Mitchell Report Guys Don't Scare Milwaukee as Brewers sign Jay Gibbons

It's not a move on the scale of CC Sabathia or even Ray Durham, and who knows if it's going to bear any fruit. But the Brewers obviously think Jay Gibbons can provide a key at-bat or two in September because they've signed the exiled former outfielder away from the Atlantic League's Long Island Ducks to a minor league deal.

"He's a little rusty, self-admittedly rusty," Brewers assistant general manager Gord Ash said. "The idea is to get him some Minor League at-bats and then evaluate as we go along." (...)

"He was very straightforward about his situation off the field," said Ash, who was the Blue Jays' GM when that team drafted Gibbons in the 14th round in 1998. The Orioles snatched him away in the 2000 Rule 5 Draft.

"They sat down and basically interviewed him," Brewers GM Doug Melvin said. "Gord is familiar with him from Toronto, and [Gibbons] wants to get back and playing. I don't know exactly what his [off-the-field] issues were, but they were not enough to not give a guy a second chance. He's always been a good guy with a good work ethic."

Doug obviously never read that pesky Mitchell Report if he didn't know exactly what his off-the-field issues were. I mean, it was all there for you in print. But it's nice to see that Eric Gagne hasn't scared the Brewers away from players from that pesky report. Heck if I was the GM of the Brewers, Gagne might scare me away from signing pitchers altogether, Mitchell Report or no Mitchell Report.