On the Milwaukee Brewers trade deadline bucket list this year there should be a left-handed relief pitcher. Currently Hoby Milner is the only consistently used southpaw in the Brew Crew’s bullpen. Justin Wilson is on the mend, but the fact that Thomas Pannone was chosen over promoting Ethan Small signals that the organization may be starting to lose confidence in their former first round draft pick.
Milwaukee’s need for a left-handed reliever has been a known issue all season and they recently missed out on one trade target in which the cost to acquire him was minuscule. This is in reference to the Kansas City Royals trading Aroldis Chapman to the Texas Rangers.
Kansas City Royals-Texas Rangers trade signals a big missed opportunity from the Milwaukee Brewers.
On Friday night the Kansas City Royals announced that they were sending Aroldis Chapman to the Texas Rangers in exchange for pitcher Cole Ragans and outfielder Roni Cabrera. Aroldis Chapman is a rental this year and the Rangers gave up very little prospect capital to make this deal happen.
Cole Ragans was drafted 30th overall in the 2016 draft but has not found big league success yet. He should get an opportunity this year in Kansas City and if all goes well he projects out at best as a back end of the rotation starter.
Roni Cabrera was signed by the Rangers from the Dominican Republic. He is a right-handed hitting outfielder who turns 18 years old later this summer. It will be several years before the Royals know the outcome of taking a flier on this young prospect.
From a Brewers perspective they could have easily swung a similar deal. Unfortunately the aggressive Texas Rangers got this deal done one month before the trade deadline. Kudos to them for acquiring the re-surging Aroldis Chapman early and gaining an extra month of being able to utilize him.
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