The 2017 MLB trade deadline has come and gone.
The Milwaukee Brewers kicked the tires on seemingly every big name this summer, and came away with several supplementary pieces as they look to make a push for October.
General Manager David Stearns snagged lefty reliever Tyler Webb from the New York Yankees for first base prospect Garrett Cooper early in the July trading frenzy.
Webb, 26, is currently with the Brewers' Triple-A club in Colorado Springs. He has a 5.63 ERA in nine MLB games with New York and Milwaukee this season, and allowed six runs in six innings with Colorado Springs so far. Meanwhile, Cooper batted .366/.428/.652 in 75 games in Triple-A, and has since been promoted to the majors with the Yankees.
Stearns continued to address the Brewers' scuffling bullpen over the next two weeks with trades for Anthony Swarzak and Jeremy Jeffress. Milwaukee relievers have a 4.42 ERA this season, which ranks 21st in baseball.
Swarzak, who is a pending free agent, posted a 2.23 ERA for the Chicago White Sox in 2017. The Brewers sent talented, but expendable Triple-A outfielder Ryan Cordell back to the South Side in return for their set-up man.
Jeffress spent four seasons with the Brewers over two different stints with the team. Milwaukee sent him to Texas last summer along with catcher Jonathan Lucroy, in return for top-100 prospects Lewis Brinson and Luis Ortiz (Cordell was also a piece in the deal).
Jeffress owns a 5.31 ERA and unsightly 1.672 WHIP over 40.2 innings this year, a far cry from his career 2.38 ERA in Milwaukee. Texas took back 25-year-old Double-A pitcher Tayler Scott in the deadline deal.
The #Brewers have officially reacquired RHP Jeremy Jeffress from Texas in exchange for RHP Tayler Scott. OF Kirk Nieuwenhuis DFA'd. pic.twitter.com/q22TDI3g6y
— Milwaukee Brewers (@Brewers) July 31, 2017
Though Stearns' trades do make the Brewers marginally better this season, none of these additions will ignite a major push down the stretch.
Milwaukee has gaping holes in its rotation, and both Sonny Gray and Yu Darvish were available. The Yankees swooped in with a deal for Gray shortly before the deadline, while Darvish was flipped to the Los Angeles Dodgers in the final moments. New York moved three of their top-12 prospects for Gray, a trade the Brewers could have topped if Stearns was so inclined.
Neither Gray nor Darvish is a game-changing arm, but both are in that second-tier and would have given the Brewers a legitimate top-of-the-rotation piece to take on the Chicago Cubs.
The Brewers could still make a deal; teams are allowed to acquire players through trades who are put on waivers up until Aug. 31. The Brewers and New York Mets have reportedly talked about outfielder Curtis Granderson. He is a good candidate to be moved next month, and the Brewers may still be interested.
This current haul may feel a bit underwhelming for the Brewers, especially as they continue to slide in the standings. But Milwaukee was always building for the future, and they made it through this deadline period without forfeiting any of their top-end prospects.
