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Outfielder Zack Banks has been languishing at AAA all season and doing so with extreme displeasure and poor performance. The Brewers had tried several times to find a deal to send him elsewhere starting in the off-season but thus far with no luck.
But now, with the trading deadline a few weeks away and teams either looking to pick up talent for the stretch run or unload salary, especially in the form of veterans who will be eligible for free agency at the end of the season, the Brewers have at long last found a trade to give Banks the opportunity to get back to the WPK in another organization.
The Brewers sent Banks (along with an insignificant minor league firstbaseman) to the Philadelphia Mud Hens for veteran lefty starting pitcher Lani Malolu. Malolu is far from being a front-line starter, but he is a lefty, which is very valuable for a team that plays their home games in a park that favors lefthanded batters, he has a great sinker and induces a good number of groundballs, which plays to the Brewers infield defense strength, and he is very good at keeping fly balls in the yard, which is something the Brewers staff sometimes struggles with (particularly Steve Alonso.)
All in all this seems to be another indication that the Brewers are serious about making a push for contention this season. With the very real fears that the recently returned from the DL Diego Ramirez could at any point suffer another injury and the decline in performance by lefthanded workhorse Alex Burley, it was felt that adding Malolu could be good insurance for the stretch run.
And although it is unlikely that the Brewers will extend Malolu beyond 1968- he is a free agent at the end of the season- it was clear that Banks no longer had a future with the Brewers so there was really very little risk involved in the deal.
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