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So after long negotiations and much deliberation, a deal was struck.
And Pat Rondeau remains in a Brewers uniform while closer Jamel McNeil moves on to Jacksonville in exchange for thirdbaseman Jared Stephenson.
A number of prospects also changed teams in the deal as well as veteran thirdbaseman Roy Hugo, who was briefly, and not terribly successfully, a Brewer this season.
The Brewers prospects traded to Jacksonville- outfielder Dave Manning and catcher Johnny Samson- both still have some potential but neither was felt to have much of a path to the majors with the Denver organization.
The three prospects received from Jacksonville in the trade are not considered premium prospects, but all three have the potential to someday play some role in the majors and were thought worth taking a chance on.
Leftfielder Ramon Lopez fits an organizational profile as a plus defender with blazing speed and a strong work ethic and could develop just enough offensive skill to fill a back-up role with the Brewers in the future. 21-year old starting pitcher, and Trinidad, Colorado native, Eric Johnson will need to develop quite a bit to ever have a major league role but he is considered a very intelligent young man and is projected to have very good control of four pitches that profile as average to well above average. He's a long shot but he's mostly pitched pretty well in the minors and could surprise. 21-year old relief pitcher Cole Loomis is probably most likely to make any major league impact, particularly if his fastball and slider both develop into the plus pitches they are projected to be eventually and his stuff proves to be as good as hoped. He will likely always struggle with control issues which might hold him back from holding a high leverage role but he could be an adequate middle reliever in the WPK someday.
But perhaps the most obvious off-set to the loss of the clearly highly talented Jamel McNeil will be the gains in clubhouse unity. There are already signs that the players are breathing a sigh of relief to have the unlikable McNeil gone from their midst.
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