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Padres Notes: Payroll, Miller, Sears

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The Padres’ flurry of deadline dealings brought Mason Miller, JP Sears, Ryan O’Hearn, Ramón Laureano, Nestor Cortes, Will Wagner and Freddy Fermin to San Diego. The slate of new acquisitions addressed major deficiencies in left field and behind the plate to varying levels while also deepening the pitching staff. It was another frenetic deadline for the Friars — one that was complicated not only by a lack of depth in the farm but also some financial constraints. The Padres operated with minimal payroll flexibility in the winter, and it seems ownership’s budgetary crunch carried over to the deadline.

Ronald Blum of the Associated Press reports that the Orioles and Brewers both sent substantial cash considerations to the Padres in the respective trades involving O’Hearn, Laureano and Cortes. Baltimore sent $3.324MM to San Diego, while Milwaukee included $2.169MM in cash. The combined $5,493,300 the Padres received in that pair of trades effectively pays the trio of O’Hearn, Laureano and Cortes down to the prorated league minimum for the remainder of the season. Each of the other four players acquired by the Padres (Miller, Sears, Wagner, Fermin) was earning scarcely more than the $760K minimum as a pre-arbitration player.

The Padres are still more than $25MM north of the luxury tax threshold, per RosterResource, so the influx of cash won’t help them stay under the tax threshold (or even out of the second penalty tier). It does, however, mean the Padres barely added anything to their actual cash payroll for the 2025 season. That’s seemingly been the bigger concern than the luxury threshold anyhow. Nick Pivetta’s four-year contract, for instance, came with a $13.75MM average annual value but pays him just $4MM in 2025 (a $1MM salary and $3MM signing bonus).

San Diego’s actual cash payroll sits a bit above $213MM. It’s not clear what sort of payroll expectations ownership will have for the 2026 season, but there’s already more than $166MM in guaranteed money on next year’s books. That doesn’t include the $6.5MM club option on Laureano, which seems like a lock to be exercised.

That number also fails to account for arbitration raises. Each of Jason Adam, Adrian Morejon and Gavin Sheets will be due raises on this year’s salaries ($4.8MM, $2MM and $1.6MM, respectively). Miller, Sears, Fermin and righty Bryan Hoeing will be arbitration-eligible for the first time. Miller, in particular, will be in line for a notable salary. Closer Robert Suarez has a two-year, $16MM player option he’s likely to decline this winter, however, which would subtract an $8MM salary from the books.

Between Laureano’s option and the slate of arbitration raises, San Diego’s payroll can be reasonably expected to climb close to $200MM before making a single addition. Assuming Suarez indeed opts out, the Padres would be looking at a payroll in the $190-192MM range. If the goal is a payroll in the same realm as this year’s $213MM mark, that doesn’t leave a ton of additional space. Then again, each of Miller, Laureano, Fermin, Wagner and Sears proactively addressed some 2026 needs, and the Padres expect to welcome Joe Musgrove back to next year’s rotation after he missed the 2025 season due to Tommy John surgery.

Due to that financial situation, the Padres presumably had to include more prospect capital in their deadline trades than if they didn’t need the other club to eat significant money. That’s a notable element as the Padres have traded away a large number of prospect in previous deals, so their farm system hasn’t been considered especially strong lately. Coming into this year, MLB.com ranked their farm 25th out of the 30 teams in the league, with Baseball America putting the Friars 26th.

Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reports that the Padres’ lack of impact talent was initially a roadblock in the Miller talks. Rosenthal notes that Padres president of baseball operations A.J. Preller tried to line up a three-team deal. He asked the A’s to tell him which prospects they wanted from other clubs, with the goal of then acquiring those players to send them to the A’s for Miller. There were rumors the Padres were considering trading majors leaguers like Dylan Cease or Suarez, so perhaps Preller could have traded one of those guys for the prospects he needed to get Miller.

However, the A’s didn’t want to take that complicated route and wanted to just deal directly with one club. They got interest from clubs like the Yankees, Phillies and Mets, but those clubs weren’t willing to surrender their top prospects. Specifically, Rosenthal notes that the Phillies weren’t willing to include Andrew Painter while the Yanks wouldn’t part with Spencer Jones or George Lombard Jr.

The Padres were eventually able to get the deal done, despite their weak farm system, by including top prospect Leo De Vries. They also included pitching prospects Braden Nett, Henry Baez and Eduarniel Núñez but De Vries was the key piece to getting the deal done. Having now traded De Vries and several other prospects, the Friars will presumably have an even weaker farm system in next year’s rankings, but that is seemingly a price they were willing to pay in order to build a winning team here in 2025.

As for Sears, the other player who came to San Diego alongside Miller, he may be viewed more as depth than a key piece of the club’s push this year. He started for the club on Monday, allowing five earned runs in five innings against the Diamondbacks, before getting optioned to Triple-A yesterday.

Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune notes that Sears may not be recalled in the remainder of the season, unless someone gets hurt. Michael King is on the injured list but has begun a rehab assignment, having thrown 3 1/3 innings in his first rehab start on Sunday. Once he’s healthy, the rotation will be Cease, King, Pivetta, Cortes and Yu Darvish. That would leave Sears in a depth role alongside guys like Randy Vásquez, Kyle Hart and Matt Waldron.

Going forward, however, the path to a role opens up. Each of Cease, King and Cortes are impending free agents. Musgrove should fill one of those vacancies but that still leaves space for Sears to carve out a role in next year’s rotation.

Photo courtesy of Chadd Cady, Imagn Images

Poll: Who Had The Best Deadline In The NL Central?

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The trade deadline has come and gone. While trade season was slow to get started this year, when all was said and done, there were several dozen trades made in a flurry of movement over the final few days before the deadline arrived. The full impact of these trades won’t be known for years to come, but that doesn’t mean we can’t analyze the deals and decide whose haul looks the best right now. Over the next week-plus, MLBTR will be running a series of polls asking which club in each division had the best deadline. Yesterday, the Phillies came out on top in the NL East with about half the vote. Today, we’ll be taking a look at the NL Central. A look at each of the five clubs, listed from best to worst record in 2025:

Milwaukee Brewers

The Brewers have the best record in baseball but had a fairly quiet deadline. Perhaps their most impactful move of the summer came last month, when they traded away Aaron Civale to land former top prospect Andrew Vaughn from the White Sox. Vaughn had struggled in Chicago for years but has caught fire with the Brewers and has proven to be an anchor for a lineup that’s without Rhys Hoskins and Jackson Chourio. Looking at deals made closer to the deadline, Milwaukee swapped out another big league starter to add a hitter when they shipped Nestor Cortes to the Padres alongside infield prospect Jorge Quintana and cash in order to bring in outfielder Brandon Lockridge.

Another unusual trade for Milwaukee was acquiring injured closer Shelby Miller and injured lefty Jordan Montgomery in exchange for a player to be named later or cash. Montgomery won’t pitch this year, so the deal essentially saw the Brewers buy Miller off of the Diamondbacks in exchange for eating some of Montgomery’s salary. Perhaps the only typical buy-side addition was catcher Danny Jansen, who they acquired from the Rays to back up William Contreras. Dealing away Cortes and Civale hasn’t seemed to hurt the team much, but their additions are fairly modest on paper.

Chicago Cubs

The Cubs have fallen behind the Brewers after posting a somewhat pedestrian 29-25 record since the start of June, and entered trade season in clear need of upgrades. Perhaps their most impactful addition was utility man Willi Castro, a switch-hitter who can help take pressure off of rookie Matt Shaw at third base while upgrading the bench to make giving regulars like Dansby Swanson and Ian Happ days off more feasible. Deals with the Orioles and Pirates to acquire veteran setup man Andrew Kittredge and southpaw Taylor Rogers should help bolster a bullpen that had been relying on reclamation projects like Brad Keller and Drew Pomeranz to this point, as well.

Despite those generally solid additions, the Cubs did not substantially address their biggest need this summer: starting pitching. It was no secret that adding rotation help was a top priority for Chicago with Justin Steele done for the year, Jameson Taillon and Javier Assad both on the injured list, and both Cade Horton and Matthew Boyd in uncharted territory in terms of innings. Unfortunately for the Cubs, they were unable to find much help in that regard on the market. Michael Soroka was added in a trade with the Nationals in order to pitch in, but his velocity was down in his last few outings with the Nats and now he’s headed for the injured list with shoulder discomfort. While the club’s bench and bullpen additions were solid, it’s unclear if that will be enough to outweigh the lack of impactful rotation help down the stretch.

Cincinnati Reds

The 59-54 Reds currently sit just three games out of a Wild Card spot in the NL, and that was enough to convince them to go for it this summer. They made three trades to round out their roster. They picked up right-hander Zack Littell from the Rays in a three-team deal that sent righty Brian Van Belle to Tampa and lefty Adam Serwinowski to the Dodgers. They added Miguel Andujar to their bench in a deal with the A’s and, most interestingly, they picked up third baseman Ke’Bryan Hayes from the Pirates in exchange for Rogers (who was later traded to the Cubs) and shortstop prospect Sammy Stafura.

Littell should provide some depth for an already-strong rotation that has a history of struggling to stay healthy (as was reinforced by Nick Lodolo’s departure from yesterday’s game after just 1 2/3 innings of work). Andujar provides a lefty-mashing bench bat to a club that has struggled badly against southpaws this year, but Hayes is the most interesting addition of the bunch. A former top prospect and Gold Glove award winner at third base, Hayes is one of the most talented defenders in the sport but hit just .236/.279/.290 (57 wRC+) in 100 games with the Pirates this year and has a career wRC+ of just 84. His relatively pricey contract makes bringing him in a gamble, but if he can float a slash line even close to league average, he should be a 3-win player when healthy.

St. Louis Cardinals

The Cardinals sold at the deadline for the second time in three years, but in doing so they only traded veterans on expiring contracts. Right-hander Erick Fedde was the first domino to fall, as the veteran starter was shipped to the Braves for a player to be named later or cash amid a disappointing season that saw him designated for assignment just before the deal. Veteran setup man Phil Maton netted a pair of prospects from the Rangers, one of whom is now St. Louis’s #26 ranked prospect at MLB Pipeline, and swingman Steven Matz was shipped to the Red Sox in a deal that brought back power-hitting first baseman Blaze Jordan (#18 in the Cardinals’ system, per Pipeline).

The team’s biggest deal this summer, however, was shipping out closer Ryan Helsley to the Mets. Even in the midst of a down season by his standards, Helsley brought back a trio of talented players: infield prospect Jesus Baez (#6 in the Cardinals’ system, per Pipeline), righty pitching prospect Nate Dohm (#15), and right-handed prospect Frank Elissalt (unranked). It’s a solid group of talent to bring in for a handful of rentals on expiring deals and the moves should help set incoming president of baseball operations Chaim Bloom up for success as John Mozeliak departs the club at the end of the season.

Pittsburgh Pirates

The Pirates also sold off pieces this summer, although their deadline was quiet for a club that entered July with Paul Skenes and Andrew McCutchen as their only two untouchable players. Not only did widely-speculated trade candidate Mitch Keller stay put despite a market starved for controllable rotation talent, but a number of rental players for whom the Pirates have little use did not end up getting cashed in for prospects and/or salary relief. Isiah Kiner-Falefa, Tommy Pham, Andrew Heaney, and Tim Mayza all remain in town. And some deals they did make, such as the David Bednar swap with the Yankees, produced underwhelming returns.

That’s not to say everything about the club’s deadline was disappointing, however. The Pirates did manage to get out from under the Hayes contract, and then flipped Rogers to get an additional prospect from the Cubs. Lefty Caleb Ferguson and infielder Adam Frazier both were successfully cashed in for prospect talent and the Bucs received a return led by intriguing MLB-ready reliever Evan Sisk when they looked to sell on back-end starter Bailey Falter. Some of those young players acquired should help the Pirates going forward, and getting Hayes off the books should make adding offense easier for 2026 and beyond. Even so, it’s fair to wonder if this deadline represents a missed opportunity in Pittsburgh.

The NL Central was one of the quieter divisions in baseball this deadline, with only a handful of non-rental players changing hands and no blockbusters. With that being said, three teams did make an effort to get better for 2025, while the Cardinals and Pirates picked up a number of pieces for their futures. Which club did the best of this quintet? Have your say in the poll below:

Which NL Central team had the best deadline?
Cincinnati Reds 32.32% (1,464 votes)
Milwaukee Brewers 26.56% (1,203 votes)
St. Louis Cardinals 22.12% (1,002 votes)
Chicago Cubs 11.32% (513 votes)
Pittsburgh Pirates 7.68% (348 votes)
Total Votes: 4,530

Brewers Place Jacob Misiorowski On 15-Day Injured List

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The Brewers announced this morning that they’ve placed right-hander Jacob Misiorowski on the 15-day injured list (retroactive to July 31) due to a left tibia contusion. Right-hander Logan Henderson was recalled to replace Misiorowski on the active roster.

Misiorowski was expected to start today’s game against the Nationals, but instead will head to the shelf. That the right-hander’s injury doesn’t involve his arm is surely heartening news for fans in Milwaukee, but it’s nonetheless worrisome for such a key piece of the club’s recent surge to miss any time at all while the team is locked in a heated division race with the Cubs. Any amount of time missed by such a talented arm will be a blow, but if Misiorowski misses only the minimum he could be back on the mound for the club’s series opener against the Reds on August 15.

The rookie was somewhat controversially named an All-Star this year despite having just five appearances in the majors under his belt prior to this year’s All-Star game, but Misiorowski has done everything in his power to justify that honor with a 2.70 ERA, 3.10 FIP, and an absurd 36.4% strikeout rate in 33 1/3 innings. Misiorowski’s huge strikeout numbers are somewhat balanced out by a 10.9% walk rate, but his overpowering stuff (which includes a fastball that averages 99mph on the radar gun) is more than enough to make up for those pitfalls when it comes to control.

Misiorowski isn’t the only injury of note the Brewers have suffered in recent days. Star outfielder Jackson Chourio is on the injured list due to a hamstring strain and might not be back until September. Another major piece of the club’s outfield puzzle, Sal Frelick, was pulled from yesterday’s game due to knee soreness in what the Brewers described (according to Curt Hogg of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel) as “precautionary.” With Chourio and Misiorowski out of commission for the time being and Frelick’s status uncertain, the Brewers are looking very banged up after a quiet trade deadline that saw them add only backup catcher Danny Jansen from the Rays and injured right-hander Shelby Miller of the Diamondbacks while trading away starter Nestor Cortes in a deal with the Padres.

The 21-year-old Henderson is another impressive young arm, as he made his big league debut earlier this year and has looked quite good in four spot starts. He’s posted a 1.71 ERA and a 3.05 FIP in 21 innings of work at the big league level this year while striking out 35.8% of his opponents, though a 3.59 ERA and 27.9% strikeout rate in 16 appearances at Triple-A is slightly less impressive. Regardless, Henderson will have the opportunity to further establish himself as the next man up in a crowded rotation mix that has sent arms like Chad Patrick and Tobias Myers to Triple-A as depth.

White Sox Claim Bryan Hudson, Elvis Peguero

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The White Sox have claimed left-hander Bryan Hudson and right-hander Elvis Peguero off waivers from the Brewers. Right-hander Jesse Scholtens was designated for assignment to make room for the duo on the 40-man roster, and both Hudson and Peguero were optioned to Triple-A Charlotte.

A longtime Cubs farmhand, Hudson returns to Chicago on the other side of town after departing the North Siders following the 2022 season as a minor league free agent. He signed a minor league pact with the Dodgers for the 2023 campaign and was called up to the roster in June of that year, but struggled badly with a 7.27 ERA in six appearances for Los Angeles. Hudson was designated for assignment by L.A. in the 2023-24 offseason, but was traded to Milwaukee before being placed on waivers. He was a key part of the Milwaukee bullpen last year with a 1.73 ERA and 3.60 FIP across 62 1/3 innings of work. That dominant showing didn’t continue into 2025, however, as he surrendered a 4.35 ERA and walked an eye-popping 22.1% of batters faced in 10 1/3 innings for the Brewers this year.

Peguero, 28, made his big league debut with the Angels back in 2021. After struggling with Anaheim in 19 2/3 innings across parts of two seasons, Peguero was included in the Hunter Renfroe trade and joined the Brewers for the 2023 season. He provided solid but unspectacular middle relief for Milwaukee in his first two years pitching for the club, posting a 3.20 ERA and 3.92 FIP across 111 appearances while striking out 21.1% of his opponents and walking 11.1%. He took a step back this year, however, and pitched to a meager 4.91 ERA with a microscopic 13.9% strikeout rate in 7 1/3 innings before he was designated for assignment.

Now, both pitchers figure to join a White Sox bullpen in need of veteran arms. Hudson will compete with Brandon Eisert, Tyler Gilbert, and Tyler Alexander to serve as one of the bullpen’s lefty hurlers, while Peguero’s competition will be optionable righties like Jordan Leasure and Owen White. Meanwhile, Scholtens departs the roster after pitching to a 5.29 ERA with a 5.31 FIP in 85 innings of work back in 2023. He’s not appeared in the majors since then, however, and has struggled to a 5.28 ERA in 29 innings of work at Triple-A this year. The White Sox will now have one week to pass him through waivers. If he clears, they’ll have the opportunity to outright him to the minors as non-roster depth for the remainder of the season. Scholtens will be able to elect free agency after the season if not added back to the 40-man roster before then, should he be outrighted.

Bobby Dalbec Opts Out Of Minor League Deal With Brewers

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Infielder Bobby Dalbec has opted out of his minor league deal with the Brewers, according to a report from Francys Romero of BeisbolFR. Dalbec first signed with Milwaukee back in May.

The 30-year-old Dalbec has participated in parts of six major league seasons at this point. A fourth-round pick by the Red Sox back in 2016, he rose to top-100 prospect status before making his big league debut during the 2020 season and posted outrageously good numbers in 23 games for the club during the shortened season. He followed that performance up by serving as the club’s regular first baseman in 2021, and slashed an impressive .243/.308/.511 with 33 homers in 156 games between those two seasons.

While that start to Dalbec’s career was extremely promising, things have gone downhill from there in a hurry. He was well below replacement level in 117 games for the Red Sox in 2022 as he slashed a paltry .215/.283/.369 with just 12 home runs and a massive 33.4% strikeout rate. He lost his grip on a starting role with the club in September of that year and since the end of the 2022 campaign he’s appeared in just 65 total games at the big league level with 167 plate appearances. The majority of that work came in an up-and-down part time role with the Red Sox, for whom he hit just .159/.234/.235 in 146 plate appearances between 2023 and ’24 before he was outrighted off the roster in September of last year.

That outright allowed him to elect free agency back in November and he eventually latched on with the White Sox on a minor league deal. He made it into seven games but went just 4-for-18 with three walks and six strikeouts before being designated for assignment. He wound up landing with the Brewers on a minor league pact, but did not get called up to the majors even after hitting an impressive .266/.356/.498 in 61 games at the club’s Triple-A affiliate in Nashville. That’s not necessarily surprising given the emergence of Andrew Vaughn, who the club acquired from the White Sox in the deal that sent Aaron Civale to Chicago earlier this summer.

In 17 games for Milwaukee, Vaughn has been crushing the ball to the tune of a .386/.448/.772 slash line with ten extra-base hits (including six home runs) in just 67 trips to the plate. It’s a very small sample size, of course, but between Vaughn’s hot streak and the eventual return of Rhys Hoskins from the injured list, there wasn’t much room for Dalbec in the club’s first base mix. While Dalbec is capable of playing other positions around the infield, he’s not a particularly well-regarded defender at any of them and appeared to be blocked at third base, where he was spending the plurality of his time with Nashville, by offseason addition Caleb Durbin.

Now that Dalbec is on the open market, he’s free to sign with any of the league’s 30 clubs if there’s a team interested in adding a bit of depth to their corner infield mix now that the trade deadline has passed. In the event that Dalbec doesn’t find an enticing MLB offer, Romero suggests that he could turn his attention to the KBO or NPB overseas. Power-hitting players who struggle to establish themselves in the majors often find considerable success in Asia, with Matt Davidson and Eric Thames standing out as particularly notable examples from the KBO league.

Brewers Place Jackson Chourio On Injured List

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The Brewers placed Jackson Chourio on the 10-day injured list, retroactive to July 30, with a right hamstring strain. Brandon Lockridge, acquired from San Diego yesterday in the Nestor Cortes trade, has reported to the team. Lockridge jumps into right field and gets the nod at the top of the lineup tonight against Nationals southpaw Mitchell Parker.

Chourio suffered the injury on Tuesday against the Cubs. He drilled a ball off the center field wall and legged out a triple. Chourio pulled up as he approached third base, and while he nevertheless made it there safely, he was immediately replaced by pinch-runner Blake Perkins. Manager Pat Murphy told reporters (including Curt Hogg of The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel) that the strain is more severe than initially anticipated. He’ll certainly be out longer than 10 days, and Murphy left open the possibility of a month-plus long absence.

Milwaukee recently welcomed Sal Frelick back from his own hamstring strain. He’ll get the majority of the right field playing time, though he’s out of the lineup tonight against the lefty starter Parker. Frelick’s return had initially pushed Perkins into a fourth outfield role. He’s now in line for everyday playing time in center field. The switch-hitting Perkins missed most of the season because of a Spring Training shin fracture. He stole 23 bases with a .240/.316/.332 slash line a year ago. Chourio’s injury might’ve played a role in Milwaukee’s decision to add the speedster Lockridge, a righty-hitting fourth outfielder without much offensive upside.

Perkins is a capable stopgap, but he clearly has a much lower ceiling than Chourio offers. The 21-year-old is batting .276/.311/.474 with 29 doubles, four triples and 17 home runs. He was a bit inconsistent early in the year, but he’d been on a tear (.367 with four homers and 12 extra-base hits) in July. The injury halts that hot streak and will cost him at least a few weeks as the Brewers battle the Cubs for the NL Central crown. They enter play Friday leading Chicago by a half-game and narrowly hold MLB’s best record at 64-44.

Padres Acquire Nestor Cortes

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The Padres and Brewers have agreed to a trade that will send left-hander Nestor Cortes, shortstop prospect Jorge Quintana, and cash considerations to San Diego in exchange for Brandon Lockridge.  Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune reports that the Padres will only owe Cortes the prorated MLB minimum salary over the remainder of the season, as the Brewers will be covering the remainder of the approximately $2.4MM owed to Cortes.

Cortes is on the move again after being dealt from the Yankees to the Brewers in December, and the southpaw’s Milwaukee tenure ends with just two starts in a Brew Crew uniform.  Cortes had a 9.00 ERA over his eight innings in 2025 before a left elbow flexor strain sidelined him for the bulk of the season.

With his rehab assignment nearing an end, the Brewers had to make a decision about activating Cortes or perhaps dealing him elsewhere, given the club’s crowded pitching situation.  The result was a trade to San Diego, as Cortes will now provide some depth to a rotation that was thinned when Ryan Bergert and and Stephen Kolek were dealt to the Royals earlier today in the Freddy Fermin trade.

However, the Padres didn’t move Dylan Cease despite multiple rumors and acquired JP Sears as part of the Mason Miller blockbuster, leaving the club’s rotation as Cease, Sears, Yu Darvish, Nick Pivetta, and Randy Vasquez.  Cortes and the injured Michael King should likely supplant Vasquez and Sears when they return from the IL, but the bottom line is that the Padres’ plethora of deadline moves has seen the team shuffle but not really overhaul its core rotation mix.

“Nasty Nestor” emerged as a relief weapon and then as a starter with the Yankees during the 2021 season, then seemed to fully break with a tremendous 2022 campaign that saw finish eighth in AL Cy Young Award voting.  Injuries unfortunately limited him to 63 1/3 frames in 2023, and he bounced back to toss 174 1/3 frames in the regular season before a late-season flexor strain surfaced.

Since Opening Day 2024, Cortes had a 4.09 ERA over 237 2/3 innings and good enough secondary numbers to make him still a solid rotation option, but New York opted to deal from a crowded rotation and sent Cortes and Caleb Durbin to Milwaukee for Devin Williams.  Cortes is earning $7.6MM in his final year of arbitration eligibility, and he doesn’t have a ton of time left in the season to re-establish some value heading into free agency.

Since the Brewers will end up eating pretty much all of Cortes’ salary, the Williams trade hasn’t worked out to date, yet the deal will ultimately be judged down the road depending on how Durbin and now Lockridge or Quintana develop as big leaguers. Lockridge has seen some time in the majors already, though with only a .210/.248/.280 slash line to show for 59 games and 107 plate appearances over the 2024-25 seasons.  He is 10-for-11 on stolen base attempts in the bigs, and he topped the 40-steal plateau in both the 2023 and 2024 minor league seasons.

Capable of playing all three outfield positions, Lockridge is an average-to-capable defender all over the grass.  His Triple-A numbers have perhaps been inflated by the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League over the last two years, but Lockridge has a .299/.398/.396 slash over 712 career PA with the Padres’ and Yankees’ Triple-A affiliates.  The Brewers seem likely to give Lockridge a look in the majors right away, as Jackson Chourio’s hamstring injury is probably going to result in a stint on the injured list.

Quintana is an 18-year-old lottery ticket of a prospect who was a member of Milwaukee’s 2024 international signing class.  He has hit .257/.355/.392 over 467 career plate appearances, all at the Rookie League levels.

The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal was the first to report on the Cortes deal, while the New York Post’s Joel Sherman reported that Lockridge was heading to Milwaukee in the return and Jeff Sanders of the San Diego Union-Tribune reported Quintana’s involvement.

Brewers Designate Bryan Hudson, Elvis Peguero For Assignment

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The Brewers designated relievers Bryan Hudson and Elvis Peguero for assignment. They also outrighted catcher Eric Haase, who was designated for assignment earlier in the week following the Danny Jansen trade, off the 40-man roster. He’ll have the option to elect free agency but will presumably accept his assignment, as Haase does not have enough service time to reject an assignment and retain the rest of his $1.35MM guaranteed salary.

Hudson, 28, was one of Milwaukee’s top relievers a year ago but has struggled through a down season in the majors and in Triple-A. He’s pitched 10 1/3 big league innings but logged a 4.35 ERA while walking 22.2% of his opponents. He’s limped to a 6.84 ERA in 25 Triple-A frames. Hudson’s velocity is down more than a mile per hour in 2025, and he’s sitting 90.1 mph with his fastball. His 18.3% opponents’ chase rate on balls off the plate is well south of average, and he’s allowing too much contact on balls both within the zone and off the plate.

It’s a far cry from one year ago. Hudson was a revelation after coming over in a DFA trade with the Dodgers. He tossed 62 1/3 innings with a 1.73 ERA, 26.8% strikeout rate and 7.4% walk rate. He obviously hasn’t been able to sustain that, but the recent track record might pique the interest of another club. This is Hudson’s final option year. He’d have to stick on the big league roster in 2026 or else be designated for assignment.

Peguero, 28, has spent two-plus seasons in Milwaukee. He was a regular in the bullpen from 2023-24, pitching a combined 112 2/3 innings with a 3.20 ERA. That solid run prevention came in spite of a sub-par 21.1% strikeout rate and bloated 11.1% walk rate, however. That poor command has caught up with Peguero in 2025, particularly since his velocity has also dropped.

In 2024, Peguero sat just under 97 mph with his fastball. He’s averaged a flat 95 mph in 2025 (95.4 mph in Triple-A). Peguero has only tossed 7 1/3 MLB frames this year, during which he’s been tagged for six runs (four earned) on eight hits and four walks, as well as one hit batter. He’s fanned five. Peguero’s 3.55 ERA in 25 1/3 Triple-A innings is solid, but he’s walked nearly 13% of his opponents in Nashville, plunked two more and thrown four wild pitches. He’s also in his final option season.

Both Hudson and Peguero will be placed on waivers within the next five days. With the deadline passed, there’s no opportunity to trade them. Both players will be made available to the game’s other 29 teams, with priority determined in reverse order of the MLB-wide standings.

Brewers Acquire Shelby Miller

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The Brewers acquired injured pitchers Shelby Miller and Jordan Montgomery from the Diamondbacks for a player to be named later or cash. Steve Gilbert of MLB.com reports that Milwaukee is absorbing $2MM of the approximate $7.1MM remaining on Montgomery’s $22.5MM salary. The D-Backs are seemingly kicking in a little over $5MM.

It’s a pure salary dump for Arizona. Montgomery underwent Tommy John surgery in Spring Training. He’ll be a free agent at season’s end. He’s on the 60-day injured list and won’t have any impact on the Brewers’ season. They’re letting the D-Backs off the hook for a small portion of the remaining salary to effectively purchase Miller without needing to give up any young talent.

Miller is on the injured list himself after sustaining a forearm strain a few weeks ago. He avoided surgery and is expected back this season. GM Matt Arnold told reporters (including Todd Rosiak of The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel) that he’d spoken to Miller about his recovery. Arnold said the righty has had sharp stuff in bullpen sessions and might not be far away from a rehab assignment.

Before the injury, the 34-year-old Miller looked like one of the best rental relievers available. He’d taken over Arizona’s closer role and had fired 36 1/3 innings of 1.98 ERA ball. There’s obviously no guarantee that he’ll maintain that form after an arm injury, but Milwaukee is only spending a few million dollars to find out. Miller himself is playing on a $1MM salary after signing an offseason minor league deal; the only somewhat significant money that the Brewers are taking is the cash they’re eating on Montgomery.

The Brewers already have one of the game’s deepest bullpens. Miller could add another weapon for the stretch run and into the postseason. Milwaukee can feel pretty well assured that they’re going to make the playoffs in some capacity. Miller has a shot to play a big role in October if he comes back strong.

Robert Murray of FanSided reported the Brewers were acquiring Miller. Will Sammon and Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic had Montgomery’s inclusion.

MLBTR Podcast: Megapod Trade Deadline Preview

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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 Steve Adams and Anthony Franco of MLB Trade Rumors to discuss various trade deadline topics, including…

Check out our past episodes!

  • David Robertson, Trade Chips For The O’s and A’s, And What The Rangers Could Do – listen here
  • Rays’ Ownership, The Phillies Target Bullpen Help, And Bubble Teams – listen here
  • Firings in Washington, Bad Braves, And An AL East Shake-Up – listen here

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

Photo courtesy of Geoff Burke, Imagn Images

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