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After fairly lengthy negotiations, we work out a multi-player deal with San Francisco that sends Cruz and three minor leaguers to the Velocity in return for Singer and minor league starting pitcher Jimmy Daniels who shows some promise, with his 5-pitch repertoire and durability, to develop into a decent back-end of the rotation starter. At the very least, even if he never becomes valuable at the major league level, Daniels is a great leader, the type who is often considered a captain among his teammates. (The Brewers also were able to get some cash compensation as part of the deal, to help keep some wiggle room in the budget for 1970.)
The toughest part of this decision was agreeing to part with outfielder George Alexander. Alexander, a first round draft pick in the 1965 draft (3rd overall) has great natural talent and solid character traits. The Brewers were hoping that he might regain some of his earlier luster as a prospect when they traded for him nearly two years ago. But at age 23 there are few signs that Alexander is likely to ever be more than a bench player in the WPK and the Brewers have such a crowded outfield picture that Alexander was pretty much stuck at AAA. And miserable. So perhaps a change of scenery will do him good.
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