By Jim Owczarski Sports Editor Published Jul 30, 2014 at 11:01 AM

"I'd say we're going for it. That's the way I look at it."

I’m not sure those are necessarily "famous" words here in Milwaukee – I had to Google it, after all – but the action Doug Melvin used those 13 words to describe is certainly acclaimed.

The trade for CC Sabathia in early July 2008 not only fortified the Milwaukee Brewers as a playoff team, it broke a 26-year postseason drought and – as Melvin would say this summer when Sabathia returned to Miller Park as a member of the New York Yankees – that run changed the expectations of the franchise.

That singular move for four prospects would be the first domino Melvin would eventually push over the following seasons, tiles that would include Shaun Marcum, Zack Greinke, Francisco Rodriguez, Kyle Lohse and Matt Garza.

The question facing Melvin (and owner Mark Attanasio) is, will they knock one more domino over in the final hours before the non-waiver trade deadline this afternoon?

The club has been linked to starting pitchers David Price of the Tampa Bay Rays and Jon Lester of the Boston Red Sox, but to me, Price fits the mold of what Melvin would like in a blockbuster trade.

Whatever the Rays may want for Price, their request will assuredly be higher for the 2012 American League Cy Young winner than what the Red Sox want for Lester, who will be an unrestricted free agent at the end of the year. Price, although due a large salary through arbitration after this year, would still be in the Brewers control for 2015.

Think Sabathia in the short term, think Greinke in the long game.

Heading into this afternoon's start against the Brewers in Tampa, the 28-year-old Price is currently leading the American League in innings pitched and strikeouts, and he has two complete games.

And, he’s gotten hot.

After a tough start to the year, he’s gone 7-3 over his last 10 starts with a 1.82 earned run average, averaging 7.9 innings per start while allowing opponents to hit just .204.

Now, Lester has been just as good over that time – heck, the whole season – and his postseason track record is longer and more successful.

But for the Brewers, Price’s nine postseason appearances (including two World Series relief appearances) is experience enough when teamed with Lohse and Garza.

It’s not about that though – it’s about getting there in 2014 and giving it another go in 2015. And Price fits that bill.

While there are some questions as to how much life Price’s left arm still has (even at 28) he’s worth going "all-in" on, as the talk radio hosts have taken to calling it.

  • He gives you a third arm with World Series experience in the rotation for the stretch run this year.
  • Should the 2015 season go the way of 2012 (disappointingly), the Brewers will be able to move him (a la Greinke) for a sizeable return of their own.

I find it interesting when fans of any sports franchise become attached to players they either have never seen, or players of which they’ve only seen small sample sizes.

If you’re always chasing the promise of four years from now, you miss the chance to win in the present.

And trust me – if Melvin sends four prospects to Tampa Bay and the Brewers make it to, or win, the World Series in 2014 (and/or in 2015) – no one will care in 2019 or 2020 if one of other guys actually pans out in Florida.

Jim Owczarski is an award-winning sports journalist and comes to Milwaukee by way of the Chicago Sun-Times Media Network.

A three-year Wisconsin resident who has considered Milwaukee a second home for the better part of seven years, he brings to the market experience covering nearly all major and college sports.

To this point in his career, he has been awarded six national Associated Press Sports Editors awards for investigative reporting, feature writing, breaking news and projects. He is also a four-time nominee for the prestigious Peter J. Lisagor Awards for Exemplary Journalism, presented by the Chicago Headline Club, and is a two-time winner for Best Sports Story. He has also won numerous other Illinois Press Association, Illinois Associated Press and Northern Illinois Newspaper Association awards.

Jim's career started in earnest as a North Central College (Naperville, Ill.) senior in 2002 when he received a Richter Fellowship to cover the Chicago White Sox in spring training. He was hired by the Naperville Sun in 2003 and moved on to the Aurora Beacon News in 2007 before joining OnMilwaukee.com.

In that time, he has covered the events, news and personalities that make up the PGA Tour, LPGA Tour, Major League Baseball, the National Football League, the National Hockey League, NCAA football, baseball and men's and women's basketball as well as boxing, mixed martial arts and various U.S. Olympic teams.

Golf aficionados who venture into Illinois have also read Jim in GOLF Chicago Magazine as well as the Chicago District Golfer and Illinois Golfer magazines.