Early grades for the Brewers 3 trade deadline deals of 2025

The Milwaukee Brewers didn't make the big splash that fans were hoping for at the 2025 trade deadline. As the best team in baseball, the Brewers elected to improve around the margins, ultimately adding a backup catcher, an outfield depth piece, and a high-leverage reliever to their roster at the deadline.

As a result, the Brewers didn't part with much prospect capital like many other teams in the National League did, keeping their strong farm system intact, and continuing their strategy of prioritizing sustained success rather than going "all in" for one season. In the end, the front office swung three deadline deals, including the Jansen trade on Monday and two trades that went down right around the 5:00 p.m. deadline on Thursday. Let's take a look at the Brewers’ three deadline trades and assign an "early grade" to each of them.

1. Brewers acquire C Danny Jansen from Rays for INF Jadher Areinamo

The Brewers’ first deal of the deadline came back on Monday night, when they acquired catcher Danny Jansen from the Tampa Bay Rays in exchange for their No. 24-ranked prospect infielder Jadher Areinamo. While the trade came as a surprise for many Brewers fans, who weren't expecting the front office to make an upgrade at the backup catcher position ahead of the deadline, it aligned with fans’ calls for adding more power to the roster.

Jansen, despite appearing in just 74 games this season, has slugged 11 HR this season, good enough for fourth most on the Brewers’ roster. He generally shows good plate discipline, though his strikeout rate is slightly elevated this season, and while his arm behind the dish could be better, he is an excellent blocking catcher.

Meanwhile, the Brewers dealt from a position of strength to add the Appleton West HS alum to their roster, tapping into their troves of middle infield prospects in the lower levels of the minor leagues and sending 21-year-old Jadher Areinamo to the Rays. Areinamo is an intriguing prospect, but with poor swing decisions, he was starting to plateau at the High-A level and was blocked by several other middle infield prospects in the Brewers’ farm system.

In the end, the Brewers added a minor upgrade to their roster for a relatively low cost. That's a solid deal and one that fits the Brewers’ typical deadline strategy.

Grade: B

2. Brewers acquire OF Brandon Lockridge from Padres for LHP Nestor Cortes, INF Jorge Quintana, and cash

As the clock approached 5:00 p.m. on Thursday night, the Brewers still had yet to make a move since the Jansen trade, which occurred three days prior. Fans were starting to think that the Brewers were content holding on to their starting pitching surplus and standing pat with their current bullpen and position player group. Then came this trade, which had some fans wishing the team would have just stood pat and not made a move.

There's a lot going on in this trade. In what turned out to be a relatively quiet starting pitching market, the Brewers ended up having to send a promising young infield prospect, Jorge Quintana, and cash to the San Diego Padres to get them to take on Nestor Cortes for the rest of the season. While relief pitchers were netting Top 30 prospects left and right, it seemed like the Brewers could have gotten more in return for Cortes and Quintana than outfielder Brandon Lockridge.

That said, Lockridge certainly has an intriguing profile; he is both an elite defender and baserunner, but his bat comes with some question marks, and he certainly isn't the impact bat that many expected the Brewers to add at this year's deadline. However, it sounds like he will immediately have a chance to immediately impact the big league roster, as he is expected to replace Jackson Chourio on the active roster, with Chourio due for a brief stint on the IL. More on that later.

There are, however, a few aspects of this trade that make it far from ideal. In addition to the underwhelming return and Milwaukee having to include cash in the deal, the Brewers would have preferred not to part with Jorge Quintana just to offload Cortes. Quintana, while his numbers haven't jumped off the page in Rookie Ball yet, was the top-ranked prospect in the Brewers' 2024 international free agent class — the class that included Jesús Made and Luis Peña.

Additionally, sending Cortes to an NL club, especially one that figures to be a part of the Wild Card race, is not the ideal destination. Even if the Brewers avoid the Wild Card race by winning the NL Central, they could very well meet the Padres in the postseason, in which case Cortes could oppose them.

Dealing from their starting pitching surplus was certainly the correct move, but in a sellers’ market with a prospect included, it feels as if the Brewers could have done better on this trade, or at least avoided sending Cortes to an NL contender. But who knows? Maybe Lockridge will be the next Andrew Vaughn.

Grade: C-

3. Brewers acquire RHP Shelby Miller and LHP Jordan Montgomery from D-backs for a player to be named later or cash

After the deadline expired, reports came in that the Brewers had executed one more deal, and this one was a masterclass from Matt Arnold and company. The relief pitching market had been crazy all deadline, with several teams trading significant prospect packages for rental relievers. However, the Brewers were still interested in adding another arm to their bullpen, but didn't want to part with the prospect capital required to add a top-of-the-line reliever. As a result, Arnold got creative.

The Arizona Diamondbacks were clear sellers, already parting with Eugenio Saúrez, Josh Naylor, Randal Grichuck, and Merrill Kelly by the time they executed this trade with the Brewers. However, they still had an intriguing arm in their bullpen who was on an expiring contract: Shelby Miller. Miller has a sub-2.00 ERA with 10 saves in 37 appearances this season. Therefore, he should have cost a pretty penny, or in this case, several top prospects.

Instead, Arnold and the Brewers agreed to take on some of the contract of injured D-backs starter Jordan Montgomery. Montgomery is out for the season and is a free agent this offseason, so he won't impact the Brewers at all, but he was serving as dead weight on Arizona's payroll. In agreeing to take on $2 million of the $7.5 million remaining on Montgomery's 2025 contract, the Brewers avoided the big prospect cost, but still added Miller to their roster.

It was an incredibly savvy move from Arnold, who added an elite arm to the Brewers' bullpen without parting ways with several top prospects. When Miller returns from his injury, which should be soon, he will be a huge addition to the Brewers' bullpen.

Grade: A-