Brewers: A Look At The 3 Worst Deadline Deals in Franchise History

#2 Brewers Part Ways With Vaughn

Padres received: OF Greg Vaughn, RHP Jerry Parent

Brewers received: RHP Bryce Florie, LHP Ron Villone, OF Marc Newfield

On the morning of July 31, 1996, the Milwaukee Brewers were 52-54 and losing ground in the American League Central. Arguably the best hitter in their lineup, Greg Vaughn, was just coming off an All-Star Game appearance, but was going to be a free agent in the fall. So general manager Sal Bando decided to make the move to trade Vaughn to the San Diego Padres.

The centerpiece in the deal was the eventual four-time All Star in Vaughn. In Milwaukee, where he began his big league career, Vaughn launched 169 home runs and drove in 566 runs while being a staple of the middle of the batting order in the early to mid 1990s. After heading west, Vaughn ended up having a HUGE season in 1998 where he popped 50 home runs and won the Silver Slugger award. Jerry Parent never made it above Single A in the Padres farm system.

While the Brewers figured they weren’t going to be able to afford to pay Vaughn in the offseason, they wished they’d gotten more in return. Bryce Florie and Ron Villone were both pretty average relievers for Milwaukee and both left after the 1997 season.

The part of the deal that really hurts is with Marc Newfield. Newfield had a very solid end to the 1996 season with the Brewers, hitting .307 with seven home runs and 15 doubles, so things looked promising. But all that promise went out the window when he showed up to camp the following year out of shape and with a considerably slower bat. He was later cut by the team on December 18, 1998 due to being a non-factor the two seasons after he came to Milwaukee.