action at first base, it was time for Lyle to go.

Personally, I think the trade worked out okay for the Crew. Jackson certainly was a disappointment, as he was advertised as having No. 2 upside. Gabe Gross was a solid piece off the bench for a couple years. Bush, both at the time and in retrospect, was the centerpiece coming from the Blue Jays.

Many fans have been really down on Bush, but he has been a very solid piece of the Brewers rotation since coming over. This is certainly true over the past two seasons.

The more uneventful of the two trades that day landed Dan Kolb back in Milwaukee. The Brewers sent Wes Obermueller to Atlanta in exchange. Neither player is very much missed.

The 2004 Winter Meetings were undoubtedly the Brewers' most productive and exciting of recent years. First, the Brewers made a small splash acquiring promising (so much for that) flame thrower Jose Capellan and a player to be named later (RHP Alex Zumwalt) for Dan Kolb.

Later, during that year's meetings, Keith Ginter was traded to Oakland for RHP Justin Lehr and OF Nelson Cruz.

The huge Brewers trade of that 2004 came during those same Winter Meetings. Carlos Lee landed in Milwaukee for Scott Podsednick and Luis Vizcaino. Not much needs to be said about this trade. Lee was better than most expected in Milwaukee. He was twice a Brewers All-Star while leading the team in nearly every offensive category. Not only that, but he was fun to have on the team.

Personally, I still have a soft spot for Carlos in my heart. Awww.

In retrospect, it’s fun looking at recent Winter Meetings and seeing how things have panned out. I tend to have blind faith in Doug Melvin, so I believe that he won’t do us wrong at this year’s Meetings. Whether the Brewers make a splash or simply dip their toes in the water, I’m excited to see what happens.