According to this Milwaukee Journal Sentinel blog, the Milwaukee Brewers have designated OFer Kevin Mench for assignment to make room for Salomon Torres. As a result, the Brewers now have ten days to either trade him or release him outright.

No matter which way the Brew Crew goes, I can’t imagine that Mench will be without a team for very long. He’s the perfect platoon guy who crushes left-handed pitching. Since 2005, Mench has an OPS of .919 against southpaws over 400 ABs, while slugging .558. Needless to say, those are some very useful numbers, and the Mets recently traded for a guy who’s the exact opposite.

Newly acquired Ryan Church has performed very well over his career against righties, posting an OPS of .856 against them (but only a .742 against lefties). If you combine two outfielders – one who is above average against lefties and another who is above average against righties – what do you get, kids? Why, a position covered by an above-average hitter, of course!

But as with everything else, it’s simply not that easy. If the Mets feel that Mench (as the righty in a platoon) is worth what he made in arbitration last year ($3.4 million), then they may as well offer up a player to be named later to acquire him. If they take a wait-and-see approach and hope he hits the open market, it’s unlikely that Mench would sign with a team that can’t guarantee him 400 ABs, so a trade seems to be the only way to go.

If the Mets decide to go this route and are successful, they could possibly end up with a combo capable of OPSing around .850, which is roughly what you can expect out of far more recognizable names such as Nick Swisher, Bobby Abreu, and Alex Rios. Not bad, right?

Well, the first mega-deal of the trade deadline week finally came down today, as Carlos Lee was delt to Texas along with minor leaguer Nelson Cruz for Kevin Mench, Laynce Nix, Francisco Cordero, and minor league hurler Julian Cordero (no relation to Francisco).

Maybe I just don’t know the full story or something, but this seems like a horrible deal for the Brewers.  Despite what you think about Alfonso Soriano’s alleged greatness, Carlos Lee was probably the best outfielder out there on the market, projected by Baseball Prospectus to add about 11.9 runs over a replacement player down the stretch, whereas Soriano is projected to add only 8.8 runs.  (As an aside, assuming that teams are replacing a slightly better than replacement level player with Lee or Soriano, and given that 10 runs only equals about one extra win in the standings, the whole point of trading for someone at the deadline is somewhat called into question).

Meanwhile, Laynce Nix and Kevin Mench have proven to be fourth outfielders, at best, and Francisco Cordero is a headcase who not only once assaulted a fan with a chair but also blew a Major League record 5 saves in a single month earlier this season.

But worst of all, the Brewer’s best option to replace Lee in left field next year was none other than Nelson Cruz, who was batting .302 with 22 doubles, 20 home runs, 73 RBI and 17 stolen bases in 104 games for the Brewers AAA afilliate in Nashville.

So the Brewers not only got crap in return for the best outfielder on the market, but they actually gave away his replacement to seal the deal.

Um.