It's no surprise that the Milwaukee Brewers traded away J.J. Hardy.

      It's mildly beyond the pale that they got a center fielder for him, instead of a pitcher.    This means that Mike Cameron will be free to go wherever the free agent trail takes him.     It also says that Hardy wasn't going to get G-M Doug Melvin the kind of starter he craves.   Light-hitting shortstops don't draw big name arms in return, especially when it's a seller's market for those blessed with spare hurlers.

      What jumped off the page when I read Tom Haudricourt's blog on the deal was the use of the word "speedster" in describing newly acquired Carlos Gomez, late of the Minnesota Twins.     "Speedster", in baseball parlance, means "one who steals bases" which is something his new team was reluctant to do in 2009.

      Reluctant, meaning "deathly afraid".

     Gomez pilfered 33 sacks in '08 before playing his way into reserve status last season because, no matter how fast you are, you can't steal first base.     He was hitting just .199 the first month of last season before grabbing pine.

      Hardy's heir apparent, Alcides Escobar, stole 42 bases at Nashville before his call-up last summer.    Corey Hart is one of the fastest, smartest base runners on the club.    Rickey Weeks can pick 'em up and put 'em down, too.    One could assume that, with the addition of Gomez to the line-up, the Brewers are finally going to turn on the after-burners and start putting the pressure on the defense by running more.    

      I don't think that's going to happen, unless someone totally rewires Manager Ken Macha's head this winter.    Macha adores the long ball and always has.    I can't see him changing his ways, no matter what.

      Unless, of course, Melvin and owner Mark Attanasio make it a condition of employment.    Attanasio isn't afraid to manage via the phone, and maybe he got sick of sitting Miller Park all those warm summer nights watching runners die on the bases.       Scoring runs wasn't a Brewer problem in '09, but I've always maintained that the issue was WHEN they scored.     Yovani Gallardo was on the wrong end of four shutouts last season, some of the 1-0 variety.      That shouldn't happen to your staff ace, not with this kind of lineup.          

      Maybe Melvin likes Gomez for what his speed will mean to the Milwaukee defense--you need a burner in center, and it wasn't Gomez' glove that paved his way to the bench in the Twin Cities.     He was deemed good enough to take Torii Hunter's place, and that's quite a compliment.

      The same-old/same-old no longer applies with the Brewers.     When a matinee idol and 2007 All Star can be peddled after a bad season, you know Melvin's dealing digits are twitchy.    I'd be happy to see if the changes include a switch in Macha's offensive approach--I don't think the longball and on-base aggressiveness are mutually exclusive--but I have my doubts.

      We won't know until April.     And, by then, who knows what this team is going to look like?