Brewers trade Feyereisen, Rasmussen to Rays for SS Willy Adames, RHP Trevor Richards

[CheeseheadInQC]

This really is one of those rare trades where everyone involved on both sides has exceeded expectations from when the trade was made. Usually there is at least one disappointment.

[sveumrules]

2 minutes ago, CheeseheadInQC said:

This really is one of those rare trades where everyone involved on both sides has exceeded expectations from when the trade was made. Usually there is at least one disappointment.

Yeah, rad to see both Rasmussen (38 IP | 2.33 ERA | 2.70 FIP) and JPF (19 IP | 0.00 ERA | 1.62 FIP) off to dominant starts with the Rays this year.

Even radder that the Brewers have progressed to the point where they can deal away two legit arms & still have the 2nd best pitching staff by FIP based WAR/4th best by runs allowed based WAR so far this year.

[markedman5]

 

[adambr2]

While Adames has been somewhat disappointing this year, both sides have to be relatively happy with how this one turned out. 

[patrickgpe]

I’m sure the rays are happy with it. Feyereisen has been great and now Rasmussen is a starter. Adames while not having a good batting average has proven to be one the best power hitting shortstops in the NL. Maybe the Rays are a little ahead on this trade, but not by far. 

[zurch1818]

1 hour ago, patrickgpe said:

I’m sure the rays are happy with it. Feyereisen has been great and now Rasmussen is a starter. Adames while not having a good batting average has proven to be one the best power hitting shortstops in the NL. Maybe the Rays are a little ahead on this trade, but not by far. 

Don't forget the brewers flipped the Richards from this trade and also packaged Bowden Francis to the Blue Jays for Rowdy Tellez. It becomes much more difficult to pick a winner then as the Brewers needed offense (still do...but it isn't as dire of a need compared to when we didn't have these two players).

[Ron Robinsons Beard]

The ceiling for both Rasmussen and Feyereisen for the Brewers were as set-up men. Lets face it ... the Brewers were never going to transition Rasmussen into a starter. Not with his injury history. The Rays are just a different organization. They'll do what the Brewers won't.

As mentioned above, these two set-up men (plus Francis, who for all we know could end up being just a AAAA guy) were turned into Adames and Tellez, who have quickly turned into the top power threats on this team. That's strong personnel decision making in my book.

[UpandIn]

37 minutes ago, Ron Robinsons Beard said:

The ceiling for both Rasmussen and Feyereisen for the Brewers were as set-up men. Lets face it ... the Brewers were never going to transition Rasmussen into a starter. Not with his injury history. The Rays are just a different organization. They'll do what the Brewers won't.

As mentioned above, these two set-up men (plus Francis, who for all we know could end up being just a AAAA guy) were turned into Adames and Tellez, who have quickly turned into the top power threats on this team. That's strong personnel decision making in my book.

I'm not sure why you're saying this. He was a starter most of the way through the minors. Very short outings, sure, but...he WAS coming back from multiple injuries. But the statement;

Quote

"The ceiling for both Rasmussen and Feyereisen for the Brewers were as set-up men. Lets face it ... the Brewers were never going to transition Rasmussen into a starter."

I don't know that's true at all. I know the Brewers have brought...every starter save for...Lauer who was used a little out of the BP, but otherwise started from the start, but Burnes, Woodruff, Peralta, Houser, Ashby, they all started out in the pen. I definitely do NOT know that his ceiling was as a reliever or that the Rays do things so much differently. 

I don't think he'd have been starting for the Brewers in the near future because we had/have 6-7 starters, but this feels like a guess made as a definitive statement.

 

That said, Stearns said he wanted to build an abundance of starting pitching to acquire position players as needed. He did that and Adames has been outstanding and we also needed someone to bridge the gap until Turang(at the very least). 

Rassmussen always had more upside than a late inning reliever...and he always carried more risk. We traded away a high upside arm for a REALLY good SS who ended up being kinda the heart of this team. So again, absolutely no complaints...and it's a big funny to go back and see people lamenting this trade and the SD trade a year ago....so we should probably keep that in mind when talking about these past deadline trades(aside from DFA'ing Lamet, that should be fairly criticized and it was a baffling move without justification). 

[Ron Robinsons Beard]

6 minutes ago, UpandIn said:

I'm not sure why you're saying this. He was a starter most of the way through the minors. Very short outings, sure, but...he WAS coming back from multiple injuries. But the statement;

I don't know that's true at all. I know the Brewers have brought...every starter save for...Lauer who was used a little out of the BP, but otherwise started from the start, but Burnes, Woodruff, Peralta, Houser, Ashby, they all started out in the pen. I definitely do NOT know that his ceiling was as a reliever or that the Rays do things so much differently. 

I don't think he'd have been starting for the Brewers in the near future because we had/have 6-7 starters, but this feels like a guess made as a definitive statement.

 

That said, Stearns said he wanted to build an abundance of starting pitching to acquire position players as needed. He did that and Adames has been outstanding and we also needed someone to bridge the gap until Turang(at the very least). 

Rassmussen always had more upside than a late inning reliever...and he always carried more risk. We traded away a high upside arm for a REALLY good SS who ended up being kinda the heart of this team. So again, absolutely no complaints...and it's a big funny to go back and see people lamenting this trade and the SD trade a year ago....so we should probably keep that in mind when talking about these past deadline trades(aside from DFA'ing Lamet, that should be fairly criticized and it was a baffling move without justification). 

I guess I say that because, in my mind, if the Brewers viewed Rasmussen as a viable long-term starting pitcher, they wouldn't have dealt him. He would have been off-limits in any deal.

[UpandIn]

10 hours ago, patrickgpe said:

I’m sure the rays are happy with it. Feyereisen has been great and now Rasmussen is a starter. Adames while not having a good batting average has proven to be one the best power hitting shortstops in the NL. Maybe the Rays are a little ahead on this trade, but not by far. 

5.9 Bref War for Adams

5.3 for Rassmussen and Feyereisen

Do the Rays get extra points for needing to find a spot for Adames while the future of the franchise in Wander Franco comes up? I could see that. 

It also propelled the Brewers from a team that was barely .500 to a 95 win team...despite kinda coasting at the end there.

I like the trade. It's one of those trades that even if we do end up losing it by sending out more WAR, I think it was a good one for us. And Rassmussen is having a great deal of success. I like seeing that from guys we draft and develop even if it's elsewhere. He went through hell to get back. 

[UpandIn]

3 minutes ago, Ron Robinsons Beard said:

I guess I say that because, in my mind, if the Brewers viewed Rasmussen as a viable long-term starting pitcher, they wouldn't have dealt him. He would have been off-limits in any deal.

Maybe...I remember Stearns talking about how they still were gonna give him a chance to start again at some point in the future, but I look at it more in terms of us trading from a position of depth for a huge need.

A pitcher with elite stuff and an injury history for a Shortstop that Stearns had long coveted...I can see him giving up the starter there. 

There was a stretch last year where people were advocating for Adames to get some MVP votes last year. So we got a lot in return. The part that's a bit shocking is what JP has done this year, but I don't think anyone saw THAT coming. 

[Outlander]

It was nice to see JP playing so well and hadn't given up a run all year. However, he hasn't played since June and a return in 2022 isn't looking real good.

I doubt Rasmussen's ceiling was middle relief. He would have had his chances in Milwaukee.

 

[Jopal78]

1 hour ago, Ron Robinsons Beard said:

I guess I say that because, in my mind, if the Brewers viewed Rasmussen as a viable long-term starting pitcher, they wouldn't have dealt him. He would have been off-limits in any deal.

But the Rays originally drafted Rasmussen in the first round, which tells me teams thought Rasmussen had significant starting pitcher potential.  Moreover, Rasmussen almost exclusively was a starter in the minors for Milwaukee and rocketed through their minor leagues in essentially one season which would be uncommon for someone who projects as a reliever in the majors. 

Anyways, I'm sure that Tampa will end up getting more from Rasmussen and Feyereisen over the course of their remaining team control than the Brewers will from Adames. However, the Brewers transformed their shortstop position from one of weakness to a strength and still have quality starting pitching depth, so they probably would make that trade again in a heartbeat.