Milwaukee Brewers: Grading the trade deadline

The Milwaukee Brewers made a few moves just before the trade deadline to bolster their pitching staff. Here is my overall grade for the collective moves they made.

We knew that Milwaukee Brewers’ GM David Stearns was very likely to make a few moves at the trade deadline, but given that it was such a seller’s market, we weren’t sure how he was going to go about it or who he’d be bringing in.

However, the one thing we did know was that the Brewers needed pitching. After injuries to Brandon Woodruff, Jhoulys Chacin, and Gio Gonzalez, the starting rotation has been decimated. And as we saw in 2018, the Brewers can never have too many bullpen arms.

While Milwaukee didn’t land a top-flight starter, they did net four pitchers through three separate trades. So let’s see how they did overall!

Cody Ponce for Jordan Lyles

Up to June 8th of this season, Jordan Lyles had been pitching pretty well for the Pittsburgh Pirates. Over 12 starts that covered 66.1 innings, Lyles had an ERA of 3.53 with 71 strikeouts and an opponent OPS of .680.

However, an injury would force him to miss a couple of weeks and since returning, to put it simply, Lyles has struggled. During that span, Lyles has made five starts and has posted an ERA of 11.50, while allowing 23 earned runs, and his opponents have an OPS of 1.335.

To land Lyles the Brewers sent 25-year-old reliever Cody Ponce to Pittsburgh. Through 38.1 innings in Double-A Biloxi this season, Ponce had a 3.29 ERA with a 1.174 WHIP.

This wasn’t the flashy trade that fans wanted, but Lyles has had success in Milwaukee in the past and has pitched well for a majority of the season. Lyles provides them with a much-needed arm in the starting rotation.

Trade Grade: B

Jesus Aguilar for Jake Faria

It was a very slow start to the 2019 season for Jesus Aguilar but his bat had been coming around as of late. Over the last month, Aguilar had a slash line of .311/.360/.600 with three home runs. But keep in mind this was in a platoon role rather than as a full-time starter.

With the return of Travis Shaw, the Milwaukee Brewers had a crowded infield and decided to part ways with the big man for Tampa’s Jake Faria. In only 10 innings this season with the Rays – all of which have come out of the bullpen – Faria has a 2.70 ERA with a WHIP of 1.700. However, that ERA is a bit misleading as his FIP sits at 5.73.

Faria was a starter his first two seasons in the big leagues and provides Milwaukee with another pitcher that can give them multiple innings. He also comes with a lot of control which we know Stearns covets. Faria is under team control in 2020 and isn’t arbitration-eligible until 2021.

Considering how Aguilar has performed at the plate for much of the season, landing a young, controllable arm for in return for him seems like a win for the Brewers.

Trade Grade: B

Mauricio Dubon for Drew Pomeranz and Ray Black

Mauricio Dubon was the Milwaukee Brewers’ number three prospect in the organization and they decided to cash that chip in for Drew Pomeranz and Ray Black formerly of the San Francisco Giants.

Pomeranz will be a free agent at the end of the season and has had a rough season as a starter for the Giants but since being moved to the bullpen, things have begun to turn around for the veteran lefty.

Although he has only five innings in the reliever role, Pomeranz has allowed no runs and only one hit and walk during that span. Hopefully, he can carry that momentum over to Milwaukee.

The other player acquired was the hard-throwing right-hander, Ray Black. Topping out at over a 100 mph with his fastball, Black gives the Brewers another dynamic arm in the bullpen with his 13.5 strikeouts per nine innings over his short big-league career.

However, as you can imagine walks are an issue for Black but if he can get that under more control, he could be an effective arm for Milwaukee over the next few years.

Trade Grade: C

The moves the Brewers made weren’t sexy by any means but they added some arms that can give them multiple innings for this final stretch of the season.

Overall Grade: B-