Milwaukee Brewers: 5 Transactions We Wish Were April Fools Jokes

Every organization has trades and free agent signings that didn’t work out, and the Milwaukee Brewers are no different. Moves that were so bad, they’re laughable when you look back on them.

On this April Fool’s Day, we take a look at some Milwaukee Brewers transactions that we wish were pranks for this holiday about practical jokes.

Over the years, the Brewers have made some bad moves that did not work out in the team’s favor. While we could include pretty much every move in the entirety of 1990-2005 as laughably bad transactions given how bad those teams were, we can’t go through that many transactions.

We had to narrow the list down to five. Here are five transactions the Brewers made that we wish were April Fool’s jokes.

5. The Will Smith Trade

Back in August 2016, the Brewers traded lefty Will Smith to the San Francisco Giants for their top prospect Phil Bickford and backup catcher Andrew Susac.

Bickford had a big arm and MLB Pipeline ranked him as their #54 overall prospect in the minor leagues. Susac, many also felt he could be a quality big league starting catcher, but was blocked by Buster Posey in San Francisco.

It all started to derail that winter as Bickford was suspended 50 games for a drug of abuse and was also dealing with a hand injury. He was limited to just six games in 2017.

In 2018, Bickford was moved to the bullpen full-time and posted a 4.67 ERA for the Carolina Mudcats in just 21 appearances.

Susac also struggled mightily. He played in nine games in 2016, and there was nothing special there. After suffering a concussion during spring training in 2017, he played in only eight big league games that year, spending most of his year at Triple-A. He was traded to Baltimore for cash in early 2018.

It’s been a pretty disappointing return package for Smith.

Meanwhile, Smith has pitched well in the big leagues for the Giants, posting a 2.61 ERA in three seasons with the club. He missed all of 2017 with Tommy John surgery, but has since come back strong.

Smith had three more years of arbitration ahead of him when the Brewers traded him to the Giants. A quality, young left handed reliever with that much control should’ve brought back a nice return. Instead, it’s a failed catcher and an overhyped pitching prospect that has since come crashing down to earth.

Plus, it broke up the dynamic duo of Smith and Jeremy Jeffress. Their friendship is another reason why it’d be nice to have Smith still around.