Why the Brewers targeted Lance McCullers and Colton Gordon

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HOUSTON, TEXAS - MAY 13: Lance McCullers Jr. #43 of the Houston Astros walks to the dugout during the fifth inning against the Seattle Mariners at Daikin Park on May 13, 2026 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Kenneth Richmond/Getty Images) | Getty Images

The Milwaukee Brewers can be a notoriously hard team to predict when it comes to trades and the trade deadline. President of Baseball Operations Matt Arnold can get very creative at times with his deals and pull some names that almost no one was expecting.

Enter Lance McCullers and Colton Gordon. Lance McCullers is currently on the injured list. Colton Gordon is a depth rotation arm still trying to find his footing in the major leagues.

Typically, buying teams, which the Brewers are, like to acquire players who are established, playing well, and healthy at the Deadline. Neither of these players check all three of those boxes.

So why did the Brewers do this?

The Brewers boast the best farm system in all of baseball, so they have the prospects to go out and get any player they want. Why get someone who doesn’t check all the boxes, let alone two players who don’t?

Quite simply, the Brewers are prospect huggers. They didn’t get the best farm system in baseball by trading their prospects away, they prefer to keep them whenever possible. So if there’s a way to work a deal where they don’t have to give up a ton of prospect capital, they’ll explore that route.

As soon as I saw this trade being reported, it instantly reminded me of last year’s Shelby Miller/Jordan Montgomery trade. The Brewers wanted Shelby Miller to fortify the bullpen but didn’t want to give up any prospect capital. So they took on a salary dump in Montgomery, who was injured, to help Arizona clear some money and make them happy enough that they didn’t need a prospect in return.

In this deal, the real target for the Brewers seems to be young left-hander Colton Gordon. He has an option year remaining and five years of team control. That team control is of great value to the Brewers, even with their enviable pitching depth. But he’s also healthy and he has an intriguing pitch mix and delivery that the Brewers have had success in developing before.

Gordon throws in the low-mid 90s with his fastball, but also possesses a high-spin slider and curveball. The Brewers and the pitching lab love high spin rates.

Lance McCullers is the name that grabs the attention though. McCullers, if he was acquired five years ago, would’ve been a massive get. But injuries have derailed his career and he has not been the same since. The Brewers, in all likelihood, are hoping to get him to help eat up innings while Brandon Woodruff is on the shelf and maybe they can make some tweaks to help him be effective enough while doing it.

The Brewers have seen their starting pitching depth take some recent hits. Brandon Woodruff recently went on the 60 day IL, Kyle Harrison was placed on the IL with forearm tightness last weekend, and Jacob Misiorowski, who has carried a heavy workload as the ace, got pushed from his last start due to fatigue and is getting extra rest. He needs help to get this rotation through the final stretch. Keep in mind this is still Misiorowski’s first full season in the majors.

So the Brewers needed rotation depth and quickly. With this deal, they acquired two arms who have the ability to fill that depth and bridge the gap the rest of the way. And all it took to acquire them was taking on a little bit of cash and giving up Jadyn Fielder. Fielder holds sentimental value as the son of Brewers legend Prince Fielder. But as a prospect, he’s essentially been a DH-only in Low-A, he’s hitting .233 and not a ton of pop, just three homers on the year. Fielder draws a lot of walks yes, but it is Low-A, the pitchers will get better command as he moves up in the minors.

To get two pitchers who could potentially shore up your rotation depth in the near future, that’s a deal you make every time if you’re Matt Arnold. McCullers is on the verge of returning from a rehab assignment. That does give me pause and flashbacks to 2022 when the Brewers traded for an injured Trevor Rosenthal, who was allegedly close to returning from an injury and then got hurt and never pitched again, and gave up future All-Star Tristan Peters. But McCullers is at least already making rehab starts and could join the rotation as soon as the Mets series potentially.

While some teams may trade off several of their top 10 or top 30 prospects in order to get starting pitching depth at this trade deadline, the Brewers were able to acquire two starters, with profiles they have a strong history of working well with, all for a price of a prospect that wasn’t even sniffing their top 50 list in the organization.

Is there extra risk with that? Absolutely. The likelihood that McCullers or Gordon will perform as well as a Tarik Skubal down the stretch is pretty slim. However, there’s also no guarantee someone like a Tarik Skubal will get you to a World Series anyway.

The Brewers saw last year how quickly rotation depth can be depleted heading into the playoffs. They know how important it is to have it if they’re going to get past the Dodgers. Adding two more arms will help ensure as much as possible that they have enough depth for it. Now the question becomes, how much more will they acquire before the deadline is up?

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