Tom Haudricourt

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Most of the attention regarding player acquisitions during the Milwaukee Brewers’ rebuilding process has gone to the growing number of highly regarded minor-league prospects, and rightfully so. Those players will dictate the future of the club.

In the meantime, management wanted to put a representative team on the field in 2016, if possible, which meant using every means possible to find talent. Many of those under-the-radar moves worked out better than could have been expected in terms of uncovering contributors for this season and perhaps beyond.

With just over a month remaining in the season, let’s take a look at some of those players and how they were acquired:

RHP Junior Guerra

In his first player move after taking over as general manager, David Stearns claimed Guerra off waivers from the Chicago White Sox. There was little reason to get excited about the acquisition at the time because the Venezuelan pitcher would be 31 in 2016 and had a mere four innings of big-league experience, all with the Sox late last season.

The Brewers saw something they liked in Guerra but looked at him only in relief in spring camp because the starting rotation was set. Once optioned to Class AAA Colorado Springs, he returned to starting and pitched well enough to get called up when struggling pitcher Taylor Jungmann was demoted at the end of April.

Set to return soon from the disabled list (elbow inflammation), Guerra has been one of the big surprises for the Brewers, going 7-3 with a 2.93 earned run average in 17 starts. Because of his age, he might not see the back end of the rebuild, but Guerra prevented this season from being much uglier than it could have been.

“We thought he had the stuff to get major-league hitters out, but I think it’s safe to say he has exceeded expectations,” Stearns said. “As waiver claims go, that has been a good one for us.”

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SS Jonathan Villar

When Stearns traded low-level minor-league pitcher Cy Sneed to Houston last November, it was not a deal that led that night’s news on the MLB Network. Villar played in only 53 games for the Astros over three stints in 2015 and was viewed strictly as a utility type at the time.

The Brewers needed somebody to play shortstop until top prospect Orlando Arcia arrived, however, and Stearns, who had been assistant GM in Houston, thought Villar was athletic enough with sufficient offensive upside to get the first crack at the job. There was no way to know he’d become one of the best leadoff hitters in the league – base-running misadventures aside – with a shot at the stolen-base crown.

When Arcia finally did arrive at the outset of August, Villar was moved to third base, where he remains an everyday player. Whether he stays at third base for the Brewers or is moved elsewhere, he quickly moved into the “keeper” category as Stearns and Co. put early building blocks in place until prospects arrive en masse.

“Some of the most rewarding moments you get in this job stem from challenging processes,” Sterns said. “Finding players who can contribute at the major-league level through some of the unconventional means, whether it’s waiver claims or minor-league free-agent signings, Rule 5 picks, lower-level trades, those are transactions that don’t generate a lot of public notoriety but can still have a positive effect on the organization.

“That’s something we try to remind ourselves all the time as a front office. Because it’s not a high-profile move doesn’t mean it won’t have a meaningful effect on our major-league team.”

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RHP Carlos Torres

Torres did a nice job for three years in the New York Mets’ bullpen but rather than give him a big raise in arbitration, the club released him in early February. The Brewers had interest in him then but Torres opted to sign a minor-league deal with Atlanta.

Torres had a stipulation in his contract that allowed him to exercise free agency at the end of spring training if the Braves did not put him on their big-league roster. Instead of waiting the allowed 72 hours to make that decision, the club told Torres immediately he would not be kept, allowing him to entertain other offers, and the Brewers acted quickly after late-spring injuries thinned their relief corps.

“Atlanta did me the courtesy of pursuing a job right away,” Torres said. “If they had waited, I don’t know if this opportunity with the Brewers would still have been there. This turned out to be a great place for me.”

Manager Craig Counsell recently called Torres “the glue” that has held an effective bullpen together throughout the season. In a team-high 57 appearances, he has fashioned a 2.91 ERA while moving into high-leverage situations in the late innings.

INF/OF Hernan Perez

Perez deserves more credit than the Brewers for evolving into a regular contributor because they made a series of decisions that made it tougher for him to break through. Originally selected off waivers from Detroit last June, Perez was removed from the 40-man roster in November as the club opened spaces to protect prospects such as Arcia.

Perez could have signed a minor-league deal with another club but chose to do so with the Brewers because he knew Counsell liked him. He also knew at the time the club had no set starter at third base, increasing his chances of making the club in the spring.

In late January, however, veteran infielder Aaron Hill was acquired as part of a five-player trade with Arizona and anointed the starting third baseman by Counsell. Shortstop Jean Segura was traded in that deal but that job would go to Villar, acquired three days after Perez re-signed with the Brewers.

So, despite a strong showing in spring camp, Perez was told there was no spot for him on the club, primarily because he wasn’t on the 40-man roster. As if that weren't discouraging enough, he was given the news on his 25th birthday.

“That was tough,” Perez acknowledged. “But you have to keep going. When they told me I didn’t make the team, they were clear and told me, ‘The first time we need (an infielder), you’re the guy.’ I trusted that. So, I went down and did my best.”

Sure enough, when second baseman Scooter Gennett went on the DL in late April with an oblique strain, Perez was recalled from Colorado Springs. Slowly but surely, he cemented a spot on the club with tremendous versatility and offensive contributions, putting his name in the “keeper” column as well.

Asked if those acquisitions, as well as others such as centerfielder Keon Broxton (trade), first baseman Chris Carter (free agent signing), outfielder Kirk Nieuwenhuis (waiver claim) and reliever Blaine Boyer (minor-league deal), were triumphs of pro scouting, Stearns quickly replied, “No question.”

“I look at it as success stories for our entire information-gathering and decision-making process,” Stearns added. “That combines a lot of information from our pro scouts and our analysts and a good job from our medical staff and research staff to make sure we know as much about these players as possible.

“You cast a wide net and try to acquire as many players as you can that you believe can help your organization in the future. Then, you see how it all works out.”

In these particular cases, it worked out quite nicely.