Daily Brew 8/1

Another slow day in the sporting world. After telling us for weeks that they would match any offer to shooting guard Joe Johnson (ughhh, it hurts to say that name) the Suns have pulled off that stance and apparently have worked out a sign and trade deal with the Hawks. The Suns get Boris Diaw and two lottery protected first round picks, the Hawks get Johnson and Johnson gets to play point guard and $70 million over five years.

The trading deadline came and went yesterday without any big names, or even fringe big names switching teams. The Braves picked up Kyle Farnsworth, the Mariners picked up Ron Villone, the White Sox got Geoff Blum, the Diamondbacks got Buddy Groom from the Yankees who became expendable when the Yankees signed Alan Embree on Saturday. The Mariners and Padres swapped Miguel catchers (Olivo for Ojeda), Randy Winn switched teams when he went to the Giants. What? I thought he was going to the Yankees, why the Giants? The Padres and Rangers traded dissapointments (Phil Nevin for Chan Ho Park), the Orioles and Rockies swapped outfielders with Eric Brynes going to Baltimore and Larry Bigbie heading to Colorado. And lastly the Cubs sent recently acquired outfielder Jody Gerut to the Pirates for outfielder Matt Lawton. Now you're all caught up on deadline moves, you probably just don't recognize many of the names.

The Brewers took the final two games of thier four game set with the Giants after dropping the first two. Ben Sheets got the win on Saturday night, and evened his record at 7-7. Is this the year that Sheets finally finishes with an above .500 record? Sheets has been an extremely good pitcher for the better part of the last two and a half years, but until his record improves he won't really be taken seriously. Chris Capuano won his seventh consecutive start yesterday. He's now 12-6 with a 3.58 era. Remember the Richie Sexson trade? Remember how Jorge de la Rosa was really the centerpiece of that deal? Funny thing happened, we found out this Chris Capuano guy is really good. The more time passes, the more a guy involved in that deal plays well. Doug Melvin should go to the hall of fame on that trade alone. Why isn't this compared to the Hershel Walker deal more often? Here's a look at it again.

Arizona gets: Richie Sexson (who they lose the following offseason), Shane Nance (Career AAA'er) and a player to be named later, who I honestly can't remember, I think it was Gary Varner.

Milwaukee gets: Craig Counsell, Chad Moeller, Junior Spivey (who turned into Tomo Ohka), Lyle Overbay, Jorge de la Rosa, and Chris Capuano.Counsell was a solid stop gap shortstop, Moeller is good defensively and Ben Sheets personal catcher, Spivey started out well but then got injured and was never really the player we thought he would be, but the best second baseman we've has since Mark Loretta none-the-less. Overbay has developed into a fan favorite and one of the best doubles hitters in the game, Capuano has become one of the best three's on any staff in the league, and de la Rosa continues to show promise. Sexson on the other hand had just 90 at bats as a Diamondback.

Why is evenone really saying that Manny Ramirez was nearly traded over the weekend? He was never going anywhere. "I thought he was going to the Mets" That's what I just heard and ESPN Radio personality say. For who, Mike Cameron? The Epstien isn't a moran.

Drew Rosenhaus showed up to Packers camp over the weekend so he could meet with his five clients on the team, most notably Javon Walker, Grady Jackson and Najeh Davenport. Rosenhaus left without any deals, or inkling of a potential deal for Walker or Jackson, but he did allegedly work out an extension for Saints cornerback and former Packer Mike McKenzie while in the parking lot near the Don Hutson center. As if seeing that Jackass stroll into the practice stands wasn't bad enough, he works out a deal with McKenzie while in that parking lot.

In other Packers news, Bubba Franks is still without a contract and that is not making Brett Favre too happy. Favre is urging the front office to work out a deal with Franks and get him into camp ASAP. On the defensive side, so far it looks like Joey Thomas is going to beat out Ahmad Carrol for the other starting cornerback spot. I like Thomas and think eventually he will be a good corner in this league. Ahmad might be a lost cause.

On the College hoops front, Leneal Harris became the first local product to commit to the UWM Panthers since hiring new Head Coach Rob Jeter. A Senior at Milwaukee King, Harris averaged 8.1 points per game last season and was honorable mention and a reserve on King's 2004 divison 1 State Championship team. Harris was also considering Norhern Illinois.