Astros Designate Janson Junk For Assignment
The Astros announced that they have signed outfielder Jason Heyward and optioned outfielder Chas McCormick, two moves that were previously reported. To open a 40-man spot for Heyward, right-hander Janson Junk has been designated for assignment. The club also reinstated right-hander Ryan Pressly from the injured list and optioned left-hander Bryan King.
Junk, 28, was just claimed off waivers from the Brewers at the start of this month and has been kept on optional assignment since then. He made four starts for Triple-A Sugar Land, allowing 10 earned runs in 14 2/3 innings.
Since the trade deadline has passed, the Astros will have to put him back on waivers in the coming days. He could perhaps garner interest from clubs in need of innings. He only has four major league frames on his track record so far, with an unimpressive 5.18 ERA. But from 2021 to the present, he has tossed 356 2/3 minor league innings with a 3.84 ERA. His 20.4% strikeout rate in that time is a bit below average but his 7.4% walk rate is strong and he’s also had solid ground ball rates.
He will be out of options next year but can still be optioned for the rest of the 2024 season. He has less than a year of service time and can therefore be controlled well into the future, but he will have less roster flexibility by the next campaign.
Astros Claim Janson Junk
The Astros claimed right-hander Janson Junk off waivers from the Brewers, tweets Todd Rosiak of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. Junk was designated for assignment when Milwaukee reinstated Devin Williams from the 60-day injured list. Houston already had an open spot on the 40-man roster, so no additional moves were necessary. Junk has been optioned to Triple-A Sugar Land and will give the ‘Stros some additional depth.
This is the final option year for Junk, 28, who’s pitched in the big leagues in each of the past four seasons. He’s only received scattered looks during his time with the Angels and Brewers, logging a combined 40 innings with a 5.18 ERA, 18.8% strikeout rate, 5% walk rate and 44.8% ground-ball rate. He’s worked both as a starter and reliever in his pro career, and though he’s primarily spent the season in the bullpen with the Brewers’ Triple-A Nashville affiliate, he’s frequently worked in multi-inning stints throughout the summer.
Junk’s big league numbers may not be particularly sharp, but he sports a tidy 2.55 earned run average in 35 1/3 Triple-A frames this season. He’s punched out 23.6% of his opponents there against a 10.1% walk rate. Junk has been outstanding of late, too. He’s rattled off 17 straight scoreless frames in Nashville, logging a 19-to-7 K/BB ratio along the way and only yielding a dozen hits in that time. In parts of four Triple-A seasons, Junk has a 4.15 ERA over the life of 251 1/3 innings.
Brewers Reinstate Devin Williams From 60-Day Injured List
Devin Williams is finally ready for his 2024 debut, as the Brewers are reinstating the star closer from the 60-day injured list. Right-hander Janson Junk was designated for assignment to open up a spot for Williams on the 26-man and 40-man rosters.
An MRI during Spring Training revealed that Williams had two stress fractures in his back, and after a long period of recovery, he is set to return to a big league mound. Williams has logged four minor league rehab outings this month, tossing four scoreless innings during these last tune-ups. Despite his long layoff, this was apparently all the rehab work Williams and the Brewers felt was necessary, and he figures to see some action in today’s game with the Marlins.
With the trade deadline on Tuesday, Williams’ return counts as an unofficial sort of midseason acquisition for the first-place Brewers. Even without their All-Star closer available, Milwaukee’s relief corps has still been one of the more effective units in the game, ranking third in bullpen ERA heading into Sunday’s action. Trevor Megill has posted a 2.41 ERA and 20 saves in Williams’ absence, but he’ll now drop back into a setup role as Williams returns to ninth-inning work.
Bryan Hudson has also been a key piece of the Brewers’ pen, but since he was just sidelined due to an oblique injury, Williams should be a more than suitable replacement. The Crew also acquired righty Nick Mears from the Rockies in a trade yesterday, further bolstering the relief corps for the stretch drive and (the Brewers hope) into October.
Williams made his MLB debut in 2019, delivering a 3.95 ERA over his first 13 2/3 innings of big league ball. After that respectable start to his career, the right-hander has been nothing short of tremendous, posting a sterling 1.75 ERA and a stunning 40.5% strikeout rate over 200 1/3 innings since the start of the 2020 season. An 11.7% career walk rate and a lack of premium velocity are issues, but Williams has otherwise been one of the game’s best at inducing soft contact and missing bats. Initially acting as the Brewers’ setup man behind Josh Hader, Williams has seamlessly transitioned into the closer’s job after Hader was dealt at the 2022 trade deadline.
The Brewers acquired Junk from the Angels as part of the Hunter Renfroe trade in November 2022, and the righty has a 5.87 ERA over 15 1/3 innings and seven overall appearances in a Milwaukee uniform. He spent almost all of the 2023 season in the minors and has been shuttled back and forth between Milwaukee and Triple-A Nashville this year.
Working mostly as a starter during his pro career, Junk was deployed primarily as a multi-inning reliever this season. Though Junk has only a 6.75 ERA in his eight innings of MLB work in 2024, his 2.55 ERA across 35 1/3 innings in Nashville indicates that he may have unlocked something with this semi-permanent move to the bullpen. This could make him a candidate to be claimed away by a team in need of bullpen innings, but if Junk does clear waivers, he doesn’t have the ability to reject an outright assignment. It also stands to reason that the Brewers could try and work out a trade involving Junk prior to the July 30 deadline.
Brewers Place Joey Ortiz On Injured List
The Brewers announced a series of roster moves today. Infielder Joey Ortiz was placed on the 10-day injured list, retroactive to July 2, with neck inflammation. Right-hander Enoli Paredes landed on the 15-day IL due to right forearm tendinitis. Infielder Vinny Capra and right-hander Janson Junk were recalled in corresponding moves.
Ortiz, 25, came over to the Brewers in the offseason trade that sent Corbin Burnes to the Orioles, with Milwaukee also receiving left-hander DL Hall and a competitive balance draft pick. Ortiz has made the most immediate impact in Milwaukee, as Hall has spent much of the year on the injured list and the draft has not yet taken place.
Since joining the Brewers, Ortiz has taken firm hold of the everyday third base job. In 74 games, he has stepped to the plate 256 times, drawing a walk in 13.7% of those while limiting his strikeouts to a 16.8% clip. He has seven home runs and a batting line of .269/.373/.444, which translates to a wRC+ of 134. He’s also stolen five bases and received strong grades for his defense at the hot corner, leading FanGraphs to credit him with 2.5 wins above replacement so far this year.
It doesn’t appear as though he’s slated for a lengthy absence. The issue first cropped up a week ago and he has been in and out of the lineup since then. Speculatively speaking, the fact that he didn’t immediately go on the IL and even played through the issue a bit suggests that it’s fairly minor and he could return after a quick rest period.
But it’s still less than ideal for the Brewers to lose a player of that caliber, especially when they’ve already been hit hard by the injury bug. The rotation has been the worst hit, with five starters currently on the 60-day IL in Brandon Woodruff, Wade Miley, Robert Gasser, Joe Ross and Hall. That prompted the club to make a deadline deal ahead of schedule by trading for Aaron Civale earlier today. On the position player side of things, Ortiz joins Gary Sánchez and Oliver Dunn on the IL.
The Brewers have been leading the Central for much of the year but the Cardinals have been surging of late, having pulled to within six games of Milwaukee. The Brewers will obviously be hoping to get Ortiz back in short order to keep them in that strong position as the July 30 trade deadline gets closer.
Andruw Monasterio has been getting much of the third base playing time recently with Ortiz out and could perhaps continue to do so, though he’s hitting just .196/.297/.286 on the year. Capra will likely be in a multi-positional bench role, as he can play all over but has hit .246/.333/.350 for a wRC+ of 80 in Triple-A this year.
The club gave outfielder Sal Frelick some third base reps during Spring Training, but Garrett Mitchell‘s injury opened up outfield playing time for him. Mitchell was reinstated from the IL on Monday, slotting back into the outfield mix next to Frelick, Christian Yelich, Jackson Chourio and Blake Perkins.
Manager Pat Murphy addressed the possibility of Frelick returning to third base this week, now that the outfield picture is crowded again. Per Curt Hogg of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on X, Murphy said it “could happen” but he wasn’t expecting it any time soon. It’s unclear whether Ortiz landing on the IL today will change that framing. Monasterio is at the hot corner in tonight’s lineup.
Brewers Place Robert Gasser On Injured List
1:40pm: Gasser is on his way to Los Angeles to meet with Dr. Neal ElAttrache for a second opinion, per Rosiak on X.
1:05pm: The Brewers announced today that they have recalled left-hander Aaron Ashby and right-hander Tobias Myers from Triple-A Nashville. Lefty Robert Gasser has been placed on the 15-day injured list, retroactive to June 2, with a left flexor strain while right-hander Janson Junk was optioned to Triple-A Nashville.
Gasser, 25, started on Saturday but he felt tight and sore in his elbow after that start. Manager Pat Murphy gave a positive update yesterday, per Todd Rosiak of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on X. “There’s a possibility he could miss some time,” Murphy said. “But from the first MRI, I guess it looks pretty normal.”
Despite that perspective, it seems that either the club decided to be cautious and let Gasser’s arm heal up or further testing revealed something more concerning. It’s unclear exactly how long the club currently expects him to be out of action at this point, but he’ll miss at least a couple of turns through the rotation while on the IL.
An injury to a pitcher’s throwing elbow is always a concern but it’s an unfortunate development for the Brewers even if Gasser is only slated for a short stint on the IL. He has performed well in his first five career starts with a 2.57 earned run average thus far. His acclimation to the major leagues will now be put on pause and the team will lose yet another rotation option.
Brandon Woodruff is going to spend the entire season on the injured list after last year’s shoulder surgery. Wade Miley had Tommy John surgery and won’t be able to return this year. Jakob Junis initially went on the IL due to a shoulder impingement but had his return delayed when he was hit by a batted ball during batting practice. DL Hall is out due to a knee sprain and Joe Ross due to a strained lower back.
Despite all the rotation injuries, the club is 36-25 and six games up on the Cubs in the National League Central. Ashby is going to take the ball today and the club is off tomorrow. They can then turn to Freddy Peralta, Bryse Wilson and Colin Rea through the weekend but will need to figure out how to construct their rotation beyond that.
Junis started a rehab assignment last night but only tossed two innings and probably needs a few more outings before rejoining the big league club. Ashby could stick around but he has an ERA of 6.80 in Triple-A this year and his one previous MLB start saw him allow four earned runs in 3 2/3 innings. Myers has made seven appearances for the big league club this year but with a 5.40 ERA in those.
Given the rotation uncertainty and the club’s position in the standings, it seems highly likely they will be looking for starting pitching prior to the trade deadline at the end of July. Quick returns from Junis, Gasser and some others would obviously improve the situation but there should be plenty of room for additions. Peralta is a legit playoff game starter but Wilson just moved in from the bullpen this year while Rea is a journeyman who’s about to turn 34 years old and only striking out 15.8% of opponents.
There are still plenty of teams trying to suss out their deadline approach but there are some clear sellers right now. The White Sox are the worst team in baseball and should be marketing Erick Fedde, while Garrett Crochet could be available as well. The Marlins have already started selling and could make Jesús Luzardo or Trevor Rogers available. The Angels have Tyler Anderson, Griffin Canning and Patrick Sandoval as plausible trade candidates. Plenty of other pitchers could become available depending on how clubs like the Tigers, Blue Jays, Mets, Astros and others fare in the weeks to come.
Brewers Promote Robert Gasser
May 10: The Brewers have made it official, announced that they have selected Gasser’s contract today. They also recalled right-hander Janson Junk from Triple-A Nashville. In corresponding moves, right-hander Joel Payamps was placed on the bereavement list while righty Tobias Myers was optioned to Nashville. To open a 40-man spot for Gasser, righty JB Bukauskas was transferred to the 60-day IL. Bukauskas has been on the injured list for almost a month due to a lat strain and has not yet begun a rehab assignment.
May 9: The Brewers are expected to promote pitching prospect Robert Gasser to the majors, per Curt Hogg of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. The left-hander will be starting tomorrow’s game and making his major league debut. He’s not currently on the 40-man roster, so the Brewers will need to find a way to add him.
Gasser, 25 this month, was selected by the Padres in the 2021 draft. They grabbed him out of the University of Houston in Competitive Balance Round B, with the 71st overall pick. About a year later, he came to the Brewers via the 2022 deadline deal that sent Josh Hader to San Diego.
The Padres had him in High-A at the time of that trade, but the Brewers let him go to Double-A and Triple-A shortly thereafter. He finished 2022 with a combined 3.94 earned run average in 137 innings. He struck out 29.7% of batters faced while giving out walks at a 9% clip.
He spent all of last year with Triple-A Nashville, tossing 135 1/3 innings across 26 outings with a 3.79 ERA. He punched out 28% of the batters who came to the plate while giving out free passes just 8.4% of the time.
The lefty could have been in contention for a rotation spot to start the season but he was sidelined at the end of March due to a bone spur in his left elbow. He didn’t make his first Triple-A start of 2024 until April 24 and he has now taken the ball three times, throwing four frames each time out. He hasn’t been super sharp, with six walks and four homers allowed in his 12 innings, but has struck out 17.
Despite his name, Gasser doesn’t overpower hitters, mostly sitting in the 89-93 miles per hour range with his fastball. But he has a four-seamer, a two-seamer, a cutter, a slider and a changeup, allowing him to keep hitters off balance. Baseball America ranked him the club’s #5 prospect coming into the year while FanGraphs had him at #8 and Keith Law of The Athletic at #7. MLB Pipeline currently has him in the #5 slot.
The Brewers have been dealing with various moving parts in their rotation since late last year. Brandon Woodruff required shoulder surgery and is going to miss most or perhaps all of the 2024 season. Corbin Burnes was traded to the Orioles in the offseason. Since the season started, Wade Miley required Tommy John surgery while DL Hall and Jakob Junis have also landed on the injured list.
On top of those injuries, Freddy Peralta is going miss one turn through the rotation. He was given a five-game suspension for his part in the fracas between the Brewers and Rays about a week ago. He initially appealed that suspension and took the ball against the Cubs on Sunday, before he began serving the suspension on Monday.
Gasser’s promotion might be a temporary one to cover for Peralta. But at least for now, he’ll jump into the rotation next to Bryse Wilson, Colin Rea, Joe Ross and Tobias Myers. Myers has a 6.23 ERA through three starts and could perhaps be sent down instead of Gasser, especially if things go poorly when he takes the ball against the Cardinals tonight.
Even if Gasser does get optioned after just one outing, opportunities could open up later in the year. Ross will likely hit a workload limit at some point since he hardly pitched over the previous two seasons while recovering from his second career Tommy John surgery. More generally, pitchers injuries are fairly inevitable, though Milwaukee should also have Hall and Junis coming off the IL later in the year.
Time will tell how much time Gasser spends in the majors in 2024. But for now, it’s an exciting day for the young southpaw, who will take the ball tomorrow at American Family Field against the division-rival Cardinals.
NL Notes: Miley, Reds, Mets, Marte, Brewers, Junk
The Reds‘ search for starting pitching help has resulted in deals with Frankie Montas and Nick Martinez, while the team has been linked to several other pitchers who either remain available (in trades or in free agency) or have since landed elsewhere. MLB.com’s Mark Sheldon reports that one of those now-signed pitching targets included Wade Miley, as Cincinnati had some talks with the veteran left-hander before Miley re-signed with the Brewers.
There’s plenty of familiarity between the two sides, as Miley pitched for the Reds in 2020-21 and posted a 3.55 ERA over 177 1/3 innings. The Reds held a $10MM club option on his services for 2022, yet as part of a payroll cutback, Cincinnati put Miley on waivers (where he was quickly claimed by the Cubs) in order to part ways without even paying the $1MM buyout on that option. Miley has since posted a 3.15 ERA in 157 1/3 innings with Chicago and Milwaukee since the start of the 2022 campaign, though injuries again limited his availability.
Miley received $8.5MM in guaranteed money in his one-year deal with the Brewers, and the Reds went beyond that price range in their one-year, $16MM deal with Montas. With $106.2MM spent so far this winter, Cincinnati has been one of the offseason’s busier teams in free agency, and it seems possible the Reds might not be done with their efforts to bolster the pitching staff.
More from around the National League…
- The Mets have added several relievers this offseason, including Jorge Lopez, Michael Tonkin, Austin Adams, and a spate of pitchers signed to minor league contracts. However, “a more robust signing for the bullpen shouldn’t be ruled out,” The Athletic’s Will Sammon writes, after the Mets address some more pressing needs. Those hoping for a reunion between Josh Hader and David Stearns in Queens may be out of luck since New York isn’t expected to pursue any long-term deals until at least next offseason, yet the Mets could still look to add a prominent reliever without necessarily shopping at the very top of the free agent market.
- In other Mets news, Sammon writes that Starling Marte may play some winter ball in his native Dominican Republic this month, as the outfielder is looking to get back to full fitness after an injury-plagued pair of seasons. Marte battled through leg and groin injuries in 2022 and underwent surgery on both groins following that season, then hit only .248/.301/.324 over 341 plate appearances and 86 games in 2023. In addition to some lingering after-effects from his groin surgery, Marte also missed time due to a neck strain, migraines, and then another groin strain that brought his season to a close on August 7. Marte is therefore a question mark as he heads into his age-35 season, and the Mets’ recent acquisition of Tyrone Taylor might not be the last outfield add the club makes, Sammon observes.
- Janson Junk has started seven of his nine career MLB games and 86 of his 112 career minor league appearances, but Curt Hogg of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel wonders if Junk’s future might ultimately be as a relief pitcher. In the second of his two Major League appearances with the Brewers last season, Hogg noted that Junk’s fastball twice hit 96mph on the radar gun, a significant step beyond his 92.1mph fastball velocity in Triple-A. If this extra velo is sustainable in a more limited relief capacity, Junk’s fastball suddenly become a more dangerous pitch, perhaps making him an interesting bullpen candidate since he can pair that upgraded heater with a solid curveball. Teams usually don’t look to transition starting pitchers to relief work unless circumstances or performance demands because rotation depth is so valuable, yet should Junk (who has a 4.07 ERA and middling secondary metrics over 495 1/3 career minor league innings) get some looks as a reliever, it might help him more firmly find a niche in the majors.
Brewers Select Colin Rea, Designate Payton Henry
The Brewers announced that they have selected the contract of right-hander Colin Rea. Fellow righty Janson Junk was optioned to Triple-A Nashville to open a spot on the active roster. To get Rea onto the 40-man, catcher Payton Henry was designated for assignment.
Rea, 32, has 36 games of scattered big league action with the Padres, Marlins, Cubs and Brewers. Most of that came back in 2015 and 2016, as he’s only tossed 20 innings in the bigs since then. He has a career ERA of 4.90 in 154 1/3 innings overall.
He spent last year pitching for the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks in Japan, posting a 3.96 ERA over exactly 100 innings. He returned to North America this winter by signing a minor league deal with the Brewers. He’s already made a couple of starts in Triple-A, throwing seven innings without allowing an earned run.
The Brewers needed to address their rotation when Brandon Woodruff was placed on the injured list earlier this week with shoulder inflammation. They also intended to give their regular starters a breather by pushing them back a day, per Curt Hogg of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, meaning they needed a couple of fresh arms. Junk was recalled to make a spot start yesterday but has now been quickly optioned to make room for Rea.
Henry, 26 in June, has spent most of his career in the Brewers’ organization, having been drafted by them in 2016. He was dealt to the Marlins in July of 2021 but then was traded back to Milwaukee in November of last year. He has 20 games of major league experience, all of it with the Marlins in between those two trades. He hit .186/.314/.209 in 51 plate appearances, which is a tiny sample but it tracks with his reputation as a glove-first catching prospect. He’s hit .200/.294/.267 in five Triple-A games so far this year.
The Brewers will now have one week to trade Henry or pass him through waivers. Catching depth tends to be in demand throughout the season given the high number of injuries at the position. Since Henry has options remaining, he doesn’t even need to be given an active roster spot. The Brewers now have just two catchers on their 40-man roster in William Contreras and Victor Caratini. They have some non-roster depth with players like Alex Jackson and Brian Navarreto, though Henry would join them if he clears waivers. He doesn’t have a previous career outright or three-plus years of service time, meaning he won’t have the right to reject an outright assignment.
Brewers Place Brandon Woodruff On Injured List
The Brewers announced they’ve placed star hurler Brandon Woodruff on the 15-day injured list, retroactive to April 8, due to shoulder inflammation. Janson Junk has been recalled from Triple-A Nashville to take the vacated active roster spot.
Woodruff is coming off a strong start against the Cardinals on Saturday. He threw 5 1/3 scoreless innings in an eventual shutout win, tallying 84 pitches. He didn’t respond as hoped between appearances, though, and the Brewers will put him on the shelf. Curt Hogg of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel tweets that the club is hopeful it’ll be a minimal stint, which would cost him two starts.
The right-hander lost a month last season to a high ankle sprain. He’s never previously spent time on the IL with an arm-related injury as a major leaguer. He’s topped 100 innings in each of the past three full schedules and make a full slate of 13 starts during the shortened 2020 campaign. Woodruff tallied 153 1/3 frames last year in spite of the ankle sprain, taking the ball 27 times.
Woodruff had been tabbed to start tomorrow’s game in Arizona. It now seems that’ll fall to Junk, who’d be making his team debut. Acquired from the Angels in the Hunter Renfroe trade over the winter, Junk opened the year on an optional assignment to Nashville. He’s thrown ten innings of one-run ball there, striking out seven while walking three. The righty started six of seven MLB appearances with the Halos between 2021-22, posting a 4.74 ERA over 24 2/3 frames.
Angels Acquire Hunter Renfroe From Brewers
The Angels’ early-offseason aggressiveness continues. The Halos announced the acquisition of outfielder Hunter Renfroe from the Brewers on Tuesday night. Pitchers Janson Junk, Elvis Peguero and Adam Seminaris head to Milwaukee in return.
It’s the third early strike of the offseason for the Halos, who’ve already signed starter Tyler Anderson to a three-year free agent deal and acquired infielder Gio Urshela in a trade with the Twins. Now, they take a step towards fixing an outfield that had a major question mark alongside Mike Trout and Taylor Ward.
Renfroe should solidify the corner outfield spot opposite Ward. He’s been an above-average hitter in each of the past two seasons, with strikingly similar production for the Red Sox in 2021 and Brewers this year. The former first-rounder has combined for 60 home runs over the last two seasons, following up a 31-homer showing with the Sox with 29 more in Milwaukee. He had an identical .315 on-base percentage in each year but more than offset that modest number with big power production.
The right-handed hitter has hit between .255 and .260 in each of the last two years while slugging around .500 both seasons. He has a cumulative .257/.315/.496 line in just under 1100 plate appearances going back to the start of 2021. His 22.9% strikeout rate is right around average, while he’s walked at a slightly below-average 7.6% clip. He’s a lower-OBP slugger who has particularly decimated left-handed opposition. Renfroe carries a .269/.357/.508 line over that stretch while holding the platoon advantage. He’s had starker on-base concerns but hit for enough power to remain a decent option against right-handed pitching (.252/.292/.491).
That power production is Renfroe’s calling card, but he’s also a viable defender. Defensive Runs Saved has pegged him right around league average in right field in each of the last three seasons. Statcast’s range-based metric has Renfroe a few runs below average annually, but he compensates for his fringy athleticism with top-tier arm strength. He’s picked up double-digit assists in each of the last two years, and he leads all MLB outfielders with 27 baserunners cut down in that time.
Renfroe’s excellent arm strength has kept him primarily in right field over the past few years, although he did log a number of innings in left earlier in his career. If he steps into right field at Angel Stadium, that’d push Ward over to left field. Former top prospect Jo Adell now looks as if he’ll be relegated to fourth outfield/bench duty after beginning his career with a .215/.259/.356 showing in roughly one full season’s worth of games. Adell is still just 23 years old and coming off a solid year in Triple-A Salt Lake, but the Angels don’t appear prepared to count on him for a regular role as they look to vault their way into the playoff picture in 2023.
As with last week’s Urshela trade, the Renfroe acquisition is about deepening the lineup with a productive but not elite veteran for a season. Renfroe turns 31 in January and is in his final season of club control. He’s projected by MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz for an $11.2MM salary, and he’ll be a free agent at the end of the year. That’s a reasonable sum for a player of this caliber, but one moderately expensive season of arbitration control over a lower-OBP corner slugger isn’t teeming with trade value. Renfroe is the second player of that ilk dealt in as many weeks.
The Blue Jays sent Teoscar Hernández to the Mariners for reliever Erik Swanson and pitching prospect Adam Macko. That trade came as a surprise to a number of Toronto fans, but each of Swanson and Macko are arguably more appealing players than any of the trio of pitchers Milwaukee received in this swap. Hernández is a better hitter than Renfroe is, but the gap between the former’s .282/.332/.508 line over the past two seasons and the latter’s production isn’t all that dramatic. Nevertheless, Renfroe has had a hard time sticking in any one spot as his price tag has escalated throughout his arbitration seasons. The Halos will be his fifth team in as many years, as he’s successively played for the Padres, Rays, Red Sox and Brewers going back to 2019.
Adding his projected arbitration salary pushes the Halos’ estimated 2023 payroll up to around $192MM, per Roster Resource. That’d be the highest mark in franchise history, narrowly topping their approximate $189MM figure from this past season. They’re up to roughly $206MM in luxury tax commitments, around $27MM shy of the $233MM base threshold. The franchise’s spending capacity this winter has been in question with owner Arte Moreno exploring a sale of the franchise. There’s still no indication the club is willing to approach luxury tax territory, but the acquisitions of Anderson, Urshela and Renfroe have tacked on an estimated $31.9MM in 2023 spending. The latter two players represent one-year investments, but it seems Moreno is affording general manager Perry Minasian and his group some leeway to add to the roster in advance of the club’s final season of control over defending AL MVP runner-up Shohei Ohtani.
The Brewers add a trio of pitchers, two of whom already have big league experience. Junk is a former 22nd-round pick of the Yankees. He went to the Halos in the 2021 deadline deal that sent southpaw Andrew Heaney to the Bronx. The right-hander has pitched in seven MLB games over the past two seasons, starting six. He’s allowed a 4.74 ERA through 24 2/3 innings, striking out a below-average 19.4% of opponents but posting a sterling 4.4% walk rate.
Junk, 27 in January, leans primarily on a low-80s slider which prospect evaluators suggest could be an above-average pitch. He has decent spin on his 92-93 MPH four-seam but hasn’t cemented himself on a big league staff to this point. He spent most of this year on optional assignment to Salt Lake, where he posted a 4.64 ERA through 73 2/3 innings as a starter in a hitter-friendly environment. His 22.1% strikeout percentage was a touch below average, but he only walked 5.8% of opponents. The Seattle University product still has a pair of minor league option years remaining and can bounce between Milwaukee and Triple-A Nashville as rotation or middle relief depth.
Peguero, on the other hand, is a pure reliever. The righty debuted with three appearances as a COVID replacement late in the 2021 season. He earned a permanent 40-man roster spot last offseason and appeared in 13 games this year. Tasked with low-leverage innings, Peguero put up a 7.27 ERA across 17 1/3 innings. He only struck out 15.6% of opponents but got swinging strikes on a more impressive 12% of his total pitches. The Dominican Republic native induced grounders on roughly half the batted balls he surrendered in the majors.
He also had an excellent year in Salt Lake, where he tossed 44 1/3 frames of 2.84 ERA ball. Peguero fanned 27.5% of batters faced against a quality 7.1% walk rate and racked up grounders at a huge 57.5% clip. Like Junk, Peguero leaned primarily on a slider during his MLB look, although he throws much harder. Peguero’s slider checked in at 91 MPH on average while his fastball sat just north of 96. He turns 26 in March and also has two options remaining, so the Brewers can deploy him as an up-and-down middle reliever while hoping he can translate his Triple-A success against big league opponents.
Seminaris went in the fifth round in the 2020 draft out of Long Beach State. A 6’0″ southpaw, he wasn’t ranked among the top 30 prospects in the Anaheim system at Baseball America. He traversed three minor league levels this year, showing well at High-A against younger competition but struggling as he climbed the minor league ladder. Altogether, he worked 101 2/3 frames of 3.54 ERA ball with a 22.1% strikeout rate and an 8.7% walk percentage. He’s not on the 40-man roster but will have to be added by the end of the 2023 season or be exposed in the Rule 5 draft.
While Milwaukee clearly likes all three mid-20’s hurlers, they’re each flexible depth options. Surely, a key motivator in the deal was reallocating Renfroe’s hefty arbitration projection. Slashing payroll wasn’t the sole impetus for the trade — the Brewers could’ve simply non-tendered Renfroe last week if they were committed to getting his money off the books — but GM Matt Arnold and his staff elected to clear some payroll room while bringing in a few depth arms of note.
The Brewers are projected for a salary around $115MM at Roster Resource thanks largely to an arbitration class that still includes Corbin Burnes, Brandon Woodruff and Willy Adames, among others. That’s about $17MM shy of this year’s Opening Day mark, and more roster shuffling figures to be on the horizon. Dealing a complementary player like Renfroe doesn’t suggest the Brewers are about to flip any of Burnes, Woodruff or Adames, but Milwaukee could consider moving second baseman Kolten Wong or a depth starter like Adrian Houser or Eric Lauer. They’ve already drawn some interest from the Mariners on Wong and are sure to contemplate a number of ways to try to balance the present and the future.
Milwaukee could now dip into the lower tiers of the free agent corner outfield market to backfill for Renfroe’s absence, with Tyrone Taylor standing as the current favorite for playing time alongside Christian Yelich and Garrett Mitchell in the outfield. Highly-touted young players like Sal Frelick and Joey Wiemer could play their way into the mix midseason, but it’d be a surprise if the Brewers didn’t add at least one veteran outfielder before Opening Day.
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