By Jordan Long
The MLB trade deadline is Tuesday at 6 PM Eastern Time. This is a chance for teams who are in the thick of a playoff race to improve their odds of earning a playoff spot. One deal that already happened included division rivals the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Milwaukee Brewers.
The Brewers stand at 57-46, 1st place in the National League Central Division. They are 1.5 games ahead of the Reds. The Brewers acquired Carlos Santana who is going to play 1st base for them.
The Brewers anticipate this will help them at the position. Their everyday first baseman, Rowdy Tellez, is out with a forearm injury. In 258 plate appearances, Tellez hit .213 with 12 home runs and 36 RBIs, not really a power hitter.
It isn’t his bat that helps the Brewers but rather his glove. Before his injury, Tellez played 65 games at 1st base. Tellez had an impressively low 2 errors. The Brewers knew they needed to upgrade with Tellez out of the lineup.
The Pirates aren’t going anywhere with a record of 45-57. It’s another season where they are rebuilding. Santana was expendable because of his contract. He agreed to a 1-year, $6.75 million contract with the Pirates in the offseason. Santana is going to be a free agent once the season is over. They had to deal him to give him a chance to be part of a winning team.
Santana heads to the Brewers with a chance to make the postseason. He isn’t a player who is going to hit with power with a batting average of .235 and 12 home runs so far this season. The Brewers acquired him because of his glove. Santana played 85 games for the Pirates at 1st base and had 4 errors. It could be the boost they need to not only win the division but go far in the postseason.
The Pirates acquire 18-year-old shortstop Jhonny Severino. They don’t know what they have in him but at least the Pirates are receiving something back. This is just one of the major trades going on during the stretch run to the postseason.
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