Milwaukee Brewers: Matt Harvey Claimed, But Not Traded To Brewers

The Milwaukee Brewers won the waiver claim on Reds pitcher Matt Harvey. A deal was not worked out and Harvey is still with the Reds.

They were so close.

The Brewers had everything lined up to add Matt Harvey to their rotation, a former ace-level pitcher with postseason experience, until the deadline to make a deal passed, and there was no trade.

The 29 year old Harvey has a 4.28 ERA with the Reds in 17 starts this season. While he isn’t as dominant as he was back in 2015, he’s made a lot of strides forward since joining the Reds. Now he’s going to become a free agent in the winter and the Reds are going to lose him for nothing.

What Held Up The Trade?

Both sides were motivated to make a deal, so why wasn’t a deal completed? That’s a fair question, and the answer lies in the asking price from the Reds. They acquired Harvey in May with the plan of flipping him for something else during July or August. Brewers GM David Stearns was likely not keen on throwing in a prospect for one month of what is still a project.

While the quality of the prospect is not known, the Reds were likely unwilling to just do a trade for salary relief, even though it still would have helped them. Whatever prospect package they wanted in return, David Stearns was unwilling to meet it.

That price had to be ridiculously high, because Stearns has been trying hard to get a starting pitcher all year and now he finally has one in his grip, but Harvey slipped through.

Harvey was probably the best starting pitcher that could have gotten traded during August, but that ship has obviously sailed. The debate could have raged on whether Harvey was actually an upgrade over any of the Milwaukee Brewers current starting pitchers. Now that he’s no longer an option, the few remaining ones aren’t going to be better than Harvey is or what Harvey could be.

Stearns will continue to look for a starter over the next week, but there’s no guarantee he’ll add one.

The Milwaukee Brewers have needed a top flight starting pitcher since the start of last offseason but have still not found an answer. Jhoulys Chacin has been a great pickup, but they need another consistent starter down the stretch.