Milwaukee Brewers Roundtable: Grading The Crew’s Trade Deadline

Isaac Buttke

Deadline Grade: A-

I think I can speak for most Brewer fans when I say there is one thing the team needed at the trade deadline: A starting pitcher. Did the Brewers get a starting pitcher? No.

However, I would argue that even though they didn’t get the one thing virtually everyone thought they needed, the Brewers still had a good trade deadline.

Let’s review what the Brewers did accomplish. They acquired Joakim Soria from the White Sox first. The bullpen has been a strong point for the squad all season, so it seemed strange at first for general manager David Stearns to trade for a reliever before anything else. Well, after thinking about it more, it actually makes perfect sense.

First of all, it’s not realistic to expect the bullpen to pitch as well as they did during the first half of the season. They were used very heavily during the first few months, and it’s reasonable to expect that they would slow down as their innings built up even more. Soria adds another solid arm to the already good bullpen, allowing manager Craig Counsell to keep his arms a little more fresh down the stretch.

Not only that, but adding another quality reliever shortens the game further. Who needs an ace starter to go seven or eight innings when you can have a starter go five or six innings and hand off the rest of the game to a dominant bullpen? It’s nice having an ace, but shortening the game can work just as well in big games.

Next, Stearns nabbed Mike Moustakas from the Royals. While the price for Moose was high, he adds a major impact bat to an already potent Brewer batting order. I don’t care that we already have Travis Shaw for third base; if you can hit, a team can find a place to play you.

That’s what I love about the Jonathan Schoop addition. This is a guy who has a lot of versatility across the infield. Sure, he’s primarily played second base for Baltimore this season, but he has a lot of experience at shortstop and third base as well from his time in the minor leagues.

I understand you can’t necessarily play everyone at the same time, but this move gives the Brewers tons of quality depth in terms of hitters. Having multiple guys able to play multiple positions allows for more rest days for regulars, keeping everyone healthier overall and ideally allowing everyone to play at a higher level more consistently.

Sure, I would’ve loved to have gotten a starting pitcher at the trade deadline, especially given the injury woes of Brent Suter, Zach Davies and Jimmy Nelson. However, the current rotation is good enough to keep the team competitive. With the offense and bullpen as good as they are, it honestly wasn’t necessary to sell the farm to get a top-of-the-line arm.

I’ll finish with this parting thought: Sometimes, the best moves are the ones you don’t make. The Brewers are reaping the benefits of not pursuing Lance Lynn and Alex Cobb this offseason. Perhaps it was in the club’s best interest to also pass on the starters at the trade deadline given the strong performances of youngsters like Freddy Peralta and Corbin Burnes.

Matt Yeazel (MJ)

Deadline Grade: B

The Brewers took the same approach this trade deadline as they did in the offseason and in past moves, add the best talent you can and figure out the roster afterwards. The additions of Lorenzo Cain and Christian Yelich were somewhat unexpected due to the surplus of outfielders the team had, but both of those moves worked out, and they are probably the biggest reason the Brewers have the record they do, and both are here to stay for the next four years.

The same approach was taken here in the sense that good players were acquired even though there would be an issue with fit. Mike Moustakas and Jonathan Schoop are both great hitters, former all stars, and are able to fill offensive holes in the Brewers lineup.

However, once again Counsell is put into a situation where there isn’t a perfect fit for all players who deserve playing time, and this time he has the added challenge of the defensive issues of players playing out of position. There may be challenges, and things that don’t go as smoothly as you may want with playing Travis Shaw and potentially Schoop or Moustakas out of their normal positions, but at the end of the day, hitting the ball will get you a spot in the lineup.

The other addition to the team is something that will probably fly under the radar, but could be huge for the team in the long run. The Brewers bullpen is well equipped with strong arms, but adding Joakim Soria adds another piece to the depth of that unit. Especially in the playoffs, when starting pitchers will have even shorter leashes, the Brewers having the bullpen they do will give them an advantage. But every pitcher in that bullpen will need to be used to avoid burning out Hader or Jeffress. Soria has had a great year, and fits in very nicely into that unit, and will bring a veteran presence and experience to the postseason.

Overall I give the Brewers a B for their deadline grade because they improved as a team in multiple ways, but there are questions that remain. The starting pitching is something that still needs to be addressed, but with how good the Brewers bullpen is, I’m not upset about not spending prospects for the pitchers who were available.

But defensively, the Brewers will need to work things out, because you can’t have Travis Shaw making a mistake on a simple double play turn simply because he’s not used to the position. The Brewers have work to do, but they got better as a team at this deadline, and could still potentially improve by the next deadline. Fans should be excited for the new look offense as well as how aggressive the front office is being to win this season.

Matthew Dewoskin

Deadline Grade: D+

David Stearns added a solid reliever to a deep bullpen…and a pair of square pegs for round holes. Schoop OR Moustakas alone makes sense, but both together make little sense for the Milwaukee Brewers.

However, this grade is more for a failure to add a bonafide starter to the rotation. Jimmy Nelson isn’t coming back at 100%. Zach Davies is a tall, skinny question mark. The idea of sending Wade Miley or Freddy Peralta out for an important game in September or October is terrifying. They needed to do better.

Tom Kurtz

Grade: B+

My criteria for the grading is rather simple. Did the Brewers get better? The answer has to be a resounding yes. I wrote a piece on Monday about the blueprint for winning games late in the year, and that is all predicated on the back end of the bullpen. Joakim Soria will have a tremendous impact, as he already has in his first week. He could end up being bigger than the Anthony Swarzak move, which turned out quite well.

The 2nd part of this is the cost. We all know that small market baseball is a bit different, as you are unable to throw money at your mistakes. The big market teams can essentially get mulligans, but you have to play straight up in Milwaukee. The future is coming early and you want to take advantage, but Stearns correctly reasoned that going absolutely all-in now would not be prudent. He did not pay the steep cost the Pirates did for Archer, and I think most people can see that was the smart move.

Stearns did trade away some talent to upgrade the roster with the last 3 trades, but nothing that should mortgage the future. Brett Phillips was blocked, Kodi Medeiros was likely going to only be a bullpen arm, Jonathan Villar wore out his welcome and was also not in the long term plans, and Luis Ortiz was not exactly a hot name any longer.

The Brewers also had the “problem” of having too many prospects, in that they could not protect them all on the 40-man roster this offseason. These trades helped alleviate that glut.

Finally, we need to talk about the infielders they obtained in Moustakas and Schoop. They certainly do not fit the roster exactly at first glance, just as Lorenzo Cain and Christian Yelich seemed to do for the outfield. There will be days that everyone will not play, but depth is not a bad thing. It helps with rest, double switching, pinch-hitting, and injury protection. There were times this year that the lineup got dramatically worse when Counsell brought in a reliever and made the double switch. Not anymore.

The roster will also balance itself out next year when Moustakas likely leaves. Shaw can move back to 3rd base and Schoop can play 2B for at least the one season he has left. Keston Hiura would likely be ready in 2020, if not before. At the end of the day, this lineup on a day-to-day basis is much improved, even when somebody gets a day off.

Overall, I give them an B+ only because they did try and procure a top of the rotation arm and did not get that done…yet. I am not sure there was an ace to be had once the Mets and Twins pulled out from selling their top arms. The other Wild Card teams also improved, so that is not taken lightly either.

I do take issue with some national talk that the Brewers will now have to win a lot of high-scoring games. The pitching staff has been the 2nd best in the National League and the defense will not fall THAT far to make something like that happen. I do agree that in a playoff scenario, they may not have enough frontline pitching. That is fair, but as I wrote, their bullpen can help mitigate some of that.

Starting August they are tied for 1st place and in great position to make the postseason, partly because of the 3 new additions Stearns made to bolster the team this week. To boil it down, I am focusing on what they did, rather on what they missed out on. It will be fascinating to see how this turns out.

Alex Rados

Grade: B+

It’s tough to justify giving an A on any trade that doesn’t make the commissioner raise an eyebrow. And, given the lack of addressing THE position of need, it’s especially tough to do it for the Brewers. Yet, while everyone zigged, David Stearns zagged.

The excessively high price tags on starting pitching put Milwaukee in a hole immediately. And while teams were willing to pay the price for an “ace” or paid that price tag for a lower tier pitcher, Stearns changed paths. Instead, he improved upon strengths and added exceptional infielders at nowhere near the same price. He also made the move to add to a bullpen that won’t give up much late in games. Seeing as relievers win postseason games, the value of picking up Soria was genius.

Oh, and that price tag for starting pitching? A guy who hasn’t had an ERA under 4 the past three years just got dealt for the number 9 and 10 overall prospects just two years ago. Yes, he was pitching in the AL East filled with petrifying lineups. Yet, he called one of the most friendly pitcher parks his home during those years. At some point, the numbers have to justify the labeling of potential aces.

Stearns settled for grabbing two slugging infielders to mix and match with all of his other power hitters. His move for Mike Moustakas was a favorite of mine, grabbing a lethal corner infielder and placing him in a little league-sized ballpark (have you seen Kauffman?). Jonathan Schoop, on the other hand, may not have a set position to play yet, but that’s what makes sports fun! Seeing how managers handle the puzzle of putting together exceptional players that may not fit a specific position.

The defense will once again hit a decline now with the possibility of Travis Shaw at second and Schoop at shortstop. But does that outweigh the lineup addition? Also, for a league that’s scarily trending towards strikeouts, walks, and less balls in play, isn’t it logical for defense to become less relevant? This move also allows more rest for the infielders, which could be critical when looking to make a long postseason run.

My biggest issue with Stearns during the this period was the pass on Kevin Gausman. He could’ve nabbed a severely underperforming pitcher with elite talent for 20 cents on the dollar from the Orioles. Hello, Jake Arrieta. That’s exactly what happened for the Cubs a few years back. However, those deals don’t always come to fruition, and betting on a talented player to bounce back like that is risky. So it’s understandable why Stearns let the Braves have Gausman instead of taking on that kind of headache.

As for now, only time will tell what kind of players the Brewers GM missed out on. But the moves for Moustakas, Soria, and Schoop showed the desire for consistency and refusal to overpay that is characteristic of this current regime.