The forgotten piece of the William Contreras trade is thriving in Double-A

Most diehard Milwaukee Brewers fans can probably tell you where they were on the afternoon of December 12, 2022. Why? Because that is the day that the Brewers' front office fleeced the Oakland Athletics and Atlanta Braves in a three-team blockbuster trade that sent Sean Murphy from Oakland to Atlanta, and William Contreras from Atlanta to Milwaukee. Brewers fans were anxiously refreshing their phones to see who they were sending away for a 24-year-old All-Star catcher with five years of team control. In the end, the team sent just one player, outfield prospect Estuary Ruiz, to the Athletics in the deal. Ruiz was designated for assignment on March 30 of this year and now plays in the Los Angeles Dodgers organization.

However, you might forget that Milwaukee received two other players in what has become one of the best trades in recent Brewers history. One was a relief pitcher from the Athletics by the name of Joel Payamps. Brewers fans are more than familiar with Payamps, who has had a productive, but sometimes rocky tenure in Milwaukee. For two seasons, he was the team's main set-up man, but after a sluggish start to 2025, he now finds himself pitching for the Brewers Triple-A affiliate, the Nashville Sounds.

The other pitcher included is a name that is often forgotten about when folks bring up the Contreras trade, but he's starting to turn heads with his performance in Double-A over the last year. Justin Yeager was sent to the Brewers from the Braves to complete the trade, and while he turned 27 back in January, the right-handed reliever is hitting his stride for the Biloxi Shuckers, making the now two-and-a-half-year-old blockbuster an even more lopsided victory for the Brewers' front office.

Justin Yeager is turning heads as the Biloxi Shuckers' closer

When the Brewers acquired Yeager back in December of 2022, he had already reached the Double-A level and made 38 appearances for the Braves' Double-A affiliate, the Mississippi Braves (now the Columbus Clingstones). In his first season with the Brewers, now playing for the Biloxi Shuckers in the same league that he finished the 2022 season, Yeager made just three appearances before going down with a season-ending injury.

Yeager, a product of Southern Illinois University, returned in impressive fashion in 2024. He made 47 appearances for the Shuckers, serving as the team's main closer. With a 3.88 ERA and 20 saves in 23 save opportunities, Yeager showed his true potential. But in the offseason, Yeager built off of his impressive 2024 campaign and showed even greater potential while pitching in the Puerto Rican Winter League; he went 11 for 11 in save opportunities while posting a sub-2.00 ERA.

Yeager's impressive streak has continued into the 2025 regular season. He holds a 2.55 ERA and has converted all but one of his 11 save opportunities. Dating back to July 31 of last season, and including his offseason work in the Puerto Rican Winter League, Yeager has blown just one singular save in 31 opportunities.

When we talked to Javik Blake, the Shuckers’ play-by-play broadcaster, last month, he said, "Yeager is just so good here. He’s about to make his 100th appearance in the Southern League. You just don’t hit him. It’s a really good fastball, it’s a really good mix from him. He’s added a cutter this year and hasn’t used the sweeper a ton." A month later and Yeager has now surpassed the 100 career appearances mark in Double-A, demonstrating that he has nothing left to prove at the level and is ready for the challenge of Triple-A. Should he continue to find success in Nashville, it won't be long before he cracks the big league roster. If Yeager can become a productive big league reliever, the Contreras trade will continue to haunt the front offices of both the Braves and the Athletics, as it surely already has.