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Brewers Designate Justin Smoak, Claim Daniel Vogelbach

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6:02pm: Milwaukee has announced the moves. The Brewers acquired Vogelbach via waivers.

3:23pm: The Brewers have designated first baseman Justin Smoak for assignment and acquired 1B/DH Daniel Vogelbach from the Blue Jays, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reports.

The switch-hitting Smoak had a couple very good years with the Blue Jays from 2017-18, but his production went downward in ’19 during his final campaign in Toronto. The Brewers, hoping for a bounce-back effort, signed the 33-year-old Smoak to a $5MM guarantee last offseason, but the deal didn’t pay dividends for the club. Smoak logged an ugly .186/.262/.381 line with five home runs in 126 plate appearances this year before the Brewers designated him. Thanks in large part to Smoak, first base has been a black hole for Milwaukee, though Jedd Gyorko (who has totaled the second-most starts there for the club) has posted terrific production over a small sample.

Vogelbach could now wind up in the mix at first for the Brewers, but he hasn’t lined up there at all this year between Seattle and Toronto, instead playing all of his games as a DH. While Vogelbach was a Mariners All-Star a year ago, his numbers plummeted in the second half then, and he certainly hasn’t offered a DH-caliber bat this season. Between the M’s and Jays, he hit an abysmal .088/.246/.211 with two home runs in 69 plate appearances. Toronto designated Vogelbach after four at-bats as a member of the team.

Brewers Release Justin Grimm, Select Phil Bickford

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The Brewers have released reliever Justin Grimm, Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel tweets. The club also announced that it has selected right-hander Phil Bickford, placed infielder Jedd Gyorko on the bereavement list, optioned righty Trey Supak and recalled outfielder Tyrone Taylor.

Milwaukee was the fifth major league team for Grimm, who has logged a 5.14 ERA/4.20 FIP with 9.16 K/9 and 3.94 BB/9 across a lifetime 360 2/3 innings. He only racked up 4 2/3 frames as a member of the Brewers, with whom he surrendered nine earned runs on nine hits and four walks (six strikeouts). The Brewers designated Grimm for assignment Aug. 28.

Bickford, 25, entered the pros as the 18th overall pick of the Giants in 2018 and eventually became a top 50 prospect, though he hasn’t pitched above the Single-A level yet. But Bickford has been rather effective in the minors, including when he posted a 2.48 ERA/2.03 FIP with 14.6 K/9 and 3.03 BB/9 over 32 2/3 frames last season.

NL Central Trade Deadline Recap

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With the deadline in the rearview mirror, we’ll look back at each NL Central team’s trade activity over the past month.

Chicago Cubs

Cincinnati Reds

Milwaukee Brewers

Pittsburgh Pirates

St. Louis Cardinals

  • None

Minor MLB Transactions: 8/31/20

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A round-up of some smaller moves with the trade deadline in the rearview mirror:

  • The Mariners announced they’ve transferred left-hander Nestor Cortes to the 45-day injured list with a left elbow impingement. He’d been placed on the 10-day IL August 15. The former Yankee long reliever was bombed in his five appearances for Seattle this season, surrendering 14 runs (13 earned) on six home runs with eight strikeouts and six walks in 7.2 innings. The move clears a space on Seattle’s 40-man roster.
  • The Angels announced they’ve selected the contract of catcher José Briceño. The 27-year-old saw action in 46 games for Los Angeles back in 2018, hitting .239/.299/.385 in 128 plate appearances. Briceño will step into the #2 catching role behind Anthony Bemboom. The Angels traded starting backstop Jason Castro to the Padres yesterday.
  • The Brewers have selected the contract of right-hander Justin Topa, the team announced. The 29-year-old will be making his MLB debut whenever he first gets into a game. Milwaukee signed Topa out of independent ball after the 2018 season, and he went on to put up a 2.63 ERA in 24 innings in Double-A in 2019. He’ll step into the bullpen void left by today’s trade of David Phelps to the Phillies.
  • The Red Sox announced they have selected the contracts of three players: infielder Yairo Muñoz, left-hander Mike Kickham and right-hander Robinson Leyer. Muñoz, 25, signed with Boston on a minor-league deal after a bizarre end to his time with the Cardinals. Kickham, 31, hasn’t pitched in the majors since tossing 30.1 innings with the 2013-14 Giants. Leyer, 27, has yet to make his major league debut. He has a 4.01 ERA in parts of five Double-A seasons.

Phillies Acquire David Phelps

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5:34 pm: Milwaukee will eventually pick up a trio of young pitchers in the deal, reports Adam McCalvy of MLB.com. Right-handers Brandon Ramey, Israel Puello and Juan Geraldo will be the final return. Because they were not included in the Phillies’ 60-man player pool, they are ineligible to be officially named as part of the trade until after the season.

2:30 pm: The Phillies have acquired right-hander David Phelps from the Brewers, according to The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal and Matt Gelb (Twitter link).  Milwaukee will receive three prospects in return, as per MLB Network’s Jon Heyman.

After missing all of 2018 recovering from Tommy John surgery, Phelps looked good over 34 1/3 innings with the Blue Jays and Cubs last season and has been sensational in 13 innings for Milwaukee this season.  Phelps has a 2.77 ERA, 52% grounder rate, 13.8 K/9, and a sterling 10.00 K/BB rate, not to mention some of the best soft-contact numbers of any pitcher in the league.

The deal reunites Phelps with Joe Girardi, who was Phelps’ manager with the Yankees from 2012-14.  More importantly, Phelps gives the Phillies another new arm to help revive what has been a dreadful bullpen thus far in the 2020 season.  Philadelphia has already acquired Brandon Workman, David Hale, and Heath Hembree in recent days to help address the relief corps, and it wouldn’t be surprising to see the Phils add another reliever beyond Phelps before the deadline.

Phelps is under control through the 2021 season, as the Phillies hold a $4.5MM club option on his services (with a $250K buyout).  With Workman, Jose Alvarez, and Tommy Hunter slated for free agency and David Robertson and Hector Neris likely to have their club options declined, Phelps gives the Phils some extra bullpen depth for 2021 if they choose to exercise his option.

Brewers Receiving Interest In Hader, Burnes

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The Brewers are receiving a lot of interest on Josh Hader and Corbin Burnes, MLB Network’s Jon Heyman reports (all links to Twitter), though there isn’t any sign that Milwaukee would consider moving either reliever for anything less than a major offer, particularly for Hader.  Brett Anderson or David Phelps are perhaps more realistic options to be dealt if the Brewers opt to move an arm.  The Yankees and Twins are two of the clubs who have been in touch with the Brew Crew about Hader, but there hasn’t been much indication that talks led anywhere.

Brewers Designate Justin Grimm; Manny Pina To Undergo Knee Surgery

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5:32pm: Not so fast on Pina, who says he’ll require at least four weeks to recover from surgery and is hoping he’ll return if the Brewers make the playoffs (via Haudricourt).

4:21pm: Pina will undergo season-ending surgery, manager Craig Counsell told Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and other reporters.

3:31pm: The Brewers announced that they’ve designated right-hander Justin Grimm for assignment and placed catcher Manny Pina on the 10-day injured list due to a torn meniscus in his right knee. Pina sustained the injury on a pickoff play last night, MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy tweets. Catcher Jacob Nottingham has been recalled from the alternate training site to replace Pina on the active roster.

Grimm, 32, has appeared in four games for the Brewers this year but surrendered multiple runs in three of those appearances. He’s been tagged for nine runs on nine hits (four homers) and four walks with six punchouts in 4 2/3 frames. Although he was once a quality relief option with the division-rival Cubs — 3.36 ERA and 3.20 FIP in 171 innings from 2014-16 — Grimm has seen his results decline precipitously since that stretch. He’s logged 77 1/3 innings in the Majors over the past four seasons and struggled to an alarming 7.33 ERA.

As for Pina, it’s a tough blow for the Brewers and the 33-year-old backstop alike. He’s out to a .231/.333/.410 slash to begin the season — solid production for any catcher, let alone a backup — but will now likely miss the remainder of the year. Even speedy recoveries from a meniscus tear can take a month, and for a catcher, any knee issue carries additional difficulty. Pina has been the Brewers’ backup catcher dating back to 2017, providing solid glovework and respectable OBP skills and pop for a reserve catcher. Since 2017, he’s a .257/.317/.411 hitter.

Nottingham has gotten brief looks in each of the past two seasons — nine games apiece — and will now step in as the primary backup to Omar Narvaez. He’s a .231/.355/.385 hitter in 31 MLB plate appearances and a .250/.326/.421 hitter in 528 PAs at the Triple-A level.

Manny Pina Leaves Game With Knee Injury

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  • Manny Pina left tonight’s game with a right knee injury, the Brewers announced.  Pina suffered the injury while getting back to first base on a pickoff attempt during the second inning, and was replaced by Omar Narvaez.  The initial outlook isn’t good, as manager Craig Counsell told Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and other reporters that Pina is on crutches and is having trouble putting weight on his right leg.  Pina is in his fifth year in Milwaukee and has been hitting respectably well, bringing a .231/.318/.410 slash line (roughly his career average) over 44 plate appearances coming into today’s doubleheader with the Reds.  Pina’s steady production has been helpful given Narvaez’s struggles this season, so Milwaukee would be particularly hampered behind the plate if Pina has to go on the injured list.  Jacob Nottingham and David Freitas are the only catchers with MLB experience at the Brewers’ alternate training site.

Brewers Release Brock Holt

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The Brewers have released utilityman Brock Holt, tweets MLB Network’s Jon Heyman. He’d been designated for assignment over the weekend.

Holt, 32, established himself as a versatile jack of all trades in parts of seven seasons with the Red Sox — particularly in the two-year lead up to his first foray into free agency. In 662 plate appearances from 2018-19, Holt posted a combined .286/.366/.407 batting line with 10 homers, 32 doubles, four triples and eight steals. Along the way, he saw time at all four infield positions and in both outfield corners, with defensive metrics casting an especially favorable light on his work at second base — his primary position in Boston.

Despite a strong two-year platform, however, Holt was met with a rather tepid market in free agency. He lingered in limbo until signing a late, one-year deal with Milwaukee that promised him $3.25MM in the form of a $2.5MM salary and a $750K buyout on a $5MM option for the 2021 season.

Holt’s time in Milwaukee could scarcely have gone worse. He appeared in 16 games and took 36 plate appearances with only a .100/.222/.100 batting line to show for it (3-for-30 with four walks, a sacrifice and one hit-by-pitch). He was deployed only in the outfield corners and at third base during his brief stint as a Brewer.

Assuming he’s already cleared release waivers, Holt will now be a free agent who is eligible to sign with any club for the prorated league minimum — about $97K between now and season’s end. That sum would be subtracted from the $430K the Brewers still owe him (in addition to the aforementioned option buyout). While the Brewers clearly didn’t find a trade partner in the early stages of Holt’s DFA limbo period, he could certainly draw interest as a bench piece on a contending club now that he can be had for a relatively minimal sum.

Multiple Games On Wednesday Postponed

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8:28pm: The league issued a statement expressing support for those who opted out of playing Wednesday. “Given the pain in the communities of Wisconsin and beyond following the shooting of Jacob Blake, we respect the decisions of a number of players not to play tonight. MLB remains united for change in our society & we will be allies in the fight to end racism and injustice.”

8:04pm: Dodgers-Giants has also been postponed, according to J.P. Hoornstra of the Southern California News Group. The plan is for the two to play a doubleheader Wednesday, Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area relays.

7:27pm: “We’re likely to play tomorrow,” Brewers manager Craig Counsell said (via Jeff Passan of ESPN). The league has since confirmed that the Brewers and Reds will play a doubleheader Wednesday. Meanwhile, the Mariners and Padres figure to do the same, Acee suggests.

6:08pm: The Mariners have voted against playing their game versus the Padres tonight, Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune tweets. The game has been postponed, per Jon Heyman of MLB Network.

5:07pm: The Brewers have elected against playing Wednesday’s game against the Reds, Jared Diamond of the Wall Street Journal reports. The club made the decision in response to the recent police shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wis. The Reds are on board with the Brewers’ choice, Joel Sherman of the New York Post tweets.

The Brewers are the second Milwaukee pro team to make this move, following the NBA’s Bucks, who aren’t playing their scheduled playoff contest against the Orlando Magic on Wednesday. The NBA decided after that to postpone all of its postseason games for the day, and it’s unclear if or when the league will resume in 2020.

As the Brewers were deciding whether to play Wednesday, star reliever Josh Hader said (via Bob Nightengale of USA Today): “It’s a tremendous stand. We have to bring light to this situation that we have, it’s a big thing.”

The Brewers and Reds are slated to pick up their series Thursday in Milwaukee, but it’s unknown whether that will happen or whether they’ll play a doubleheader if they do take the field then.

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