FanHouse Bill Hall

Last Wednesday, after enduring three pretty disappointing seasons, Bill Hall was designated for assignment by the Milwaukee Brewers. This means they had 10 days to trade him before having to decide whether or not to cut him or send him to the minors. A week later, the Brewers found their suitor.

Milwaukee traded Hall and cash considerations to the Mariners for Ruben Flores, a minor-league relief pitcher. Hall has experience almost everywhere on the diamond, but he'll likely get a chance to immediately contribute at third base. The Mariners have been using Jack Hannahan at the hot corner as the cupless Adrian Beltre recovers from a testicle injury.

The Milwaukee Brewers made the playoffs last season for the first time since 1982, and their foundation of youth seemed to indicate they would at least be in the race for 2009. Sure, losing CC Sabathia and Ben Sheets would hurt the pitching staff in a big way, but the Crew would have a full season of Yovani Gallardo. And they were in the thick of the race for a while.

Since July 1, though, the Brewers are 12-23 and have fallen 6 1/2 games out of first place in the mediocre NL Central. Wednesday morning, Brewers brass finally decided enough is enough and made three pretty significant transactions:

Poppin' out the box scores and right into your cubicle, the Roto Rush is your double espresso shot of fantasy baseball advice every weekday.

Big Apple, we have a problem. And one that could be a major concern in fantasy baseball leagues, too.

Jose Reyes, undoubtedly a top-10 fantasy pick, left Wednesday's game against the Dodgers after aggravating a right calf injury while trying to leg out an infield single. Reyes had missed five straight starts with the injury, and it looks like a trip to the disabled list is a possibility at some point. The Mets can consider alternatives to watching Ramon Martinez twirl his toothpick bat -- like the versatile Mark DeRosa -- but the solution isn't so simple for fantasy owners relying on his speed.

The 26-year-old Rickie Weeks looked to be finally fulfilling the promise of his lofty draft spot (second pick overall in the 2003 draft). He was hitting .272 with 9 home runs, 24 RBI, 2 stolen bases and 28 runs. Now, what appeared to be his breakout campaign has been summarily dismantled on one swing. Weeks tore up his wrist on a swing Sunday and his season is over.

There's no rest for the weary in fantasy baseball, though. Weeks owners must lick their wounds and find a way to recover. A recovery should be possible, considering how little owners probably had to spend on Weeks in their auctions or drafts. The three options are as follows (make sure to check out number three).

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Bad news coming out of Milwaukee this evening, as the Brewers have recently learned that they're going to lose second baseman Rickie Weeks for the remainder of the 2009 season. Weeks tore the tendon sheath in his left wrist on Sunday and the injury will require surgery that will keep Weeks out at least four months. It's the same injury weeks suffered in his right wrist in 2006 that ended that season and caused him trouble into 2007.

It's almost unspeakable bad luck for Weeks, as he was off to a great start in 2009 and seemed to finally be fully healthy and ready to live up to the expectations that the Brewers placed on him years ago. Through 37 games, Weeks was hitting .272/.340/.517 with nine homers (his career high is 16) and even made Snyder's early All-Star ballot last week. He's still only 26, but to suffer another injury like this is devastating.

For those of you who keep up with minor league prospects, you'll know the significance of the Brewers promotion of Mat Gamel yesterday. If his name is unfamiliar to you, familiarize yourself with one of the top 100 prospects (Baseball America #34, MLB #23 & Baseball Prospectus #58) in all of baseball.

Through 33 games (119 at-bats) Gamel is batting .336/.428/.647 for the Triple-A Nashville Sounds. He also has 11 doubles and eight home runs. This kid can really mash the ball and he's been doing it his whole career.

Since being selected in the fourth round of the 2005 First-Year Player Draft, Gamel has never hit below .288 for a season and has a career minor league batting average of .308. Last season he hit 20 home runs and 35 doubles while driving in 99. So, as you can see, Mat Gamel can hit the ball.

FanHouse continues it 2009 MLB Preview with a look at the Milwaukee Brewers.

The Brewers are a really interesting team. Last March, everyone expected them to make a run at the playoffs, and they expected them to do so without any knowledge of the CC Sabathia trade and with the assumption that Ben Sheets would spend some time on the disabled list. In the end, they did make the playoffs, but they did it with half of a season of Sabathia and almost 200 innings from Sheets. Now those two are gone, and everyone expects the Brewers to take a step back this year.

Fantasy baseball draft season is coming, so you best be prepared by delving through every major player on each team. Fantasy FanHouse is here to help with a quick once-over.

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Team who could easily end up with the best offense in the National League. The potential firepower of this lineup is mind-boggling. They are going to need it, because the pitching staff has a chance to embarrass itself on a regular basis. They weren't good to begin with, but now Ben Sheets and CC Sabathia have departed.

The season is already off to a disappointing start for the Brewers and their third baseman, Bill Hall. Entering Spring Training, Hall had his eyes on a return to his 2006 form -- when he hit 35 home runs. Instead, he injured himself during conditioning activities and may not be ready for the beginning of the season.

Hall has been diagnosed with a partially torn calf muscle in his left leg. The injury typically takes four to six weeks to heal, and we're just over seven weeks away from Opening Day. He'll have missed most of his spring training reps by that point.

Mike Cameron for Melky Cabrera? That's the word coming out of Vegas.

After giving CC Sabathia 161 million reasons to love New York and negotiating competitive offers for Derek Lowe and A.J. Burnett, Brian Cashman apparently found time to fill the hole in center field by setting up a trade with the Brewers. According to Mark Feinsand of the New York Daily News, the deal is all but done. (Update: We spoke too soon -- Ken Rosenthal says talks have stalled. Stay tuned.)

We could see an official announcement later today once the details are ironed out. Dan Graziano of the Star-Ledger reports those details might include the Yankees giving up an unnamed pitching prospect, and Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel has a source suggesting the Brewers might be trying to squeeze the expensive but versatile Bill Hall into the trade, as well.

We'll have to wait and see how big this deal gets, but it's clear the Cabrera-for-Cameron swap is the heart of the trade. After hitting .280 (95 OPS+) as a rookie in 2006, Cabrera has regressed each season, hitting just .249 (68 OPS+) this past year while even earning a mid August demotion to Triple-A. . He's only 24 years old and obviously has potential, but right now his direction is going in the wrong direction.

Cameron, on the other hand, may be 35 but still plays a mean center field and has yet to see a decline in his power. He'll probably strike out 150 times but will also draw a fair number of walks and top 20 home runs with ease. Plus, he's only signed through 2009, so there's no long-term commitment should he start to slip.