Brewers: Gerardo Parra, Jonathan Broxton moved on deadline day
By Phil Watson
The Milwaukee Brewers may need to hand out those little “Hello: My Name Is …” tags in the clubhouse for a few days.
The team had already dealt third baseman Aramis Ramirez last week and traded Carlos Gomez and Mike Fiers on Thursday, but general manager Doug Melvin wasn’t quite done.
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On Friday in advance of the 3 p.m. Central non-waiver trade deadline, the Brewers sent outfielder Gerardo Parra to the Baltimore Orioles for right-hander Zach Davies and swapped reliever Jonathan Broxton to the St. Louis Cardinals for outfielder Malik Collymore.
Later Friday, the Brewers claimed right-hander Preston Guilmet off waivers from the Los Angeles Dodgers and recalled right-hander Tyler Thornburg from Triple-A Colorado Springs to fill the other vacant spot on the 25-man active roster.
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Parra, in his contract year, has had the season of his career thus far. In 100 games this season, Parra has hit .328/.369/.517—all career bests—with 53 runs, 24 doubles, five triples, nine homers and 31 RBI.
He leaves the National League fourth in batting average and in the top 10 in slugging.
But Parra, who agreed to a one-year, $6.24 million deal before spring training, is eligible for free agency this winter and was a .274/.326/.395 hitter in his career prior to his breakout this season.
It’s the sort of numbers that scream “regression to the mean” for 2016.
In Davies, the Brewers acquire the Orioles’ No. 3-ranked prospect, per MLB Pipeline, and he was slotted into the No. 11 spot in the Brewer chain.
That brings the total number of prospects added to the organizational top 30 to five over the last two days. All four players in the Gomez-Fiers trade with Houston also landed in the Brewers’ top 30. Outfielder Brett Phillips is now rated second in the chain, outfielder Domingo Santana is fourth, left-hander Josh Hader is 15th and right-hander Adrian Houser is 28th.
That is a huge shot in the arm for a system that has been perceived to be lagging behind other clubs in recent years.
The Brewers had acquired Parra a year ago to the day, July 31, 2014, in exchange for left-hander Anthony Banda and outfielder Mitch Haniger.
Davies was a 26th-round pick by the Orioles in 2011 out of Mesquite High School in Gilbert, Ariz., but his small size belies a giant arm.
Just 6-feet and 150 pounds, Davies relies on an average fastball with tremendous movement that he can dart up, down, in and out.
The 22-year-old’s changeup, meanwhile, is one of the best in the minors.
In 18 starts at Triple-A Norfolk this season, Davies was 5-6 with a 2.84 ERA and 1.224 WHIP in 101.1 innings, striking out 81.
He was 3-0 in seven starts in the Arizona Fall League last year, with a 1.75 ERA and 1.091 WHIP in 25.2 innings to go with 23 whiffs.
Broxton, meanwhile, is the second reliever to go to St. Louis at the non-waiver deadline in three years. In 2013, the Brewers sent former All-Star closer John Axford to the Cardinals for a player to be named later.
As coincidence would have it, that player to be named was right-hander Michael Blazek, who may be in line to inherit Broxton’s eighth-inning role in the bullpen.
The 31-year-old Broxton was an All-Star earlier in his career as a closer, being selected in 2009 and 2010 while with the Los Angeles Dodgers. Mostly a setup man since 2012, Broxton has had one of the oddest seasons with the Brewers—a 5.89 ERA in 40 appearances and 36.2 innings despite a fielding-independent ERA of 3.65.
But Broxton has been extraordinarily unlucky in 2015. National League hitters are batting .301 on balls put in play. Against Broxton this year, that number has been .353.
Broxton posted a 1.391 WHIP and 37 strikeouts this season with Milwaukee.
He was acquired last Aug. 31 from the Cincinnati Reds for two players to be named later, with the Reds acquiring right-handers Kevin Shackelford and Barrett Astin in early September.
The 20-year-old Collymore was a 10th-round pick by the Cardinals out of Port Credit Secondary School in Mississauga, Ontario, and was hitting .216/.326/.378 in 23 games at Rookie-level Johnson City, with two doubles, two triples, two homers and seven RBI.
He moved to the outfield this year after being drafted as a second baseman.
Guilmet, 28, moves to his fifth organization since October. He was sold by the Orioles to the Pittsburgh Pirates last Oct. 3, claimed off waivers by the Toronto Blue Jays on Dec. 23, claimed off waivers by the Tampa Bay Rays on May 13 and claimed off waivers by the Dodgers on July 10.
He made three relief appearances for the Rays this season between May 24 and July 1, allowing three runs on five hits in 5.1 innings with two walks and five strikeouts.
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He has pitched for three organizations at the Triple-A level this season, with a 1.95 ERA and 1.113 WHIP in 26 appearances and 32.1 innings, with 32 strikeouts and three saves.
In three cups of coffee in the bigs over the last three seasons, he has a 6.43 ERA and 1.333 WHIP in 17 appearances and 21 innings, striking out 18.
Guilmet was a ninth-round pick by the Cleveland Indians out of the University of Arizona in 2009 and debuted with the Indians in July 2013 and was traded to the Orioles for utility man Torsten Boss last April.
Thornburg was in the Brewers bullpen out of spring training but was sent to Triple-A after he was roughed up for 13 runs, six earned, on 13 hits with three walks and eight strikeouts in 9.2 innings over six appearances.
At Colorado Springs, Thornburg was being stretched out as a starter and was 2-7 with a 5.28 ERA and 1.602 WHIP in 17 starts and 88.2 innings with 57 strikeouts.
Next: Gomez, Fiers Traded To Astros