Brewers: 6 Of The Worst Brewers Trade Deadline Deals In The Last 10 Years

The MLB Trade Deadline hasn't always been kind to the Milwaukee Brewers, especially in recent years. A lot of the Crew's trade success has come in the offseason, but the Deadline has been a different story.

Mid-season trades are the best way to adjust to your team needs mid-season to compensate for injuries or poor performance of players you were expecting to perform better. It's a way to improve your club for a pennant race and Deadline deals have a major impact on the playoff hunt, for better or worse.

These deals impacted the Brewers in the playoff hunt for the worse.

These are the Brewers six worst Trade Deadline deals over the last decade.

Brewers worst Trade Deadline deal of the last 10 years: #6 - RP Will Smith to the Giants for RHP Phil Bickford and C Andrew Susac

At the time, this trade looked pretty good for the Brewers. Phil Bickford was the Giants top prospect and Susac was a big league ready catcher that Milwaukee acquired at the same deadline where they sent out their starting catcher in Jonathan Lucroy.

However, as time passed, the return for the Brewers did not age well. For the Giants, well, Will Smith turned into a pretty good closer for them for several years.

Phil Bickford dealt with injuries, suspensions, and simply poor production for a while. He finally figured it out for a bit as a reliever, earning a call up to the big leagues, but his outings didn't go well in Milwaukee. Bickford appeared in two games for the Brewers, throwing two innings and allowing six runs. He was placed on waivers and the Dodgers picked him up. He's since been a consistent member of LA's bullpen.

Susac also never really panned out behind the plate. He dealt with a concussion in spring of 2017, losing the up for grab catching jobs to Manny Pina and Jett Bandy. Susac ended up appearing in just 17 games as a Brewer over two seasons and he hit just .172 in those games.

The Brewers got a total of 19 game appearances in the return for a highly sought after and valuable commodity in the high leverage lefty reliever Will Smith. It looked like a solid return at the time, so it's hard to blame the Brewers for making the deal and that's why it only comes in at number 6 on this list.

Brewers worst Trade Deadline deal of the last 10 years: #5 - 1B Jesus Aguilar to Rays for RHP Jacob Faria

Jesus Aguilar had quite the run in Milwaukee. He went from an unheralded waiver claim in 2017 to a reliable bench bat to an All Star in the span of a year and a half. He got a chance to play everyday in Milwaukee and he was instantly beloved for his big bat and big personality. Aguilar was a major part of the 2018 team's success.

Then, in 2019, Aguilar fell into a slump. Fellow first baseman Eric Thames was also in a slump. The Brewers were faced with a tough situation at the Trade Deadline, needing one of their two first basemen to step up and start hitting. Well, Eric Thames was the first to get a little hot at the plate. Aguilar, was struggling to a ,225 average with a .694 OPS and just eight homers after hitting .274 with and .890 OPS and 35 homers the year before.

Because of his slump and Thames getting going at the plate, the Brewers felt comfortable moving Aguilar to clear position player space and added a pitcher that they desperately needed.

Unfortunately, Jake Faria never turned out to be the pitcher the Brewers were hoping he'd be. Over the final two months, Faria made just nine appearances out of the Brewers bullpen and they didn't go particularly well with an 11.42 ERA. The Brewers sent him down to the minors and despite having years of team control, which is partly why they acquired him in the first place, they ended up releasing him in September 2020.

The Brewers ended up trading a fan favorite for nearly nothing in return. Aguilar went on to have a couple more good seasons, showing the Brewers gave up on him a little too early. Milwaukee declined Eric Thames' option at the end of that year and first base has continued to be a revolving door ever since. Faria hasn't been able to catch on in the big leagues much elsewhere after leaving Milwaukee.

That trade did nothing for the Brewers that year to help them down the stretch and removed a key member of that clubhouse.

Brewers worst Trade Deadline deal of the last 10 years: #4 - LHP Daniel Norris from Tigers for RHP Reese Olson

Acquiring relievers over the last few years has proven to be a fruitless endeavor for the Brewers front office. Their pool luck with trading for relievers seemed to start with the acquisition of Daniel Norris.

In 2021, the Brewers were seeking another left-handed reliever as the Deadline was ticking down. Milwaukee opted for a trade with the Detroit Tigers, bringing in a former top prospect in Daniel Norris who was set to hit free agency that winter after a disappointing first few years in the big leagues. He was a starter and then moved to the bullpen.

Norris wasn't even having a good season with the Tigers in 2021 when the Brewers got him. He had a 5.89 ERA in 38 games for Detroit. Yet the Brewers thought they could fix him in a very limited amount of time before he reached free agency. The Deadline is not an ideal time to add a brand new project. This is the time to add a finished product.

Norris struggled as a Brewer, posting a 6.64 ERA in 18 appearances for Milwaukee, with 15 walks in 18.1 IP. He also allowed five homers. Unsurprisingly, the Brewers let him walk in free agency that winter.

In return, the Brewers gave up a rising pitching prospect in Reese Olson. Milwaukee is known for their pitching development and Olson was starting to look like the next good one but the Brewers were willing to part with him for a rental. All Olson has done is continue to thrive with Detroit and turned into a top prospect. He's now a regular member of Detroit's starting rotation.

Norris not working out made it not a good trade, but Reese Olson turning into what he is makes it look even worse for Milwaukee.

Brewers worst Trade Deadline deal of the last 10 years: #3 - INF Jonathan Schoop from the Orioles for INF Jonathan Villar, RHP Luis Ortiz, and SS Jean Carmona

There was one positive moment for this trade, Jonathan Schoop's grand slam off Madison Bumgarner. That was it. That was the only time Jonathan Schoop did anything productive for the Brewers in his tenure.

In 2018, the Brewers were looking all around for help at the Trade Deadline and were looking for a pitcher. They had just acquired Mike Moustakas a few days prior, moving incumbent third baseman Travis Shaw to second base. The infield need was filled and they were looking for an arm. Unfortunately the prices for starting pitchers were obscenely high that deadline and the Brewers ultimately did not land one because of that.

David Stearns, sensing another move was necessary but unable to make the desired one for pitching, decided to double down on offense and acquired second baseman Jonathan Schoop from the Orioles.

Acquiring Schoop made sense before the Moustakas trade. Afterwards, it seemed like overkill and it didn't work. Shaw and Moustakas handled most of the 2B and 3B duties after Schoop never got going offensively. Yes, they needed to clear out Villar and the prospects they gave up never really turned out to be much, but this trade was quite bad.

Schoop did not adjust well to being traded. Despite the Brewers having an excellent clubhouse culture, Schoop did not mesh well in there, contributing to his lack of on field success. The reason the Brewers paid such a high price to get him was because he had another year of team control. The plan was for him to man second base in 2019 as well since Moustakas was set to be a free agent at the end of the year.

Instead, the Brewers non-tendered Schoop that offseason and ended up re-signing Moustakas on a free agent deal. David Stearns admitted himself the trade didn't work out. If the Brewers had acquired someone who actually could've helped that postseason, perhaps the 2018 playoffs would've gone a little better.

Brewers worst Trade Deadline deal of the last 10 years: #1 - LHP Josh Hader to the Padres for Taylor Rogers, Dinelson Lamet, Esteury Ruiz, and Robert Gasser

Yes, the Josh Hader trade comes in at number one. Although with the benefit of time, the trade is starting to look better. Spinning off Esteury Ruiz for WIlliam Contreras and Joel Payamps proved to be an excellent move to make the trade tree start to bear fruit, but that doesn't change what that deal was in the moment and the impact it had as a deadline deal.

The Brewers made this trade with an eye towards the future, unintentionally sabotaging the 2022 campaign. Milwaukee had a three game lead in the NL Central when the Deadline came. The Josh Hader Trade shook the clubhouse to its core and they never recovered from it. They quickly lost their division lead and missed out on the playoffs completely.

While the other trades on this list certainly didn't help the Brewers make the postseason, this trade actively hurt the Brewers in their hopes to make the postseason. That's exactly the opposite of what a Deadline deal should do for a first place team. That's why this trade remains top of this list.

To make matters worse, the Brewers didn't want any part of Dinelson Lamet, designating him for assignment 48 hours after acquiring him. One of the four pieces of the trade was already gone and he was lost for nothing. Taylor Rogers struggled with Milwaukee, giving up way more homers than usual and wasn't a reliable arm.

Esteury Ruiz was the only offensive player acquired by the Brewers that deadline and offense was the team's biggest need. The Brewers then refused to call upon Ruiz to help salvage the clubhouse morale and get some offensive production. The clubhouse only saw Hader go out and just Rogers come in, a clear downgrade. Ruiz was up for a few games in September, but wasn't given much run.

The simple fact is this trade is what sunk the 2022 Brewers. David Stearns admitted as much at the end of the season, although there were a couple other factors. But this group was rolling along fine until Hader was moved. None of the other trades sunk those teams.

The Hader trade is starting to look better with time because Ruiz was flipped in the offseason for Contreras and Payamps. Plus now the Padres are likely sellers at the Deadline this year. But none of that can change how bad this trade was for the Brewers when it was made. It was one of the worst trades in baseball history. Not many first place teams sell off their All Star closer at the Deadline and there's a reason for that. This trade is a reminder why.