On Tuesday night the Milwaukee Brewers and Los Angeles Angels made one of the first big trades of the offseason. The Brewers sent star outfielder Hunter Renfroe to the Angels for three pitchers in Janson Junk, Elvis Peguero and Adam Seminaris. This trade was very important for both teams.

Reliable Renfroe

The Brewers acquired Renfroe prior to the 2022 season with high hopes he could boost the struggling outfield and he did just that. In 474 at-bats he posted a solid .255 AVG with 121 hits, 23 doubles, 29 homers and 72 RBI. His fifth full season in the majors was one of the best all-around campaigns in his young career. His batting average, hits and RBIs were all second most behind his 2021 season with the Boston Red Sox.

Over the past decade, the Angels have done very little to boost their production outside of Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani. This trade was significant in their efforts to build a team that can start winning more games. They are in an American League West that is getting much more competitive with the World Champion Houston Astros, playoff streak-breaking Seattle Mariners and big-spending Texas Rangers.

Important Pitching

In return for Renfroe, the Brewers got some much-needed pitching.

Junk has played in seven major league games between 2021 and 2022 with the Angels. Over his seven appearances, six of which were as a starter, he went 24.2 innings allowing 30 hits, six homers, five walks and 17 runs. It has been tough for him to get into any kind of a rhythm considering his three appearances in 2022 were on May 28, July 27 and August 4. If he gets some consistent playing time with the Brewers hopefully his numbers can get a lot better.

Peguero has seen a bit more playing time. After only three games in 2021, he made 13 appearances in 2022. All of his times on the mound have been out of the bullpen. Last season over 17.1 innings he posted a 6.75 ERA, 23 hits, five walks and 16 runs. The bulk of his ERA came from two games when he went a combined 1.1 innings and allowed eight runs. Outside of that, he had six outings combining for 8.2 innings where he did not give up any runs. He has shown a lot of potentials and can be a great arm out of the pen.

While these other two have seen playing time in the major Seminaris has not. He has been in the Angels’ minor league system for the past two seasons. In 2022 he was in all three levels, high A, double-A or triple-A, at some point. Overall last season he went 7-11 in 24 games, 21 of which he started, with a 3.54 ERA in 101.2 innings. He allowed 107 hits, 38 walks and 45 runs. It was not the prettiest season, but with some development, he could be a great asset for the Crew.

The Brewers have boasted one of the best bullpens in baseball over the past five years, but 2022 was extremely disappointing. Outside of trading Josh Hader, their bullpen was one of their biggest drawbacks. Their pitching struggles were one of the biggest reasons they failed to make the playoffs for the first time since 2017. Making a trade for pitching was inevitable and highly necessary.

It was a big day for the Brewers and Angels who completed a very important trade. The Angels got some much-needed run production and the Brewers got a boost with pitching. Both of these teams are far from done making big moves this offseason as they look to bounce back from rough seasons.

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