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MLBTR Podcast: The Jorge Polanco Trade, Rhys Hoskins and the Blue Jays’ Plans

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The latest episode of the MLB Trade Rumors Podcast is now live on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your podcasts! Make sure you subscribe as well! You can also use the player at this link to listen, if you don’t use Spotify or Apple for podcasts.

This week, host Darragh McDonald is joined by Anthony Franco of MLB Trade Rumors to discuss…

Plus, we answer your questions, including…

  • Is Cody Bellinger unsigned because of his asking price? Will the Cubs sign him or do they not want to block their outfield prospect? (27:35)
  • Should the Mariners sign Blake Snell? Will they? Can they? (31:40)

Check out our past episodes!

The podcast intro and outro song “So Long” is provided courtesy of the band Showoff.  Check out their Facebook page here!

Brewers Sign Rhys Hoskins

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January 26: The Associated Press relays the full contract breakdown. Hoskins will make $12MM this year and will be slated for a salary of $18MM in 2025. If he decides to opt out after 2024, he will get a $4MM buyout. The mutual option for 2026 is valued at $18MM and there’s a $4MM buyout on that as well.

January 23: The Brewers announced they have signed free agent first baseman Rhys Hoskins to a two-year deal with an opt-out after 2024 and a mutual option for 2026. It is reportedly a $34MM guarantee for the client of the Boras Corporation.

Hoskins takes a modified pillow contract after missing the entire 2023 season. At the tail end of Spring Training, he tore the ACL in his left knee while retreating to the outfield grass to field a chopper. While he was able to take batting practice by the end of the season, he never quite made it back to the roster. Philadelphia suggested Hoskins may have been activated from the injured list had they advanced to the World Series.

With the Phils coming up a game short of the Fall Classic, the ACL tear marked an unfortunate end to a productive tenure at Citizens Bank Park. Hoskins seemed a potential candidate for the qualifying offer at the beginning of the offseason. The Phils opted against the QO, declaring they were moving Bryce Harper to first base permanently. That made clear Hoskins was headed elsewhere after nearly a decade in the organization.

The Phillies initially selected him in the fifth round of the 2014 draft. Despite the modest draft stock, he hit the ground running in pro ball. He posted huge minor league numbers, mashing his way to the big leagues in the second half of the 2017 campaign.

That excellent production on the farm presaged strong numbers against MLB pitching. Hoskins raked at a .259/.396/.618 clip with 18 home runs over his first 50 games. While he didn’t maintain that pace over any subsequent season, he has been a consistent middle-of-the-lineup presence in Philadelphia.

Hoskins hit between 27 and 34 home runs in his four full seasons between 2018-22. He was on a similar pace in the shortened season, connecting on 10 longballs in 41 games. He has paired that with a walk rate above 10% in every year of his career. That power and patience gives him a solid offensive floor, even if he hasn’t hit above .250 in any season since his rookie year.

Since 2018, Hoskins has posted a .241/.350/.483 batting line. He strikes out in roughly a quarter of his plate appearances. That’s slightly higher than the league average but hardly outlandish, particularly for a player who hits for the kind of power he does. Hoskins has destroyed left-handed pitching at a .250/.399/.522 clip in his career. His .240/.336/.482 slash versus same-handed arms isn’t quite as impressive but remains solidly above average.

The offense carries the overall profile. Hoskins doesn’t offer much as a baserunner. He has graded as a slightly below-average defender throughout his career. It’s unlikely his defense will improve as he’s into his 30s and working back from a significant knee injury.

That’s fine for the Brewers, who needed an offensive upgrade. Milwaukee ranked 17th in runs last season, a subpar figure for a team that plays its home games at hitter-friendly American Family Field. By measure of wRC+, which adjusts for park, Milwaukee ranked 24th in overall hitting production. That was the worst of any playoff team.

First base was particularly problematic. Milwaukee received a dismal .231/.292/.389 showing from the bat-first position. That led the Brew Crew to non-tender Rowdy Tellez. Milwaukee acquired Carlos Santana at the deadline to stabilize first base for the stretch run. The Brewers have remained in contact with Santana this winter, but they’ll instead jump on the opportunity for a more significant lineup upgrade.

The contract aligns with MLBTR’s prediction of two years and $36MM. A few priority rebound targets have landed a two-year guarantee with an opt-out in recent offseasons. That’s appealing for the player, who locks in more security than they’d have received on a straight one-year pact while still allowing them to get back to free agency after one season.

Hoskins’ deal nearly matches the two-year, $36MM pact which Michael Conforto signed with the Giants last winter after missing the ’22 season rehabbing from shoulder surgery. Players like Josh Bell (two years, $33MM) and Lucas Giolito (two years, $38.5MM) have signed similar pacts after terrible finishes to their respective platform seasons. This contract structure isn’t attainable for every bounceback candidate, but it’s one that higher-ceiling free agents of that ilk are increasingly able to secure.

The specific salary structure hasn’t been reported. If the deal guarantees Hoskins $17MM in each season, it’d push Milwaukee’s payroll projection around $122MM, as calculated by Roster Resource. That’s marginally above last year’s $119MM Opening Day mark. Milwaukee’s payroll slate remains manageable even with Hoskins joining Corbin Burnes and Willy Adames (each of whom will make more than $12MM in their final arbitration seasons) on the books.

If Hoskins picks up where he left off before the injury, he’d likely join Burnes and Adames on next year’s free agent market. As with Burnes and Adames, Hoskins would be a candidate for a qualifying offer if he exercises the opt-out. He remains eligible for the QO since Philadelphia opted against the offer this winter. Milwaukee doesn’t have to forfeit any draft picks to add him.

Pete Alonso, Paul Goldschmidt and Christian Walker could all join Hoskins in an interesting first base class next winter. The remaining options for teams this offseason isn’t as robust. Beyond outfielder/first baseman Cody Bellinger, the top first basemen still unsigned are Brandon Belt, Santana, Garrett Cooper and Joey Votto.

Jeff Passan of ESPN first reported that the two parties were closing in on a two-year, $34MM deal with an opt-out next winter (X link). Mark Feinsand of MLB.com reported that they’d finalized the agreement.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Brewers, Christian Arroyo Agree To Minor League Deal

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8:23am: The two parties are in agreement on a minor league contract, reports Robert Murray of FanSided. The deal contains a $1.5MM salary at the big league level, and Arroyo would have the opportunity to unlock an additional $500K via incentives. Those incentives are tied to plate appearances, a source told MLBTR while also confirming the terms of the deal. Arroyo will be in camp as a non-roster invitee when spring training opens.

8:13am: The Brewers have agreed to a deal with free agent infielder Christian Arroyo, reports Adam McCalvy of MLB.com. Terms of the arrangement are not yet known. Arroyo is represented by O’Connell Sports Management.

Arroyo, 28, has spent the past four seasons with the Red Sox but was designated for assignment and outrighted off the 40-man roster not long after the 2023 trade deadline. He elected free agency at season’s end. He’s six days shy of five years of MLB service, meaning that he can be controlled through the 2025 season via arbitration, if the Brewers choose.

The 2023 season was a rough one for Arroyo, who had a pair of IL stints due to a hamstring strain and an ankle sprain. He appeared in 66 games when healthy but scuffled with a .241/.268/.369 batting line over the course of 206 trips to the plate. Coincidentally, Boston cut him loose in August after acquiring infielder Luis Urias in a trade with the same Brewers organization that Arroyo will now join.

Prior to his 2023 struggles, Arroyo had a solid run at the plate with the Red Sox. From 2020-22, the former first-round pick (No. 25 overall by the Giants in 2013) and top prospect slashed a combined .273/.320/.427. He walked at a well below-average 4.7% clip but also showed off above-average contact skills and a 19.4% strikeout rate that was a few percentage points lower than the league average.

While he’s played all over the infield and also logged 108 innings in right field in 2022, Arroyo has played primarily second base and third base in the big leagues. Defensive metrics generally agree that he’s a sound defender at second base, where he’s tallied 12 Defensive Runs Saved and an 8.5 Ultimate Zone Rating in 1332 innings there. Statcast’s Outs Above Average considers him to be essentially average there. His grades at third base aren’t as strong, but he’s also only logged 447 innings at the hot corner in the big leagues. Beyond his work at second, third and in right field, Arroyo has 195 career innings at shortstop and another 53 frames at first base.

Arroyo’s experience around the diamond should serve him well for a Brewers club that has question marks at each of his primary positions. Former first-rounder Brice Turang will likely get the first crack at second base in Milwaukee, but he hit just .218/.285/.300 in 448 trips to the plate as a rookie. Turang was optioned multiple times in 2023 and ripped through Triple-A pitching in Nashville (.298/.365/.561), but he’s yet to find his stride in the bigs.

It’s a similar story at the hot corner, where 26-year-old Andruw Monasterio hit .271/.343/.371 to begin his MLB career but saw his production crater in the season’s final few weeks. Monasterio finished out the season with a .259/.330/.348 slash that checked in 12% below league average, by measure of wRC+. He played strong defense at the hot corner, which surely helps his cause as well, but as a career .257/.365/.370 hitter in three Triple-A seasons, he’s hardly a lock to provide enough offense to carry the position at the MLB level.

Both Turang and Monasterio have minor league options remaining, so it’s feasible that Arroyo could challenge either for a larger role in the Milwaukee infield. He could also win a bench job over current right-handed-hitting utility infielder Owen Miller, who hit .261/.303/.371 with the Brew Crew in 2023 (81 wRC+). Like Turang and Monasterio, Miller has a minor league option remaining and could thus be sent down to Nashville (without needing to pass through waivers) in the event Arroyo outplays him this spring.

Brewers Interested In Garrett Cooper

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The Brewers are known to be looking for additions at first base, with general manager Matt Arnold having admitted last month that both infield corners could use some work, listing a reunion with Carlos Santana as one move they have interest in. Today, Robert Murray of FanSided reiterates that interest in Santana but adds that the Brewers have also considered Garrett Cooper.

Cooper, 33, has plenty of success as a big league hitter but just had an ill-timed down year as he was heading into free agency. He hit .274/.350/.444 from 2019 to 2022, with that production translating to a wRC+ of 117, indicating he was 17% better than the league average hitter. Due to the pandemic and some injuries, he only played 331 games over that four-year stretch, but it was nonetheless a solid run of work at the plate.

But as mentioned, his production took a bit of a dip last year. Between the Marlins and the Padres, having been traded to the latter prior to the deadline, he hit .251/.304/.419 for a wRC+ of 96. On the plus side, he did stay healthy enough to play in 123 games, a career high. But it was obviously not the ideal platform season for him to take into free agency.

Nonetheless, the interest from the Brewers is sensible, as they didn’t have anyone firmly established at first base last year. Santana and Rowdy Tellez got most of the plate appearances, but the latter hit just .215/.291/.376, which led to him being non-tendered and signing with the Pirates. Santana’s line of .240/.318/.429 was right around league average but he’s now a free agent and going into his age-38 season. The club also gave some playing time to guys like Owen Miller, Luke Voit, Jon Singleton and Mike Brosseau, without any of them staking a firm claim to the job.

The club has made one addition at first base this offseason, acquiring Jake Bauers from the Yankees. But he has hit just .211/.302/.361 in his 1,398 major league plate appearances thus far in his career and shouldn’t stand in the way of Cooper joining the roster. Cooper hits right-handed and Bauers a lefty, but even Cooper’s weaker side is stronger than Bauers with the platoon advantage. Cooper has hit .286/.338/.478 against lefties in his career for a wRC+ of 120 and .262/.337/.419 against righties for a wRC+ of 107. Bauers has a paltry .210/.276/.330 line and 65 wRC+ against southpaws and then .211/.310/.371 and 89 wRC+ against righties.

Cooper isn’t a burner on the basepaths but is considered solid on defense. His time at first base has resulted in three Defensive Runs Saved, eight Outs Above Average and a grade of 2.1 from Ultimate Zone Rating. He’s also been sent out to the outfield corners at times but with his work there generally being considered subpar.

The Brewers are the defending champions in the National League Central but they won the division despite a rather tepid offense. As a whole, the club hit .240/.319/.385 for a wRC+ of 92, which was better than just six other teams. They could get a boost when prospect Jackson Chourio reaches the majors but not all prospects immediately hit the ground running when they make it to the show. Meanwhile, the other clubs in the division have all been active in upgrading their rosters for 2024.

There are other big bats available in free agency but the Brewers might want to use the designated hitter slot on Christian Yelich as they are loaded with young outfielders like Chourio, Sal Frelick, Garrett Mitchell, Joey Wiemer and others. They have William Contreras at catcher and Willy Adames as anchors at catcher and shortstop, respectively. Brice Turang will likely get another shot at second base since the free agent market for that position is fairly weak.

At first base, there are other options out there. Rhys Hoskins would be considered by most to be the top available name, despite missing all of 2023 due to a torn ACL. MLBTR predicted him for a two-year, $36MM deal, which would be a little rich for the Brewers. In the last five years, the largest free agent deal they’ve given out was $24MM over two years for Jackie Bradley Jr., as shown on MLBTR’s Contract Tracker.

Of the other names available at first, a lot of them are on the older side and likely couldn’t handle a full-time gig at first. Brandon Belt is coming off a strong season at the plate but he’s about to turn 36 and only made 28 starts at first on the year. Joey Votto is now 40 and was trying to come back from shoulder surgery last year. C.J. Cron is 34 but coming off an injury-marred year where he only played 71 games and wasn’t at his best when healthy.

Cooper has never really been the picture of health, having spent time on the injured list in his career due to a wrist sprain, a calf strain, a lumbar strain, an elbow sprain, a concussion, an inner ear infection and more. He’s only twice played more than 107 games in a season, but both of those instances were the last two seasons.

Brewers, Corbin Burnes Avoid Arbitration

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The Brewers and right-hander Corbin Burnes have agreed to a one-year deal worth $15.637MM for the 2024 campaign to avoid arbitration, according to Jon Heyman of the New York Post.

Burnes, 29, put together a strong season in 2023 with a 3.39 ERA in 193 2/3 trips to the plate. That performance earned him a third consecutive All Star appearance and and eighth-place finish in NL Cy Young award voting, his fourth consecutive season placing in the top eight or higher. That being said, the 2023 campaign did see Burnes take some small steps back as well. Though he punched out 200 batters for the third straight season, the right-hander’s 25.5% strikeout rate was the lowest of his career since a 38-inning cup of coffee out of the Milwaukee bullpen back in 2018. Meanwhile, Burnes allowed free passes at an 8.4% clip after entering the season with a career 6.7% walk rate.

Despite those concerns, Burnes was nonetheless among the best pitchers in the league last season, with a 3.4 fWAR that ranked 19th among qualified starters last season alongside the likes of Luis Castillo and Kodai Senga. That earned Burnes a salary slightly above the $15.1MM projection put forth by MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz back in October. It’s perhaps particularly noteworthy for Burnes and the Brewers to agree to a deal rather than head to an arbitration hearing given the right-hander’s comments last February on the heels of his loss in a hearing against the club regarding his 2023 salary, where the sides were apart by just $750K. Given the contentious hearing the sides went through last year, it’s hardly surprising that both sides would prefer to avoid a similar situation this winter, Burnes’s final before hitting free agency next offseason.

Burnes has been the subject of plenty of trade rumors this offseason. While that’s hardly a surprise given his contractual status and Milwaukee’s decision to non-tender co-ace Brandon Woodruff earlier this winter, comments from GM Matt Arnold have indicated that the Brewers still plan on Burnes taking the ball for the club on Opening Day. That, of course, could change as the offseason continues to progress. It’s worth noting that, whether or not Burnes ends up traded before the season begins, he’s publicly made clear that he’s unlikely to sign an extension this winter and looks forward to hitting the open market come November. In the meantime, however, the right-hander projects at the front of a Brewers rotation that also features Freddy Peralta, Wade Miley, Colin Rea, and Joe Ross.

Brewers, Willy Adames Avoid Arbitration

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The Brewers and shortstop Willy Adames have avoided arbitration, per Robert Murray of FanSided. The CAA Sports client will make $12.25MM in 2024.

The 2023 season was a slight step back for Adames at the plate but he continued to excel on defense. He hit 24 home runs last year, a bit below the 25 he hit in 2021 and the 31 in 2022. His .217 batting average was also the lowest of his career. He made up for that somewhat by having a career-best walk rate of 11.1% but his overall offense was still below average, leading to a wRC+ of 94.

But on the other side of his game, Adames produced 16 Outs Above Average, second only to Dansby Swanson among all big league shortstops. His 5.9 Ultimate Zone Rating was also tied for second in the majors among shortstops, behind Francisco Lindor in this case, while his eight Defensive Runs Saved put him in the top 10. FanGraphs considered him to be worth 3.4 wins above replacement on the year even with that slightly disappointing offense.

This is the third arbitration season for Adames, who made $4.6MM in 2022 and then $8.7MM last year. MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projected Adames for a raise to $12.4MM in 2024 and he will come in just a shade beneath that.

Adames has been a speculative trade candidate this winter, a reflection of his talent, his escalating salary and the fact that he is now one year removed from free agency. The Brewers have occasionally made trades of notable players before they reach the open market, with Josh Hader as the most famous example. As of a few months ago, the club was set to have Adames, Corbin Burnes and Brandon Woodruff all playing their final arbitration seasons on eight-figure deals in 2024. But Woodruff required shoulder surgery that is going to have him miss most or all of the upcoming season, which led to his non-tender.

There have still plenty of rumors this winter, moreso about Burnes than about Adames. If the club were to consider trading their shortstop, it would be a tricky balancing act with the weak crop of free agents for the position. On the one hand, they would surely get aggressive offers since he is far better than anyone on the open market. But on the other hand, they wouldn’t be able to easily replace him by signing a free agent.

At this point, given the lack of meaningful rumors, it seems as though Adames may stick with the club into the 2024 campaign. If they remain in contention as planned, he should be able to stick as their primary shortstop through the season, when he will be a qualifying offer candidate. Though if the club were to fall out of the playoff race, he should be one of the top trade candidates available at the July trade deadline.

Brewers, Hoby Milner Avoid Arbitration

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The Brewers and left-hander Hoby Milner have avoided arbitration, reports Robert Murray of FanSided. The southpaw will make a salary of $2.05MM in the upcoming campaign.

Friday is the deadline for clubs and arbitration-eligible players to submit salary figures, with hearings set to take place in late January. Many cases will be resolved as that deadline approaches, such as this one.

Milner, 33 in January, first qualified for arbitration last year and made a salary of $1.025MM. MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projected him for a bump to $1.7MM in 2024, but he will beat that by a bit. He will be eligible for one more arbitration raise in 2025 before he’s slated for free agency.

He is coming off an excellent season in terms of run prevention, finishing with a 1.82 earned run average over 73 appearances out of the Milwaukee bullpen. He was likely helped by a .254 batting average on balls in play and 84.2% strand rate, both of which are on the lucky side of average. But he still had strong peripherals, with a 23.4% strikeout rate, 5.2% walk rate and 50.9% ground ball rate. ERA estimators like his 3.13 FIP and 3.43 SIERA suggest he wasn’t quite as dominant as the ERA makes it look, but they still suggest it was a good performance nonetheless.

He projects to be the top lefty in the Milwaukee bullpen in 2024, with depth options like Ethan Small, Clayton Andrews and Bryan Hudson also on the 40-man roster.

Brewers Sign Austin Nola To Minor League Deal

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The Brewers and Austin Nola are in agreement on a minor league deal, according to MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy. The deal includes an invite to big league Spring Training next month.

Nola, 34, struggled terribly in 2023 with a disastrous slash line of .146/.260/.192 in 154 trips to the plate before he was optioned to Triple-A in mid-July, allowing the Padres to utilize a catching tandem of Gary Sanchez and Luis Campusano for the remainder of the season. Nola discussed his offensive woes back in September, revealing that he had been diagnosed with oculomotor dysfunction, an issue that impacts the brain’s ability to coordinate eye movement and comes with symptoms such as fogginess and headaches. Nola’s worrisome performance led San Diego to non-tender him back in November, sending him to the open market where he has now been snatched up by Milwaukee.

While it’s not clear how Nola’s health has evolved over the past few months or what impact it will have on his performance going forward, it’s not hard to imagine Nola returning to form offensively if healthy. After all, Nola entered the 2023 campaign with a solid .263/.336/.395 slash line for his career, good for a 105 wRC+, and above average offense behind the plate is fairly difficult to come by, particularly when paired with roughly average defense behind the plate. On the other hand, much of that strong offense and solid defense came early in Nola’s career as he slashed an impressive .280/.351/.476 in 377 trips to the plate in a Mariners uniform.

After being traded to the Padres in seven-player deal that sent Ty France and Andres Munoz (among others) to Seattle, Nola’s offense dipped considerably as he put up essentially league average numbers down the stretch in 2020 before slashing just .258/.327/.344 in 166 games with the Padres from 2021-22. Nola’s defense also took a tumble during his time with San Diego, as Statcast suggests he was worth a whopping -12 runs behind the plate in 2022 alone. It’s fair to wonder if there’s much room for improvement in Nola’s defense going forward, as catchers in their early-to-mid thirties often suffer significant struggles due to the wear and tear that comes with years behind the plate.

Even with the many red flags in Nola’s profile, it’s easy to see why the Brewers would have interest in taking a low-cost flier on the veteran’s services. After all, Victor Caratini departed for the Astros in free agency last month, leaving All Star catcher William Contreras without a clear back up behind the plate. The club recently landed Eric Haase for that role, but it’s easy to see how Nola could step into that role if he manages to prove himself healthy and recover some of his previous offensive ability when Spring Training rolls around in late February. Otherwise, Nola can work on regaining his past form at the Triple-A level with the Brewers while acting as non-roster depth for the club in the event of an injury.

Pirates, Mariners Have Shown Interest In Carlos Santana

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The Mariners and Pirates are among the teams showing interest in free agent first baseman Carlos Santana, reports Jon Heyman of the New York Post. Both Heyman and Robert Murray of FanSided write that the Brewers also have continued interest, aligning with comments from Milwaukee GM Matt Arnold at the Winter Meetings.

As with Milwaukee, Seattle and Pittsburgh are each familiar with Santana. He has played for all three as part of a 14-year MLB career spanning six clubs. The Mariners acquired the veteran switch-hitter from the Royals at the 2022 deadline. He struggled to a .192/.293/.400 line across 294 plate appearances before hitting free agency last offseason.

That led Santana to Pittsburgh on a one-year, $6.725MM free agent pact. He hit .235/.321/.412 over 393 trips to the dish. Once the Bucs fell out of contention, he was on the move for the second straight summer. Pittsburgh dealt him to Milwaukee for a rookie ball infield prospect. At the time of the trade, the Pirates and Santana each expressed openness to revisiting talks this offseason.

Santana was a decent contributor for Milwaukee down the stretch. He connected on 11 homes in 52 games, batting .249/.314/.459. He finished the season with a .240/.318/.429 line with 23 home runs in 619 plate appearances between the NL Central rivals. While his 10.5% walk rate was a career low, it still checked in above league average. Santana takes free passes and remains difficult to strike out, although he annually posts very low averages on balls in play.

That has added up to around league average offensive production for the past four seasons. That’s not especially exciting at first base, but Santana contributes more than most at the position with the glove. Defensive Runs Saved and Statcast’s Outs Above Average have continued to grade him as a plus defender even as he moves into his late-30s. Santana has also been very durable and is widely regarded as an excellent clubhouse presence (as evidenced by interest from three of his former teams).

Of that trio, Milwaukee seems the most straightforward. The Brewers don’t have an obvious answer at first base. Milwaukee acquired Jake Bauers from the Yankees and tendered him an arbitration contract, but he’s coming off a .202/.279/.413 showing in the Bronx.

Seattle and Pittsburgh have starting options at first base, although neither is coming off a great year. Ty France slumped to a .250/.337/.366 slash with below-average defensive grades. Still, France’s cumulative .285/.355/.443 showing between 2020-22 hints at a higher offensive ceiling than Santana provides at this stage of his career. The M’s signed Mitch Garver to handle the bulk of the designated hitting duties.

Pittsburgh brought in Santana’s former Milwaukee teammate Rowdy Tellez on a $3.2MM rebound flier. They re-signed Andrew McCutchen to take the DH spot. The Pirates could bump Tellez to the bench, but they’d be committing more money than they’re typically willing to first base/DH at that point. Santana is likely limited to another one-year deal but could find a similar salary to last year’s near-$7MM pact. With McCutchen, Tellez and Connor Joe ($2MM arbitration projection) all on the roster, a reunion could be a tough fit.

Brewers Acquire Bryan Hudson From Dodgers

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12:20pm: The Dodgers have announced the deal, per Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic, with the Brewers sending lefty Justin Chambers and a player to be named later in return. Chambers is just 18 years old, having been selected in the 20th round of the 2023 draft. He didn’t make an appearance in affiliated ball after that draft selection.

12:05pm: The Brewers are acquiring left-hander Bryan Hudson from the Dodgers, according to Robert Murray of FanSided. The lefty was designated for assignment two weeks ago. DFA limbo is normally capped at one week but that clock is paused for the week between Christmas and New Year’s. It’s unclear what the Dodgers are receiving in exchange. Milwaukee’s 40-man roster count is up to 39.

Hudson, 27 in May, made his major league debut last year with 8 2/3 innings for the Dodgers. He allowed seven earned runs in that time, leading to an unsightly 7.27 ERA, though that’s obviously a miniscule sample size. He spent most of the season in Triple-A, tossing 55 2/3 innings with 2.43 ERA. He struck out 35.7% of batters faced while giving out walks at a 10.8% clip and keeping 46.7% of balls in play on the ground.

Grounders have consistently been a part of his game, going all the way back to his Rookie ball days. Those strikeouts are a fairly new development, however, having shot up in the past two years. He also struck out 29.7% of batters faced in 2022, splitting his time between Double-A and Triple-A while in the Cubs organization.

The ability to both strike hitters out and keep the ball on the ground when they do make contact is enticing and appears to have caught the attention of the Brewers. Hudson still has a couple of option years remaining, so he can serve as a depth piece for the bullpen in Milwaukee. Their southpaw relief corps is currently headlined by Hoby Milner, with Ethan Small and Clayton Andrews also on the roster, though Hudson will now jump into that group as well.

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