3 tiny trades the Brewers front office made that have had big time results in 2024

Front offices can't hit a home run with every transaction. Some are home runs, some are strikeouts, while others are solid singles. For every Christian Yelich trade or William Contreras trade, there are dozens of tiny, bite size transactions that barely earn more than a paragraph or two of attention at the time.

Yet still, some of those tiny, non-headline grabbing moves can play vital roles in bringing big time productive players to the organization. What may look like a single, at best, at the time can turn into an inside the park home run.

The Milwaukee Brewers have had more than their fair share of these over the past few years. Milwaukee's front office has been on the cutting edge of analytics since the beginning of the David Stearns era and have found ways to improve on the margins and get the most out of even the most minor transactions on the surface. Finding players other teams have put on the scrap heap and turning them into big contributors has been routine.

You're not going to find players from the Yelich or Contreras trade in here, or the Corbin Burnes trade, or any of the truly big, headline-making deals. These trades didn't make much noise at the time, but they're having a very loud impact on the 2024 Brewers.

1. RHP Trevor Megill acquired from Minnesota Twins for PTBNL or cash - April 30, 2023

While this trade happened last year, Trevor Megill is having an outsized impact on this Brewers roster in 2024. The 6'8", 255 pound righty had earned some high leverage chances late last year, but had been optioned up and down, trying to earn his keep. He had a solid 3.63 ERA and was able to stick around.

This year though, Megill has taken a major step forward. He's stepped into the closer's role in the absence of Devin Williams after missing some time with a concussion, and he's thrived in it. Megill has converted all four of his save chances and has a stellar 0.93 ERA this year.

His 100 MPH heat is perfect for high leverage and while he struggled in previous stops in Chicago and Minnesota, Megill has been able to figure it out in Milwaukee and has become one of Pat Murphy's most trusted relievers.

All it cost to acquire him was a player to be named later or cash. That player ended up being named as minor league righty Taylor Floyd, who was sent to the Twins about six weeks after the initial trade. Floyd is still in Double-A with the Twins as a 26 year old and is not among their top 30 prospects. For the production and stability Megill has brought to a bullpen missing its top guy, that's a massive win for the Brewers in such a tiny trade.