Brewers Trade for Carlos Santana; Pirates Receive SS Prospect Jhonny Severino

Veteran first baseman Carlos Santana is headed from the Pittsburgh Pirates to the Milwaukee Brewers, with 18-year-old shortstop prospect Jhonny Severino coming the other way, the Brewers announced Thursday:

Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette first reported the news:

Santana, who is a on a one-year, $6.725 million deal, will serve as a rental for a Brewers team in need of a first baseman. He slashed .235/.321./421 with 12 home runs in 94 games with the Pirates. The 37-year-old also had six stolen bases and six defensive runs saved, according to The Fielding Bible.

The Pirates have extensively scouted Severino, who played in the Dominican Summer League last season, per Mackey.

The Brewers last saw Santana during a weekend series in Pittsburgh from June 30 to July 2. Santana led the Pirates to a 8-7 win in the opening Friday game with the eighth walk-off home run of his career.

The walk-off homer was the highlight of a hot streak for Santana, who played a pivotal role in helping the Pirates to rebound from 12 losses in 13 games by winning four straight at the end of June. He had a home run, two doubles and went 10-for-18 in those four wins.

That was likely an eye-catching stat line for the Brewers, who have struggled to find a first baseman who can perform at the plate. Rowdy Tellez and Owen Miller have combined to bat just .186 at the position since June 1, per the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel's Curt Hogg.

Ji-Man Choi is likely to serve as the Pirates' first baseman in Santana's absence, per Mackey.

The Pirates will hope to eventually bolster their own infield with a shortstop ranked 21st in MLB.com's 2022 international prospect rankings in part for his "above-average power potential."

Severino has demonstrated that potential in the Brewer's minor-league affiliate this year, where his 12 hits have included four home runs and seven extra-base hits. Overall, he was batting .250 with a .288 on-base percentage in 12 games and 48 at-bats at the time of the trade.