Keon Broxton to Mets; Bobby Wahl, Adam Hill, Felix Valerio to Brewers

[homer]

Per Jon Heyman tweet

 

 

"The Milwaukee Brewers have acquired right-handed pitchers Bobby Wahl and Adam Hill and infielder Felix Valerio from the New York Mets in exchange for outfielder Keon Broxton."

[homer]

Just glancing at these guys but it seems like Hill and Valerio are lottery tickets similar to the return for the Adam Lind trade. Valerio tore up the DSL as an 18 year old.

[mattyo]

I trust Stearns on this because I don't have much else to say about the players in this trade.

[Eye Black]

Interesting. Adam Hill was a 4th round draft pick this past June. He had 26 Ks in 15 innings pitched. Not the worst thing to replenish the farm system a little.

 

I assume Broxton would have been less likely to be traded if he still had any options remaining.

[TURBO]

We really have no use for Broxton at this point. I have zero faith he would ever offer us anything more than a late inning defensive replacement (who would probably get too many at bats during the course of a season).

 

Glad we got something for him that might be of value in the future.

[xisxisxis]

Clearing OF space for a Bryce Harper signing....

 

Several upside prospects for Broxton is more than I expected...

[ThisIsMyCrew]

This made my day. Zero options so he needed to be moved.

[patrickgpe]

The reliever had good numbers in triple a and is current #28 on the Mets mlb pipeline. Also gets it up there in the high 90’s. I’m ok with the trade, even though the return isn’t much, as it was clear he was nothing more than the 5th of. Question is if they carry 5, who is now the 5th. Probably this is why you have guys like Perez and spanenberg.

[ctmyers]

So the options if/when Braun goes down are Ben Gamel, Hernan Perez and Cory Spangenberg?

[xisxisxis]

So the options if/when Braun goes down are Ben Gamel, Hernan Perez and Cory Spangenberg?

Well Thames is still on the team...

[adambr2]

Honestly this was a pretty solid return. Lottery ticket teenager middle infielder, power arm with some upside, and a 4th rounder from last year who had a nice 1st season in the minors.

 

Because of how we value flexibility, the time to move Broxton was now since we couldn't shuffle him between MLB and AAA anymore.

 

He never was able to stay consistent enough or avoid K's enough to stick consistently in the lineup, but Keon did some good things in Milwaukee and had some very memorable moments, particularly defensively. I wish him the best in New York.

[Lathund]

Keon being traded was rather inevitable. Best of luck to Keon who was certainly a memorable player in his time here. That game-ending HR robbery against the Cardinals was one of my favorite moments of the regular season.

 

Don't know anything about the players we got in return other than their statlines, but Hill's 15 K/9 and Wahls 14+ K/9 in AAA which is always encouraging. That also makes two 2018 draftees that Stearns has traded for this offseason, I'd imagine those were players who have been on their radar a while and perhaps just missed out on in the draft?

[bacon06]

 

Stearns also mentioned the AAA guys, Ray, Stokes, and Taylor

[wallus]

Good luck to Keon. It always seemed like he was a good dude. I am surprised we got "this much" for him.

[3and2Fastball]

Hill is more than a lottery ticket. Relief pitcher prospect, 2.35 ERA in A ball, played for South Carolina. Needs to cut down on the walks. Just 21. 6'6" 185. Somebody needs to introduce him to Braun's "connection"

 

I love adding Valerio to the system. Kid will be only 18 in 2019. 2B 5'7" 165. Hit .319/.409./.433 last year. Dominican Republic prospect. Love it

 

At first glance Wahl looks like a AAAA guy. He's been good in AAA, struggled in brief MLB appearances. Maybe the Brewers can get him to the next level.

 

I'll miss Keon. But like the trade. Especially optimistic about Valerio.

[MoreTrife]

So the options if/when Braun goes down are Ben Gamel, Hernan Perez and Cory Spangenberg?

 

Corey Ray?

[homer]

Hill is more than a lottery ticket. Relief pitcher prospect, 2.35 ERA in A ball, played for South Carolina. Needs to cut down on the walks. Just 21. 6'6" 185.

 

Yeah you're right. I just saw he had played one year in the minors. Didn't see how old he was. More advanced than the return for Lind.

[MNBrew]

So the options if/when Braun goes down are Ben Gamel, Hernan Perez and Cory Spangenberg?

Gamel's an MLB OF with more experience than Broxton and a bit less experience than Santana, so it's not like he's a neophyte or total drop off. The Perez & Spangenberg pieces were already there, plus Thames if he's still around.

 

Basically Gamel's been added to the roster while Santana & Broxton have been subtracted, thus a net "OF asset" quantity change of -1. To me that's not a concern because realistically it was pretty unlikely they'd have kept both Broxton AND Santana through if not even into the season anyway.

 

Plus as others have noted, there are three AAA OFs who are legit OFs and who have all their options remaining.

 

Net effect = flexibility. With any luck it also lessens our K frequency.

 

Broxton's defense isn't to be underestimated, but in such a limited role as he would've had, the impact of his defensive skill set would've been less anyway.

[adambr2]

The more I watch the Brewers operate, I think they are developing a philosophy of avoiding the reliever FA market entirely. Want to build up a solid core of pitchers, some of which can be shuffled up and down when needed, trade low level prospects for rental relievers when needed, and use their capital on other needs.

[adambr2]

Wahl is going to be one of those "shuffle" guys, like a Jorge Lopez or Adrian Houser of 2018. Or in a better case scenario, like a Jacob Barnes. Or in a best case scenario, a Brandon Woodruff.

[MadScientist]

The more I watch the Brewers operate, I think they are developing a philosophy of avoiding the reliever FA market entirely. Want to build up a solid core of pitchers, some of which can be shuffled up and down when needed, trade low level prospects for rental relievers when needed, and use their capital on other needs.

I think they'd consider a FA reliever if he would be one of the top relievers on the team. The problem is that they are too expensive. The Brewers know they will need extra pitchers at times, and being able to option several of them makes the staff effectively 17 or 18.

[True Blue Brew Crew]

With Broxton now gone, those patrons sitting behind the plate will have to supply their own fans on hot summer days and nights.

[JosephC]

I love this trade. Assuming Houser makes the opening day roster because he's out of options, Wahl teams nicely with Taylor Williams to give the Brewers outstanding right handed relief insurance policies. Add two more prospects on top of that.

 

I don't mind taking Broxton and his low OPB out of the equation.

 

It looks pretty solid for the Mets too. The Mets only have 4 outfielders on their 40-man and Cespedes is likely to miss the entire season which brings them down to 3. They get a MLB outfielder that has an attractive power/speed combo and can play all three spots and they don't have to give up a necessary MLB piece or a top 25 prospect to get him.

[Outlander]

I guess that talk of Broxton having no value wasn't exactly true. Best of luck to him in NY.

[KCBrewerfan34]

Is this official or can the Mets change their mind (or back out)?

 

 

Asking for a friend