Monday afternoon, prior to the 4pm ET trade deadline (live updates, tracker), the Brewers have reportedly reacquired one of their former players to bolster the bullpen. Milwaukee is getting right-hander Jeremy Jeffress from the Rangers for minor league reliever Taylor Scott.
#Rangers have traded Jeremy Jeffress to the #Brewers
— Jerry Crasnick (@jcrasnick) July 31, 2017
#Rangers are getting RHP Taylor Scott when deal for Jeffress completed #Brewers
— Joel Sherman (@Joelsherman1) July 31, 2017
The Brewers, of course, traded Jeffress to the Rangers at last year's deadline as part of the big Jonathan Lucroy deal. That trade did not work out for Texas at all. Lucroy struggled this year (68 OPS+) and was recently traded for the Rockies for a player to be named later. Jeffress has also struggled this season (86 ERA+), and now he's going back to the Brewers. The Rangers sent top prospects Lewis Brinson and Luis Ortiz to the Brewers in that trade. Yikes.
Last week the Brewers acquired Anthony Swarzak from the White Sox in an effort to bolster their bullpen and stay in the NL Central race. At 55-52, Milwaukee is currently 2 1/2 games of the surging Cubs. The Brewers are also 5 1/2 games back of the second wild card spot.
A big part of their rebuild the Brewers have traded relievers for young players, and it's worked out beautifully. Jeffress, Will Smith, and Tyler Thornburg have all seen their stock drop since being dealt away. Milwaukee dealt all of them at exactly the right time.
