CLEVELAND GETS STARTING DEPTH IN BREWER
The Cleveland Indians acquired pitcher Charles Brewer from the Arizona Diamondbacks for cash.
What does it give the Cleveland Guardians
For now Brewer is likely just organizational depth at starting pitcher for Cleveland. In the minors he has served almost exclusively as a starter, although Brewer has really struggled the past three seasons at Triple-A (compiling a 5.29 ERA and allowing 481 hits over 399.2 innings at that level from 2012-14). Clearly the Indians are hoping Brewer can make the adjustment at higher levels, duplicating his much-better success from lower in the minors.
What does it give the Arizona Diamondbacks
The D'backs have several young options in the mix for starting pitching spots (especially with {P Jeremy Hellickson} recently acquired), and those make Brewer expendable. The righty simply hadn't shown much progress at all in Triple-A the past three seasons, so Arizona moves on here and gets some cash in return.
Fantasy impact
Brewer's mission is clear: excel at Triple-A. He gets a fresh start to do that with Cleveland, and if he can finally show some progress there he has a chance to push for a long-man role out of his new squad's 'pen sometime in the next season or two (or possibly a look as a spot-starter). That said, the Indians are fairly stacked rotation-wise, so there's very little fantasy upside for Brewer (even with this change of scenery). Lefty {P Scott Barnes} was designated for assignment to make room on Cleveland's 40-man roster, but Barnes had little fantasy value before the move.
