MILWAUKEE — The Brewers trimmed their list of draft-eligible players by two in a trade with the Mets on Wednesday, sending two of Milwaukee's longest-tenured players — right-hander Adrian Houser and outfielder Tyrone Taylor — to New York in exchange for a pitching prospect Coleman Crow.
Crow, a 6-foot-1 right-hander who turns 23 next week and is known more for his pitching ability than his strength, is in the midst of a comeback from Tommy John surgery in July, which occurred shortly after being traded The Angels went with another candidate, the Mets went for Eduardo Escobar.
Crow was ranked 29th on MLB Pipeline's list of the Mets' top 30 prospects.
Born and raised in Georgia, he was a 28th-round draft pick of the Angels in 2019 after graduating from high school and earning money to sign in the fifth round. Crow parlayed his age-21 season from great success in the Arizona Fall League in 2021 into an aggressive outing in Double-A in 2022, when he led the Southern League in innings pitched and ranked second in strikeouts. He was back at that level and got off to a solid start in 2023 — 2-0 with a 1.88 ERA and 31 strikeouts in his first 24 innings — before being sidelined with an elbow injury.
Given the typical timeline for Tommy John surgery, Crow can be expected to return to action as early as the second half of 2024. His injury made him an interesting player for this month's Rule 5 Draft; Any team could have selected him for $100,000 and kept him on the 60-day injured list all season. The downside, however, is that he would have occupied a spot on the 40-man roster all winter and then earned a major league salary throughout 2024.
Taylor and Houser were Milwaukee mainstays for years, Taylor was selected in the second round of the draft in 2012 and Houser was acquired in a blockbuster trade with the Astros in July 2015 that landed a quartet of prospects, including Josh Hader. In recent years, both have alternated between different roles, with Houser primarily serving as a starter and Taylor serving as a versatile right-handed fullback.
With this performance, their salaries had increased. Houser is in his final year as an umpire after making $3.6 million last season and posting a 4.12 ERA in 111 1/3 innings despite missing time with groin and elbow injuries. Taylor, who fought his way to the majors starting in 2019 after part of eight years in the minors, is eligible for arbitration for the first time after posting a .713 OPS and dealing with a nagging right elbow injury.
In total, Cot's Contracts projected they would make just under $7 million next season. Houser's innings would have been helpful as the Brewers were building a rotation without longtime assistant ace Brandon Woodruff, but Taylor's role was unclear considering the Brewers have plenty of major league-ready outfielders, led by by top prospect Jackson Chourio, whose path to Opening Day became much clearer when he signed a record-breaking eight-year, $82 million contract earlier this month.
The departures leave the Brewers with seven draft-eligible players left, starting with right-handed ace Corbin Burnes and shortstop Willy Adames, whose names have already surfaced in trade talks this winter. Other arbitration-eligible players include relievers Devin Williams, Hoby Milner, Joel Payamps and Bryse Wilson, as well as first baseman/outfielder Jake Bauers, who was acquired in a trade with the Yankees at the time of the non-tender.
The next date to be announced in this process is January 13, when teams and their arbitration-eligible players would formally submit salary proposals to MLB if they have not already reached an agreement.