Milwaukee Brewers trade former 1st-rounder Victor Roache to Dodgers

The Milwaukee Brewers and Los Angeles Dodgers have long been talking trade, with most of the talk centered around Ryan Braun. Today, after months of talks, the two sides finally agreed on a deal.

For Victor Roache, not Braun. We should probably mention that part.

The Brewers drafted Roache with the 28th overall pick in the 2012 draft, one pick after they selected Clint Coulter with the compensation pick they got from Detroit for Prince Fielder, and one pick before the Texas Rangers drafted Lewis Brinson.

Roache had as much raw power as anyone in that class, but fell in the draft after breaking his wrist during the college season. He made his debut in the Brewers organization in 2013, slugging 22 home runs for the Timber Rattlers and putting up a .248/.322/.440 line.

He followed up that season with an 18-homer year in 2014 in the difficult offensive environment of Brevard County, but saw his OPS drop below .700 and his OBP below .300. He rebounded a bit in 2015, splitting the year between Brevard County and Biloxi, once again hitting 18 home runs but improving his overall line to .253/.324/.439.

Unfortunately, his run with the Brewers organization eventually stalled out in Double-A, largely due to injury. He played in just 51 games last year, and was off to a terrible start this year (.176/.238/.230). Now in his age 25 season and behind a large logjam of outfield prospects, Roache just didn’t have an opportunity to advance any further in the Brewers’ minor league system.

Given Roache’s recent history, it’s unlikely the Brewers get anything significant in return, but at least the former first round pick will get an opportunity to turn things around out west. The raw power is still there, but needs to translate it better into games while also staying healthy.

Statistics courtesy of Baseball-Reference