Milwaukee and Arizona swapped relievers at Tuesday’s trade deadline as they continue their playoff pushes, with the Brewers acquiring left-hander Andrew Chafin from the Diamondbacks in exchange for right-hander Peter Strzelecki.
“Andrew adds an experienced leader and another quality left-handed arm to our bullpen,” Brewers president of baseball operations Matt Arnold said in a statement. "He has had a long history of success against both left-handed and right-handed hitters, and we are excited to bring him aboard.”
The D-backs stayed busy right until the trade deadline, also adding New York Mets outfielder Tommy Pham from the New York Mets in exchange for 17-year-old minor league shortstop Jeremy Rodriguez.
“We felt like we addressed some areas that we sought to address,” D-backs general manager Mike Hazen said. “Most notably the back end of the bullpen.”
Hazen called it an “interesting” deadline in the immediate aftermath, saying there were “a lot more buyers than sellers.”
The Brewers and Diamondbacks were tied with the Miami Marlins for the NL’s third and final wild-card position as the trade deadline arrived. Milwaukee trailed the first-place Cincinnati Reds by 1 1/2 games in the NL Central and Arizona was 3 1/2 back of the NL West-leading Los Angeles Dodgers.
The 33-year-old Chafin has been a consistent, durable reliever for 10 years in the big leagues. The left-hander has a 2-3 record, 4.19 ERA and 49 strikeouts over 34 1/3 innings this season, which was his second stint with the Diamondbacks.
Chafin’s numbers were even better for most of the season, but he gave up five earned runs and got only two outs in a game last week against the Cardinals, sending his ERA soaring.
Strzelecki was 3-5 with a 4.54 ERA in 36 games with Milwaukee.
The Brewers recalled Strzelecki from Triple-A Nashville on Sunday. He had been Milwaukee's main setup man earlier this season, but his May and June struggles got him sent to the minors.
The deal continued the Brewers’ flurry of trade-deadline moves after they already acquired first baseman Carlos Santana from the Pittsburgh Pirates on Thursday and added outfielder Mark Canha from the New York Mets on Monday.
The difference in this trade is that the Brewers sent away someone from their major league roster. They had dealt minor league players in the trades that brought them Santana and Canha.
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