There are a lot of minor trades made this time of year. Many, if not most of them turn out to be nothing notable, but every now and then you get a surprise. On this day in 2002, the Brewers made a trade that turned out to be one of the former. In this deal the Brewers sent two players that would never reach the majors, Gerry Oakes and Matt Yeatman. to the Twins and received pitcher Matt Kinney and catcher Javier Valentin.
At the time, Kinney was a 25 year old pitcher who was slotted into the Brewers' 2003 rotation. He never really added much to the team, though, posting a 5.34 ERA in 65 appearances (37 starts) before being claimed off waivers by the Royals in the middle of the 2004 season.
It seemed unlikely at the time, but the most valuable player in the deal turned out to be Valentin. He failed to make the Brewers out of spring training in 2003 and was traded to the Rays but went on to play six more major league seasons, mostly as a Red. B-Ref estimates his career value at one win above replacement.
I don't have any Brewer birthdays, but I will mention that former Cardinals and Reds farmhand Randy Poffo would have turned 59 today. He never reached the majors but is better known for his second career: He eventually came to be known as "Macho Man" Randy Savage.