The Brewers are set to bolster their pitching staff for the stretch run, and they’re doing it by reaching across the division.
Milwaukee and St. Louis are reportedly in agreement on a trade that would send Dustin May and JoJo Romero to the Brewers in exchange for outfield prospects Alexander Frias and Josiah Ragsdale. The deal has not yet been announced.
May gives Milwaukee another arm for a rotation that has already been one of the club’s strengths. The 28-year-old right-hander signed a one-year, $12.5 million deal over the winter and had looked like one of the better rental starters available before a recent downturn cooled the market a bit. Even so, he remains a useful back-end starter.
Through 21 starts, May has logged 109 innings with a 4.38 ERA. He has struck out 23.1% of the batters he has faced while walking 7.6%, and his ground-ball rate sits at league average. He does not overpower hitters on a pitch-by-pitch basis, but he gets enough called strikes and still carries solid underlying numbers.
For Milwaukee, May fits behind Jacob Misiorowski and Kyle Harrison, once Harrison is healthy. In the short term, he is likely to push Robert Gasser aside, and Harrison’s eventual return from the injured list could squeeze one of Brandon Sproat, Shane Drohan or Logan Henderson.
Even with the injuries to Quinn Priester and Brandon Woodruff, the Brewers still have a deep group. May may not get a playoff start, but he looks likely to be on the postseason roster in some role.
Romero addresses another need, though his immediate availability is tied to health. The left-hander is working his way back from an appendectomy he had a couple of weeks ago, and Milwaukee can afford to let him recover fully with its lead in the NL Central.
The Brewers are targeting a postseason-ready version of Romero, who will sit behind Aaron Ashby on the left-handed depth chart in Pat Murphy’s bullpen. Lefty relief became a need because of injuries to Angel Zerpa and Rob Zastryzny.
Romero, 29, has been a dependable leverage reliever for St. Louis in recent seasons and is in the middle of his fourth straight productive year.
He owns a 3.35 ERA with a 23.1% strikeout rate and an 8.6% walk rate. He also gets grounders at an above-average clip, though his 8% swinging strike rate is a career low.
This season he has reverse splits, but he has usually been tougher on lefties, which fits a pitcher built around a sinker-slider mix.
The money on the move is manageable for Milwaukee. May is playing on a $12 million salary and will also collect a $500,000 buyout on a $20 million mutual option after the season.
Romero is making $4.26 million this year. That means Romero is owed around $1.26 million the rest of the way, while May is due a little more than $4 million between his remaining salary and the buyout.
Milwaukee entered the day with a payroll in the $136 million range, and that would move into the $140 million range if no cash changes hands.
St. Louis, meanwhile, is getting a pair of interesting young outfielders for two rental pieces who are good but not elite.
Frias, 18, is the headliner. He’s viewed as a longer-term development bet and has drawn plenty of attention in scouting circles.
Eric Longenhagen and Brendan Gawlowski of FanGraphs recently placed him among the top 50 prospects in baseball, citing his bat speed.
Not everyone is that high on him, and Milwaukee clearly would not have made the deal if it viewed Frias as a top-50 overall prospect. Still, he is trending up.
Baseball America ranked him ninth in the Brewers system in its latest update and noted that his bat speed could translate to 30-homer power if he learns to lift the ball more consistently. Frias has a 6’2″ frame and projects to a corner outfield spot, so the bat will have to carry him.
The left-handed hitter crushed complex league pitching early in the year and has hit .236/.328/.418 in 28 games since moving up to Low-A.
Ragsdale, 22, was Milwaukee’s seventh-round pick out of Boston College last year. MLB Pipeline has him 13th in the system, while Baseball America ranks him 22nd and FanGraphs recently moved him to 17th. FanGraphs projects him as a fourth outfielder, though with a slim chance to become an everyday player.
The 6’0″ outfielder brings elite speed and has a shot to handle center field at a plus level. His bat is less certain, but he has put together a big first full season in the minors, hitting .316/.441/.581 with 19 homers and 31 steals across High-A and Double-A. He also works counts well and draws plenty of walks, though the strikeouts remain a concern against better pitching.
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