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Gomez

MADISON - The Milwaukee Brewers wasted no time clearing up their logjam at shortstop, but they surprisingly didn't do anything about their pitching shortage.

The Brewers, as widely anticipated, traded shortstop J.J. Hardy on Friday, but rather than acquiring pitching in return, they sent him to the Minnesota Twins for center fielder Carlos Gomez.

In the process they handed the shortstop job over to rookie Alcides Escobar, a changeover that was begun in August when Escobar was promoted from the minor leagues and Hardy was optioned the AAA Nashville. They also, in effect, said goodbye to incumbent center fielder Mike Cameron, who is a free agent.

Milwaukee general manager Doug Melvin said he would've traded Hardy for pitching help but didn't care for any of the pitchers he was offered. Instead, he opted for a speedy center fielder with a reputation as a great defensive player.

"In the end, there wasn't anybody that matched the ability of Carlos Gomez," Melvin said in a conference call. "When you can't get pitching back, you do something to help your pitching. We're going to take the resources we had with Mike and redistribute them to fill other needs.

"We've said pitching is our focus. We've still got a lot of needs."

The Brewers will have some extra money to address those needs. The trade amounts to a net savings of almost $14 million, based on last season's salaries by subtracting Hardy ($4.65 million) and Cameron ($10 million plus performance bonuses) and replacing them with Escobar ($400,000) and Gomez ($437,500). Gomez is eligible for arbitration this winter.

The Brewers are counting on Gomez to mature as a hitter, after struggling for much of his first two full seasons in the major leagues. Melvin compared him to Houston Astros center fielder Michael Bourn, who rebounded from a rough rookie season in 2008 to have a strong season last year.

"He's still learning; he has areas to work on," said Melvin. "Speed plays on both sides of the white lines. Guys with speed sometimes develop later. (Hitting coach) Dale (Sveum) will go to work with him."

While Gomez was used primarily as a leadoff hitter in Minnesota, Melvin expects Rickie Weeks to remain in the leadoff spot for the Brewers, with Gomez batting deeper in the order.

In 348 major league games, the right-handed-hitting Gomez has batted .246 with just a .292 on base percentage. He has stolen 59 bases but has been caught stealing 21 times. After stealing 33 bases in 2008, he stole just 14 last season and was caught seven times.

With Gomez, Escobar, Weeks and Ryan Braun in the lineup, the Brewers would appear to have a team that could pile up stolen bases as fast as it did home runs in recent years. But manager Ken Macha is not known to be a proponent of the running game.

"I think Ken will adjust accordingly to the personnel he has," said Melvin. "It's not just stolen bases. Speed can turn around a game more ... scoring from third on a slow roller, taking the extra base on the bases. (Gomez) is one of the fastest players in the major leagues."

While his first move of the off-season didn't yield any pitching, Melvin said his quest to improve the team's weakest area continues. He said he may have to turn to the free agent market to do that and mentioned top free agent pitcher John Lackey, although he didn't say whether or not he would pursue the Los Angeles Angels' ace.

Melvin said he had talked with the agent of left-hander Mark Mulder and hinted that he might be willing to take a chance on the oft-injured pitcher or others like him. "We might have to do that," Melvin said.

Hardy, the Brewers' starting shortstop since 2005, was not surprised to be traded. He knew it was coming since Aug. 12 when he and Escobar switched places. What did surprise him is that he didn't bring a pitcher in return.

"I definitely thought I was going to get traded for a pitcher," Hardy told MLB.com. "Still, I wasn't real shocked when I got the call. I think knowing I was going to get traded from the day I got sent down kind of helped me prepare for it. It's been a few months now that I've known I would get traded, so it makes it easier."

The trade is the second for Gomez, who was part of the package that brought ace pitcher Johan Santana to the New York Mets in 2008. He played in 153 games as a rookie and batted .258 with seven homers, 59 RBIs and 33 stolen bases. He also struggled to make contact that year, striking out 142 times and walking just 25 times. He had a .296 on base percentage.

Gomez got off to a slow start last season and lost his regular job to Denard Span after batting just .195 in the first month. He hit just .229 with three homers and 28 RBIs. He walked 22 times in 315 at-bats and struck out 72 times and his .287 on base percentage was among the lowest in baseball.