Brewers swing tiny trade with Orioles for intriguing pitching prospect

The Brewers have made a trade for more pitching. While it's not the major type of trade to boost an injured rotation that many fans may be clamoring for, the Brewers have brought in a close to MLB ready pitcher.

On Saturday, the Brewers traded recently DFAed reliever Thyago Vieira as well as minor league pitching prospect Aneuris Rodriguez to the Baltimore Orioles in exchange for Triple-A righty Garrett Stallings.

The Brewers designated Vieira for assignment on Monday and there was widespread enough interest in the hard throwing righty that the Brewers were able to swing a trade and get a player in return. Vieira had a 5.64 ERA in 16 appearances for Milwaukee this season.

Who is new Brewer Garrett Stallings?

Garrett Stallings is a 26 year old righty that was a 5th round pick of the Angels back in 2019 out of the University of Tennessee. The Orioles acquired him in a trade for Jose Iglesias before the 2021 season. He's slowly worked his way up to Triple-A, moving slowly because his results haven't been particularly great at any level so far.

This season, Stallings has a 5.67 ERA in 11 appearances and four starts covering 27 IP. He's struck out 25 batters and walked 13. For his career, Stallings has a 5.41 ERA in the minor leagues and he's yet to make his MLB debut. He is not on the 40 man roster.

In his most recent outing, Stallings went four innings allowing just one earned run and striking out four. The Orioles have been stretching him out of late, which could put him in the conversation for the Brewers rotation picture at some point if he can continue to improve his results.

Stallings has a four pitch mix, although none of them are overly dominant. He thrives on command to help his stuff play up, although his command has backed up a bit in 2024. Perhaps the Brewers see something they can fix to help Stallings reach his potential.

Who is Aneuris Rodriguez?

In order to get a player back for Thyago Vieira, the Brewers had to include a low level, lottery ticket pitching prospect. That prospect is Aneuris Rodriguez, a 19 year old righty whom the Brewers signed in the 2022 international signing period.

Rodriguez had put up solid numbers the last few years. He had a 3.48 ERA with 47 Ks in 41.1 IP last year in the Dominican Summer League. So far in 2024 with the Arizona Complex League Brewers, Rodriguez has posted a 3.68 ERA with 15 strikeouts in just 7.1 IP.

Rodriguez is a young, up and coming pitching prospect but he's still a lottery ticket at this point. In return for him and Vieira, the Brewers get an intriguing righty in Garrett Stallings who could help the big league pitching staff in the near future.