Jim Goulart

Coincidentally, this came out this AM, includes Cam Devanney praise and conjecture:

If you missed our first installment on Matt Arnold's trade history since jumping into the big-boy General Manager chair after David Stearns' step-down, you'll find it here. In Part Two, you'll see that Arnold became more inclined to part with minor league capital, as we count a minimum of ten "prospects" dealt away. We know that fans' definition of what makes a true prospect will vary, but we'll take a shot at determining if the Brewers will end up regretting any of the young talent moved. In fact, our first entry below may end up being the most compelling in the long run. Image courtesy of Stacy Revere - Getty Images: Joey Ortiz Reminder: our list is 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. 07/27/23 Milwaukee Brewers traded SS/3B Jhonny Severino to Pittsburgh Pirates for 1B Carlos Santana. OK, so right off the top, this one is worth keeping an eye on. The MLBTR write-up provides significant information on Jhonny Severino as of the time of the trade that I won't need to re-type here. You may wish to review that first. Severino, who only turned 20 years old this past November, is currently ranked at #17 on MLB Pipeline's Pirates Top 30 list. It's worth noting that at least six prospects ranked higher on that list also play primarily on the left side of the infield. The youngster began 2024 in the Florida Complex League and was only promoted to full-season ball on July 30th. Yet, remarkably, Severino made his way into a wealth of eight video highlights after that promotion as he clubbed 15 extra-base hits, including six home runs, in just 28 games with Bradenton in the Low-A Florida State League. You'll want to watch the RH bat (no longer switch-hitting) hit for a cycle, as well as have two multi-homer games. Still listed at 6'2", 185 (likely a bit bigger now), Severino looks the part of a future MLB contributor, if not potential star. He fanned in only 21% of his plate appearances in 2024 with a solid 10% walk rate, though those rate stats were much stronger while in the complex league. The Dominican Republic native stole 16 bases in 20 attempts. In 75 games split between shortstop and third base, he committed 16 errors, and while error counts are somewhat meaningless at these low levels, Pipeline concurs that Severino is likely to focus on third base moving forward. For his efforts, the fan site PiratesProspects.com named Severino their 2024 Hitting Prospect of the Year. For his part, Carlos Santana was a regular contributor post-deadline for the Crew, .249/.314/.459 (.779 OPS), and in the two playoff defeats to Arizona, he reached base four times on two singles and two walks. Would it be nice to have Jhonny Severino in the Brewers' system today? Sure, but deadline talent isn't given away. Kudos to the Pirates on their initial evaluation. It'll be very interesting to follow Severino's exploits over the next half-decade at least, to see where this particular trade leads. 07/31/23 Milwaukee Brewers traded RHP Justin Jarvis to New York Mets for LF/1B Mark Canha and cash. The Brewers doubled up on the veteran lineup-bolstering maneuver for the 2023 deadline when they dealt a then-23-year-old Justin Jarvis to allow Mark Canha to join Carlos Santana as an acquisition. Canha's successful stint with Milwaukee in 50 games (.287/.373/.427, five home runs, some clutch moments) is well-remembered by the fanbase at this point. The Mets (pre-David Stearns) didn't go the lottery ticket route, as Jarvis, drafted in the 5th round in 2018 as a North Carolina high schooler, was in the midst of his 5th pro season already. Jarvis was one of the double-duty-at-different-level Wisconsin Timber Rattlers, as the pre-pandemic 2019 pitcher toiled at Low-A in Appleton, while the 2021 season there was at the High-A level. As his linked B-Ref page attests, the results were prettier during his first tour of duty there at age 19. Milwaukee had already begun to send younger players to the Arizona Fall League, a pattern for nearly all MLB franchises up to today, and Jarvis did appear in seven games in the desert after that middling 2021 campaign. It was back to Appleton in '22, where Jarvis certainly knew every street sign by now, and then a bump to AA Biloxi late in that season and to begin 2023, where in 14 starts (3.33 ERA, 1.256 WHIP, 91 K in 75.2 IP) there were signs of progression that could entice other general managers, although as the MLB Trade Rumors link notes, the youngster's first dip of the toes in AAA waters was not pretty in three Nashville starts in the weeks prior to the trade. For the most part, there was not an outcry amongst faithful Brew Crew farmhand followers upon learning of this trade. We can appreciate our own Matthew Trueblood's commentary at the time, and kudos for the use of the word "disgorged": In Justin Jarvis, the Brewers disgorged some of their pitching depth at the upper levels, but they're in good position to deal from that area of strength. Jarvis was 19th in our latest ranking of Brewers prospects, which is about the caliber of prospect one should expect to surrender for a valuable role player on an expiring deal. Jarvis' time with the Mets was not impressive, and he ended 2024 as a swingman with time at both the AAA and AA levels. Of course, entering his age 25 season, he remains intriguing enough that the Dodgers have signed him to a minor league contract, because LA must sign every professional ballplayer at some point in their career. Jarvis has yet to appear on any team's 40-man roster. 08/01/23 Milwaukee Brewers traded 3B Luis Urías to Boston Red Sox for RHP Bradley Blalock. Few recent Brewers may have been more discussion-worthy, sometimes contentiously, during their organizational stay than Luis Urias. From his inclusion with Eric Lauer in the Trent Grisham/Zach Davies 2019 deal with San Diego engineered by David Stearns to the two rather productive seasons to follow (.789 OPS, .739 OPS), to the flummoxing disaster that 2023 became. Matt Arnold did well to shed half of Urias' arbitration salary of $4.7 million in this deal, and thus it isn't surprising that Bradley Blalock was more of a solid-floor acquisition rather than a high-ceiling one. The Brewers made the call to protect Blalock from Rule 5 after only seeing him in four appearances at High-A Wisconsin. We'll discuss Blalock's time with Milwaukee and beyond in a future entry within this series. As for Urias, he was super-fortunate that Seattle went the arbitration route with him after acquiring him from Boston at the fall 2023 non-tender deadline, allowing him to "earn" $5 million in 2024. He is currently lingering on the free agent infielder market after an uneventful season split between AAA and MLB with Seattle. 08/01/23 Milwaukee Brewers traded RHP Peter Strzelecki to Arizona Diamondbacks for LHP Andrew Chafin. The MLBTR historical link above once again sheds light on the reasoning for this trade (primarily LH reliever Justin Wilson's season-long unavailability due to injury). That being said, this deal at least temporarily reinforced the notion that Milwaukee general managers should not attempt to acquire bullpen help at the deadline. Sure, Andrew Chafin had the whole classic hair-and mustache, beer-barrel Brewer thing going, but his 20 appearances were more than forgettable. As for Peter Strzelecki and the four-consonant start to his last name, kudos to the Brewers for the non-drafted find, and of course, to the young man for making the most of his opportunity. Strzelecki touched every single level of the affiliate chain beginning with his 2018 stints in Maryvale and now-defunct Helena. He contributed mightily to 30 games for the 2022 team (2.83 ERA, 1.229 WHIP). His 36 2023 appearances prior to this trade were much more uneven, and as it turned out, there would be only one MLB appearance as a Diamondback on Strzelecki's resume-to-date. Strzelecki was DFA'd in the spring of 2024 and traded for cash to Cleveland. where he posted fine numbers in ten Guardian appearances that were sprinkled among several option transactions, as the bulk of his time was at AAA. We may very well see the likable young man (actually, entering his age 30 season), in NL Central matchups with Pittsburgh this coming season. Riding the DFA train a second time, the Pirates ponied up a bit of a cash and Strzelecki sits on the Bucs' 40-man roster at this moment. 08/01/23 Milwaukee Brewers traded C Alex Jackson to Tampa Bay Rays for RHP Evan McKendry. Gee, Matt Arnold was a bit busier at the 2023 deadline than most folks may remember. Through 45 games of that season at AAA Nashville, Alex Jackson's OPS was a mighty .913 (.286/.360/.554). The Brewers were set at catcher at the big-league level (William Contreras / Victor Caratini), so they made a play for Evan McKendry here. Push ahead in Jackson's case to 2024, where he set his place in MLB history for his lack of offensive output, continuing a career trend - seriously, look atop that linked Baseball Reference page, But as often noted, the salary gap between AAA and MLB is massive percentage-wise, life-changing even in small portions, and Jackson, with his several MLB forays, along with his 2018 first-round draft bonus bonanza of $4.2 million, will never be hurting for cash if he's invested properly at all. The Yankees just acquired Jackson (from Cincinnati) on December 20, where he now sits with a minor league deal. McKendry turns 27 in February, and 2025 will be Milwaukee's last season of control unless the Florida native is added to the 40-man by next fall. There was mild speculation that McKendry would be protected from the 2023 Rule 5 draft, but that proved unnecessary. At the time of this acquisition, McKendry was 3rd in the International League in K's despite a lack of high-end velocity (by the way, the Brewers' southpaw Robert Gasser was atop the strikeout leaderboard). McKendry, with his multi-pitch mix and a "Bugs-Bunny changeup" had impressed vs. Nashville earlier in the 2023 campaign. McKendry was sidelined for five weeks in the early portion of 2024, and never found his footing, later relegated to a swingman role. He has work to do in spring camp if he is to have an organizational role in 2025. 11/04/23 Milwaukee Brewers traded LF/1B Mark Canha to Detroit Tigers for RHP Blake Holub. Yeah, a 2024 $11.5 million Mark Canha on the Brewers was not to be, never was going to be. The fact that Matt Arnold scouted around and determined that the Tigers would indeed be interested in picking up that option while also tossing a somewhat-intriguing bullpen arm in Milwaukee's direction can be considered a mild victory. There are two things we know for sure about Holub after his first season with the Crew split evenly during bounce-between's at AA Biloxi and AAA Nashville. Biloxi: very, very good - 0.34 ERA, 1.025 WHIP Nashville: very, very not good - 8.49 ERA, 2.057 WHIP The Brewers still have years of control to determine if Holub can get past the initial AAA roadblock. He can reach back for 96-97 MPH on occasion, and 2025 will be his age 26 season, so there is a chance at one of those late-in-pro-career MLB bullpen entrances we see throughout the sport. 11/14/23 Milwaukee Brewers traded OF Hendry Mendez and INF Robert Moore to Philadelphia Phillies for INF Oliver Dunn. This was a juicy trade at the time, and in a fun way, remains so. Please do review the MLBTR write-up at the date linked above, and then we can dive into what was the 2024 season. Oliver Dunn remains fascinating, doesn't he, though we would have learned so much more if a back injury had not sidelined him from June 19th on. There's the high-intensity bat speed and prime exit velocity. Then, of course, there's the swing-and-miss aspect of his game, most troubling in the "in-zone" sense. Dunn is hopefully recovered from that apparently major back strain, as he took part briefly in the Dominican Winter League, but the locals don't roster you for long when you go 2-for-22 (both singles) with four walks and nine K's in 12 games. If there is not a significant infield acquisition before spring training, Dunn may have as many eyes on him as any player in camp. It would be tremendous if he maxes out his potential in his age 27 season, as somewhat daunting as those odds may be. Considering he was the 72nd pick overall in 2022, from the get-go on draft day Robert Moore didn't garner much hype. There would be a solid but brief base established at low-A Carolina, but Moore's 2023 Appleton stint was about as vanilla as his name. Moore avoided a formal injured list placement for all of 2024 with the Phillies' AA club yet only appeared in 107 games. His rate stats were incredibly similar to his High-A figures with the Timber Rattlers. Perhaps most troubling in his pro career thus far is a poor stolen base percentage, having been successful 52 times vs. being caught 26. From the get-go, the potential high-end loss here for the Brewers was Hendry Mendez, and as you'll read here, he finished his age 20 season (repeating High-A) with a bang: Mendez Wins Phillies Minor League Player of the Month Given his listed 6'3", 175-pound frame (though we should never trust vital listings), one would think Mendez would be a lot more adventurous on the basepaths. In actuality, he has only attempted to steal four times in 152 games at the High-A level, perhaps spooked by a 7-for-15 trial run at Carolina in this regard. Neither is Mendez a candidate to see action in center field, splitting all his time in the corners and at DH the last two seasons. For visual evidence of his 2024 late-season success, view a near-cycle here and a home run blast here. Neither Moore nor Mendez currently appear on the Phillies' MLB Pipeline Top 30. It appears this trade perspective down the road hinges much more on Oliver Dunn's future than it does with Mendez, and certainly, Moore. 11/15/23 Milwaukee Brewers traded 3B Abraham Toro to Oakland Athletics for RHP Chad Patrick. As we hinted at in Part One of this series, the mostly ill-fated Kolten Wong and Jesse Winker trade's full story is yet to be written. Toro's inclusion, as much as his 2023 efforts were appreciated in Nashville, was inconsequential other than 21 plate appearances with Milwaukee. However, there was this trade. As MLBTR noted: "Chad Patrick won’t be eligible for the Rule 5 draft until next offseason (2024), so Milwaukee can keep him in Nashville as non-roster rotation depth." Boy, did they ever. Cherishing their beloved 40-man roster spots and flexibility, Milwaukee allowed Patrick to thrive to this extent without a call-up: Chad Patrick Named International League Pitcher of the Year - Sounds ace won league’s first pitching Triple Crown since 1976 Clearly, if the Brewers were not playoff contenders, it's almost guaranteed Patrick would have landed on an MLB mound in 2024. As it is, he certainly didn't pout in September: Patrick’s last 3 starts: 17 IP 6H 2BB 27K For Chad's sake, hope we see this in the Am-Fam clubhouse in 2025: 11/17/23 Milwaukee Brewers traded OF's Jace Avina and Brian Sanchez to New York Yankees for DH/1B/OF Jake Bauers. In case you choose not to click on the linked date above, here's the MLBTR portion on the kids in this deal: "In exchange for a player that likely wasn’t in their plans anyway, the Yanks will add a couple of pieces to their farm system, both long-term plays. Avina, who turns 21 in June, spent 2023 in Single-A. He hit .233/.373/.442 at that level for a wRC+ of 134. Sanchez is just 19 and was in the Dominican Summer League this year, hitting .297/.414/.446 for a wRC+ of 129." Jace Avina's home state Nevada press provided insight into an injury that ended his season as of August 19th: "Avina spent all season in High-A, hitting .245/.317/.399 in 92 games, trading some power for contact. Avina's slugging percentage dipped from .442 to .399 year over year, but his strikeout rate went from 29.6 percent to 27.2 percent. The 21-year-old Avina also played strong defense in the outfield before a season-ending shoulder injury late in the year." Here's video evidence of that defense on a stolen home-run grab, and you'll find quite a collection of 2024 Avina highlights at the base of his MiLB Player Page. Brian Sanchez, a Venezuelan native born on the 4th of July, made his stateside debut in 2024, though now 20 years old, and has yet to see full-season ball. At the Florida Complex League level, Sanchez impressed in 49 games split between the three outfield spots, with the LH bat posting a .306/.394/.515 line (.908 OPS). This trade has all the makings of a "we'll have to wait quite a while" deal before we can place any definitive grade value on it. The fact that Jake Bauers is now returning on a minor league deal with a big-league camp invite primarily cements that he will remain a divisive name in Brewers fandom for a while longer. 12/14/23 Milwaukee Brewers traded INF Cam Devanney and RHP Ryan Brady to Kansas City Royals for RHP Taylor Clarke. MLB Trade Rumors reminds us at the linked article above that Taylor Clarke, in terms of dollars, only cost the Brewers $1.25 million in his injury-riddled and otherwise ineffective season. It is truly appreciated that Clarke's head shot on many of his MLB and B-Ref pages, as linked above, has him in his best McKayla Maroney face. My goodness, was that 2012 already? Time flies in so many ways! As for the two prospects, Cam Devanney took his devoted BrewerFanatic fan favorite base's hopes with him to AAA Omaha, while Ryan Brady similarly repeated a level at AA Northwest Arkansas. Each managed injury-free seasons. Devanney turns 28 in April (there's that time moving fast thing again), while Brady turns 26 in March. It may not be a perfect parallel, but we're thinking that Devanney has a chance to somewhat mirror one of the rarely mentioned examples of a "player that got away from the Brewers" within the past decade. Super-utility man Dylan Moore has thus far carved out a six-year MLB career in Seattle after the Brewers failed to retain him after his lone season in the system, 2018 split between Biloxi and Nashville. Similar to how the Brewers gave Blake Perkins an MLB deal to sign as a minor league free agent, the Mariners did so with Moore and have been highly rewarded since. Now, Devanney (.781 OPS in 2024) has only a tiny bit of outfield experience but has a ton's worth more shortstop value than Moore had, although to his credit, Moore has stepped in at short in 122 games for Seattle. But Devanney certainly has value anywhere on the infield, video examples here. By the way, Kansas City seems to be pretty set at shortstop these days. In December, the Royals extended a formal big-league camp invite to Cam for this coming spring. Sweet! Brady's season was passable at best, 42 appearances (two starts), 4.68 ERA, 1.485 WHIP, 60 K's in 67.1 innings. Hoping the former Timber Rattler and Shucker can build on that in 2025. This was not a good trade, though odds are low it will be especially painful. We do get to root for two players who were quality Milwaukee farmhands to do well. 12/20/23 Milwaukee Brewers traded RHP Adrian Houser and OF Tyrone Taylor to New York Mets for RHP Coleman Crow. In the first Matt Arnold-David Stearns collaboration, this was a move of salary as Adrian Houser and Tyrone Taylor would avoid arbitration with the Mets for a combined $7.075 million. We'd be remiss not to acknowledge the contributions of both players within the very successful recent run of Brewers baseball. Taylor's dozen years in the system included the maximum seven years of minor league service prior to being added to the Crew's 40-man roster. As for Coleman Crow, BrewerFanatic's Spencer Michaelis penned this excellent detailed analysis the week of this trade: Why Did the Brewers Target Coleman Crow in The Adrian Houser & Tyrone Taylor Trade? Post-Tommy John surgery Crow would not pitch during the 2024 regular season, but did debut on the Peoria Arizona Fall League roster and made four appearances (two starts), 8.00 ERA, 9 IP, 14 H, 2 BB, 6 K. It did appear that Crow's AFL season ended a couple of weeks early, and we can hope it was not due to additional health concerns. Crow will likely begin his age 24 season with AA Biloxi this spring. He'll be eligible to be added to the 40-man to protect from Rule 5 again next fall. No other organization offered at him during the most recent Rule 5. 01/03/24 Milwaukee Brewers traded LHP Justin Chambers to Los Angeles Dodgers for LHP Bryan Hudson. You will note in the linked MLB Trade Rumors article that a PTBNL in addition to Justin Chambers was the initial price to be paid, though none was ever named. It's possible some cash quietly changed hands at a later date. Evident even by the end of spring training and the first regular season series vs. the Mets, as Brewer Fanatic's Matthew Trueblood penned - The Brewers Have Turned Bryan Hudson into a Southpaw Super-Freak. Over three months-plus of dominant multi-inning shutdown performances, Hudson indeed became an out-of-nowhere vital weapon for Pat Murphy. It truly was a sight to behold, even as talk of Hudson's increasing difficulty of bouncing back physically between appearances grew as the weeks marched on. Eventually, concerns over significant velocity loss and less-than-previously-electric command materialized. Hudson's outings would become more pedestrian in nature and would lead to a two-week oblique injury IL stint in late July-early August. Following that was a September 3rd optional assignment to AAA Nashville, and awkwardly to most, Hudson would not appear at the big-league level again, including the ill-fated first round of the playoffs. Both our Jack Stern (in September) and Trueblood again (this time in December) penned detailed Hudson analysis worth revisiting. It wouldn't seem any Brewers fan believes that we won't see an effective Hudson in 2025, but to what extent remains to be seen. If there can be a return to 2024's glory months, under whatever new care regime is established, that would be huge. As for Justin Chambers, he would make his pro debut with four Arizona Complex League Dodgers appearances between June 6th and July 4th, all before he turned 19 years old. Keeping in mind he is coming off Tommy John surgery, his small-sample 17.18 ERA can be overlooked. Regardless of Chambers' future career path, and we are certainly rooting for his future health and success, Matt Arnold and his scouting staff scored a major win here. At this point, it should be abundantly clear that Arnold will get as creative and aggressive as necessary to jump into the available "designated for assignment" opportunity pool. 02/01/24 Milwaukee Brewers traded RHP Corbin Burnes to Baltimore Orioles for SS Joey Ortiz, LHP DL Hall and Future Considerations (2024 Competitive Balance Round A draft pick, #34 overall - 1B Blake Burke). Let's see, you may remember this trade. By the way, the "Banished Words List", an annual literary exercise and tradition, was just released. We were hoping "on my bingo card" would be included, as in "we didn't have the Orioles jumping in for a February 1st deal for Corbin Burnes on our bingo card". Surely, your Google machine can pull up all kinds of reactions and view them in hindsight. As for the 2024 season that nearly all reading here knows how shook down, let's just bullet-point a bit: Corbin Burnes was and remains really, really good, and the Orioles 1-0 loss in his lone playoff game will sting the Birds immensely for years to come. The Orioles will net the #31 pick in the next MLB draft for losing Burnes. Matt Arnold was wise to target his own draft pick value at the time of the trade. Baseball America's 70-grade (20-to-80 scale) for Joey Ortiz' shortstop defense, as noted in the linked MLBTR feature, translated in glowing fashion to third base, and Brewers fans will be beyond dazzled by Ortiz' SS play, if as anticipated, he lands there for 2025. DL Hall and the most ridiculously eventful relatively minor rehab assignment ever gets a frustrating pass for 2024. The spotlight on him will be bright and laser-focused this coming season, however. We didn't get to see enough of Blake Burke, but hopefully big things await the big man, Look forward to the final of our three segments next week. Perhaps Matt Arnold will have added to his total of 40 deals by the time we publish. View full article

Thursday 1/9: Locked on Brewers with Chuck Freimund - "The Spring Training Countdown is on for the Brewers" - Hunter Baumgardt who cover the Brewers for 97.3 The Game in Milwaukee is Chuck's guest" Via Dom Cotroneo and WTMJ's "Brewers Weekly": - "Dom breaks down the arbitration news on the final deadline day to settle contracts. How far apart are the Brewers and William Contreras? Also, an update on Brandon Woodruff and Zips FanGraphs projections for the Brewers for 2025"

Wednesday 1/8: Via 97.3's "The Steve Czaban Show" (Hour Three): Jeff Levering (go to the 8:15 minute mark for baseball discussion) Via WIZM in LaCrosse: Vinny Rottino

Quick hits: The Mets signed infielder Yonny Hernández to a minor league deal on Wednesday, Mike Mayer of MMO reports. Hernández, 26, split the season between Triple-A with the Nashville Sounds of the Brewers’ organization and the Long Island Ducks. In 81 games at Triple-A in 2024, Hernández batted .241/.333/.309, with two home runs, three triples, seven doubles, 13 steals, and 32 RBIs. The Gateway (Sauget, Illinois) Grizzlies of the independent Frontier League announce that they have re-signed second baseman Gabe Holt, bringing back an all-star-caliber player for their 25th anniversary season. Holt will enter his third season with the Grizzlies this year, having been voted to the All-Star game in each of the last two campaigns. In 2024, he played in 84 games and ranked seventh in the Frontier League with a .324 average, adding 13 doubles, a pair of homers, 37 RBIs, and 13 stolen bases along with 50 runs scored and 107 total hits. A former 7th-round pick by the Milwaukee Brewers out of Texas Tech University in 2019, Holt continued to put his elite bat-to-ball skills on display, striking out only 23 times for the entire season. In 2023, the Warner Robins, Georgia native set the Frontier League on fire in his Grizzlies debut, batting .435 with four homers, 31 RBIs, 12 doubles, 18 stolen bases, 83 hits, and 49 runs scored in 48 games, leading the entire league in batting average, on-base percentage (.513) and hits before suffering a season-ending injury.

Translated: Freddy Zamora, this time for sure? Zamora reportedly said YES to the Nicaraguan National Team and the trip to Chinese Taipei for the World Baseball Pre-Classic; naturally, it remains to be seen if Milwaukee Brewers will give permission to their Triple A player who has not yet represented Nicaragua.

Monday 1/7: Hey, this is me! Thanks to David Go for the invite, really enjoyed the chat! Via the "Barrel Banter Podcast": "Jim Goulart (@Mass_Haas on X) joins us to talk about contributing at the site now known as Brewer Fanatic, his Brewer fandom as someone who's exclusively lived on the East Coast, and where the Brewers stand after the new year" Via the Journal Sentinel Podcast: "Brewers reporter Curt Hogg and host JR Radcliffe check in on the Brewers at the start of the 2025 calendar year and ... well, there's not much to say. What's the likeliest area of need that the Brewers will still address this offseason? Have the Cubs overtaken the Brewers as the top dog in the Central? The guys discuss preseason projections, Tyler Black, the bullpen picture, Craig Yoho, Pat Murphy, Cooper Pratt and more."

Catching up: Latest Milwaukee Tailgate Podcast - "On this week's show the guys discussed the Brewers new TV deal, a trade, a couple of pitching rumors, the sustainability of the team's recent RISP prowess and our ideal jobs in baseball." Via the "Brew Crew Scoop" Podcast: "We talked about who’s naughty or nice, what’s on our Christmas lists, and what our New Year’s resolutions for the Crew are. Will this team make a splash? Also discussed were what the Cubs’ acquisition of Kyle Tucker means, our outlook on the rest of the offseason, and more!"

As a technicality it's a minor league transaction and thus will be noted here, but because of the big-league camp invite, discussion thread on Jake Bauers re-upping with the Crew can be found in our forum here.

Coming along... Baseball stadium construction goes vertical

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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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! 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). 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. View full article

Updated the initial post in this thread: Yankees (02/14/24) -- Acquired RHP Joshua Quezada in exchange for LHP Clayton Andrews with: Yankees (12/13/24) -- Acquired LHP Nestor Cortes, INF Caleb Durbin and $2M in cash in exchange for RHP Devin Williams

Best wishes to Mason Molina with the Rangers as the Brewers traded for RH reliever Grant Robinson. With the score tied 1-1 in the winner-take-all Midwest League Championship Game, all I could think of was how awkward it must have been for the highly successful (to that point) Molina to be consoled by teammates who had just met him. Pretty sure all involved handled it professionally.