In desperate need of starting pitching help early in the season, the Milwaukee Brewers sent a lucrative package to the Boston Red Sox for help on the mound.
The Brewers traded outfield prospect Yophery Rodriguez, a Competitive Balance Round A pick in 2025 and a player to be named later to the Red Sox in exchange for right-hander Quinn Priester on Monday morning.
Rodriguez is ranked as the Journal Sentinel's No. 8 prospect entering the season, while the pick is the 33rd overall selection in the upcoming draft.
Priester, 24, is a former first round pick of the Pittsburgh Pirates who has a career 6.23 ERA in 15 starts, 21 games and 99 ⅔ big-league innings. He was traded to Boston at last year's trade deadline and pitched in one game for the Red Sox. He is currently in Class AAA but is likely to join the Brewers, who have six starters currently on the injured list.
Priester made his Major League debut in 2023. He struggled, posting a 7.74 ERA in 10 games (eight starts) with a WHIP of 1.700.
Priester fared a little better in 2024, posting a 5.04 ERA in 10 games (six starts) for Pittsburgh with a 1.455 WHIP. He was traded to Boston in July of 2024 for utility man Nick Yorke, making one solid start for the Red Sox last year.
Across six seasons of minor-league ball, he owns a 26-17 record with 3.61 ERA and 1.25 WHIP. In his one start at Class AAA Worcester this year, he worked four innings, allowing two runs on six hits.
The native of Illinois attended Cary-Grove High School, roughly 25 miles from the Wisconsin state border.
It’s not all that long ago that Priester was considered a top prospect; he began the 2023 season as the No. 60 prospect in baseball, according to MLB Pipeline, though no other major national outlets had him ranked that season. He was as high as No. 58 on Baseball America in 2021.
Simply put, the Brewers are banking accessing a higher level from Priester than he has shown so far in his big-league career. None of his pitches graded out as MLB average according to the pitching model Stuff+, but his sinker/slider combo is the type of profile Milwaukee often works with.
Rodriguez was the Brewers’ top international signing in 2023. The 19-year-old has already made it to Class High A Wisconsin after batting .250 with a .726 OPS as one of the youngest players in the Carolina League in Class A last year. The left-handed hitter may not carry any standout, flashy tools but projects as a third or fourth outfielder who can hit for some average and play above-average defense.
The Brewers also designated Grant Wolfram for assignment. The club signed the left-handed reliever to a major league deal in the off-season and he did not get into a game with the club despite being called up Sunday.
Priester will likely join the Brewers as a starter. Lefty Nestor Cortes joined fellow starters Aaron Ashby, Aaron Civale, DL Hall, Tobias Myers, Brandon Woofruff and Robert Gasser on the injured list Sunday.
The move is particularly ...
