Former Brewers catcher Jonathan Lucroy was one of the prized acquisitions across baseball just 12 months ago, but the Texas Rangers have already sold him off for cheap.
On Sunday, Texas sent the slumping backstop to the Colorado Rockies for a player to be named later, according to FOX Sports' Ken Rosenthal. Lucroy hit just .242/.297/.338 for Texas this season, and will hit the open market this winter at 31 years old.
Milwaukee capitalized on Lucroy's value last summer. General manager David Stearns pryed outfielders Lewis Brinson and Ryan Cordell and pitcher Luis Ortiz from Texas in return for Lucroy and former Brewers closer Jeremy Jeffress.
Brinson and Ortiz are two of the Brewers' top three prospects in the organization's highly-rated farm system. Cordell was recently traded to the Chicago White Sox for productive reliever Anthony Swarzak.
On top of Lucroy's struggles and the ensuing trade, Jeffress has completely flopped with the Rangers. Jeffress has a 5.31 ERA this season, and his 1.67 WHIP is the third-worst among relievers with at least 40 innings.
Even with the Brewers' second-half slide, Milwaukee is still 3.5 games ahead of Texas this season.
Lucroy was a two-time all-star with the Brewers and batted .284/.342/.436 across seven seasons in Milwaukee. The Brewers will see Lucroy next month for a three-game series in Colorado from Aug. 18-20.
