National writers were left thinking the Brewers could have done more at the July 31 trade deadline.
A scan of social media July 31 will tell you plenty of Milwaukee Brewers fans were underwhelmed by what the Brewers did before the annual trade deadline.
Milwaukee acquired outfielder Brandon Lockridge from the San Diego Padres in an exchange that sent Nestor Cortes, cash and a prospect west, and they also grabbed reliever Shelby Miller from the Arizona Diamondbacks.
The Brewers also acquired starter Jordan Montgomery in the Miller swap, but Montgomery is out for the season and a free agent after the year. Miller is likewise injured but should be back in August.
Milwaukee also acquired catcher Danny Jansen from the Tampa Bay Rays in the days leading up to the deadline.
How did national writers grade Milwaukee's efforts?
The Athletic gives the Brewers a C-plus
From Jim Bowden: "They acquired a solid defensive catcher in Danny Jansen, a more than solid reliever in Shelby Miller and a speedy extra outfielder in Brandon Lockridge. I would have liked to see the Brewers improve the offense on the left side of their infield, but at the end of the day, they enter August in a strong position. … I still believe the Brewers are the team to beat in the NL Central due to the potential dominance of the top of their rotation."
ESPN called the Brewers one of the deadline 'losers'
David Schoenfeld said the Brewers are "hardly losers in the big picture" but would have liked to see more.
"They did get reliever Shelby Miller from the D-backs, who is having a good year, but the Brewers already had one of the best bullpens in the majors. And if Andrew Vaughn keeps hitting, they'll be OK at first base, though he was terrible for the Chicago White Sox prior to the Brewers getting him for a song. Ryan O'Hearn would also have been a nice addition, capable of playing first base or the outfield and improving the bench, but he was dealt to the Padres. The Brewers are battling the Cubs for the division title — and avoiding that wild-card series will be huge. We'll see if the Brewers can do that without making any major deals."
Schoenfeld also labeled the Chicago Cubs as one of the losers, for what it's worth.
The Brewers still showed up at No. 1 in ESPN's post-deadline power rankings.
Yahoo! gave the Brewers a D-plus
From Jake Mintz: "I feel odd critiquing an organization made up of people who are smarter than I am and have a track record of sustainable roster-building, which I very much do not have. But I look at this Brewers team and those 96.6% playoff odds, and I wish they’d been more aggressive. Milwaukee could’ve used one more versatile offensive piece like Willi Castro or one more difference-making bat like Ryan O’Hearn or one more lockdown reliever like Ryan Helsley. The postseason is a roulette wheel, but the Brewers should at least try to help their own odds every once in a while."
CBS gives the Brewers a B-minus
Dayn Perry and Matt Snyder were more charitable in their summary of what the Brewers did:
"The Padres tapped into their rotation depth to send Nestor Cortes to the Padres for a quad-A outfield type. They then fortified the bullpen with Shelby Miller, and before all that happened they improved catcher depth by acquiring Danny Jansen from the Rays. It's solid, if not exactly needle-moving work."
Bob Nightengale of USA TODAY considers the Brewers a deadline 'loser'
From the national columnist Nightengale: "We should never question the Brewers considering how they are ridiculed for their lack of activity every winter, and still win the NL Central virtually every year. Still, the team with the best record in baseball did absolutely nothing but pick up injured Diamondbacks closer Shelby Miller. Who knows, maybe the Brewers will get the last laugh again. Or maybe, they’ll be tormented all winter knowing they passed up a golden opportunity."
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Brewers MLB trade deadline grades: How did Milwaukee rank?
Category: Baseball
