Brewers swipe two pitchers from division rival Cardinals in trade deadline deal

After a long weekend of waiting around for the front office to make an addition to the pitching staff, the Milwaukee Brewers have officially swung a deal with their division rivals, the St. Louis Cardinals. As reported by MLB insider Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic, the Brewers are acquiring right-handed starter Dustin May and left-handed reliever JoJo Romero from the Cardinals. The Brewers are sending outfield prospects Alexander Frias and Josiah Ragsdale to St. Louis in the deal.

It's not necessarily the blockbuster deal that Brewers fans were hoping for, but both May and Romero are intriguing arms who certainly improve Milwaukee's pitching staff for the stretch run.

Brewers acquire RHP Dustin May and LHP JoJo Romero in intradivision trade deadline deal with Cardinals

The 28-year-old May signed a one-year, $12.5 million deal with the Cardinals during the offseason and has since put together a strong four months in St. Louis' rotation. Through 21 starts, May is sporting a 4.38 ERA, with a 3.90 expected ERA that suggests he's been slightly unlucky to this point. Additionally, his FIP (fielding independent pitching) being a full run better than his ERA also suggests he will benefit from the Brewers' excellent defensive group. He has a league-average strikeout rate of 23.1% and a slightly better-than-league average walk rate of 7.6%. He was dominant against the Brewers earlier this year, tossing seven no-hit frames back on May 27 before Milwaukee got to him in the eighth inning.

May has nine appearances in the postseason, most of which came during the Los Angeles Dodgers World Series run during the 2020 season. He's covered a total of 14 innings in the playoffs and has a 3.86 ERA to show for it. May should compete for the Game 3 starter spot in Milwaukee's rotation behind Jacob Misiorowski and Kyle Harrison. May has far more experience than anyone in the Brewers' rotation, and an electric arsenal of pitches that should play well under the guidance of Milwaukee's excellent pitching department.

Romero, meanwhile, may be the better of the two arms that Milwaukee is acquiring. The 29-year-old southpaw has been a dominant and reliable piece of the Cardinals' bullpen in each of the last four seasons, with a 3.02 ERA in 201 appearances to prove it. A season ago, he posted a stellar 2.07 ERA in 65 appearances with a 57.1% ground-ball rate. He's taken a slight step back this year, but still has a solid 3.35 ERA in 44 appearances and should be able to cover high-leverage innings for the Brewers.

Despite not being the flashy move fans were hoping for, it's a solid trade from the Brewers' front office -- one that certainly fortifies their pitching staff for the stretch run. If Milwaukee can maximize May and Romero's potential for the final two months of the season and a postseason run, there's a real possibility that both arms become key pieces of the Brewers' success in 2026. More to come on this developing trade.

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