What to Know: Milwaukee Brewers Trade Deadline Recap
The 2022 MLB trade deadline has come and gone, and what a doozy it was. Many high quality talents changed teams as the dog days of summer begin and the playoff push starts. The Milwaukee Brewers had quite the trade deadline themselves, making multiple moves that has the fanbase stirring.
Let’s take a look at each trade the Brewers made as well as other moves relevant to the Brewers.
Milwaukee Brewers trade Josh Hader
Brewers Receive: Taylor Rogers, Dinelson Lamet, Robert Gasser, Esteury Ruiz
Padres Receive: Josh Hader
It finally happened. After years of trade speculation, the Brewers finally dealt away Josh Hader.
Hader, 28, spent the last six years with the Milwaukee Brewers, winning the NL reliever of the year award three times. The trade comes at a peculiar time, as the Brewers made a move dealing away one of the top closers in baseball while leading the NL Central.
The reasoning behind the trade is fairly simple: don’t rebuild, retool.
Hader is set to hit unrestricted free agency following the 2023 season and will surely receive hefty offers from a variety of teams. If the Brewers felt like they could not afford to retain Hader once he hit free agency, then trading him was the right move. Some may argue that if the Brewers were ever going to trade Hader, it should have been years ago to maximize his value, but regardless, the haul that the Brewers received is substantial.
First is Taylor Rogers, who was an All-Star in 2021 but has struggled in recent weeks. Rogers is actually second in the league in saves with 28, only behind Hader, of course.
Rogers strikes out batters and does not allow walks at well above average rates, but he simply has allowed some very hard contact recently. Rogers has the skillset to become a very valuable asset for the Milwaukee Brewers in late inning situations if he can minimize hard contact.
Next is Dinelson Lamet. Lamet has one of the nastiest sliders in baseball, but simply has not been healthy enough in his career. Lamet finished fourth in NL Cy Young voting in the shortened 2020 season, so clearly the talent is there. The question is all about health for Lamet.
Robert Gasser is an exciting young pitcher that has now been put as the eighth best Brewers prospect according to MLB Pipeline. With a fastball-slider-changeup mix, Gasser has been striking out batters at a superb rate in high-A, as he strikes out 11.46 batters per nine innings of work.
Finally is Esteury Ruiz, who is my favorite part of the trade. Ruiz is now the Brewers ninth best prospect according to MLB Pipeline. Across AA and AAA this year, Ruiz hit .333 with a 1.028 OPS with 60 steals in 78 games. Ruiz also made his major league debut with the Padres this year and played 14 games in the big leagues. Ruiz has shown huge flashes of potential with some of the best speed in professional baseball right now.
Yes, the trade will be hard to swallow for many fans, as it should. Hader has been a crucial part of some of the most successful Brewers teams in franchise history. Like all trades in baseball, we can only truly know who “won” or “lost” a trade in a few years—so until then we will see how these new pieces the Brewers acquired turn out.
Milwaukee Brewers acquire Matt Bush
Rangers Receive: Mark Mathias, Antonie Kelly
Clearly, David Stearns and Co. think that you can never add enough bullpen depth. Adding 36 year old Matt Bush makes the Brewers bullpen even deeper.
With a 2.95 ERA this year, Bush has been excellent in his 36.2 innings of work. His peripherals are absolutely fantastic as well. Bush is in the 95th percentile or higher for pitchers in the following categories: Expected ERA, Expected batting average, Expected slugging percentage, and fastball spin rate. Simply put, Bush’s pitches are filthy.
Due to previous off the field issues, Bush made his major league debut fairly late, meaning that Bush has two more years of team control after this year as he is arbitration eligible.
Giving up Mathias is not a huge loss, but Antonie Kelly is a great piece for the Rangers. Kelly is a massive 6’5 pitcher who I could see becoming a good middle of the rotation starter. With a very good fastball combined with a developing slider, Kelly makes for an intriguing prospect.
I really like this trade for the Brewers. Although 36, Bush does not have the wear and tear that many pitchers do his age due to his past. Bush could end up pitching in pivotal spots for the Crew going forward.
Milwaukee Brewers Acquire Trevor Rosenthal
Giants Receive: Tristan Peters
The Milwaukee Brewers sure do love acquiring their pitchers. Trevor Rosenthal, an All-Star in 2015, will be added to the bullpen as soon as he is done healing from a hamstring injury. Rosenthal has not pitched since 2020, as he has since had surgery to repair a hip labrum tear as well as to help his thoracic outlet syndrome.
It is a high risk – high reward type of move, as Rosenthal will not be available to pitch for most likely a few more weeks or maybe even through the month of August. But if healthy, Rosenthal could be a great addition to the bullpen.
The price for Rosenthal was the Brewers 19th ranked prospect Tristan Peters. Peters has had a great season for the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers thus far, as he has hit for 37 extra base hits in 90 games. Many have voiced their criticism for trading an up and coming prospect for a reliever that hasn’t pitched in two years, but I trust the Brewers front office to identify high quality pitching.
Other Trades in the NL
Moves were being made all across the NL that could have affects on the Brewers. These notable moves include:
- Cardinals acquire José Quintana from the Pirates
- Braves acquire Jake Odorizzi from the Astros
- Dodgers acquire Joey Gallo from the Yankees
- Phillies acquire David Robertson from the Cubs
- Mets acquire Darin Ruf from the Giants
- Padres acquire Brandon Drury from the Reds
- Padres acquire Juan Soto and Josh Bell from the Nationals
Of course, the biggest news is the league altering move of Juan Soto going to the Padres, who could end up being a potential playoff matchup for the Brewers.
Overall, the Milwaukee Brewers’ trade deadline is really interesting. The rest of the NL contenders made lots of huge impact moves to improve their roster while the Brewers traded one of the best relievers in baseball to add more depth to their farm system.
While much of the fan base wanted the Brewers to add an impact bat, clearly the front office felt like their current position players are enough to make a deep run in the playoffs.
Now, was that the correct assessment? We’ll find out in the coming months.
All stats courtesy of Baseball Reference