Brewers: 5 Moves From 2021 That Didn’t Work Out as Planned

The 2021 Milwaukee Brewers were a good team, one good enough to take home the NL Central title last season. And to be a good team, it means making smart moves to acquire the types of players to help win games.

Brewers president of baseball operations David Stearns made plenty of good deals to assemble last year’s squad. From the trade for MVP vote-getter Willy Adames to the move that brought in Rowdy Tellez, Stearns did what needed to be done in the front office.

But even good teams make their share of moves that don’t end up working out in the end. They usually ended up making plenty of sense at the time, but ultimately didn’t end up benefiting the team for any number of possible reasons.

Here are five moves from the 2021 season that didn’t quite work out as planned for the Brewers.

Brewers #5 Move That Didn’t Work Out in 2021: Signing Free Agent Travis Shaw

Coming off of a 2020 season that was one of the poorest offensive ones in franchise history, Milwaukee had some holes that needed to be filled on the diamond that following offseason. One of the more glaring ones was at third base.

With no obvious internal candidates to take over the position (at least not at the time), it made sense for the Brewers to external for their 2021 third baseman. There were seemingly plenty of available candidates on the free agent market to choose from as well.

They settled on a reunion with an old friend in signing free agent Travis Shaw. As fans were aware, Shaw was one of the better offensive performers on the team in 2017 and 2018 before his production dropped dramatically in 2019, ultimately leading to his exit from the team after the season.

Shaw looked a bit more like himself while playing for the Blue Jays in 2020, his only season in Toronto. So, was it possible that Shaw could ride that momentum and parlay it into a big season with Milwaukee in 2021?

Unfortunately, a comeback that big wasn’t in the cards. Shaw ended up playing in 56 games for the Crew, hitting six homers and batting .191 with a .616 OPS and his season was shortened by a dislocated shoulder that ended up knocking him out for well over a month. He would end up being designated for assignment and claimed off waivers by the Red Sox in August.

Brewers #4 Move That Didn’t Work Out in 2021: Trading for John Curtiss

This move falls into the bad luck category, because by all rights, this seemed like a perfectly logical move for the Brewers at the time that it was made. Some things just can’t be predicted, though, such as injuries.

Heading into the July 30th trade deadline last season, Milwaukee was sitting atop the NL Central with a nice seven-game lead over the Reds. There weren’t a ton of weaknesses to shore up on their run to the playoffs, but the bullpen could’ve used a little bit of help.

Right-hander John Curtiss didn’t seem like your typical trade deadline candidate. He was just 28 years old, had multiple years of team control remaining, and was in the middle of a very good season in which he had a 2.48 ERA, 1.075 WHIP, and 40 strikeouts to just nine walks for the Marlins.

And yet, somehow Stearns was able to pry him away from Miami at the deadline for just Top 30 catching prospect Payton Henry. Everything seemed to be lining up in the Brewers’ favor on this move.

Curtiss struggled at first for Milwaukee, giving up five earned runs in just 2/3 of an inning in his debut. His next four outings were scoreless, though, and things seemed to be trending in the right direction.

But in his sixth appearance for the Brewers, Curtiss would be removed with elbow discomfort and end up finding out that he had a torn UCL which would require Tommy John surgery. Set to miss all of 2022 and with roster spots at a premium, Milwaukee non-tendered him this offseason.

Brewers #3 Move That Didn’t Work Out in 2021: Trading Away Orlando Arcia

Whenever you trade away a fan favorite player like shortstop Orlando Arcia, you’d better get some players who wind up as big time contributors in return. That already has no chance of happening going forward for the Brewers.

It’s not like a move away from Arcia was going to be a completely surprising one once it actually happened. A former #1 prospect for Milwaukee, he never lived up to that billing, hitting .242 with just a .293 on base percentage in a Brewer uniform once all was said and done.

Combine that with the fact that the team wanted to see what Luis Urias could bring to the team as a full-time player and you could visualize the Brewers eventually moving on from Arcia. The surprising part was the timing.

Arcia was traded to the Atlanta Braves less than a week into the 2021 season, not exactly a common time for MLB trades to take place. In exchange, the Brewers received two right-handed pitchers: Chad Sobotka and Patrick Weigel.

While Sobotka had a handful of MLB games under his belt (50, to be exact, with just a 5.36 ERA to show for it), Weigel had just one, but was 25 years old and had some time, still, to be developed by Milwaukee.

Weigel would be one of the many players to see the roster for the Brewers in 2021, but would appear in just four games, giving up two earned runs in four innings. For the most part, he and Sobotka spent most of the year down at Triple-A Nashville.

Neither looked particularly impressive there. Weigel ended up putting up a 7.27 ERA over 43 1/3 innings while Sobotka had a 5.54 ERA over 39 innings. That apparently was all the team needed to see as both became minor league free agents this offseason.

Arcia, meanwhile, spent most of his time with the Braves at Triple-A, but he did play in 32 games for Atlanta in 2021. Most importantly, he won a ring as his new team won the 2021 World Series.

Brewers #1 Move That Didn’t Work Out in 2021: Trading for Daniel Norris

While some fans might think Bradley Jr is deserving of the #1 spot on this list, at least he was useful to the team on the defensive end, not to mention as an asset in the aforementioned trade. The same can’t be said of our actual #1.

Daniel Norris was another reliever that the Brewers added at last year’s trade deadline in an attempt to improve the team’s bullpen depth. Milwaukee only had to give up a low-level pitching prospect and Norris had the added bonus of bringing another left-handed arm into the fold.

Fans questioned the move early. Norris had a 5.89 ERA in 38 games with the Tigers up to that point as well as a 1.445 WHIP. He was on a bit of a run in July, giving up just three runs over his last 8 1/3 innings, but would that hold true?

It would not.

Things got even worse for Norris as a member of the Brewers. He would give up 15 earned runs over 20 1/3 innings (6.64 ERA) with a 1.574 WHIP and 18 strikeouts to 15 walks. He gave up runs in 7 of the 18 games in which he appeared for Milwaukee (38.9%).

Unsurprisingly, Norris was left off of the Brewers’ postseason roster. He was already set to become a free agent after the season, thus his Milwaukee tenure came to an unceremonious end.

Not every move over the course of a baseball season can work out exactly as planned. What’s important is to balance them out with even more moves that do.