The Brewers have acquired catcher Payton Henry from the Marlins, per team announcements. Minor league outfielder Reminton Batista is headed back to Miami. The Fish used the vacated 40-man roster spot to select the contract of left-hander Sean Reynolds.
Henry, 25, made the Marlins major league roster out of spring training but only appeared in 15 games before being optioned back to Triple-A on May 26. He went just 4-for-28 – all singles – with eight strikeouts in that small sample. He injured himself not long after returning to the minors, requiring surgery on his thumb and spending around two months out. He returned in early August and hit .239/.325/.324 with a single home run across 83 plate appearances.
Henry was actually drafted by the Brewers in the sixth round of the 2016 draft, but was flipped to the Marlins in 2021 in a deadline deal for John Curtiss. His prospect reports rated him as a solid defender with good raw power but lacking in the hitting department. He did display that home run power early on in the minors with Milwaukee, but it dropped off after reaching the Double-A level. The Brewers have Victor Caratini and Alex Jackson on their major league roster, and given Henry has minor league options remaining, he figures to join them as catching depth in 2023.
Going back the other is Batista, a 17-year-old outfield prospect out of the Dominican Republic. He hit .252/.348/.333 for the Brewers affiliate in the Dominican Summer League. He didn’t show much power, but did swipe 18 bags across 46 games.
The trade allows the Marlins to add Reynolds to the 40-man roster, protecting him from the Rule 5 draft. Reynolds was drafted in the fourth round of the 2016 draft, and initially started his career as a hitter, but he never had much success and he’s been pitching as a reliever in their system since 2021. He struck out 33.6% of batters against a 12.1% walk rate on the way to a 3.25 ERA across 27 2/3 innings at High-A in 2022. He struggled a bit once promoted to Double-A, seeing his strikeout rate dip to 25.2% and tossing 24 2/3 innings of 5.11 ERA. Given it’s only his second season pitching in their system, the Marlins clearly believe there’s enough potential here that’s it worth having him occupy a 40-man spot to avoid losing him to other teams in next month’s Rule 5 draft.
Depressing. Just depressing.
I’m sure this must be tough for all members of the Reminton Batista fan club. Be strong.
This is just another MiLB trade to see if you can get a lucky grab. I don’t get why the Brewers agreed to give this kid for Henry. I actually am surprised the Marlins could even get this return for Henry after he lost his opportunity to Nick Fortes, and wasn’t even good enough to be a backup for us.
I’m guessing the Brewers are worried they won’t be able to re-sign Omar Narvaez so they figured they might as well shore up the catching depth and hope Payton figures something out as a hitter. It’s hard to say what the Brewers are going to do though, I think they’re in that weird in-between stage. They could still compete for a playoff spot as-is (central division is pretty weak usually) but the offense has taken a couple of steps back and they’re getting older/more expensive. They’re not a big market team, so I don’t see them breaking the bank on any of the top free agents to keep the dream alive, and you can only trade from the farm system so many times before you run out of good prospects teams would actually trade talent for.
Liked Payton hope he finds his spot in Milwaukee.
He’s a good defender behind the plate, but doesn’t seem to have an MLB bat. He very likely ends up being a career defensive backup.
Maldonado was a Brewer for years and won a WS with Astro’s. Look at his offensive stats if you dare – they are actually offensive.
Interesting move. Gotta give credit to Ng for getting young player like this for Henry.
Definitely going to become an mvp candidate for a few seasons, land an extension, and fall off the map shortly after
A tale as old as time
It’s interesting to see Reynolds first up to fill a place on the 40 man. I’m guessing a few more trades are being discussed. Hardly epoch making stuff, but could make a small difference somewhere down the line
Brewers get their 3rd string catcher and the Marlins get a lotto ticket.
Or they’re shoring up the position since Narvaez is a free agent and likely won’t re-sign with the Brewers.