To my untrained eye, the Brewers trade with Texas today seems like the worst Milwaukee deal since Gorman Thomas was sent to Cleveland for Rick Manning and Rick Waits. I'm afraid that by trading Carlos Lee for a serviceable relief pitcher, some dudes in the outfield and an A-ball pitcher I've never heard of, Doug Melvin is throwing in the towel this season.

Of course, I realize that I have no idea what I'm talking about.

Case in point: most "baseball people" are telling me that the Brewers had no chance of making the playoffs this year, nor could they keep Lee this off-season. That said, I imagined the team at least trading for a big-name starting pitcher. Or perhaps not trading away our most valuable Class AAA outfielder to take Lee's place, Nelson Cruz.

But then again, I was upset when Melvin traded Richie Sexson for the entire Arizona Diamondbacks. For about five minutes.

I was also upset when Dean Taylor traded Jeff Cirillo for Jamey Wright and Henry Blanco (I still am). I was enraged when he dealt Fernando Vina for Juan Acevedo (I still am). I was furious when Sal Bando traded Kevin Seitzer for Jeromy Burnitz (I got over than pretty quickly, in retrospect).

So yeah, I may bleed Brewers' blue and gold, but I readily admit I have no idea what I'm talking about. I did, however, enjoy the guy who called into Drew Olson's radio show this morning announcing he's turning in his season tickets because of the Lee trade. Dude, it's OK. We're not going to the World Series with or without Lee in 2006.

Until right now, I told people to trust in Doug Melvin. My friend Corey recently said that there must be lots of little Doug Melvins running around the league, since he keeps "having his way" with opposing general managers.

But now I'm not so sure. Did Doug panic because Derrick Turnbow has melted down, unable to throw a curve ball?

Or is there something else going on that I will never be privy to, nor will I really understand?

My heart says I know what's best -- but I'm a realistic enough fan to know what I don't know. Which in this case is how to build a winning team.

Now please Doug Melvin, prove me wrong.

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