Milwaukee Brewers Trade For Luis Urias, Eric Lauer

MILWAUKEE, WI — The Milwaukee Brewers made a Thanksgiving-eve trade with the San Diego Padres — a curious move that shores up the team's infield prospects and starting rotation. The cost? Another starting pitcher and outfield depth.

On Wednesday, the Brewers shipped starting pitcher Zach Davies and backup outfielder Trent Grisham to the Padres in exchange for second baseman/shortstop Luis Urias and left-handed starting pitcher Eric Lauer.

In Urias, the Brewers get the Padres third-ranked prospect and a dynamic infielder. In 2019, the 22-year-old split time between the big-league club and the team's AAA affiliate. In 73 games at AAA, Urias struck 19 home runs, batted in 62, and hit .315 with a .398 on-base average. In 71 games with the Padres, the youngster struggled a bit, hitting .223 with a .329 on-base average. The San Diego Union Tribune characterized Urias as an infielder of the future, yet said he really struggled with big-league pitching in his first foray into the world of major league pitching.

The move could mean any number of things for the Brewers. While Milwaukee has generally been happy with incumbent shortstop Orlando Arcia's defense, his prowess as a hitter has been notably lacking. Here's what Milwaukee General Manager David Stearns said about the shortstop position, as posted on Twitter by Journal Sentinel sportswriter Tom Haudricort: "We did not have good shortstop production last year, and we have been open about that. For us to ultimately do what we want to do and be the type of team we want to be, production from that position needs to improve."

Another thing to consider is that the Brewers traded Mauricio Dubon - a player who profiled a lot like Urias - to the San Francisco Giants in exchange for reliever Ray Black, and fellow pitcher Drew Pomeranz. Pomeranz would prove to be a major part of Milwaukee's relief corps in 2019 down the stretch.

Milwaukee hoped to hang onto Pomeranz, only to learn this week that the lefty reliever signed with ... wait for it ... the San Diego Padres.

But wait! The Brewers also picked up left-handed pitcher Eric Lauer in the deal with San Diego. In Lauer, Milwaukee gets a starting pitcher and sometimes reliever who throws a mix of pitches. According to Fangraphs, Lauer throws his 92-mile per hour fastball just over 59 percent of the time. He throws his cutter 22 percent of the time, and mixes in a curve ball 14 percent of the time and a slider at a six percent clip. About three percent of the time he shows a changeup. The 24-year-old twirler notched a Davies-like 149 innings in 2019, making 30 starts. He was 8-10 with a 4.45 earned run average.