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.

2. LHP Bryan Hudson acquired from Los Angeles Dodgers for LHP Justin Chambers and PTBNL or cash - January 3, 2024

At first, this move seemed quite odd considering Bryan Hudson had just been designated for assignment and was set to become a free agent. Giving up the return they did seemed sizable for such a player, who had just six big league appearances under his belt and a 7.97 ERA in them.

Justin Chambers was the Brewers 20th round pick in the 2023 Draft, but received the 6th-highest signing bonus of the class, signing for $547,500. The Brewers paid a lot to get him, just to ship him to Los Angeles before he could throw a pitch for the organization. Puzzling at the time, but now we're seeing what the Brewers saw in Bryan Hudson and why they made this move.

The Brewers needed a second lefty in the bullpen alongside Hoby Milner and Hudson has been everything they could ask for and more. The 6'8" lefty has a 0.74 ERA in 24.1 IP this year with 28 strikeouts and just six walks. Hudson has been utterly dominant.

Hudson, like Megill, has become one of Murphy's most trusted relievers. After all, how could he not trust them with their sub-1.00 ERAs? Hudson was designated for assignment, not deemed worthy of even a 40 man roster spot in Los Angeles. He still has minor league options, but the Dodgers wanted to move on.

Chambers, while talented, was coming off Tommy John surgery as a high schooler and is several years away from potentially contributing at the big league level. Hudson, however, is contributing right now and it's not just a tiny contribution, it's a major contribution.