Brewers Acquire All-Star Catcher William Contreras in Three-Team Trade with Braves and Athletics

MILWAUKEE – The Milwaukee Brewers have acquired catcher William Contreras (ATL), right-handed pitcher Joel Payamps (OAK) and right-handed pitcher Justin Yeager (ATL) in a three-team trade with the Atlanta Braves and Oakland Athletics. As part of the deal, the team sent outfielder Esteury Ruiz to Oakland. In addition, catcher Sean Murphy was sent from Oakland to Atlanta and catcher Manny Piña, left-handed pitcher Kyle Muller, right-handed pitcher Freddy Tarnok and right-handed pitcher Royber Salinas were sent from Atlanta to Oakland. The announcement was made by Senior Vice President and General Manager Matt Arnold.

An updated 40-man roster (40) can be found here.

“We are excited to welcome one of the top young catchers in baseball to the Brewers,” said Arnold. “William adds a power bat to our lineup, was an All-Star last season, and we believe he will only improve going forward. We are also excited to add Joel to our bullpen and a young quality arm in Justin to our farm system.”

Contreras, who turns 25 on Dec. 24 and is under club control through the 2027 season, batted .278 with 20 HR and 45 RBI in 97 games in 2022 (.354 OBP/.506 SLG/.860 OPS). He made 89 starts (57g at C, 31g at DH, 1g in LF). He started the All-Star Game as the designated hitter for the National League. Over his last 48 games, he hit .304 (52-for-171) with 9 HR and 22 RBI (.366 OBP/.503 SLG/.869 OPS).

Contreras is the younger brother of Cardinals catcher Willson Contreras. He hit 17 of his 20 HR last season as a catcher, which tied for fourth (with his brother) in the Major Leagues from the position. He batted .354 (35-for-99) with 5 HR against left-handed pitching in 2022 (.440 OBP/.596 SLG/1.036 OPS).

Contreras was originally signed by Atlanta as a non-drafted free agent on Feb. 1, 2015. He made his Major League debut with the Braves in 2020 and is a career .260 hitter with 28 HR and 69 RBI in 153 games (.338 OBP/.471 SLG/.809 OPS). He played in the postseason in 2021 and 2022.

Payamps (joh-EHL PIE-omps), 28, owns a career 3.35 ERA in 82 appearances (1 start) in the Major Leagues with Arizona (2019-20), Toronto (2021), Kansas City (2021-22) and Oakland (2022). He went 3-6 with a 3.23 ERA in a career-high 41 games last season with the Royals (29g) and Athletics (12g).

Yeager, who turns 25 on Jan. 20, was selected by Atlanta in the 33rd round of the 2019 First-Year Player Draft out of Southern Illinois University. He is 10-5 with a 3.21 ERA and 16 saves in 94 games, all in relief, during his Minor League career (2019-22). He has held opponents to a .188 batting average with 178 strikeouts in just 117.2 innings pitched.

Yeager went 1-0 with a 3.10 ERA in 49 appearances last season between Class-A Rome (11g) and Double-A Mississippi (38g). Opponents batted just .158 as he produced 81 strikeouts in 52.1 innings pitched.

Ruiz (ess-TAY-oo-ree), 23, was acquired on Aug. 1 with three other players in the trade that sent left-handed pitcher Josh Hader to the San Diego Padres. He made his Major League debut last season, appearing in 17 games between San Diego (14g) and Milwaukee (3g).

NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. It has not been verified for its accuracy or completeness.