Brewers trade for Nick Mears from Rockies to help fortify the bullpen

The Milwaukee Brewers have made a trade. On Saturday afternoon, the Brewers agreed to acquire right handed reliever Nick Mears from the Colorado Rockies in exchange for two prospects: Bradley Blalock and Yujanyer Herrera.

ESPN's Jeff Passan was first to report the trade.

The Brewers get some relief help, which should allow them to focus the rest of their Trade Deadline efforts on the rotation and the offense.

Who is new Brewer Nick Mears?

Nick Mears is a 27 year old righty who has pitched in parts of five MLB seasons, but he has accrued just over two years of MLB service time. He spent the first few years of his career in the NL Central with the Pittsburgh Pirates. He had a 4.75 ERA in 30.1 IP across those three years.

Mears has spent the last two years with the Rockies after being selected on waivers. He's had his longest stretch in the big leagues this year, with 45.1 IP in 41 appearances so far. But he has a 5.56 ERA in those outings.

However, don't let that high ERA fool you. The expected numbers tell a much different story. Mears' FIP (Fielding Independent Pitching) is a stellar 2.59 and his xERA is 3.00.

Mears is controllable through 2028, so the Brewers are getting multiple years of control over a bullpen arm. The Baseball Savant metrics page tell a lot of the reasons why the Brewers were interested in Mears.

The Brewers will be looking to turn that stuff into results and they have a track record of doing so.

What about the prospects the Brewers gave up?

Bradley Blalock was acquired in the Luis Urias trade last July. The Brewers put him on the 40 man roster this year and called him up a few times but used him only once. He'd been pitching in Double-A with a 4.08 ERA in 16 starts.

Yujanyer Herrera was an international signing back in 2019. He's a 20 year old right hander in High-A Wisconsin with a 2.91 ERA this year in 16 outings. He's continually gotten better every season, resulting in a breakout 2024 campaign. He's struck out 77 batters in 68 innings.

Blalock was considered a top 30 prospect in the organization and Herrera was also earning consideration for the top 30. It's a somewhat steep price to pay for a reliever, but Mears has several years of team control and the Brewers believe they can turn his results around. Blalock being included also frees up a 40 man roster spot for Mears.