Trade Trees Bring Forth Bountiful Harvests For The Brewers

What Is A Trade Tree?
To understand this piece, we need to define a trade tree. It is the future transactions stemming from any given trade. Take, for instance, the JJ Hardy trade. The Brewers got Carlos Gómez, whom they flipped a few years later with Mike Fiers for Josh Hader, Adrian Houser, Brett Phillips, and Domingo Santana. Houser was dealt this past offseason with Tyrone Taylor, for Coleman Crow (currently recovering from surgery). Phillips was part of a package the Brewers used to acquire Mike Moustakas. You get the idea. In fact, we can start this analysis with the trade tree stemming from part of the Carlos Gomez return package.

The Josh Hader Trade – Short-Term Scuffle, Long-Term Lift
This is one many Brewers fans already know about. By the end of October 2022, it looked like a mess. Dinelson Lamet and Taylor Rogers were both either out, or on their way out, while the Brewers were left with Esteury Ruiz, who could rack up a lot of stolen bases, along with left-handed pitcher Robert Gasser.

Over the 2022-2023 offseason, though, the Crew made a trade that may not have been possible without the Hader deal. They acquired catcher William Contreras and reliever Joel Payamps (plus minor-league reliever Justin Yeager) for Ruiz. The Hader deal has taken on a whole new complexion now, not just with the knock-on trade, but also with Gasser’s arrival and his emergence as a solid starting pitcher.

So Hader netted the Brewers an All-Star-level catcher (Contreras), a very solid bullpen piece (Payamps), a solid rookie starter (Gasser), and we still have yet to see what Yeager does. This is before any future trades involving the players currently on the ladder.

The Jackie Bradley Jr. Trade Tree – Salvaging A Bad Signing
After one year, the signing of Jackie Bradley Jr. was clearly not working out. He’d posted an OPS of .497 and provided -0.6 Wins Above Replacement in 2021. The Brewers were able to get out of a $9.5 million salary they would have paid Bradley by sending him (along with minor-leaguers Alex Binelas and David Hamilton) to Boston for Hunter Renfroe.

Renfroe gave the Brewers a solid 2022 season in right field, posting an .807 OPS and hitting 29 homers. But with a lot of young outfielders, the Brewers made another deal, sending Renfroe to the Angels. In return, they got Elvis Peguero, Janson Junk, and Adam Seminaris.

Peguero has been a solid reliever, sometimes dominant and at other times frustrating. Junk has been on the Milwaukee-Nashville shuttle, mostly providing depth. Adam Seminaris has struggled with injuries, but has posted solid numbers out of the Biloxi bullpen.

Like the Hader trade, this trade tree is still capable of generating more returns, should one of Peguero, Junk, or Seminaris be dealt. For now, given that it started with a busted outfield signing, it's already yielded impressive returns.

The Trent Grisham Trade Tree – A Roller-Coaster Heading Up For A While?
Prior to 2020, the Brewers traded Zach Davies and Trent Grisham to the Padres for Luis Urías and Eric Lauer. Urías and Lauer struggled in the pandemic-altered 2020, but were key players on the 2021 and 2022 teams before falling off in 2023. It briefly looked like it could be a major coup, but has settled toward a fairly value-neutral sequence.

Lauer was non-tendered, but the Crew dealt Urías to Boston for minor-league pitcher Bradley Blalock. Blaylock is putting up very strong numbers in the upper minors, and could be a solid rotation prospect. As such, there is no telling what heights this could lead to for the Crew, whether Blalock contributes as a Brewer or nets the Crew an asset in a trade.

The Kolten Wong Trade Tree – Shooting Up Like A Rocket?
The Brewers dealt Kolten Wong to the Mariners for Jesse Winker and Abraham Toro to clear the path for Brice Turang and to line up a full-time DH. The former plan worked. Turang struggled at the plate offensively, but provided Gold Glove-caliber defense in 2023, and we know what he's doing in 2024. Winker provided OBP skills, but little pop as a DH for the Crew.

However, the Brewers also got Abraham Toro in the deal. Toro mostly spent 2023 in Triple-A, but did very well in a cup of coffee for the Crew. Then the Crew flipped Toro to the A’s and got Chad Patrick.

This season, to date, Patrick is arguably Nashville’s ace, outperforming Carlos Rodriguez (the pitcher) so far. At the very least, Patrick is someone the Crew could flip for some pennant-run reinforcements. But he could also wind up being an excellent fit for the Brewers’ rotation as well.

Overview
Any trade made at the deadline isn’t just going to be about this season – trades in Brewers history have reverberated far into the future. Other trades, very recent, can likely do the same.