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Milwaukee Brewers: Domingo Santana traded to the Seattle Mariners

By Sam Brahm

MILWAUKEE, WI - OCTOBER 12: Domingo Santana #16 of the Milwaukee Brewers scores a run off of a single hit by Ryan Braun #8 against the Los Angeles Dodgers during the fourth inning in Game One of the National League Championship Series at Miller Park on October 12, 2018 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images)
MILWAUKEE, WI - OCTOBER 12: Domingo Santana #16 of the Milwaukee Brewers scores a run off of a single hit by Ryan Braun #8 against the Los Angeles Dodgers during the fourth inning in Game One of the National League Championship Series at Miller Park on October 12, 2018 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images) /
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The Milwaukee Brewers made a deal to trade outfielder Domingo Santana to the Mariners in exchange for outfielder Ben Gamel and pitcher Noah Zavolas.

Milwaukee Brewers‘ general manager David Stearns has made a move, but it’s not what fans really wanted. Stearns decided to move outfielder Domingo Santana and he’s headed to the American League.

It was announced Friday that the Brewers have acquired outfielder Ben Gamel and low-level pitcher Noah Zavolas in exchange for the Brewers corner outfielder. It was talked about that Domingo Santana and or Keon Broxton would get traded and so far, one is gone.

Domingo Santana was acquired in the blockbuster trade with Houston that involved Carlos Gomez and Mike Fiers in 2015. He came to Milwaukee along with Josh Hader, Brett Phillips (traded to Royals), and Adrian Houser. There are now two players left from that deal.

Domingo had a breakout year in 2017 where he batted .278 with 30 home runs in 151 games. Sadly, 2018 was a different story. Domingo had a dreadful start of the season and eventually got optioned to Triple-A. He was recalled in September and played a big role as a pinch-hitter in the playoff push. But going into the offseason, there was no reason that he should’ve been in a Brewers uniform in 2019.

The Return

In the deal, the big return was lefty Ben Gamel. Gamel is a 26-year-old outfielder that has been in the majors for three seasons. Gamel had a power outage last year, only hitting one home run, but you can’t judge him off 2018. He has some pop in his bat and he can hit to all parts of the field. The Brewers get four years of control of Gamel and he could play a key part in the outfield in 2019.

Stats

2017: .275 BA/11 HR/59 RBI/.322 OBP/.735 OPS in 550 PA

2018: .272 BA/1 HR/19 RBI/.358 OBP/.728 OPS in 293 PA

The second player in the deal is Harvard graduate Noah Zavolas. Zavolas is a right-handed pitcher that was drafted in the 18th round of the 2018 draft as a 22-year-old. He was great out of the bullpen playing for the High-A affiliate of the Mariners and showed a lot of potential. Here’s the scouting report according to Fangraphs prospect analyst, Eric Longenhagen:

Stats

2018: 5-2/2 SV/3.08 ERA/38.2 IP/41 K

Overview

People may disagree with this move, but it was a good one. The big reason this move was made is because of the options. Santana had no options going into the 2019 season and after last season, they weren’t sure what he was going to do statistically. And Ben Gamel was chosen because it’s another lefty bat, he can play every outfield position, and he has an option left. And it was plus adding a good relief pitcher to the farm as well.

This may not be the trade that fans were expecting or what fans wanted, but remember, there’s still a lot of offseason left. A lot of things can happen. Trust the process and of course, trust David Stearns.

Repeat after me….In Stearns We Trust.

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