The Brewers made their biggest deadline-day move yet on 8/3, getting right-hander Dustin May and left-hander JoJo Romero in a trade with the Cardinals. Milwaukee sent outfield prospects Alexander Frias and Josiah Ragsdale to St. Louis in the deal.
The trade landed in the middle of a busy morning for the Brewers, who were still chasing right-hander Clay Holmes of the Mets at 10:26 a.m. and remained interested as the 5 p.m. CT deadline approached. That made the May-Romero deal more than just another swap on a crowded deadline board. It was the first clear sign that Milwaukee was done waiting for help to arrive and was moving to get it itself.
The Brewers had already spent parts of the year reshaping the roster, with earlier additions including Lance McCullers Jr., Colton Gordon, Braden Shewmake and Joel Kuhnel. A day earlier, they had sent outfielder Blake Perkins and right-hander Craig Yoho to the Guardians and received catcher Bo Naylor and right-hander Codi Heuer, then assigned both players to Triple-A Nashville. Even after that move, Milwaukee still had two remaining active roster spots to fill, and outfielder Brandon Lockridge was expected to handle one of them.
That same morning across the league, the Cubs added Kevin Gausman from the Blue Jays, the White Sox got Huascar Brazobán from the Mets, the Phillies picked up Brooks Raley and also landed Luis Arraez and Caleb Kilian, and the Blue Jays brought in José Soriano, a pitcher who had been slated to face Milwaukee on Saturday. The Braves also traded for Brent Suter. The deadline was turning into a chase for pitching help, and the Brewers were part of it even before their own deal with the Cardinals was finished.
The awkward part for Milwaukee is what the trade did not settle. The Brewers still had Holmes in play, and other teams were circling the same market. That leaves the club’s deadline picture half-finished: it added May and Romero, moved prospects out of the system, and still left open whether it would make one more swing before the clock hit 5 p.m. CT.
