Much in the same fashion that CC Sabathia was the top pitching prize last winter, John Lackey will find himself in that position this winter. Lackey may find more suitors than Sabathia did, but he won't command nearly the same contract the big lefty did.

No fewer than eight teams have been linked as possible destinations for the Angels' ace. The Angels, Mets, Yankees, Dodgers, Rangers, Brewers, Orioles, and Astros have all been reported as having interest. Also, reports range in him getting anywhere from a three to six year contract with dollar amounts varying from $36-100 million.

Not only will the contracts vary on Lackey, but the role he serves will depend on which team he decides to pitch for.

The Yankees, Mets, and Astros already have established top-of-the-rotation pitchers. He would serve as a solid number two or lower pitcher for these teams.

The Dodgers could use him as an ace or mid-rotation pitcher depending on what they decide to do with Chad Billingsley. His acquisition would also serve as a jab at the rival Angels.

The Brewers, Rangers, and Orioles would all insert Lackey at the top of their rotation. He would have the pressure of being the ace of a staff, but he would do so with teams that wouldn't have the pressures to win like the New York or Los Angeles teams do.

The Brewers may have about as much chance to sign Lackey as they did with Sabathia, but it's a discussion Brewers GM Doug Melvin needs to have.

Lackey burst onto the scene by winning game seven of the World Series for the Angels in 2002 against the Giants. His performance served as a prelude to what would turn into a decade filled with reliability and consistency.

Since that time, he turned into the ace of the Angels rotation and one of the most reliable pitchers in baseball. Over the past seven seasons, he has averaged 30 starts, 199 innings pitched, and 13 wins.

Despite missing time each of the last two years, he has still averaged 25 starts and 170 innings pitched. In a market filled with question marks, Lackey is as close of a sure-thing that is available.

Lackey is a Type A free agent; meaning the team signing him will forfeit a first round pick to the Angels. The Brewers would catch a break with this due to the fact that they finished in the bottom half of the league record-wise. The Brewers would only give up a second round pick by signing Lackey. If ever there were a year for the Brewers to sign a Type A free agent, this would be the year.

While Lackey would fit well into the Brewers' rotation, his price tag would cost the team almost all available funds they planned to spend on pitching this winter. It's a risk the Brewers can't afford to make.

If Lackey had been available last year, it's quite reasonable to think that he and the Brewers could come together on a deal. He wouldn't have been the gem of the winter, giving a team like Milwaukee a more legitimate shot winning his services.

For now, it will be a good gauge of the free agent market to at least have conversations with Lackey and his representation. It will give Doug Melvin a good idea the market value for other, cheaper arms available on the market. He will then be able to decide which pitchers will best fit in with the Brewers financially for 2010 and beyond.

Remarkably inconsistent. It's a phrase that not only describes Brad Penny, but almost all the pitchers on the free agent market this winter. There are no "sure things" on the market, and any pitcher that Brewers GM Doug Melvin decides to sign will come with a big risk in one way or another for the Milwaukee Brewers.

Penny had a tumultuous 2009. It started off signing in Boston over the winter for a one-year, $5 million contract. After a subpar first few months, he asked for his release from the Red Sox and received it.

He then signed with the San Francisco Giants for the stretch run and pitched better for them than at any point of his career. He went 4-1 in six starts and finished with a 2.59 ERA in 41 2/3 innings pitched.

Prior to the season, Penny was in a situation similar to what Ben Sheets, Erik Bedard, and Mark Mulder are facing right now: he needed to show he could stay healthy for an entire year in hopes of earning a big pay day at the end of the year. He did just that by making 30 starts and pitching a total of 173 1/3 innings.

That production will likely yield a multi-year contract between $7-10 million a year for Penny. General managers around the league should be very deliberate in their courtship of him before handing out that type of deal.

On closer inspection of his career, one will find that Penny has only pitched more than 200 innings twice. Despite a very good fastball, he has never struck out more than 154 batters in one season and that came back in his second season in the majors in 2001. His strikeout rate actually dropped after being acquired by the Giants to only 4.3 strikeouts every nine innings.

Penny will likely choose to stay in the National League since he was barely able to maintain a sub-six ERA in the American League with Boston. It is doubtful however, that he'll be able to maintain the success he had with the Giants.

The Brewers are getting much younger with the departure of several veterans. Penny would serve as a good veteran presence in the starting rotation. He would likely be slotted in as a number two pitcher for the team.

For a pitcher to have that spot in a rotation, his price tag wouldn't be completely outrageous, especially for a team paying $12 million in 2010 to have Jeff Suppan serve as a number five starter. Doug Melvin can't afford another high-priced bomb like Suppan. He must sign as much of a sure thing that he can find, even if it turns out to be an unpopular choice.

A possible signing of Penny will come down to Melvin's willingness to take a chance on an oft-injured arm. He could get the same thing by signing Ben Sheets at half the cost of what Penny will demand. The upside of Penny would come from having him signed for a couple years, but that could turn into an anchor if he misses significant time with injuries.

The goal of every major league starter is to stay healthy and make as many starts as possible in a given year. Penny was able to do that in 2009 and will be rewarded accordingly over the next few months. Unfortunately for the Brewers, he's not a good fit for their 2010 rotation.

With JJ Hardy finally dealt, it's time for Brewers GM Doug Melvin to focus on fixing the starting rotation. We've already looked at Erik Bedard and Mark Mulder as possible answers, and now let's take a look at a former Brewer who is willing to come home again: Doug Davis.

Davis pitched in Milwaukee from 2003-2007 before being traded to the Arizona Diamondbacks for Johnny Estrada. Davis compiled a 37-36 record for the Brewers with a 3.92 ERA in 111 starts.

He has turned himself into one of the most durable pitchers in the game. Over the past six seasons, he has only made fewer than 33 starts in a year once, in 2008. That season, Davis was diagnosed with thyroid cancer.

Incredibly, Davis made two starts after receiving the news before having surgery to remove the cancerous thyroid. He missed only six weeks that year while recovering from the surgery and chemotherapy before returning to the Diamondbacks. He finished the year making every start after his return, and he did the same in 2009.

The Brewers tried to acquire Davis in the 2009 season but were unsuccessful. In August, they put a waiver claim in on him but were never able to reach an agreement with the Diamondbacks for compensation. Melvin refused to give up any substantial prospects for a pitcher that would be a free agent six weeks after the trade.

The Brewers could use a reliable arm like Davis in their rotation. Dave Bush, Jeff Suppan, and Manny Parra all missed significant time in 2009 due to injury or ineffectiveness. Pairing Davis with Yovani Gallardo as a stabilizing force at the top of the rotation thatwould lessen the strain on an overworked bullpen in 2009.

Davis has also hinted a return to the Brewers could be possible given the right circumstances. He's hoping to sign at least a three-year deal this winter. All signs and tests point to him being cancer free. He only takes thyroid medication and goes in for an annual checkup along with blood work as part of his current treatment.

Most experts feel Davis could command around $24 million over the course of a three-year contract. That is far from an outrageous amount given the contracts of some pitchers with lesser durability and success than Davis.

$8 million a year would account for more than half of what Melvin is allowed to spend on pitching this winter. He will likely be leery on giving out that much to one single pitcher due to past contract failures like Jeff Suppan. The Brewers can't sustain another high-priced bust from a starting pitcher and hope to remain in playoff contention every year.

Anything more than a three-year, $24 million deal for Davis would be a grave error on Melvin's part. If Davis would be open to taking less for a return trip to Milwaukee, Melvin should jump at the chance to acquire him. A three-year, $18 million contract for Davis would work very well for the Brewers, but would it be enough for Davis? It would give the team enough leftover money to obtain at least one more quality arm.

The free agent market will yield much higher priced options than Doug Davis. It will also feature pitchers capable of having far better years statistically. Very few pitchers, however, have been as reliable and consistent as Davis. He would be a great addition to the Brewers' rotation as long as his price tag doesn't hinder the team from acquiring more pitching talent.

Now that a day has passed, and Brewers' GM Doug Melvin has spoken about it, it's time to figure out what the acquisition of Carlos Gomez means for the Brewers this offseason.

Melvin commented at his press conference yesterday that he received no offers for pitching that he felt was worth trading Hardy for. Gomez fit a need for the Brewers, and he was comfortable enough with the offer to make the deal.

Many fans figured Boston was the destination for Hardy that made the most sense. In fact, Tony Massarotti of the Boston Globe confirmed that the Red Sox were in on the discussions for Hardy.

Melvin tried to get Clay Buchholz or Daniel Bard, but Boston was only willing to part with Michael Bowden. Buchholz would have stepped right into the rotation behind Yovani Gallardo. Bard would have been a great arm in the bullpen, and he could have been a future closer after Trevor Hoffman left.

While Bowden may not be as well-known as Buchholz or Bard, he's still a very promising pitcher. He was ranked as the number-two prospect in the Red Sox system by Baseball America. Although he struggled in Boston this year, he made 24 starts for Pawtucket and finished with a 4-6 record and an ERA of 3.13. He projected to a number three or four starter in the majors.

While most are in agreement that the Twins got the better end of the trade, even those in the Twins' organization feel that Gomez could still turn into a very good player for the Brewers.

Melvin stated that Gomez coming to Milwaukee means the end of Mike Cameron's time in Milwaukee. Cameron is a free agent, and Melvin feels that money that could go to Cameron would be better served going towards free agent pitching.

Even in the best case scenario, this is a very risky move for Melvin. Cameron will be 37-years old when 2010 begins, but he is also a safe bet for an offense that finished third in the National League. In addition to a very good glove in center field, one could pencil him in for 60-plus extra base hits, 70-plus RBI, and 65-plus runs scored.

Gomez will cover much more ground that Cameron. He also has a very good arm. Melvin is hoping Gomez's great defense will be able to help improve the pitching staff. More importantly, he is also 13-years Cameron's junior. The Brewers were old in a couple positions, but Gomez will only be 24 at the start of next season.

Gomez qualified as a super-two player, meaning he will be eligible for arbitration this winter. It will be the first of four arbitration eligible years for him. He will make only a fraction of the $10 million Cameron made in 2009.

The wild-card for Gomez will be his bat. He must raise his career .246 batting average and .292 on-base percentage if he wants to remain a long-term starter for the Brewers. If he struggles this season, Lorenzo Cain should be ready for a shot by 2011.

By trading Hardy and not re-signing Cameron, the Brewers will save anywhere between $10-15 million in 2010. According to Melvin, all that money will be allocated towards starting pitching.

Most of the pitchers out there have been discussed already, and there are several options that could be obtained in a relatively cost-efficient manner. If Melvin can do this, the Gomez trade becomes more appealing.

Melvin could decide to throw a long-term, high-money contract at a pitcher as well. While reading this, Brewer fans are already envisioning another Jeff Suppan-type contract. In no way can he make another mistake like he did with Suppan.

If management is serious about trying to sign Prince Fielder long-term, they need to keep as much money as possible freed up for Fielder. Melvin needs to avoid the impulse of getting into a bidding war against other teams for John Lackey, Jarrod Washburn, and Jason Marquis.

The Brewers could still acquire pitching via trade. Mat Gamel, Angel Salome, and to a lesser degree Brett Lawrie could also be dealt for a controllable, inexpensive starter. While Gamel could get the best return in a trade, Salome may be the most likely dealt. Jonathan Lucroy has passed in on the organizational depth chart and is playing very well in the Arizona Fall League.

The day that many Brewer fans have been waiting on for over a year has finally arrived. JJ Hardy was traded by the Brewers to the Minnesota Twins on Friday for centerfielder Carlos Gomez.

All along it was thought Hardy would be traded for a starting pitcher, but Brewers' GM Doug Melvin obviously had other ideas. Getting a non-pitcher for Hardy is very surprising to most, but Melvin undoubtedly has more moves in his arsenal to improve the team.

Hardy fell out of favor with the Brewers this year and was sent to the Minors in August in favor of top prospect, Alcides Escobar. Escobar showed enough in his time with the Brewers that Melvin felt comfortable trading Hardy.

On the surface, most will probably think the Twins won this deal. As of today, they probably did.

The Twins receive a former All-Star shortstop that will add good defense and a power bat to go along with Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau. Hardy is under team control for two more years. This move alone could keep the Twins atop the AL Central over the Tigers and White Sox.

Carlos Gomez will serve several purposes for the Brewers. The biggest attribute he'll bring to the Brewers is his speed. If Ken Macha decides to institute more of a running game, both Gomez and Escobar could very easily steal 30 bases next year.

Another upside with Gomez is his affordability and control. He is under team control for four more years and won't command to high of a salary in arbitration this year. It's imperative, however, that Gomez improve at the plate.

This move likely signals the end of Mike Cameron's time in Milwaukee. Cameron is a free agent that will likely command a high salary in 2010. The Brewers will lose power substituting Gomez for Cameron, but the defense shouldn't take much of a hit. He needs to raise his average on on-base percentage significantly in order to justify getting rid of Cameron.

Cameron was a clubhouse leader with a great veteran presence. The 2010 Brewers will now being Prince Fielder's team on and off the field. Fielder would usually step aside to Cameron for matters in the locker room.

The Brewers had the third best offense in the National League last year, and that will take a severe hit losing Cameron. It's hard to imagine Ryan Braun and Fielder having better years than they did last season, so Melvin will be hoping that both Rickie Weeks and Corey Harthave above average years at the plate to offset Cameron's departure.