Astros: Brewers put former Astros prospects on the trade block

The Brewers make two moves that sent ripples throughout the big leagues, don’t expect the Astros to get involved.

Of all the teams out there, you may not have thought that the Brewers would be making a big splash. Instead, they go out and trade for Christian Yelich and then sign Lorenzo Cain to a five-year, 80 million dollar contract. They are beginning their rise as the 2015 Astros did.

They are going out and adding some veteran talents. Like the Astros, they are unfortunately blocking some of their younger talents. In fact, with Ryan Braun still on the roster, the Brewers are blocking one of the rising hitters in the game.

Domingo Santana was part of the Mike Fiers and Carlos Gomez trade. While Santana showed potential in Houston, they decided to add Gomez for the 2015 playoffs drive. While that trade will not go down as one of the best in Astros history, but Fiers was productive at times. Santana hit .285 last year with 30 homers and 85 RBIs with the Brewers. What more can you ask for?

Also included in that trade was Brett Phillips. Unlike Santana, Phillips hasn’t had much of much of a chance to succeed in the big leagues. He stalled out a Double-A for a while before making his MLB debut last year. In his 87 at-bats in the big leagues, Phillips has batted .276 with four homers and drove in 12 runs. As advertised, he also stole five bases. One could argue that his ceiling is what Yelich could offer, but not immediately.

Trade targets for the Astros?

Now both Santana and Phillips appear to be out of the job in Milwaukee, and on the trading block according to Bob Nightengale. The Brewers appear to be seeking a starting pitcher in return for trading one or both of them. I know what Astros fans are thinking right now, why don’t we try to get our boys back?

The Astros appear to have some depth in the rotation, but probably not what the Brewers would be looking for. My first thought was to trade Collin McHugh for Phillips and put him in left field, but would he be too much of an upgrade over Derek Fisher? For that matter, I don’t think the Rays would value McHugh that much even with two years of control.

The Brewers are seeking a pitcher like Chris Archer in return for a package including those two outfielders. That’s unlikely a pipe dream for the Brewers. They are going big. The Brewers will not be likely too interested in Brad Peacock either. While this story involves two former Astros prospects, it’s unlikely that they will be involved in any trade talks.

Next: Collin McHugh’s role in 2018 is a bit uncertain

The Brewers are trying to win now. They are not looking for prospects and/or McHugh. With how the Astros rotation battled injuries in 2017, they need the depth this season. While McHugh will be the long reliever, he will probably make ten starts this year. We saw how the team used the 10-day DL last year, expect them to rest some starters throughout the season.

***Stats from Baseball-Reference***