Brewers’ Roster Decisions Don't Leave Room for Regrets

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Photo via Jakob Junis - Instagram

Jakob Junis

Jakob Junis

Last week, on the other side of the Pacific Ocean, 2024 Brewer Dallas Keuchel had a pretty good day. The 36-year-old veteran lefty and 2015 American League Cy Young Award winner was making his fifth start for Japan’s Chiba Lotte Marines and worked six innings, allowing three runs on six hits. Keuchel, whose Google Translated roster page describes him as “Sloppy/Crazy,” has a 2.57 ERA in Japan since going there when the Brewers designated him for assignment in July. 

Keuchel has still only pitched a few games in his new league, but he’s already had more success than most of the players who have moved on from the Brewers this season. A total of 56 players have appeared in at least one game as a 2024 Milwaukee Brewer, and to cycle that many players through a roster it requires a front office that’s also willing to let some go. The Brewers have traded, released or otherwise removed more than a dozen players from their 40-man roster this season and they probably don’t have many regrets: Many of the players they’ve designated for assignment at one point or another have cleared waivers and remain in the organization, and those that have departed largely haven’t experienced much success elsewhere.

It’s possible that there are more active members of the 2024 Brewers contributing to high level teams in Asia than in the United States. In addition to Keuchel, pitcher Elieser Hernandez went to Korea as a next stop after four appearances with the Brewers in the first half and has a 4.50 ERA across seven appearances (six starts) for the LG Twins. Meanwhile, the list of this season’s former Brewers who went on to produce for other MLB teams is relatively brief:

• Jakob Junis, who was traded to the Reds in the Frankie Montas deal, has pitched successfully in a swingman role for Cincinnati.
• Reliever Thyago Vieira went from the Brewers to the Orioles in a minor trade and on to Arizona on a waiver claim and has experienced some success in the desert, posting a 2.87 ERA in his first 11 appearances despite walking more than five batters per nine innings.
• Pitcher Bradley Blalock went to the Rockies in the Nick Mears trade and has a 6.07 ERA in six starts.
• Reliever Joel Kuhnel, who the Brewers signed as a free agent on June 4 and waived in July without ever getting him into a game, has since accumulated five relief appearances across two stints with the Rays.
• Joey Wiemer, who also went to the Reds in the Frankie Montas deal, has played in just two games and batted once at the MLB level for the Reds.
• Pitcher Janson Junk went from the Brewers to the Astros to the A’s on waiver claims in August and allowed seven earned runs without recording an out in his Oakland debut.

The Brewers aren’t the only contending team that churns through a lot of talent on their roster: The Dodgers have also used 58 players in 2024, tied for the most of any projected postseason team and they also used 58 (tied with the Brewers for the most among playoff teams) in 2023. 

“And I think that when you’re an organization like that what you’re trying to do is make sure that you’re, on average, keeping the right guys and giving the right guys away,” FanGraphs managing editor Meg Rowley said of the Dodgers on a recent episode of the Effectively Wild podcast. “Which isn’t to say that there aren’t going to be productive big leaguers who find their way to other teams or prospects who become productive big leaguers. Their track record isn’t perfect, because no team’s is, but that’s what you’re looking for. You can’t play them all…If you’re really good at player (development), if your pro scouting department is good and you’re bringing in guys and they’re good, you’re going to have these roster crunch decisions.”

The Brewers and Dodgers, of course, have wildly different economic statuses and as such the Brewers are probably even less likely to be able to weather the mistake if they give the wrong guy away. They’ve churned through a lot of players this season, however, and their success is at least in part due to making good decisions on who to keep and who to move on from.