Looking back at the five best deals made by Brewers general manager David Stearns

Todd Rosiak
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Of the multitude of roster moves David Stearns has made since taking over as Milwaukee Brewers general manager on Oct. 5, 2015, arguably none has been bigger than the trade he pulled off with the Boston Red Sox last Dec. 6 at the baseball winter meetings.

In it, the Brewers sent closer Tyler Thornburg to the Boston Red Sox for a four-player haul that was headlined by third baseman Travis Shaw and included minor-leaguers Mauricio Dubon, Josh Pennington and Yeison Coca.

While Thornburg never pitched for Boston in 2017 due to shoulder trouble, Shaw made a huge impact on Milwaukee, filling a void at third base and in the  middle of the lineup.

The left-handed-hitting Shaw batted.273 with 31 home runs and 101 runs batted in while posting an OPS of .862 on a rebuilding team that unexpectedly competed for a spot in the postseason all the way to Game 161.

The 27-year-old Shaw's performance becomes even more impressive when taking into account the battle his newborn daughter, Ryann, was fighting off the field.

With Stearns and other members of the Brewers' braintrust set to ship off to the winter meetings shortly — they run from Dec. 10-14 at the Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin Resort in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. — we look back at some of the GM's best moves.

1. Thornburg for Shaw, Dubon, Pennington and Coca

Stearns sold high on Thornburg, who was coming off a career year in 2016, when he went 8-5 with a 2.13 earned-run average, WHIP of 0.94 and 13 saves for the Brewers.

Trading Thornburg for Shaw straight up wound up being a no-brainer in 2017, considering Thornburg never pitched and Shaw became the Brewers' most valuable player. But the prospects Milwaukee netted beyond Shaw were a big part of the trade, given the franchise's rebuild.

Dubon is a highly-regarded middle infielder who hit a combined .274 with eight homers, 57 RBI and 38 stolen bases in 129 games split between Class AA Biloxi and Class AAA Colorado Springs. He could see time at second base with the Brewers as early as this season.

Pennington is a hard thrower who could project as a bullpen piece down the line. Coca, a player to be named in the deal, is an 18-year-old middle infielder and more of a lottery ticket.

2. Jean Segura and Tyler Wagner traded to the Arizona Diamondbacks on Jan. 30, 2016 for Chase Anderson, Aaron Hill, Isan Diaz and cash

Much of the immediate focus of this trade was on Segura and how he rebounded to put together an all-star-caliber year in Arizona.

Anderson was steady for the Brewers in that first year, going 9-11 with a 4.39 ERA in 31 appearances (30 starts), but really broke out this past season and became the team's most consistent member of the rotation with a 12-4 record, 2.74 ERA and WHIP of 1.09 in 141 1/3 innings.

He missed almost two months with an oblique injury suffered swinging the bat, but otherwise showed enough that Stearns signed him to a two-year extension in late October. At 30, he'll be relied upon heavily as the team moves from rebuilding into competitive mode.

Hill was serviceable as a utility man before being flipped to Boston with cash midway through 2016 for pitcher Aaron Wilkerson and minor-leaguer Wendell Rijo. Wilkerson blossomed in the minors in 2017, earned a September call-up and will get a look in the spring.

The Brewers have also done quite well at shortstop, with Orlando Arcia in Segura's former spot.

3. Jonathan Lucroy and Jeremy Jeffress traded to the Texas Rangers on Aug. 1, 2016 for Lewis Brinson, Luis Ortiz and Ryan Cordell

Lucroy scuttled a trade to the Cleveland Indians and instead wound up in Texas with Jeffress, who was the Brewers' closer at the time.

Neither player lived up to expectations with the Rangers. Lucroy eventually was traded to the Colorado Rockies. Jeffress came back to the Brewers on July 31 and  recently ru-upped with the team.

Brinson, meanwhile, vaulted up the prospect lists to become the Brewers' top minor-leaguer. He made his major-league debut on June 11 and hit just .106 with two homers and three RBI in a total of 21 games spread over several stints with the Brewers, but he's the team's centerfielder of the future.

Ortiz, a right-handed starter, spent the entire 2017 season at Biloxi and is considered one of Milwaukee's top pitching prospects. Cordell, a player to be named in the deal, was traded to the Chicago White Sox for reliever Anthony Swarzak on July 26, and Swarzak became a key late-inning addition to the Brewers' bullpen.

4. Eric Thames signed to a free-agent deal on Nov. 29, 2016

This move showed Stearns & Co. is willing to think outside of the box, as reigning National League home-run leader Chris Carter was punted from first base in favor of Thames, a star slugger in the Korean Baseball Organization who'd flopped in previous stints in the major leagues.

Thames was a revelation early, putting up huge numbers in April — including a franchise-record 11 homers — before quickly coming back to earth. The rest of his 2017 was marked by periods of extreme highs and lows, and Thames finished with a .247 average, 31 homers, 63 RBI and an on-base percentage of .359.

His strikeout total was high (163) and he hit just .182 against left-handed pitching, but overall he was a solid addition and the three-year, $16 million deal he signed (with a club option for a fourth year) appears at this time to be a solid investment.

5. Francisco Rodriguez traded to the Detroit Tigers on Nov. 18, 2015 for Javier Betancourt and Manny Piña

At the time, this deal appeared to be mostly about getting out from the remaining $9.5 million owed to Rodriguez, the former closer who'd been trending downward after a successful run with the team.

Betancourt, a middle infielder, was an unproven prospect who projected to fit into the Brewers' long-term plans if everything broke right. But the real gem was  Piña,  actually a player to be named who became part of the Milwaukee organization on Dec. 10, 2015.

With only a cup of coffee in the majors at that point, Piña ended up in Lucroy's place behind the plate after Lucroy was traded in 2016, made his first opening-day roster in 2017 after a strong spring and by early summer had become the Brewers' every-day backstop.

He was terrific defensively, handled the pitching staff well and was more than competent offensively with a .279 average, nine homers and 43 RBI. The 30-year-old enters 2018 as the team's starter, barring unforeseen moves in the off-season.

Honorable mention

• Jason Rogers traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates on Dec. 17, 2015, for Keon Broxton and Trey Supak

• Cy Sneed traded to the Houston Astros on Nov. 19, 2015, for Jonathan Villar

• Junior Guerra claimed off waivers from the Chicago White Sox on Oct. 7, 2015

• Eric Sogard signed as a free agent on Dec. 15, 2016

• Jesús Aguilar claimed off waivers from the Cleveland Indians on Feb. 2, 2017

• Adam Lind traded to the Seattle Mariners on Dec. 9, 2015 for Freddy Peralta, Carlos Herrera and Daniel Missaki

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