What We Learned: Carlos Gomez was traded and took Mike Fiers with him

The last 40 hours have been crazy as a Brewers fan.

On Wednesday, the Brewers had traded Carlos Gomez to the Mets, only for the trade to be called off by the Mets a few hours later. The initial reports from last night had said that the deal was called off because of a medical issue with Gomez's hip. However, the situation got more confusing yesterday morning when reports came out that the actual issue was a financial one, and the medical reason only came up after the Brewers refused to take on a bigger contract or some of Gomez's contract. Either way, the deal was off, and it wasn't going to come back together.

So, we all moved on. The Brewers prepared for another game. Carlos Gomez put it out of his mind and was looking forward to the next day, always smiling despite whatever happens. Things completely calmed down, and with 24 hours to go, there were no solid rumors revolving around the Brewers. Everyone was getting ready for the start of the series against the Cubs. Of course, this should have been a warning to us. Trades tend to strike when we don't expect them.

About a half hour before the Brewers game, the news came out. The Brewers had traded Carlos Gomez to the Astros, along with Mike Fiers. Shortly after the news came out, the full details of the trade were revealed. In exchange, the Brewers received four prospects: outfielders Brett Phillips and Domingo Santana, and pitchers Josh Hader and Adrian Houser. The four prospects composed four of the top 21 players in the Astros system (according to MLB.com), as well as two of the top 100 prospects in all of baseball. Considering what the Brewers were going to get from the Mets, the deal falling through could have blessing for the Brewers.

Of course, there's still time to go until the trade deadline. Shortly after the Gomez/Fiers deal was completed, new rumors came out that the Brewers were in negotiations with the Orioles to trade Gerardo Parra. While nothing was completed last night, the rumors are still out there, and we could see something happen today.

The trade deadline is at 3 pm CST. There's still plenty of time for things to change. Don't get too comfortable, because the Brewers could look drastically different in a matter of seconds.

Yesterday's Results

Cubs 5, Brewers 2

Almost lost in all of the conversation about the Carlos Gomez/Mike Fiers trade yesterday is the game that the Brewers actually did play. Jimmy Nelson was spectacular, pitching seven shutout innings and allowing a total of two hits and three walks while striking out eight. The Brewers had staked him to a 2-0 lead as well with two runs in the third inning. However, the bullpen fell apart, with Jeremy Jeffress, Will Smith, and Michael Blazek combining to allow five runs.

More on the Gomez/Fiers Trade

• To fill the roster spots vacated by Carlos Gomez and Mike Fiers, Logan Schafer and Elian Herrera were called up from Triple-A Colorado Springs. Since the rotation had an extra starter in it, this brings the pitching staff back to 5 starters/7 bullpen, with a normal bench of position players.
• Following the trade, Noah evaluated all four of the new prospects in the Brewers system. First up is Noah's evaluation of Brett Phillips, who is the jewel of the deal and could develop into a solid all-around outfielder.
• In Noah's scouting report for Domingo Santana, he reports that Santana is the prospect closest to the majors, but could also be a boom-or-bust prospect.
• Josh Hader is the better one of the two pitching prospects that the Brewers received. Noah notes that he has developed some comparisons to Chris Sale, and could be in the rotation in a couple of years.
• Adrian Houser was rising in the Astros system, but still has a lot of work to do to be MLB ready. Noah thinks that Houser could be a decent bullpen pitcher, with a possibility as sticking as a back of the rotation starter.
• For a perspective on the Gomez/Fiers trade from the other side, Subber10 of The Crawfish Boxes looks at the four prospects the Brewers acquired in the trade.
• Meanwhile, over on Minor League Ball, Quinn Barry believes that the Astros overpaid for Gomez & Fiers, as well as gives quick looks at each player in the deal.
• On last night's broadcast, Doug Melvin gave his thoughts on the trade. Meanwhile, on the Astros broadcast, Jeff Lunhow provided his perspective on his side of the deal.
• David Schoenfield of ESPN SweetSpot believes that the trade makes the Astros the division favorites, and calls the trade a win-win for both sides.
• For those of you who subscribe to Baseball Prospectus, their staff also evaluated the trade between the Brewers and Astros.
• Carlos Gomez said goodbye to his teammates in an Instagram photo yesterday.
• On the more emotional side of things, Noah said an emotional goodbye to Carlos Gomez as his time as a Brewer comes to an end.

Minor League Update

News & Notes

• Here are the assignments for the newest Brewers prospects. Outfielder Domingo Santana was assigned to Triple-A Colorado Springs, and outfielder Brett Phillips, along with pitchers Josh Hader and Adrian Houser, were assigned to Double-A Biloxi.

NL Central Update

• Cardinals 9, Rockies 8
• Reds 15, Pirates 5

Today's Division Games

• Pirates (Jeff Locke) @ Reds (Michael Lorenzen) - 6:10 pm
• Rockies (Kyle Kendrick) @ Cardinals (Michael Wacha) - 7:15 pm

Around Baseball

Roster News

• The Blue Jays acquired starting pitcher David Price from the Tigers for LHP Daniel Norris, Matthew Boyd, and Jairo Labourt.
• The Cardinals placed outfielder Matt Holliday on the 15-day DL with a right quadriceps injury.
• The Giants acquired starting pitcher Mike Leake from the Reds for infielder Adam Duvall and RHP Keury Mella.
• The Mets activated catcher Travis d'Arnaud from the 15-day DL and optioned catcher Anthony Recker.
• The Pirates acquired RHP Joakim Soria from the Tigers for infielder JaCoby Jones.
• The Yankees placed RHP Michael Pineda on the 15-day DL with forearm tightness.

Other Notes

• Following the Yankees-Rangers game yesterday, Yankees starting pitcher CC Sabathia was taken to the hospital when he showed signs of dehydration. He is expected to be fine and will rejoin the team today.
• In what can be classified as an unfortunate coincidence, a clue on Jeopardy on Wednesday referred to Troy Tulowitzki as a member of the Rockies. This happened on the same day that Tulowitzki played his first game for the Blue Jays.

Today's Action

The Brewers continue their four-game series against the Cubs this afternoon. Taylor Jungmann faces off against Jason Hammel in game two. First pitch is at 7:10 pm.

In addition, the trade deadline is at 3 pm CT today. Keep checking BCB to find out if any other Brewers players are traded, as well as for analysis of those trades, and then look back here tomorrow for a special Saturday edition of What We Learned.