Civale traded to the Brewers

The 2023 deadline acquisition was less than stellar during his Rays tenure

The Tampa Bay Rays have traded RHP Aaron Civale to the Milwaukee Brewers for minor league infielder Gregory Barrios.

The Rays originally acquired Civale at the 2023 trade deadline in exchange for 1B prospect Kyle Manzardo. At the time, Civale was having the best season of his career and was among the better starting pitchers in all of baseball. Unfortunately after the trade, Civale struggled as he compiled a 5.36 ERA | 3.63 FIP over 87 innings pitched; although his strikeout numbers soared, he developed a tendency to allow the longball. That tendency carried over to the 2024 season as Civale is among the league leaders in homeruns surrendered.

Entering play on Wednesday, Civale has a 5.07 ERA | 4.69 FIP with a 22.2 K% & 7.1 BB%, while opponents have hit .268 against him with 16 HR over 87 innings pitched.

Taking Civale’s place on the active roster will most likely be former top prospect Shane Baz, who has been pitching well in Triple-A Durham following the completion of his rehab assignment from Tommy John surgery. Baz was scratched just prior to making a start on Tuesday night for the Durham Bulls in preparation for this move.

The player coming to the Rays from the Brewers will be 20-year old Gregory Barrios. The infielder has been a mainstay on the backend of the Brewers top-30 prospect list since being signed as an international free agent in 2020. His main asset is above average defense, which helps to make up for subpar offensive tools. Thus far this season in High-A, Barrios is enjoying the best season of his career as he is hitting .317/.361/.423 with 1 HR over 252 plate appearances.