The Braves and Brewers are on parallel tracks. Both are led by young, bold GMs with a mandate to start over. Coppy had a head start of a half-season, but which team is closer to contending.
Milwaukee GM David Stearns received two nifty assists from his predecessor Doug Melvin, For a fading Carlos Gomez, he acquired left-handed starter Josh Hader (130 Ks, 42 BB, 2.92 ERA in 101 IP) and power-hitting OFs Brett Phillips and Domingo Santana. Melvin stole tonight’s starter, Zach Davies (3.57 ERA, 1.189 WHIP) from the O’s for Geraldo Parra.
One of Stearns’ first moves pad immediate dividends, trading a fringe prospect for Jonathan Villar, who has hit .