Milwaukee Brewers: The Three Best Trades in Franchise History

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MILWAUKEE – UNDATED 1984: Baseball Hall of Fame inductees Robin Yount (R), Rollie Fingers (C), and Ted Simmons (L) of the Milwaukee Brewers pose before an MLB game at County Stadium in Milwaukee. Wisconsin. Yount played with the Brewers from 1978-1993. Fingers played with the Brewers from 1981-1985 and Simmons played with the Brewers from 1981-1985. (Photo by Ron Vesely/MLB Photos via Getty Images) /

For a team like the Milwaukee Brewers who have only been around since their official inception in 1969 as the Seattle Pilots, the club has made some serious headlines in trades that they have made over the years.

Last season, the club was very active on the trade market, acquiring all of Eduardo Escobar, Jandel Gustave, Rowdy Tellez, Hunter Strickland, Willy Adames, John Axford, Daniel Norris and John Curtiss during the regular season and then Hunter Renfroe and Mike Brosseau once the offseason began.

But those trades pale in comparison to some of the stunners that the franchise has pulled off in the past. From future Hall of Famers to MVPs, the Brewers have made a few trades that were, at times, franchise-altering.

Let’s take a look at the three best trades the Milwaukee Brewers have made in franchise history.

Best Trade #1: Brewers trade OF Sixto Lezcano, OF David Green, RHP Lary Sorenson and LHP Dave LaPoint to the St. Louis Cardinals for RHP Pete Vuckovich, RHP Rollie Fingers, and C Ted Simmons

On December 12th, 1980, the Milwaukee Brewers made what is still to be considered the best, most franchise-altering trade in franchise history. The club sent four players to the St. Louis Cardinals in exchange for a Cy Young winner and two eventual Hall of Famers.

Sports Illustrated put it best when they wrote an article on the trade the next March titled, “The Trade That Made Milwaukee Famous.”

What the Brewers got:

At the time of the trade, Ted Simmons was already a six-time All-Star and a Silver Slugger Award winner with the Cardinals throughout his 13-year tenure with the club. Upon joining Milwaukee, he became a fan-favorite, spending the next five seasons as a Brewer, making two more All-Star Games, and posting a bWAR of 6.1.

Rollie Fingers came over to Milwaukee with five All-Star Game selections and three top 10 finishes in the Cy Young Award race. In his first season with the club, he promptly posted a 1.04 ERA in 47 games after allowing just nine earned runs in 78 innings.

Fingers led the AL in saves with 28 and won the Cy Young Award and the AL MVP Award. He spent a total of four seasons with the Brewers, ultimately posting a 2.54 ERA in 177 games with 97 saves and 3.9 bWAR, ending his career in the city that traded for him.

Pete Vuckovich, a right-handed starting pitcher, was decent for the Cardinals but was never quite a household name for the club. After the trade that sent him to Milwaukee, Vuckovich immediately tied for the AL-lead in wins with 14, finishing fourth in the Cy Young voting in 1981.

Then, in 1982, Vuckovich won the Cy Young Award on the heels of an 18-6 record with a 3.34 ERA and a miniscule 0.6 HR/9 rate, giving the Brewers two consecutive Cy Young winners coming from the same trade.

What the Brewers gave away:

Highly popular outfielder Sixto Lezcano was, at the time, the hardest player to part with in this trade. He was a durable player who drew a ton of walks, had some pop in his bat, and played excellent defense.

Upon his acquisition by St. Louis, his production completely flopped, and the club flipped him the next season to the Padres. Lezcano’s career after Milwaukee never came close to the production he had as a member of the Brewers, ultimately ending when he was just 31-years old.

Starting pitcher Lary Sorensen was another hard pill to swallow in this trade. An All-Star in 1978 at the young age of 22, he was another highly durable player for the Brewers who was a lock to make his start every fifth day and go extremely deep in ballgames, ultimately posting 50 complete games for the Brewers in just 119 starts.

Sorensen, like Lezcano, came nowhere close to his Brewers production as a member of the Cardinals and then five more teams after his one year stay in Missouri, retiring after his age-32 season.

20-year-old Dave LaPoint, a left-handed starting pitcher with just 15 innings under his belt, was another name included in the trade between the Brewers and Cardinals. LaPoint spent four seasons in St. Louis after they acquired him, including winning a World Series championship in 1982 for the club.

The late David Green was the final piece included in the deal. The speedy outfielder had not yet made his major league debut at the time of the trade. He, like LaPoint, received a World Series ring for his efforts on the 1982 Cardinals but was never much of a hitter at the big league level throughout his six-year career. Green tragically passed away in January of 2022 from respiratory failure at the young age of 61.

MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN – OCTOBER 08: Christian Yelich #22 of the Milwaukee Brewers participates in warmups prior to game one of the National League Division Series against the Atlanta Braves at American Family Field on October 08, 2021 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images) /

Best Trade #2: Brewers trade OF Lewis Brinson, OF Monte Harrison, INF Isan Diaz, and RHP Jordan Yamamoto to the Miami Marlins for OF Christian Yelich

January 25th and 26th of 2018 will most likely go down as one of the Brewers’ busiest days in franchise history. Not only did the club bring back Lorenzo Cain on a large free agent contract, but the club was also able to land a highly-talented outfielder from the Miami Marlins in exchange for four prospects.

What the Brewers got:

While his performance in the past two seasons have not been up to expectations, Christian Yelich has already cemented his place in the conversation of best Brewers of all-time. By the time his contract is up in 2028, he may very well hold the top spot.

Yelich had always been known as a speedy, slick-fielding, power-hitting, on base machine with the Marlins, but nobody, including the Brewers themselves, could’ve seen his production in 2018 and 2019 coming.

Yelich immediately won over the hearts of Brewers fans by winning the NL MVP Award in 2018 and then finishing second in 2019. In 450 games for the Brewers, Yelich has already put up 17.0 oWAR and will get another chance in 2022 to get over the back issues that have held him down and return to MVP form.

What the Brewers gave away:

Lewis Brinson, acquired by the Brewers in a trade with the Texas Rangers in 2016, was a huge deal when coming up in the minors with Milwaukee. He was an ultra-hyped prospect that ranked No. 1 in Brewers prospect ranking per Baseball America but just couldn’t deliver at the big league level.

After his acquisition by Miami, he was once again ranked as the No. 1 prospect per MLB.com in the Marlins’ system. Ultimately, though, the team non-tendered Brinson at the conclusion of the 2021 season. Through his first five seasons and 340+ games, Brinson is hitting just .199 while being worth -3.4 bWAR in over 1,000 plate appearances.

Monte Harrison, another outfielder changing hands and going from Milwaukee to Miami, was ranked as the Brewers’ No. 5 prospect per Baseball America heading into the season. Strikeouts have been an issue for Harrison throughout his professional career, but he remains on the Marlins’ roster and is projected by FanGraphs to be a part of a left field platoon for the club in 2022.

Isan Diaz, a middle infielder acquired via trade from the Diamondbacks in 2015, ranked as the No. 9 prospect in the Brewers’ system heading into 2018. Diaz possesses good power in his left-handed bat, but he strikes out a ton and is a capable defender at second base, third base, and shortstop.

He, like Harrison, remains in the Marlins system to this day, projecting to begin the upcoming season at Triple-A after posting just a .185 batting average in his first 140+ major league games.

Jordan Yamamoto, a right-handed starting pitcher, didn’t make his Marlins debut until the 2019 season, but he burst onto the scene with seven shutout innings in his debut. After a respectable showing in 2019, Yamamoto struggled mightily in 2020 and then found himself involved in a trade once again, this time going from Miami to the New York Mets, where he remains to this day.

SAN DIEGO – August 13: CC Sabathia of the Milwaukee Brewers pitches during the game against the San Diego Padres at Petco Park on August 13, 2008 in San Diego, California. The Brewers defeated the Padres 7-1. (Photo by Robert Leiter/MLB Photos via Getty Images) /

Best Trade #3: Brewers trade 1B/OF Matt LaPorta, RHP Rob Bryson, LHP Zach Jackson, and PTBNL to the Cleveland Indians for LHP CC Sabathia

CC Sabathia spent just three months in a Milwaukee Brewers uniform. He is still to be considered one of the best pitchers in team history. And to think, the Brewers acquired the massive lefty in a trade with the then-Cleveland Indians in exchange for a few prospects and a Player To Be Named Later.

What the Brewers got:

The Brewers won this deal pretty much immediately. CC Sabathia, the big, burly left-hander who had already established an incredible reputation, came over to the Brewers and did nothing but produce. In his 17 starts with the Crew, CC made 17 starts, seven of them complete games. He posted a miniscule 1.65 ERA along with an 11-2 record and 128 strikeouts against just 25 walks.

Despite his Brewers career being just three months long, Sabathia managed to post 4.9 bWAR and finished fifth in the NL Cy Young Award voting and sixth in the NL MVP vote. His .229 batting average, home run and six RBIs also helped his case when it came to winning over the entire state of Wisconsin’s hearts.

What the Brewers gave away:

Matt LaPorta, the Brewers No. 1 prospect in 2008 per Baseball Prospectus, was the headliner in the trade from Cleveland’s standpoint. LaPorta, a power-hitting outfielder and first baseman, was supposed to translate his minor league successes into stardom at the big league level.

Instead, he played in parts of four seasons for Cleveland, hitting 31 home runs and posting a .238 batting average, good for -1.0 bWAR and horrendous defense at first base and the outfield corners. His last major league action came just four years after the trade, and he was officially retired by 2015.

Right-handed pitcher Zach Jackson was another highly touted piece going from Milwaukee to Cleveland in the deal. Jackson, unlike LaPorta, had already debuted with the Brewers, making a total of 10 appearances for the club between 2006 and 2008.

Jackson was never hugely successful in the minor leagues prior to the trade aside from a standout performance in 2005 with the Blue Jays High-A affiliate. His Cleveland career consists of 12 appearances and a 6.11 ERA. He, like Matt LaPorta, was completely out of baseball shortly after the trade and was retired by 2015.

Youngster Rob Bryson, a right-handed swingman, hadn’t made it any farther than the Brewers A-level affiliate at 20-years-old before he was flipped to Cleveland. He had a high ceiling and a high-90’s fastball that was projected to carry him to the back end of big league bullpens, but never made it to the majors with Cleveland, or any other team for that matter. His last professional appearances came back in 2016 with two Indy League teams.

The “Player To Be Named Later” in your typical major league trade usually results in a minor league filler type player who doesn’t amount to much at the big league level. In this specific trade, the PTBNL ended up being Michael Brantley, who still to this day is a hugely successful MLB outfielder.

The now-34-year-old Brantley is a five-time All-Star Game selection and 2014 Silver Slugger recipient and has a career 32.9 bWAR throughout his 13-year MLB career to this point.

Next. Which 2021 Brewers free agents are still on the market?. dark

You can never guarantee how a trade will work out for either of the teams that take part in it. But with these three trades, saying they worked out as well as anyone could have imagined would be a massive understatement.

Home / Brewers History

Let’s take a look at the three best trades the Milwaukee Brewers have made in franchise history.

Best Trade #1: Brewers trade OF Sixto Lezcano, OF David Green, RHP Lary Sorenson and LHP Dave LaPoint to the St. Louis Cardinals for RHP Pete Vuckovich, RHP Rollie Fingers, and C Ted Simmons

What the Brewers got:

What the Brewers gave away:

Best Trade #2: Brewers trade OF Lewis Brinson, OF Monte Harrison, INF Isan Diaz, and RHP Jordan Yamamoto to the Miami Marlins for OF Christian Yelich

What the Brewers got:

What the Brewers gave away:

Best Trade #3: Brewers trade 1B/OF Matt LaPorta, RHP Rob Bryson, LHP Zach Jackson, and PTBNL to the Cleveland Indians for LHP CC Sabathia

What the Brewers got:

What the Brewers gave away:

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