After being sent by the Milwaukee Brewers to the Los Angeles Angels in a trade on Tuesday, outfielder Hunter Renfroe shared some thoughts about the Milwaukee organization and why he is no longer a part of it.
Hunter Renfroe makes an interesting statement about the Milwaukee Brewers
In an interview with Todd Rosiak of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Renfroe mentioned economics as one of the biggest reasons why the Brewers shipped him off to the Angels in exchange for three pitchers on Tuesday night.
Just spoke to Hunter Renfroe, who indicated he had a sneaking suspicion he'd be moving on from Milwaukee.
— Todd Rosiak (@Todd_Rosiak) November 23, 2022
"Unfortunately, we were kind of expecting it. The nature of the beast is you get too expensive type deal for a team like Milwaukee."
According to MLBTradeRumors.com, Renfroe was projected to make $11.2 million next season in his final year of arbitration. The 30-year-old outfielder is one of three Brewers who was projected to make that much through arbitration this offseason, joining starting pitchers Corbin Burnes ($11.4 million) and Brandon Woodruff ($11 million). According to Cot’s Contracts, that would make them the second- and third-highest-paid members of the Brewers in 2023, behind Christian Yelich, scheduled to make $26 million next season.
In all, Milwaukee has 18 players who were eligible for arbitration at the start of the offseason.
Following the stunning deal at last year’s MLB trade deadline that sent Josh Hader to the San Diego Padres, many have been wondering if it was a sign of what was to come in Milwaukee regarding a downsizing of their roster’s big-ticket players (Hader is expected to make more than $12 million in arbitration this season). David Stearns stepping down as Milwaukee’s president of baseball operations this offseason has also had plenty wondering if the Brewers were going through an organizational change of philosophy.
When he takes the field with the Angels in 2023, Renfroe will be playing for his fifth team in five years, so moving to a new organization has become commonplace for him. However, while Renfroe is changing addresses once again, he made sure to let people know what he thought of the Brewers as he bid goodbye to Milwaukee.