A very good friend of mine -- we'll call him "Dan," -- hates the deal the Brewers made for Carlos Lee.

There is nothing wrong with that, but every time we discuss the issue it morphs into an argument about the Richie Sexson trade.

Dan still thinks the Brewers made a mistake by trading Sexson a few years ago. After initially claiming that the Brewers should have signed Sexson to a multiyear, multimillion-dollar contract extension, he changed his tune and now claims that the Brewers didn't get enough in return.

Come to think of it, that's how he sees the Lee trade, too.

Let's review the Sexson deal for a moment... for the millionth and hopefully last time.

Sexson was a total stud for the Brewers, a two-time all-star who averaged 40 homers and about 120 RBI. When general manager Doug Melvin sent Sexson, Shane Nance and Noochie Varner to Arizona, he got Craig Counsell, Lyle Overbay, Junior Spivey, Chad Moeller, Chris Capuano and Jorge De La Rosa in return.

You know what happened. Counsell babysat the position. Overbay was a solid player who was traded to Toronto for Dave Bush, Gabe Gross and Zach Jackson. Capuano won 18 games last year and was an all-star this year. Spivey was spun into Tomo Ohka. Moeller was a backup for two years, didn't hit much and was shipped to the minors.

OK, we can argue the merits of that trade from now until the end of Summerfest in 2009. But, there is one thing that always gets left out.

The Brewers traded Sexson in large part because they had Prince Fielder in their system.

And, Prince Fielder -- at present -- is a better player than Richie Sexson.

Forget about 2004, when Sexson missed most of the season for Arizona (and then bolted for Seattle as a free agent). Forget about 2005, when Sexson hit 39 homers and drove in 121 runs for the Mariners.

Right now, this year, and for the next few years, there isn't a GM in baseball who would rather have Richie Sexson than Prince Fielder.

Check out the numbers heading into this week:

Sexson: 24 homers, 75 RBI, .224 batting average, .292 on-base percentage, .448 slugging percentage.

Fielder: 21 homers, 58 RBI, .287 batting average, .347 on-base percentage, .506 slugging percentage.

Now, for the clincher:

Sexson makes $13 million. Fielder makes $329,500.

Sexson is 31 years old; Fielder is 22. Statistics show players reach their peak at about age 27, which means Fielder's production will go up; Sexson's will go down. (Remember that when 30-year-old Carlos Lee signs a multiyear deal this winter).

Had the Brewers received nothing but a case of pine tar for Sexson, it still would have been a good deal because Fielder is younger and cheaper. The fact that Overbay filled the gap between the two and the other guys were decent makes this one of the better trades in baseball over the past 10 years.

If the Brewers can come up with a similar replacement in left field -- or if they can make a serious run at a postseason berth next season or in 2008 -- people may come to feel the same way about the Lee trade.

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