The Thursday trade-without-waivers deadline came and went with the Brewers making one acquisition — outfielder Gerardo Parra.

At least Parra is a left-handed hitter. He has six home runs, which is six more than outfielder Logan Schaefer, and two fewer than occasional lead-off hitter Scooter Gennett. But Parra (which must mean “left-handed” in Spanish, since former Brewer pitcher Manny Parra was also left-handed) is not a power hitter. He has never hit more than 10 home runs in a season, and to expect him to hit 10 to 15 home runs the rest of this season is unrealistic.

The Brewers did not improve themselves in their two biggest liabilities — left-handed power hitting and pitching. Nearly all of the Brewers’ notable hitters — center fielder Carlos Gomez, catcher Jonathan Lucroy, right fielder Ryan Braun, and third baseman Aramis Ramirez — are right-handed hitters. The Brewers platoon at first base, but the right-handed first baseman, Mark Reynolds (today’s answer to Dave Kingman) has 16 of the 20 home runs at first base. The leading left-handed power hitter is Gennett, with eight, eight more than outfielder Logan Schaefer, who was platooning in left field for a while. The Brewers also platoon at second base, which means Gennett gets the majority of the at-bats (most pitchers are right-handed, of course), but Gennett is probably not a power hitter in this or any future season.

The Brewers do not have en0ugh pitching. The Brewers have literally never had enough pitching. They do not have a number-one or even number-two starter on their staff. That includes supposed number-one starter Yovani Gallardo, who has not pitched any better than a number-three starter all season. The bigger pitching issue is late-inning relief, before closer Francisco Rodriguez (though Rodriguez has a few spectacular flameouts this season), and, again, the Brewers didn’t improve themselves there either.

My contention throughout this season is that the Brewers have been playing over their heads, and that rarely lasts for even an entire season. The Brewers’ worst stretch of the season was just before the All-Star break, when they shed their entire division lead, only to win the final game of the season and thus take a lead into the break. They still have that lead, but I think it’s highly likely that lead will disappear after their weekend in St. Louis, which starts tonight. The Cardinals picked up two pitchers this week, though neither, thankfully, was superstar lefty David Price, who went from Tampa Bay to Detroit.

Parra is a Gold Glove winner, but left field is probably the least important defensive position in the outfield. Parra isn’t going to replace Braun in right or Gomez in center, and left fielder Khris Davis has been hitting home runs in left, so it’s not clear why the Brewers got Parra at all. They needed bench help (one other player they never replaced after he left was utility player Jerry Hairston Jr., who they got during the 2011 season), but I’m not sure Parra’s that bench help either.

There were a couple of rumors, or more speculation than rumor, that the Brewers might be going after two supposedly available left-handed first basemen, Philadelphia’s Ryan Howard and Boston’s David Ortiz. (Ortiz started his professional career in Wisconsin, when the Timber Rattlers were a Mariners affiliate.) Neither is playing to their traditional standards. Both are up their in years. Both are on teams that apparently are shedding their older and more expensive players. Howard is due $70 million the next two seasons, but supposedly the Phillies were willing to pay “most” of that to a new team. Neither deal happened, and the waiver period’s end makes deals more difficult, though not impossible.

This should not necessarily be read as a call to replace general manager Doug Melvin. Given the Brewers’ limited resources, maybe this team is the best he can do this year. This year demonstrates, though, the downsides of building from within, in that it takes longer and the penalties for failure to develop players (for instance, left-handed power hitters) or injuries (relievers Tyler Thornburg and Jim Henderson) are harsher.

Brewers fans remember the playoff seasons — 1981, 1982, 2008 and 2011. They less remember the almost-seasons — 1979, 1983, 1987 (the Brewers managed to miss the playoffs despite their 13-0 start) and 1992. And this looks now like one of those seasons, not a playoff season.