The Brewers That Got Away

At the 2024 All-Star Game, one of the more interesting names to pop up was Cleveland Guardian’s catcher/outfielder/first baseman David Fry. Seeing Fry was a bit of a gut punch. For those that don’t know, Fry was a middling prospect in the Brewers system before being dealt after the 2022 season for reliever J.C. Mejía. 

That stings. Mejía managed 13 mediocre innings over two years with the Crew, while Fry developed into a multi-positional bat for Cleveland.

This article is not meant to lament missed opportunities (okay, maybe a little). It’s simply to acknowledge players that Milwaukee traded or let go before becoming established major leaguers. 

Here are the rules for this exercise:

• Players still have to be active. So, there are no Michael Brantley or Jake Odorizzi types.

• Only players the Brewers signed as draft picks or amateur free agents are eligible for this list. Thus, no one like Jonathan India, Garrett Crochet, or Carlos Rodon. Each of those guys was drafted by Milwaukee but elected not to sign with the club. 

• We’ll only discuss players in the Brewers’ system who were traded before reaching the majors or had a brief stay in Milwaukee but were never established before being dealt.

• We’ll only present players who have had a modicum of success. Thus, no Cooper Hummel, Weston Wilson, or Joey Wiemer. Those guys could end up on this list in the future, but for now, they’re just guys who got a chance to play at the highest level but never really did anything significant.

All right - here we go (in no particular order):

Hitters

David Fry, 2018, 7th round - Catcher - Cleveland 
The Brewers sent Cleveland Fry in exchange for J.C. Mejia—woof. That wasn't good. Fry has emerged as a quality bat playing all over the field (1B, LF, C, DH) for the Guardians. He's been so good that he even got a ticket to the 2024 All-Star game. He's definitely a guy the Brewers regret letting get away.

David Hamilton, 2019, 8th round - Infielder - Boston
Hamilton was a lesser part of the Hunter Renfroe/Jackie Bradley Jr. trade. He got a cup of coffee in 2023 but has emerged as a solid infield option for the Red Sox. He produced 1.4 WAR while starting 57 games in 2024 at shortstop and second base. Even with those modest stats, he looks like a guy who could have a solid career. 

Trent Grisham - 2015, OF, 1st round - Yankees 
Grisham showed promise in his rookie season in Milwaukee but was dealt to San Diego - along with Zach Davies - in 2019 for Luis Urias and Eric Lauer. Make no mistake, Grisham has had his moments. His fielding turned out to be outstanding - netting him a pair of gold gloves. But his bat has been inconsistent - and flat-out bad of late. He's hit sub-.200 each of the last three seasons and was dealt to the Yankees this past offseason. At 27, he might still resurrect his career, but things don't look great. In the end, letting Grisham go was a bit of a nothing burger.

Garrett Cooper - 2013, 1B, 6th round - Orioles (minors) 
Cooper has been a semi-regular player in the majors since 2019, appearing in over 500 games. He has generally been a consistent player - albeit not very exciting. His lifetime of .265 BA and .759 OPS demonstrates his solid but unspectacular bat. The Brewers would have been lucky to have that production during some of those years. At age 33, Cooper, however, may be wrapping up his days in the majors. He struggled in 2024, leading to his release. He is currently with Baltimore on a minor-league deal. Giving up Cooper for almost nothing certainly wasn’t the team's best move, but his modest production made it a minor misstep.

Mitch Haniger - 2012, 1st round (supplemental) - Seattle 
No player the Brewers dealt as a minor leaguer in the past decade has produced numbers like Haniger. He hit 39 HR in 2021. He has nearly 15.0 WAR for his career. He's been an All-Star and received MVP votes in two different seasons. Haniger has, however, been dogged by various injuries over the years, which has limited his effectiveness. Also, as he approaches 34, his glory days may be behind him as he's struggled at the plate the last two years with averages of .209 and .205. Haniger was dealt by the Brewers in 2014 (along with Anthony Banda) for Gerardo Parra. Parra was helpful to the Crew and ultimately netted Zach Davies from Baltimore. So, the deal wasn’t completely lopsided. 

Pitchers

Drew Rasmussen, 2018, 6th round - Tampa
Rasmussen came from Tampa in the Adames trade and then went from a reliever to a quality starter—tossing 250 innings over the past three years to a sweet 3.18 ERA. Rasmussen's issues have been health-related, as he's made numerous trips to the IL and hasn't pitched since the summer of 2023. He is certainly a player the team would have liked to have kept, but getting him for Adames means there are no regrets.

Reese Olson, 2018, 13th round - Detroit
Olson was traded to the Tigers in 2021 in exchange for Daniel Norris, another painful one for the Crew. He has become a solid starter for the Tigers (3.61 ERA in 200+ innings over the past two years), and the Crew would love to have this trade back.

Bowden Francis, 2017, 7th round - Toronto
Perhaps Francis will have a career that makes Brewers fans sad that he 'got away.' Traded as part of the Rowdy Tellez deal, he has thus far been a mixed bag. He was excellent for Toronto in 2023, posting a superlative 1.73 ERA in 36 innings. 2024 has been much different, with a 5.00+ ERA in 40+ innings. The jury is still out.

Lucas Erceg, 2016, 2nd round - Kansas City 
Erceg flamed out as a hitter but showed promise after converting to the mound. The Brewers, however, gave up on Erceg in May 2023. Perhaps the change of scenery was needed. Erceg was brought up to the big leagues by the Oakland A's, and to the shock of many, he did pretty well. And in 2024, he did even better. He was so good, a hot commodity at the trade deadline - and dealt to Kansas City. Erceg now looks like a quality, hard-throwing reliever. The Brewers, no doubt, regret letting Erceg go, but such a change of scenery might have been necessary for Erceg to blossom.

Jorge Lopez - 2011, 2nd round - Cubs 
Saying Lopez 'got away' is a bit of a stretch. He got into 13 games with the Crew before becoming a classic journeyman. He has been with seven teams in nine years. He’s been let go three times and traded three times. He was on the All-Star team in 2022. But his career has been wildly inconsistent. He flamed out as a starter but has had more success out of the pen. Lopez is still only 31, and he can be effective. So, I expect him to stick around for a bit. With his inconsistency, the Crew really can’t regret letting him go. And by trading him, they netted a couple of excellent seasons of Mike Moustakas. Not bad.

Nick Ramirez - 2011, 4th round - Dodgers (minors)
This is another stretch to include Ramirez - but he's a left-handed pitcher, and they last forever. Ramirez was drafted as a first baseman but converted to pitching at age 27. The club let him go in 2018, and he found a role in Detroit's bullpen a few years later. He has since bounced around the league - and between the majors and minors - with mixed success. He had an excellent 2.66 ERA in 2023 but then imploded with the Dodgers this year - and is currently with their Triple-A club. Still, as a lefty, he might sneak back into the league. It's no big loss for Milwaukee, but it’s nice to see a guy make it - even in a small way.

So that’s the list of the ‘guys that got away.’ It’s not an extensive list, but it's interesting to see who blossomed after being dealt or let go by the Brewers. 

Other guys could, someday, join this list. Fringe players such as Clayton Andrews, Cody Ponce, José Cuas, Cy Sneed, Joey Wiemer or Ethan Small. Who knows. 

I want to note that the Brewers are full of guys who ‘got away’ from other clubs. Hoby Milner, Jared Koenig, Tobias Myers, Freddy Peralta, Colin Rea, Joey Ortiz, Blake Perkins, Andruw Monasterio, DL Hall, Bryan Hudson, Oliver Dunn, and others. That's the nature of being a small market team. We try to find value where others don't. And the fact that we haven't lost that many players from our system over the past decade or so - demonstrates that we have tried to build from within - and give our guys a try.