What we learned: January 20, 2015

The rumored trade for Yovani Gallardo has been completed.

We went to sleep on Sunday knowing that their were rumors that Yovani Gallardo had been traded, but there was no confirmation on the trade, no indication of what the Brewers would receive, and no idea of what would happen. All we could do with the trade is speculate what would happen. In fact, that's what Noah did before the trade was finalized, looking at the possibilities of what the Brewers could receive. He put together a prediction of what he thought would be a fair trade. What he didn't know at the time was how close he was to the actual deal.

About an hour after Noah's predictions on what the Brewers could receive came out, the trade was officially announced as completed. The Brewers sent Yovani Gallardo (along with $4 million in cash) to the Rangers and received three prospects in return: utility infielder Luis Sardinas, RHP Corey Knebel, and RHP Marcos Diplan. All are young prospects from the Rangers system, and all have a lot of promise in them. Sardinas and Knebel could be in the majors in 2015, and Diplan will still need some time to develop. While it's a good haul to get for Gallardo, it also hopefully means there will be more signings in the upcoming weeks leading up to spring training. The Brewers had made it clear that they intend to compete in 2015, and by itself, this move doesn't help them do that.

There was a casualty on the Brewers side from the trade. To clear a 40-man roster spot to complete the trade, the Brewers designated Hunter Morris for assignment. Morris was once seen as the first baseman of the future for the Brewers, but in recent years he has fallen out of favor in the organization. He never got a call-up to the majors, and his stats at Triple-A had seen a decline in recent years. He could remain in the organization, but we will have to wait and see what happens there.

Brewers News and Analysis

The Yovani Gallardo Trade

• Noah notes that with Gallardo gone, the Brewers take away an advantage the Cardinals have had in recent years. Gallardo has struggled in his career against the Cardinals, posting a 6.45 ERA against them. It's not much of an advantage, but it's something to think about.
• Adam McCalvy of Brewers.com has his report up on the trade, which includes scouting reports on the three prospects that the Brewers are receiving.
• Over on Reviewing the Brew, Steven Jewell says goodbye to Yovani Gallardo.
• Last season was a disaster for the Rangers' starting rotation. Ryan Romano of Beyond the Box Score believes that bringing Gallardo in can help stabilize a rotation that was plagued by injuries in 2014.
• Meanwhile, over on FanGraphs, Jeff Sullivan is concerned that Gallardo's switch to the Rangers will have an unexpected consequence because of his new catchers.
• By going to the Rangers, Gallardo will be pitching close to his hometown now. T.R. Sullivan of MLB.com notes that the Rangers could approach Gallardo about a long-term extension to keep him close to home.
• I noted this on Twitter yesterday, but I'll add it here as well. Looking at the Brewers roster, the Brewers pitcher with the longest tenure on the roster now is Brandon Kintzler, at 3 years and 101 days of service time.

Around Baseball

• It was a quiet day overall yesterday, with the big news of the day being the Gallardo trade and the Scherzer signing (which I mentioned in yesterday's WWL). Between those two events, Mike Oz of Big League Stew looked at the World Series odds on Bovada, and noted that the Nationals now lead the odds at 6/1. The Brewers came in at 50/1, but that was prior to the Gallardo trade.
• Finally, it's a Woot-Off today.