Brew Bird

To me, DM's is average in negotiating trades and signing FAs. As would be expected, he both hits and misses sometimes. IMO what DM brings to the organization is his uncanny ability to sift through the scrap heap and pull out useful major-leaguers. Players like Turnbow, Branyan, and Kapler were all acquired on the cheap and enjoyed some productive MLB time in recent years. I'm hoping that Swindle and Coffey (I can't believe I'm developing a man-crush on this guy) will be some 2009 examples of DM's knack for the scrap. I was torn last season on whether we should go after CC, and after seeing what the Cubs gave up for two years of Harden, I think we probably gave up too much for CC. Is it possible that DM is still figuring out "how to play with the big boys" in terms of negotiating with other GMs and agents over high-caliber players and large contracts? Seemingly pressing for Gagne last year in free agency and probably over-paying in the Linebrink and CC trades makes me wonder if there's a learning curve here. I know he dealt with a higher payroll in Texas than what he originally worked with in Milwaukee (he was involved in the A-rod signing in Texas wasn't he?), so maybe there's not much to this... As a DM fan, I'm going to hope that he'll continue to get better at adding key pieces to the puzzle. Jack Z does not draft anyone without input from Melvin and Melvin does not trade a prospect without input from Jack Z. You can't really separate these two from each other. If you think we made bad trades it is a knock on Jack Z as well and if you think we had great drafts it is a plus for Melvin as well. I totally agree, and think that DM doesn't deserve enough credit for this. Additionally, the Cameron acquistion and subsequent shuffling of the defense was a bit of a gamble that in hindsight looks like a really effective and shrewd decision. DM deserves some credit here.