Brewers Acquire Lance McCullers Jr. From Astros

[wiguy94]

32 minutes ago, JohnBriggs12 said:

Well hopefully it doesn't turn out to be another Tristan Peters for Trevor Rosenthal deal

Don't think you need to worry about that. Peters was a much more regarded prospect at the time he was traded than Fielder is and Peters making it was a longshot.

[wallus]

We only need one of these guys to provide value for this to be a solid trade. 

[TURBO]

Brewers GM Matt Arnold indicated that Lance McCullers Jr.'s next outing could take the form of a major league start.

Arnold also indicated that fellow acquisition Colton Gordon will likely head to Triple-A for now. If McCullers, who has been on the IL for two months with shoulder inflammation, is activated, one imagines he’d be part of a six-man rotation the first time through. He could bump Robert Gasser afterwards if he proves worthy. McCullers made his last start July 7, giving up four runs — two earned — in four innings for Triple-A Sugar Land. 

- Matthew Pouliot

[TwinsBrewersWorldSeries]

1 hour ago, TURBO said:

Who is Blake Burton?

Blake Perkins.  Damn auto correct 

[patrickgpe]

After thinking about this, there are many here that do not want the brewers to make a splash and give up elite prospects. I do not share that concern, but with limits. This was a way to get someone who MAY be able to help without paying a huge price prospect or salary wise and they may have someone that can help for the next few years if the Brewers can make a few adjustments on him. 

[Jim French Stepstool]

1 hour ago, beekay414 said:

I don't disagree with the idea of this but you simply cannot rely on McCullers to stay healthy. Even if he shows out for those 3-4 starts and we don't go after a more appealing SP option, what's keeping him from getting hurt again and leaving us right back in this spot? Again, I get it but it's very risky if this ends up being the only real move.

I don't think this is a situation where if Gordon & McCullers both contribute, we'll sit out the rest of the month & say 'OK, we're done'. If anything, that would create a situation where we can be a little less desperate regarding what deals we might agree to. And less desperate is always good.

[rickh150]

Seems like an extremely low price to get two potential rotation pieces. If even one can go 4 or 5 IP and give up 2 or 3 runs 7 to 10 times this year, it’s a net win. 

[ClosetBrewerFan]

This is such a Brewersy trade.  It's buy low on two major league ready pitchers.  One with extreme injury concerns and one that screams AAAA pitcher.  They are relying on their pitching lab to turns these guys into productive pitchers.  I would give up Jadyn and $2M for that chance.

[brewmann04]

Hopefully we can get something from McCullers hopefully They know he healthy. 2 million a good trade especially to someone who really is a long shot 

[Opening Day]

4 hours ago, edfunderburk said:

Cleveland traded for Matt LaPorta ... Brantley was a "throw in" who just happened to become a great MLB player. 

LaPorta's father-in-law is a good friend of mine (he pastors a church just north of Tampa). Unfortunately, LaPorta never "hit" a an MLB player, but he was a dynamic HR hitter at Florida when drafted by Milwaukee. 

 

On a side note, I also live in the Tampa area.  Do you know of any Brewers bars you'd recommend?  I normally watch at home (or on my phone) but I might like to enjoy some of the WS run with other Brewer fans.

[Opening Day]

49 minutes ago, ClosetBrewerFan said:

This is such a Brewersy trade.  It's buy low on two major league ready pitchers.  One with extreme injury concerns and one that screams AAAA pitcher.  They are relying on their pitching lab to turns these guys into productive pitchers.  I would give up Jadyn and $2M for that chance.

Yeah, by track record alone I feel some blind confidence one or both of these guys are going to contribute.  For nostalgia and feel-good story purposes, I was pulling for Fielder.  But logically, he probably isnt anything to give up.

[gregmag]

I’m just reading this whole thread now, and I love how kumbayah it got once they announced Fielder and $2m as the return. Like, the one thing we prospect huggers and the tradez! crowd can agree on is that there’s no harm in dumping Jadyn Fielder and a smallish pile of Mark’s money. 

[adambr2]

3 hours ago, wibadgers23 said:

For sure but Peters was a lot more highly regarded prospect than Fielder.  I don't think we have much to worry about with this one.

As bad as that deal looks sometimes those are also a bit misleading. When a guy gets flipped a few times and then DFAed as Peters was before figuring it out with Chicago, that’s a little different than trading a guy and then watching him blossom. 

It’s fair to say we missed on Peters but it’s not far off to say that everyone but the White Sox missed on him.

[beekay414]

2 hours ago, Jim French Stepstool said:

I don't think this is a situation where if Gordon & McCullers both contribute, we'll sit out the rest of the month & say 'OK, we're done'. If anything, that would create a situation where we can be a little less desperate regarding what deals we might agree to. And less desperate is always good.

Yeah I agree. Just saying that if it ends up being the only move rather than what you described then it becomes a potential issue for me with how risky that play is. We saw it not pay off last year with Miller getting hurt again and getting little real value out of that deal. Obviously not a one for one comparison considering we got a LHP with 5 years of control on top of McCullers but same overarching point.

Hoping for more to come.

[owbc]

It seems like the Astros think McCullers is worth nothing and they were willing to part with a AAA starting pitcher in exchange for cutting costs. I’m not sure what their thinking is. Fielder feels like a thrown in to save the Brewers a bit of cost and possibly for optics on the Astros side.

Overall my reaction is that it gives us something to think about on the off day. If this trade happened on deadline day it would have barely been noticed. 

[markedman5]

The Athletic had a question and answer with McCullers after the trade……one of the things he said was after they told him it was the Brewers who wanted him……he talked to a number of people who he knew who played there( including Josh Hader) and they all said it was amazing.

 

pretty cool to hear

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7448455/2026/07/15/lance-mccullers-jr-astros-trade-legacy/?unlocked_article_code=1.yFA.9Cnj.QQUbsGi35PhV&source=user_shared_article&smid=ta-ios-share

[liveforoctober]

My whole take on this trade changed when Arnold said Gordon was someone they had targeted for awhile. He was the get. If the trade was Fielder for Gordon straight up I would have been good with it after hearing Arnold's comments. The fact we take McCullers as our penance and get to use his arm for a bit to save Harrison a few more innings + ...

This feels overall positive. 

[liveforoctober]

9 minutes ago, markedman5 said:

The Athletic had a question and answer with McCullers after the trade……one of the things he said was after they told him it was the Brewers who wanted him……he talked to a number of people who he knew who played there and they all said it was amazing.

 

pretty cool to hear

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7448455/2026/07/15/lance-mccullers-jr-astros-trade-legacy/?unlocked_article_code=1.yFA.9Cnj.QQUbsGi35PhV&source=user_shared_article&smid=ta-ios-share

Specifically he mentions Hader - which is and isn't surprising if Josh said great things. Felt like Stearns did him dirty both in arbitration hearings as well as the exit. If he is still saying good things... good on our people.

[wiguy94]

11 minutes ago, liveforoctober said:

My whole take on this trade changed when Arnold said Gordon was someone they had targeted for awhile. He was the get. If the trade was Fielder for Gordon straight up I would have been good with it after hearing Arnold's comments. The fact we take McCullers as our penance and get to use his arm for a bit to save Harrison a few more innings + ...

This feels overall positive. 

Not saying you’re wrong but I think that expression is becoming just something Arnold says. I genuinely can’t recall the last guy we traded for in a real trade not a DFA trade where Arnold didn’t use that phrase.

[BruisedCrew]

I hope this deal isn’t a clue that Harrison’s IL stay is going to be longer than the minimum. 

[owbc]

4 minutes ago, wiguy94 said:

Not saying you’re wrong but I think that expression is becoming just something Arnold says. I genuinely can’t recall the last guy we traded for in a real trade not a DFA trade where Arnold didn’t use that phrase.

He didn’t say it about McCullers 😂

[edfunderburk]

2 hours ago, Opening Day said:

On a side note, I also live in the Tampa area.  Do you know of any Brewers bars you'd recommend?  I normally watch at home (or on my phone) but I might like to enjoy some of the WS run with other Brewer fans.

Sorry, I live in DFW. I’ve only been to Tampa when I was traveling to preach in churches there.  

[Team Canada]

I'm trying to understand the Houston side of this - I guess you're convinced that Gordon's nothing and you'd rather have a gas station scratch off ticket than someone who's at AAA already? McCullers for $2M is whatever, but I guess maybe they see something in Jadyn.

[wiguy94]

15 minutes ago, Team Canada said:

I'm trying to understand the Houston side of this - I guess you're convinced that Gordon's nothing and you'd rather have a gas station scratch off ticket than someone who's at AAA already? McCullers for $2M is whatever, but I guess maybe they see something in Jadyn.

Saves them $2.5M which gives them some space to make additions without exceeding the $244M CBT threshold.

[gregmag]

1 hour ago, liveforoctober said:

Specifically he mentions Hader - which is and isn't surprising if Josh said great things. Felt like Stearns did him dirty both in arbitration hearings as well as the exit. If he is still saying good things... good on our people.

I suspect Hader’s perspective changed when he went (very successfully) through free agency. The arb hearing, the trade — those things were just business, the team taking care of its interests. But he hadn’t been through that stuff before (minor league trade sure, but not being traded as a big league star), and those were things I’m sure he experienced as being done to him. When he got to sign his big contract, he did business to protect his interests – he got to call the shots. I imagine that experience would cast a different light on the prior events.