A Retrospective, Part 1 of 3 - Matt Arnold's First 40 Trades as Brewers GM

[Jim Goulart]

Each Sunday, former longtime General Manager Jim Bowden proclaims within the opening of MLB Network Radio's award-winning 'Front Office' show, "The goal as a GM is to put together a winning team, not to win trades". Now that may be true, but as fans, we love to track and keep score of those player swaps, don't we? Brewers GM Matt Arnold officially took over for David Stearns in November of 2022, and he has made 40 (!) trades in the 26 months since doing so. The focus of this three-part series will primarily be from a minor league perspective, in that we'll be asking if any of the prospects Arnold has dealt in an effort to improve the club will potentially go down as "one that got away". Whether a trade included a young player or not, we'll still have fun looking back, and as with all trades, ahead via the repercussions.

Image courtesy of Michael McLoone - USA TODAY Sports: Trevor Megill and William Contreras

The analysis is subjective. In many cases, it's too early to determine if a former Milwaukee farmhand might yet thrive and reach full potential elsewhere. For other deals, the definition of a young but MLB-experienced player as a "prospect" can be debated.

Our list will be chronological. When you click on the date of the trade, you'll be brought to the MLB Trade Rumors post for the deal, which will provide the "immediate reaction" national perspective, while the links associated with the players' names brings you to their Baseball Reference page showing both MLB and MiLB stats where applicable.

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11/10/22    Milwaukee Brewers traded OF Reminton Batista to Miami Marlins for C Payton Henry

Henry was on the Brewers 40-man roster until mid-April and remained with AAA Nashville after clearing waivers post-DFA. Henry posted a fine .294/.341/.454 line in 65 International League games, only missing a single week due to injury. He qualified for minor league free agency that fall, and signed with Toronto, where he endured a rough 2024 season, missing three and a half concussion-impacted months when an opposing hitter accidentally struck him on the head with a backswing. Henry also had to deal with the tragic loss of his brother. Henry just signed a 2025 minor league deal with Philadelphia.

Batista, a Dominican Republic signee with the Crew for only $10,000 as part of the January 2022 international class, impressed in 2023 with the Marlins, remaining in the Dominican Summer League. The switch-hitter posted an .845 OPS over 33 games and 122 plate appearances. Brought stateside for 2024, Batista appeared in only 20 Florida Complex League games and received just 35 PA's with markedly less effective small-sample results. All his defensive innings since the trade have been in the corner outfield spots. Batista turns 20 years old on January 28th, so he certainly maintains his "lottery ticket" status, but for now, is not a player the Brewers regret losing.

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11/18/22    Milwaukee Brewers traded a Player to Be Named Later (RHP Victor Castaneda on 03/15/23) to the Tampa Bay Rays for RHP Javy Guerra.

Guerra's eight games pitched for Milwaukee saw him post an ugly 8.64 ERA. Talk about mop-up duty, Guerra (coming off a recent designation for assignment at the time of his acquisition, which you'll see is a common theme), actually finished six of those eight games. It was always a questionable acquisition since Guerra was out of options, 

As for Castaneda, the Mexico native was coming off a 2022 season in which he limited base hits, but the 3.88 BB/9 was rough, and he also was prone to surrendering the long ball at AA Biloxi. He wouldn't debut in 2023 until August 11th with a non-disclosed injury and qualified for free agency at season's end. New Mets President David Stearns signed Castaneda coming off some success in the 2023-2024 Mexican Winter League. Castaneda was released by the Mets in July of this past summer after pitching to a weak 6.47 ERA in 18 High-A relief appearances. The 26-year-old free agent is working as a starter again in the current Mexican Winter campaign.

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11/23/22    Milwaukee Brewers traded RF Hunter Renfroe to Los Angeles Angels for RHP Janson Junk, RHP Elvis Peguero and LHP Adam Seminaris.

The Brewers have received quite a bit of value in Elvis Peguero, though his lack of effectiveness in stranding inherited runners this past season was exasperating to all, especially since Manager Pat Murphy seemed almost oblivious to that fault at times. Seminaris, now 26, made it to AAA Nashville for one game in 2023, otherwise toiled for two seasons in struggling fashion with Biloxi despite the Southern League being a pitchers haven. Both Seminaris (released in October) and Junk (claimed off waivers first by Houston, then by Oakland) are now minor league free agents. In Junk's lone MLB appearance for the Athletics, he faced eight batters and all eight reached base. Like many other trades we'll discuss, the "one that got away" impact is not applicable here.

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12/02/22    Milwaukee Brewers traded 2B Kolten Wong and cash to Seattle Mariners for OF Jesse Winker and INF Abraham Toro.

With no prospects involved here, we'll refrain from rehashing the twists and turns (often painful for all involved) in this unforeseen mutual train wreck of a deal. It remains to be seen if the Toro acquisition will prove fruitful for Milwaukee, as we'll detail in the future 11/15/23 entry.

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12/12/22    Milwaukee Brewers trade OF Esteury Ruiz to Oakland Athletics and receive RHP Joel Payamps from Oakland, with C William Contreras and RHP Justin Yeager arriving from the Atlanta Braves as part of a three-team, nine-player deal

Sure, it would have been easy to kick off this entire Matt Arnold trade retrospective with this flat-out heist. Most folks can remember their reaction when it became apparent that Ruiz would be the only piece the Brewers would give up on this day. This one deal simultaneously began the "King" William Contreras era in Milwaukee while re-writing the legacy of David Stearns' forlorn Josh Hader trade months prior. Joel Payamps deserves to be recognized for much more than failing to properly cover first base against the Mets and continues to be present, although that'll remain a frozen ouch moment in Brewers postseason lore.

As for the prospect in the deal, Milwaukee maintains just one more year of team control over Justin Yeager unless he is added to the 40-man roster by fall 2025. Yeager was allowed to pitch in this winter's Puerto Rico League, and is doing so ably, with 11 saves and a 1.062 WHIP in 20 games as of this writing. He should see AAA Nashville for the first time this spring. It would not be a surprise to see him offered a non-roster big-league camp invite later this winter.

Yeah, good job here, Matt!

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12/14/22    Milwaukee Brewers traded a Player to be Named Later or cash (turned out to be cash) to Cleveland Guardians for INF Owen Miller.

The Wisconsin native had some positive moments within his 90-game 2023 time with the Brewers (.674 OPS). The Trade Rumors link for this entry is notable in that it reminds us that prospect status is fleeting as catcher Mario Feliciano was DFA'd to make room for Miller. Like Abraham Toro, we'll revisit another trade entry for Miller later in this series (11/02/24).

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01/04/23    Milwaukee Brewers traded cash to Pittsburgh Pirates for RHP Bryse Wilson.

We really do overlook the role the myriad of Brewers associates in Baseball Operations (see Front Office Directory) may play in these trades. The team likely has portfolios on all professionals across the land, so when Bryse Wilson was DFA'd by the Pirates days earlier, Matt Arnold had input indicating that it would be wise to jump the waiver wire line and negotiate an enhanced cost with Pittsburgh. (When a team claims a player on waivers, they are not charged a specific fee to claim them; they simply assume the player's contract.)

Wilson didn't make his initial roster inclusion (remember, he was out of options) an automatic result, as his spring training ERA was 6.59 over six appearances, 18 hits allowed in 13.2 innings. But Arnold and the Crew were rewarded with a pretty remarkable 2023 season from Wilson. It wasn't glamorous work, but you owe it to yourself to click for the linked season stats via his name above. While 2024's efforts weren't as effective, Wilson ate early-season innings when they were needed most.

Wilson is easy to root for with the White Sox (signed as a free agent) in 2025.

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01/07/23    Milwaukee Brewers traded RHP Justin Topa to Seattle Mariners for RHP Joseph Hernandez.

As an admittedly avid MLB Trade Rumors enthusiast, kudos to the MLBTR team of writers for their quick and worthwhile analysis of player movement (goodness knows they saved me a ton of typing for this project). 

As for the aftermath of this deal, well, Seattle got one heck of a 2023 season out of Topa. They also used Topa as part of a January 2024 package to acquire infielder Jorge Polanco from the Twins, and Polanco's subsequent off-putting performance didn't aid the M's 2024 cause, while Topa's injury woes redeveloped with Minnesota.

As for Hernandez, his performance was underwhelming from the start with the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers, his first taste of High-A ball. He would be sidelined from June 1st through late August and sandwiched around that lengthy injured stint his K rate per 9 cratered nearly in half, from the 11.0 that won him California League Pitcher of the Year honors to 6.5 in a dozen T-Rat appearances, ten of them starts. The Brewers released Hernandez in mid-May of 2024. The Mariners picked him back up, and after more struggles, he's now a minor league free agent. He'll turn 25 years old in June. 

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04/09/23    Milwaukee Brewers traded cash to Cincinnati Reds for LHP Bennett Sousa.

Similar to the Bryse Wilson acquisition, the Brewers used cash to jump the waiver line here, with one notable distinction being that Sousa was optionable. There would be two very uneven games with the big-league Brewers and 16 games with Nashville that included two injured list stints, the second of which was a 60-day placement for left shoulder nerve irritation. That would prove ominous.

Sousa was in demand, to be sure. From his White Sox origin, he would be claimed on waivers by the Reds, Brewers, Tigers and Astros, all within 2023. Importantly for Sousa, he finished that season on Houston's big-league roster, and when he underwent surgery to address thoracic outlet syndrome in April of 2024, that ensured he'd earn the MLB minimum salary for the season he would miss. He remains on the Houston 40-man roster at this time.

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04/29/23   Milwaukee Brewers traded RHP Javy Guerra to Tampa Bay Rays for a Player to be Named Later or cash (turned out to be cash).

Holy reversal from a prior entry, Batman!

Guerra would pitch in nine games for the Rays at the big-league level in 2023, then 32 more at AAA. Guerra pitched well in Japan in 2024, with a 1.55 ERA and a 1.000 WHIP in 59 relief appearances.

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04/30/23   Milwaukee Brewers traded a PTBNL (RHP Taylor Floyd, named on 06/14/23) and cash to Minnesota Twins for RHP Trevor Megill.

Winner, winner, chicken dinner!

Once again utilizing the "jump the waiver line after a DFA" strategy, Matt Arnold floated a bit of Mark Attanasio's cash and what turned out to be a minor league reliever who was nearly two full years removed from his best work. Taylor Floyd had dazzled in his first full pro season coming out of the lost 2020 year, striking out 72 in 48.2 innings with a shiny 1.15 WHIP in 2021 with the Timber Rattlers. Yet, here he was, still in Appleton at the time of this trade. For Minnesota, all of Floyd's innings would be at the AA level, ranging from rough the 2nd half of 2023 to passable if not solid in 2024. The Mariners selected Floyd in the minor league phase of last month's Rule 5 draft.

The Trevor Megill story is now pretty well-known, though fans may not realize just how long he was in the Padres' minor league system prior to his big-league forays with the Cubs and Twins. Thankfully Megill was OK after this 2024 scare sidelined him for just a week. He's now set to hopefully excel for Milwaukee (and fantasy league closer owners) in 2025 as the heir apparent to Devin Williams.

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05/17/23    Milwaukee Brewers traded RHP Lucas Erceg to Oakland Athletics for cash.

Sometimes a team "loses" a trade, and as a fan, it's difficult to be truly upset, whether it's the day of the deal or in the down-the-road aftermath. But let's be clear, Oakland's front office should be congratulated on their reach-out to the Milwaukee front office on this one.

But for a moment, can we envision that it was the Brewers who initiated this transaction? Given the proximity to Erceg's hometown of San Jose and the state of the Athletics' staff at the time, is it possible this was purely a goodwill gesture for a player who was set to become a minor league free agent at season's end? Erceg's 2023 ERA in 13 Nashville appearances was 6.46, after all. It wouldn't be the first such instance, as the Brewers have lost players in the minor league phase of Rule 5 they intentionally left exposed to garner a fresh start elsewhere. Also, Erceg's prior struggles with depression and alcohol and subsequent efforts to overcome (as was chronicled on the Brewers beat, including by Adam McCalvy here), made Erceg an easy person to root for.

Immediately added to the A's 40-man and 26-man rosters, Erceg's power arm proved to be impressive at times, erratic at others during his first year in the Green and Gold (4.75 ERA, 1.582 WHIP). It was in 2024, however, filling in at the back end of games when star closer Mason Miller was sidelined, where Erceg truly caught folks' attention. Now, was Oakland as astute in trading Erceg to the Royals at last summer's deadline? Time will tell. 

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07/12/23     Milwaukee Brewers traded RHP Tyson Miller to Los Angeles Dodgers for cash.

Role reversal in the cash transaction direction, and somehow the Dodgers were still able to remain solvent.

Miller had remained on the Brewers' 40-man roster from his November 10th, 2022 waiver claim from the Rangers until his DFA a few days prior to this deal. Milwaukee had recalled the swingman in each of the first four months of the 2023 season - the Brewers' brass loves them relievers with options. Miller would be designated by LA in August 2023, claimed by the Mets, DFA'd again, claimed (again) by the Dodgers, all before the month was over. Whew! 

Miller saw only big-league action in 2024, first with Seattle, and then with the Cubs after a May (you guessed it, DFA-related trade). However, Miller was pretty special for the dreaded North Siders, with a 2.15 ERA and 0.815 WHIP in 49 appearances. So, in a roundabout way, a primary division rival did and should continue to benefit as a result of the trade documented above.

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Thus concludes our dive into the first 13 trades of Matt Arnold's tenure as GM. When this series continues with analysis of another baker's dozen worth of deals, we'll spotlight the departures of at least ten players who fall to some degree on the prospect status spectrum. At this upcoming juncture, Arnold entered a more significant phase of dealing players with potential future impact - in order to better improve his own organization, of course.

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[Joseph Zarr]

What a fun early January side road of Brewer fandom! Thanks for putting in the work in to do this, Jim.

[Michael Trzinski]

A very fascinating look at the world of baseball transactions. As a side note, I 'own' Lucas Erceg in a computer league (Diamond Mind Baseball) and his 'card' makes him a solid set-up man for my team. Congrats to Lucas on a great, but unexpected journey to the bigs!

Nice job, Jim!!

[Ro Mueller]

Under-rated terrific trade given $$$:
Renfroe 2023 WAR: 0.4
Peguero 2023 WAR: 0.6

Wong-Winker trade might have looked better if Counsell played Toro during his season-ending 41-game on-base streak.

Contreras and Payamps for a player we didn’t believe could play center field is spectacular.

Missed it on Topa and Erceg, but got it back with Megill, Bryse Wilson and a bit of Owen Miller.

Can’t feel bad about Tyson Miller, since the Dodgers, Mets and Mariners each let him go too.