Brewers bet on a broken-bat catcher before the deadline

The trade deadline chaos kicked off Saturday when word broke that the Brewers were sending reliever Craig Yoho to Cleveland for catcher Bo Naylor. Jon Heyman had the framework first, and within minutes the full picture came into focus.

Jon Heyman

@JonHeyman

Brewers acquiring Bo Naylor in trade for Craig Yoho

Turns out it wasn't just a two-player swap. Codi Heuer was headed to Milwaukee too, while outfielder Blake Perkins was included going back to Cleveland, who according to reporting will report to Triple-A. Heyman filled in the second half of the deal minutes after the first report dropped.

Jon Heyman

@JonHeyman

Codi Heuer also goes to Brewers in deal and Guardians receive Blake Perkins, who will go to Triple-A @ByRobertMurray 1st on Perkins

On paper, this is a change-of-scenery deal for two guys who haven't been able to stick. Naylor, 26, is a former top prospect and Canadian national who hasn't played in the majors since May after hitting just.143 with 2 home runs and 7 RBI in 28 games for Cleveland this year, per MLB.com. Perkins, 29, wasn't doing much better in Milwaukee, slashing.157/.250/.258 across three separate stints with the big club. Neither side is pretending this is a blockbuster — it's two rebuilding fits trying to squeeze value out of underperforming pieces before the deadline crunch.

The more interesting name for anyone who digs into pitching models is Yoho, the reliever Milwaukee is giving up. He'd posted a 3.15 ERA with 18 strikeouts over 20 innings for the Brewers this season, and one particular pitch has analysts buzzing.

Eno Sarris

@enosarris

There are a few stuff models out there. Most say Craig Yoho’s changeup is ok. The model that likes it the most is PitchingBot, putting it in top 15 among relievers. The creator of PitchingBot stuff was hired by the Guardians.

Eno Sarris pointed out that Yoho's changeup grades near the top of the league in PitchingBot, one of the more respected stuff models — and, notably, the model's creator was hired by Cleveland. That's the kind of detail that makes you wonder if the Guardians identified something in Yoho that the market hasn't fully priced in yet. Heuer, meanwhile, is the change-of-address arm going the other way — 30 years old, split between Cleveland and Triple-A this season, and not exactly the centerpiece of the deal.

For Milwaukee, this is about catching depth and a bet that a change of scenery unlocks whatever made Naylor a well-regarded prospect in the first place. For Cleveland, it's about outfield reinforcements and a reliever whose underlying numbers might be better than his results. Neither team is walking away from this trade with a headline star, but with the deadline bearing down, sometimes the value is in figuring out who the models like before everyone else does.