Milwaukee Brewers acquire Carlos Santana from Pittsburgh Pirates

Milwaukee Brewers General Manager Matt Arnold wanted to add another bat to the lineup before the trade deadline, and he pulled that off when he traded for Carlos Santana.

Not the world-famous guitarist, but the first baseman from the Pittsburgh Pirates.

The Brewers are sending 18-year-old prospect Jhonny Severino to the Pirates in return.

The move is in line with Arnold’s hope to act responsibly at the deadline.

Santana is 37 and is on a one-year deal paying him $6.725 million. He may not be the feared hitter he once was when he was with Cleveland, but he is still productive. He is at least more productive than what the Brewers have been sending out to play first base.

Santana is a switch hitter. He is a one fWAR player, according to Fangraphs.

He is in the middle of a hot streak with a slash line of .304/.385/.826 and three home runs in the last seven days.

He is hitting .295 with runners in scoring position. With two outs and with runners in scoring position, he is hitting .326. Santana crushed a walk-off home run against the Milwaukee Brewers in June at PNC Park. He hit the ball so far it landed in Allegheny River, and Matt Bush was designated for assignment the next day after he served up that home run ball.

Santana’s addition benefits the defense the most.

Carlos has a poor hard hit and barrel percentage, but he has a good walk percentage. Curveballs are what mostly get him out, as his average is .176 against that pitch.

He also comes with postseason experience, having made it to the playoffs in 2013, 2016 (got all the way to the World Series), 2020 with Cleveland, and in 2022 with the Seattle Mariners. Although, he does not have a lot of hitting success as he is a career .200 postseason batter with five home runs in 28 playoff games.

This trade fits what the Milwaukee Brewers are trying to accomplish at the trade deadline–get upgrades without giving up a ton in return.

It did not cost the Crew much to get a player from a division rival. Severino was given a nice international signing bonus in 2022, but he is still at the Arizona Complex League.

Severino’s slash line at that level of the minors is currently .250/.288/.583 with four home runs.

There is still a lot for him to work on if he is ever going to make it to the big leagues.

The Milwaukee Brewers get a veteran bat who upgrades the hitting production at first base or designated hitter at the cost of the great unknown.

Matt Arnold still needs to work on getting a few more bats added to the lineup. Christian Yelich is back to hitting well. Top prospect Sal Frelick is trying to give some offensive production from the right-field position.

The rest of the offense is still struggling and that is what could be the team’s downfall in the NL Central Division race if Arnold does not add more reinforcements.