Carlos Lee was traded from the Brewers along with OF Nelson Cruz (Lee’s replacement in 2007 if Lee does not resign) and a player to be named later for Kevin Mench (Lee’s replacement in the Brew Crew outfield), Francisco Cordero (looking to reclaim his closing magic in Milwaukee) and Laynce Nix, an outfield prospect who has failed to progress the last three years.
What does this mean? It means that the Rangers just increased their offensive output a lot, and did not lose too much in Cordero, who was not their closer. To be sure, losing a setup man hurts, but to add Lee, you do it.
What does this mean for the Red Sox, who are about to tangle with the vaunted Angels staff while the Yankees feast on the D-Rays? The Red Sox do not have to face Texas anymore the rest of the season, while the Yankees just completed a sweep (dagnabbit!) of the Rangers.
The Rangers are going to finish up a series against the Twins, then head to Los Angeles. They’ve got in order for the rest of the season: OAK, SEA, LA, DET, TB, OAK, BAL, CLE, OAK, SEA, DET, LAA, SEA, CLE, LAA, SEA.
Unfortunately for us, their impact on the wild card race or the East divisional race is non-existent. They’re going to play a lot of intra-divisional races the rest of the way, but any chance they had to impact the East is now gone.
One big trade down, now let’s see where Bobby Abreu and Alfonso Soriano end up.
