Breaking Down the Brewers Gallardo Trade

The Texas Rangers and the Milwaukee Brewers pulled off a mini-blockbuster on Monday afternoon. The Rangers acquired once-Brewers ace Yovani Gallardo, who will most likely step in behind Yu Darvish and Derek Holland in the Texas rotation. Gallardo has been a steady force his entire career, however entering his age-29 season, his strikeout rate has fallen the past two seasons while he has become more hittable each of the past two years. Still, for a big righty that has averaged double-digit wins his entire career, he wasn’t going to go cheap to the Rangers.

The Brewers got younger and added to their farm system which already had some interesting names. Corey Knebel is perhaps the most attractive piece acquired in the trade. The 23-year old righty was drafted in the first round of the 2013 draft by the Detroit Tigers. Knebel had a phenomenal debut in his age-21 season going 2-1 with a 0.87 ERA while registering 15 saves and striking out 41 batters over 31 innings.

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Knebel made his major league debut in May with the Tigers but it didn’t go well. Despite his less than stellar 8 inning stint at the big league level, his strong rookie showing made Knebel the center piece in the Joakim Soria trade with the Rangers. Knebel spent the rest of the season in the Rangers farm system dealing with a shoulder injury.

MLB.com immediately ranked Knebel the No. 8 prospect in the Brewers system and with an inconsistent closer in Jonathan Broxton and a questionable set-up man in Will Smith, Knebel has a real chance at making an immediate impact. Backed by a mid-90s fastball that can hit upper 90s and curve ball that can make batters miss foolishly, Knebel has a solid two-pitch arsenal that can succeed in the bigs. Most scouts see him as a top-end set-up guy with the ability to close.

The Brewers also acquired 18-year old Dominican sensation Marcos Diplan. Diplan was signed out of the Dominican Republic this past season by the Rangers and lit up the Dominican Summer League. He finished at 7-2 in 13 games started with 57 strikeouts over 64.1 innings. Most impressively, Diplan posted a 1.54 ERA and a 1.06 WHIP.

Diplan is young, so very much a work in progress, but many feel he has three great pitches. He is diminutive in size (5’10”, 160 pounds) but still packs a mid-90s fastball. What has impressed certain scouts is his developed grasp of his breaking pitches at such a young age. With a power-curve and a change-up that already makes batters miss, the sky is the limit for the young international star.

Lastly, the Brewers received 21-year old utility infielder Luis Sardinas. Sardinas was signed by the Rangers in 2009 as an international free agent. The 6 foot 1 inch, 150 pound switch hitter is known for playing a solid second base with the ability to play sound short stop and a pretty decent hot corner. He is not known, however, for his pop.

Sardinas has five career home runs to his name but does hit for a nice average. He is not one to strikeout a lot, but he also does not draw many walks. Sardinas main advantage is a solid glove off the bench and a slap hitter who can get on base and steal some bases and create havoc. He’s done it well enough to be ranked a Top 100 prospect by Baseball America and make his major league debut at just 21-years of age. Sardinas hit .261 over 115 at bats with the Ranger in 2014, driving in 8 batters and snagging five bases.

The Brewers returned to relevance last season before a late season collapse. The immediate winner in the deal appears to be the Rangers as Gallardo will start for them from day one. However, for a team like the Brewers attempting to turn the corner and move in a new direction, they very much seem to walk away the winners. All three of their prospects they received in return look like they have the ability to make an impact on the big league level much sooner than later.

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