Brewers find righty bat, acquire OF Matos in trade with Giants

MILWAUKEE -- In need of a right-handed bat, the Brewers acquired outfielder Luis Matos from the Giants in exchange for cash on Monday.

Matos has put together a .231/.281/.369 slash line in 178 career games over three Major League seasons, with a negative Baseball-Reference WAR each year. But he’s still just 24 years old and was a Top 100 prospect as recently as the start of 2022.

Plus, the Brewers had a major void after seeing key right-handed hitters Jackson Chourio and Andrew Vaughn hit the injured list during the season’s opening series.

“I think he’s a guy who can help us from the right-hand side with the loss of Vaughn and Chourio at the moment,” said Brewers president of baseball operations Matt Arnold. “It’s a guy we feel can give us some offense from the right side, and he’s really athletic. He’s a former Top 100 prospect who our scouts really like.”

Matos became available when the Giants designated him for assignment on Wednesday. He was still in San Francisco when the teams completed Monday’s trade, so the Brewers were hopeful they’d have him in Milwaukee on Tuesday and available to play against the Rays.

The Brewers DFA’d left-handed pitcher Sammy Peralta in a corresponding move for the 40-man roster. They will have to make a 26-man roster move when Matos arrives, which could mean a move back to Triple-A Nashville for catching prospect Jeferson Quero so he can play every day.

Coincidentally, Matos is from Valera, Venezuela, which is near Chourio’s hometown of Maracaibo. The two have known each other for years.

Chourio was placed on the IL on Opening Day due to a left hand fracture that he sustained after being hit by a pitch on March 4, and is expected to miss 2-4 weeks. Vaughn followed Chourio to the injured list when he broke the hamate bone in his left hand on Opening Day. He was scheduled to undergo surgery Monday in Milwaukee and will be sidelined 4-6 weeks.

Matos played in 57 games last season with San Francisco, hitting eight homers in 172 at-bats. He put together a .221/.266/.424 slash line.

He’s the latest of several former Top 100 prospects who found themselves slogging in the Majors before a move to Milwaukee, similar to the situations right-hander Quinn Priester and Vaughn found themselves in last season.

“Not everybody hits their ground running,” Arnold said. “We’ve seen that with so many players. There are ingredients to like, and we want to give him a shot. We’re the land of opportunity.”