Brewers trade for Morgan, lose to White Sox in exhibition

• Milwaukee Brewers

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PHOENIX - The Milwaukee Brewers traded for center-fielder Nyjer Morgan yesterday – but they made it clear that Carlos Gomez would remain the starter in that spot.

The Brewers sent minor league infielder Cutter Dykstra and $50,000 to Washington. To make room on the roster, the Brewers placed outfielder Brandon Boggs on waivers. Cutter Dykstra is the 21-year-old son of former big leaguer Lenny Dykstra.

The 30-year-old Morgan became expendable when the Nationals decided to use a platoon of Rick Ankiel and Jerry Hairston Junior in center. Brewers’ general manager Doug Melvin said Morgan will offer protection in case Gomez gets hurt. And both Melvin and manager Ron Roenicke met with Gomez yesterday to re-affirm that he won the job in center. In four seasons with Pittsburgh and Washington, Morgan batted .283 with a .344 on-base percentage and 77 RBI’s. He’s had 92 career stolen bases, but has been caught stealing 42 times. Last season, he batted .253 in 136 games for the Nationals with 34 stolen bases and 24 RBI’s.

Last August, Morgan was given a seven-game suspension for throwing a ball at a fan in Philadelphia. That suspension was dropped, but he was given an eight-game suspension a week later for a hard-slide at the plate against Florida which resulted in bean-balls and a brawl in their next game. Melvin said he considered the incidents, but he passed them off as quote “fire and emotions.” The GM says Morgan is not a troublemaker.

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The Brewers lost 2-1 yesterday to Chicago White Sox in an exhibition game in Phoenix. Mark Buehrle gave up two hits in five innings. Brent Morel hit the game-winner in the second inning, a two-run double off Marco Estrada. Estrada struck out four in six innings while giving up two runs on seven hits. He remains a candidate to be the Brewers’ temporary fifth starter during April while Zack Greinke remains out. Jeremy Reed had three hits, and Erick Almonte had two hits for Milwaukee, which is now 17-10-1 in Cactus League with just a couple days left.

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Nineteen Brewers, along with Hall-of-Famers Robin Yount and Bob Uecker, signed autographs before the game to raise money for the earthquake-and-tsunami victims in Japan. They raised $4,600 for the Red Cross relief efforts. And reliever Takashi Saito, whose family lives near Tokyo, said he would add a personal donation. The Brewers will split their squad today, and will face Kansas City and San Diego. The regular season begins on Thursday.

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