Milwaukee Brewers: Andrew Susac traded to Orioles

Shortly after noon Friday, the Milwaukee Brewers traded catcher Andrew Susac to the Baltimore Orioles. In exchange, Milwaukee received cash considerations or a player to be named later. What does this mean for the Brewers?

The Milwaukee Brewers needed to clear a 40-man roster spot earlier in the week in order to add reliever Matt Albers. As a result, they designated catcher Andrew Susac for assignment. Following this move, Susac caught enough of the Baltimore Orioles’ attention to warrant a trade. The Brewers will only receive cash considerations or a player to be named later in return.

Andrew Susac’s Brewers Career

Susac originally came to the Milwaukee Brewers from the San Francisco Giants in a trade back in August of 2016. The backstop paired with pitching prospect Phil Bickford in order to send southpaw Will Smith to the Bay Area. This gave him a spot in an organization without a catcher of Buster Posey‘s caliber ahead of him in the pecking order. However, he was never really able to take advantage of this opportunity. He logged just 31 plate appearances in the big leagues over the past two seasons. Additionally, injuries plagued him last year that hurt his numbers in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League. All in all, his Brewers career was pretty lackluster.

The Return for Andrew Susac

Given his lack of success in Milwaukee, it’s honestly good that the Brewers got as much as they did for Susac. The cash considerations are likely a relatively small amount of money, but more money never hurt anyone. It also could help the Brewers as they pursue a big-money free agent like Yu Darvish or Jake Arrieta.

The player to be named option shouldn’t be overlooked, either. Although the players obtained through this method are rarely notable, one recent example did work out. He hasn’t appear in the big leagues yet, but prospect outfielder Ryan Cordell was once a PTBNL. He was an add-on to the deal that sent catcher Jonathan Lucroy and reliever Jeremy Jeffress to the Rangers. The Brewers managed to turn around and trade Cordell to the White Sox to obtain reliever Anthony Swarzak.

Next: Which deals will the Brewers make next?

All in all, it stinks to give up a player for virtually nothing. However, the Brewers still have Manny Pina, Stephen Vogt and Jett Bandy behind the plate. Adding onto that, Jacob Nottingham and possibly KJ Harrison are going to be ready for the majors relatively soon. Long story short, the Milwaukee Brewers will be fine without Susac.