Brewers join bullpen arms race before trade deadline, adding Soria
With contending teams increasingly in an arms race to construct uber-bullpens for the rigors of the stretch drive and especially the post-season, the Milwaukee Brewers made the latest splashy move Thursday, acquiring veteran rent-a-closer Joakim Soria from the Chicago White Sox for a pair of pitching prospects.
The Brewers, who opened play Thursday holding Major League Baseball’s first National League wild card and trailing the Chicago Cubs in the NL Central by 2 1/2 games, had been one of several teams in pursuit of Baltimore Orioles closer Zach Britton before the New York Yankees wound up with him on Tuesday.
But, in Soria, 34, they get a very good consolation prize. The 11-year veteran — who has been traded three times in the past five Julys — has a 2.56 ERA, including 0.74 over his past 23 games dating from May, and is posting some of the best peripheral numbers of his career, including a strikeouts-to-walk ratio of 4.9.
Two minor leaguers, including Class AA lefty Kodi Medeiros, rated the Brewers’ 18th-best prospect by MLB Pipeline, went to the White Sox in exchange for Soria.
Meanwhile, the White Sox sent cash to offset Soria’s remaining salary.
Soria is not a pure rental, as he also has a $10-million club option for 2019, with a $1-million buyout.
The Brewers’ bullpen was hardly a weak spot this season, with all-star setup men Josh Hader and Jeremy Jeffress serving as excellent lockdown bridges to closer Corey Knebel. But Knebel has been shaky at times, and — as the Yankees’ rich-get-richer acquisition of Britton underscored — teams cannot own enough great bullpen arms this time of year, and especially in October.
Soria, who has 220 career saves and post-season experience with the Detroit Tigers in 2014 and the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2015, probably won’t be pitching the ninth inning — and maybe not even the eighth — but he gives the Brewers an additional option for late-inning, high-leverage situations.
In addition to the Brewers and Yankees, the Washington Nationals (Kelvin Herrera), Oakland
A’s (Jeurys Familia) and Cleveland Indians (Brad Hand and Adam Cimber) are among the other contenders who have already made deals for relievers this month. And, as the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline approaches, they almost certainly won’t be the last.