Brewers Pitcher Aaron Civale Requests Trade, Seeks Starting Job

[Ryan Pollak]

Image courtesy of © Brad Penner-Imagn Images

After being moved to the bullpen upon Jacob Misiorowski’s call up to the big leagues, Aaron Civale has requested a trade, according to Ken Rosenthal and Will Sammon of The Athletic.

When the team was in dire need of starters (thanks to injuries) last summer, Civale joined the Brewers in early July via a trade with the Tampa Bay Rays, in exchange for minor leaguer Gregory Barrios. In 14 starts with the 2024 Brewers, he recorded a 3.53 ERA and a 1.22 WHIP with 65 strikeouts and 25 walks.

As the Brewers’ nominal third starter when camp opened, Civale hoped to continue his success in his contract year. However, he had an early exit on his first start due to a left hamstring strain. He was placed on the 15-day injured list and didn’t return until late May. Since his return, Civale has allowed seven runs in 19 innings, across four starts (3.32 ERA). Along the way, the March free-agent signing of Jose Quintana and the April trade that brought in Quinn Priester crowded Civale into the back end of the rotation.

Although the veteran hasn’t struggled in his starting role, the Brewers decided to call up their best pitching prospect in Misiorowski. With Freddy Peralta, Quintana, Chad Patrick, and the duo of Priester and DL Hall all showing similar kinds of success, Civale seemed like the odd man out.

While Misiorowski is expected to make his debut Thursday night, Civale is going to be in the bullpen for the time being. Whether this can result in Civale taking over after Misiorowski's outing tonight will remain a mystery. Civale has yet to make a relief appearance in his career—that is, in the regular season. He did come in in relief in last year’s Wild Card matchup against the Mets, in Game 3.

According to Civale’s agent, Jack Toffey, Civale wants to continue his career as a starter. But the Brewers already have a huge surplus in starting arms for the rotation, limiting his options. Hence the request to explore his chances elsewhere.

Aside from the names listed above, Brandon Woodruff and Nestor Cortes are expected to make their return to the roster at some point this season. Not only that, the Brewers have pitchers in the minor leagues who are more than ready to make starts for the big-league club. Among those are rookie Logan Henderson, who has a 1.71 ERA after winning three of his four big-league starts; and Tobias Myers, who was one of the best starters in the rotation last season.

As stated earlier, Civale is in his contract year and will be a free agent at the end of the season. He is owed about $5 million for the balance of this season and turns 30 on Thursday. Presumably, the Brewers will try to honor his request, since they have more than enough depth, but they now lack leverage in any discussion and are unlikely to get much for him.

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What do you think of Civale’s tenure as a Brewer? What type of return do you think the Brewers can get for Civale? What other pitchers can be on the trade block this deadline? Let us know in the comments.

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[Harold Hutchison]

At this point, I'll be happy to get two Single-A prospects for Civale.

[ClosetBrewerFan]

The Brewers are typically quiet about these things, so i doubt they leaked this to the press.  I wonder how this benefits Civale to leak it though. The brewers are likely only getting salary relief now. So they are less likely to trade him with little value coming back.  Maybe he thought they would not honor his request if he did not.

[Trax]

I like Civale and he's been good for us.   At the same time a likely candidate for trade whether we're in buy or sell mode.  Don't sell him for nothing...he's got some real value to a team who needs a starter and expects to compete post season.

[Jim French Stepstool]

I think he knows his value on the open market lessens if he's stuck in the BP for the remainder of the year, even if he performs well. And I don't see him exactly shining in that role.

Still, I agree with @Trax. Don't just pull a quick trigger for a lotto tic.

[Brian]

1 hour ago, ClosetBrewerFan said:

The Brewers are typically quiet about these things, so i doubt they leaked this to the press.  I wonder how this benefits Civale to leak it though. The brewers are likely only getting salary relief now. So they are less likely to trade him with little value coming back.  Maybe he thought they would not honor his request if he did not.

I'm sure it was Civale who leaked it.  With an ERA nearing 5. he obviously thinks he is much better than he really is. Yes he has value so trade him for a prospect or 2. 

[gregmag]

I’m not sure why, in all the circumstances, this trade request would strongly affect what the Brewers get back. They don’t have to trade him, and by the same token, if they stuck him in the bullpen and he hadn’t requested a trade, teams would likely assume he was interested in a different opportunity anyway. If more than one team thinks they can use him, then more than one team will be motivated to offer fair value.
 

I haven’t found myself lamenting the absence of Gregory Barrios. If we can ship Civale off for at least salary relief and a young, raw prospect, given how he helped stabilize the rotation last season, I’ll be fine with the whole sequence of events. If the return is any better than that, it will be gravy.
 

Frankly I’m just kind of excited for some trade action. This has been a pretty dull season.

[Harold Hutchison]

31 minutes ago, gregmag said:

I’m not sure why, in all the circumstances, this trade request would strongly affect what the Brewers get back. They don’t have to trade him, and by the same token, if they stuck him in the bullpen and he hadn’t requested a trade, teams would likely assume he was interested in a different opportunity anyway. If more than one team thinks they can use him, then more than one team will be motivated to offer fair value.
 

I haven’t found myself lamenting the absence of Gregory Barrios. If we can ship Civale off for at least salary relief and a young, raw prospect, given how he helped stabilize the rotation last season, I’ll be fine with the whole sequence of events. If the return is any better than that, it will be gravy.
 

Frankly I’m just kind of excited for some trade action. This has been a pretty dull season.

I did note that the D-Backs need a starter a few days ago when I suggested Civale could be a starter the Brewers move. Perhaps something can be worked out there.