The rumor mill is picking up. One has the Royals discussing a deal to send utilityman Esteban German to the Dodgers for right-handed pitchers Jonathan Meloan and Miguel Pinango.

This is one of those potential trades that makes me cringe. A trade like this says the Dodgers just don’t have the confidence in Hu or DeWitt, either of whom I’d love to see the Dodgers at least give a shot to at third base. If I were to describe German it would be ho-hum at best. Listen to these 2007 numbers: 264 average, 4 HR, 37 RBI, 11 steals. A serviceable starter, but that’s about it. Note: he was a bench player on my fantasy team last year so I’ve kept a close eye on the guy over the course of the past season. In short, nothing special.

Let’s look at the Dodgers rumored to be involved in this deal: Meloan was the MLB.com Double-A Relief Pitcher of the Year and a Baseball America Double-A All-Star who ended the season in Triple-A. A good potential set-up guy for the future. Just based on these stats, I’d like to keep the guy. Pinango is a Triple-A starter who went 10-7 with a 4.20 ERA. Don’t know much about him.

The real question is what does German bring to the Dodgers that Hu and DeWitt do not? DeWitt is a stud in the making. Sure, he’s young and starting in the bigs is probably a huge step for the kid, but again, does German help the team significantly more than the guys we already have? German is versatile, and can play around the infield, but I’m not sold on him. You know what I think, now share your opinion!