Acquired Right-Handed Pitcher Javy Guerra (B-)
The Brewers acquired Javy Guerra for a player to be named later. Since we don’t know what the Brewers gave up yet I can’t really say how good of a move this is. Guerra isn’t a super-known pitcher and has mostly struggled in his MLB career.
What I will say is that in 17 appearances for the Rays last season Guerra posted a solid 3.38 ERA. Though more advanced stats would show that Guerra might have gotten a little lucky as his FIP over these games was 5.30. Guerra is likely to win a spot as a backend reliever for the Brewers. We’ll have to wait and see if he ever becomes more than that. Assuming the Brewers didn’t give up anything ridiculous I’d say this is an alright move.
Waived Left Handed Pitcher Brent Suter (F)
Waiving Brent Suter is both upsetting to fans and will hurt the Brewers clubhouse. Suter has been reliable as a backend starter/long reliever since 2016. On top of that, he was a fan favorite for his great personality and seemed to help out a lot when it came to clubhouse chemistry as well.
I just don’t see a reason to do this. Suter signed with the Rockies for 3 million. This is a very reasonable price and something the Brewers could afford. I just don’t understand why you would do this. A fan favorite, a good clubhouse guy, and a decent player in multiple roles. There is simply not a reason I can think of for the Brewers doing this.
Traded Hunter Renfroe (OF) for Pitchers: Janson Junk, Elvis Peguero, and Adam Seminaris (C)
I saw some people mad about this trade on Twitter and I get it we gave up a good player supposedly because of money. However, there have been rumors that Hunter Renfroe is a clubhouse cancer and even some that he is racist. These are just rumors. There isn’t any hard evidence on this but I will say that this is Renfroe’s 5th team in 5 years. Considering Renfroe has been a pretty good player there has to be more to this bouncing around than just baseball. So these rumors may have some truth to them.
The Brewers also have Garrett Mitchell, Sal Frelick, and Joey Wiemer all of which are solid outfield prospects. Mitchell has already been called up and Frelick and Wiemer are right on the verge. The pitching depth is a nice plus though they have struggled early on in spring training. Overall this gets a C because if Renfroe really is a clubhouse cancer it’s good we got him out of here I just wish we could’ve gotten more for him.
Traded 2nd Baseman Kolten Wong and Cash for DH/Outfielder Jessie Winker and Infielder Abraham Toro (A-)
Kolten Wong was due an eight-figure salary this season. He was a decent 2nd baseman but the Brewers as we know are pretty cheap plus they have Brice Turang right at the pedestal of the Majors. Abraham Toro is a switch hitter with some infield versatility so he’ll be a nice depth piece.
Winker has put together some very good seasons in the past. If you’ve read my article on him you already know why I think he will bounce back and be really good for us. If not, I recommend reading that article too. If you’re interested in reading that click here.
Traded Outfielder Esteury Ruiz for Pitchers: Joel Payamps and Justin Yeager, and Catcher William Contreras (A+)
For those of you still mad about the Hader trade this can be a reason to move on. Ruiz is one of the prospects we got for Hader. This was a great move for the Brewers. Ruiz is a good outfield prospect but the Brewers already have 3 strong outfield prospects so it made sense to trade one. Payamps appears to be a decent reliever at first glance. Payamps has bounced around a lot of teams but has decent career numbers in the majors so he could be a solid reliever for the Brewers.
Yeager has been in the minors and his numbers looked alright. There’s nothing special about him from what I can see but he could be solid in the future. The big grab in this trade was William Contreras. The Brewers needed a catcher after letting Omar Narvaez walk.
Contreras was an All-Star with the Braves last season and on top of that Contreras isn’t arbitration eligible until 2025 and is under team control until 2028. So not only did the Brewers get themselves a good catcher, he’s going to be very cheap for the next couple of seasons and could be here for a long time.
Brewers Acquire Infielder Owen Miller for a player to be named later and Waived Mario Feliciano (C+)
Because once again we don’t know what the cost of this trade was, it’s only going to get a middle-of-the-pack grade. However, I do like Owen Miller. Miller grew up a Brewers fan which automatically makes me like him more. Besides that, he isn’t much of a power hitter but finds gaps pretty well and can play pretty much anywhere in the infield. In 130 games for the Indians last season Miller had a slash line of .243/.301/.351 which is not too shabby.
Miller is my pick to win the starting job at 2nd base but even if he doesn’t he’ll still see some pretty consistent playing time with his defensive versatility and ok bat. Feliciano being waived was slightly disappointing as he has a lot of potential but the Brewers acquired Payton Henry back from the Marlins so it’s not the end of the world by any means.
Brewers Sign Left-Handed Pitcher Wade Miley (B+)
Wade Miley was with the Brewers during their deep playoff run in 2018 and since then has gone around the league and been a solid starter for basically every team to get him. Miley should be a reliable backend starter and provide a nice veteran presence to the backend of the rotation.
Brewers Sign Utility Man Brian Anderson (B)
Brian Anderson had some nice seasons in Miami playing primarily at 3rd base and Left Field. Last season Anderson made two stints on the IL with shoulder issues. Anderson claims that his shoulder is no longer bothering him and also mentioned that he put in a lot of work this offseason. Based on this information I expect Anderson to rebound this year and be a solid addition to the Brewers.
Brewers Win Corbin Burnes Arbitration (D)
The Brewers recently took their Ace (Corbin Burnes) to arbitration over less than a million dollars and won. The Brewers listed Burnes as a reason they didn’t make the playoffs last season and a bunch of other negative things about Burnes to win the hearing. This upset Burnes a lot and really hurt the Brewers’ reputation as a whole. A lot of fans were mad as well because they believe this will be the reason Burnes leaves the Brewers in the future.
I will say Burnes would have most likely left once he was eligible for free agency anyway. The Brewers were never going to be able to match the contracts he was going to get offered from big market teams. The Brewers clearly know this and decided it would be wise to just try and save more money. I don’t condone treating your star players like this by any means. I’m just saying Burnes would have left anyway. The reason this gets a D is only that we saved money by doing this but the Brewers’ reputation did hurt from this.
Brewers Sign Left-Handed Pitcher Justin Wilson (B-)
Wilson underwent Tommy John surgery last June so he won’t be able to play for us until the 2nd half of the season. The left-handed veteran is going into his 12th season in the MLB and holds a solid career stat line with a 3.41 ERA and 3.45 FIP. Once he returns to full health Wilson will be a nice left-handed option in what is a primarily right-handed bullpen for the Brewers. Overall a decent signing though I obviously wish he wasn’t injured.
Minor League Deals: Brewers Sign First Baseman Luke Voit and Outfielder Tyler Naquin (B+)
Luke Voit is a good power hitter with some excellent seasons in the majors. They get a big power hitter that could pair well with Rowdy Tellez at first base if he makes the team. On the flip side if Voit regressed the Brewers have multiple other players that could fill his role.
Tyler Naquin is also a potential power bat for the Brewers. Over the past 2 seasons, Naquin has hit 30 home runs and posted a slash line of .252/311/.454. Defensively Naquin is best suited for Left and Right Field but has some experience in Center as well so you can expect to see him playing all 3 spots. Outside of Yelich, it’s still being determined who the starters will be in the outfield.
Tyrone Taylor is an above-average defender but is pretty mediocre as a hitter, Mitchell looks promising but still needs to establish himself (though I’m sure he’ll get an opportunity). The Brewers also have multiple high-end outfield prospects who could be called up. Having another reliable veteran the Brewers can go to in the outfield was a must and Naquin is exactly that. Both of these are pretty good moves.
Overall Grade: B
For an Overall grade, I give the Brewers a B. Outside of Winker and Contreras the Brewers mostly just made some solid depth signings. They did make some questionable decisions when it came to waiving Brent Suter, taking Burnes to arbitration, and not starting extension talks with any players but extension talks could still happen, Burnes was most likely going to leave anyway, and while all of us fans will miss Brent Suter’s personality and clubhouse presence when solely looking at production Suter is replaceable. There were ups and downs but I would say this offseason was alright.
