A lot of Brewers fans are upset today.

Some are bewildered. Some feel betrayed. Many feel like punching something. They feel like Doug Melvin got gypped when he shipped Carlos Lee and Nelson Cruz to Texas for Kevin Mench, Laynce Nix, Francisco Cordero and minor-league pitcher Julian Cordero.

Some things to consider from a dispassionate D-list observer:

Carlos Lee wasn't going to sign a contract extension with the Brewers this season without testing the market first. The four-year, $48 million offer the Brewers made was a waste of time for everyone involved, but the Brewers had to make it.

If the Brewers want to compete for Lee's services in the free agent market and are willing to approach his expected parameters of five years and $60-plus million, they can do so.

The Brewers talked to a handful of teams interested in acquiring Lee, but the Rangers apparently were the only ones willing to part with major-league players. The rest were offering prospects. Would you have liked the trade better if the Brewers received nobody above Class AA?

Doug Melvin, a former Rangers GM whose approval rating in Milwaukee Friday is about as low as his former employer (George W. Bush), has intimate knowledge of the three big-league players he got today. He drafted Mench and Nix and acquired Cordero in a trade from Detroit.

Francisco Cordero was on the American League all-star team in 2004. He holds the Rangers' franchise record for saves in a single season 49 in 2004.

Melvin has had success with lightly-regarded Rangers "retreads" in the past. Do the names Scott Podsednik, Doug Davis and Dan Kolb ring a bell?

The only way to evaluate this trade is to see what else Melvin does. Will he "flip" any of his new players before the July 31 deadline? Can he package them in the winter to revamp his roster? And, perhaps most important, what will he do with the money that would have been spent on Lee? If the Brewers were prepared to pay Lee $12 million next year, does that mean they can spend that loot on other players (Greg Maddux, Javier Valentin, LaTroy Hawkins) or will Cordero ($5 million in 2007) and Mench (who will probably make about $3.4 million) eat up most of that money?

Nix began the season as the Rangers' starting centerfielder, but got off to a brutal start and was replaced by Gary Matthews, Jr., who was an all-star and will be a sought-after free agent this winter.

Cordero started the season as the Rangers' closer, but got off to a brutal start and was replaced by Akinori Otsuka. Cordero has generally pitched well for the past two months.

Rangers manager Buck Showalter was Doug Melvin's roommate in the Yankees' farm system during the 1970s.

Showalter isn't the easiest manager to play for and several Rangers players have said so -- on and off the record.

Cruz probably had the best throwing arm of any outfielder in the Brewers' organization.

Cruz put up amazing offensive numbers at Class AAA Nashville and had little left to prove at that level.

Many scouts wonder if Cruz will be able to hit breaking balls consistently at the major-league level.

The Brewers apparently like Corey Hart more than Cruz.

Had Lee walked away at the end of the year, the Brewers would have received two high (and expensive) draft picks in return.

We've given you things to consider. Use the Talkbacks feature to let us know what you think.

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