10:15am: The Brewers also acquired a left-hander Colton Gordon in the deal, according to Jon Heyman of the New York Post. His addition gives Milwaukee a controllable 27-year-old lefty who has already made his big league debut but has yet to see his strong Triple-A production translate to the big leagues.
10:05am: McCullers has agreed to waive his no-trade clause and has been notified that he is being traded to the Brewers, reports Chandler Rome of The Athletic. USA Today’s Bob Nightengale reports that the Astros will indeed pay half of what is left on the contract.
9:52am: The Brewers and the Astros completed a trade that will send them right Lance McCullers Jr. from Houston to Milwaukee, reports Brian McTaggart of MLB.com. He would have to waive the no-trade clause to make the deal happen, but that may already be the case if things are in the process of being finalized.
It’s a surprising and out-of-the-blue deal. McCullers has not ridden since May 13 with a shoulder injury and is inactive when healthy. He moved up to the minor leagues on June 25 and has pitched three solid games thus far.
This is certainly a salary-driven move for Houston. McCullers is being paid $17MM in the final season of a five-year, $85MM contract, but he hasn’t pitched well since the 2022 season. McCullers missed all of 2023-24 with a torn ligament that required surgery, and posted a 6.65 ERA in 94 2/3 innings last season. If the Brewers are willing to take even a fraction of the estimated $6.672MM in McCullers’ contract, that would free up some resources for the ‘Stros as they prepare to make additions before the Aug. trade deadline. 3.
Before a nagging injury limited him to 142 1/3 major league innings from 2022-26, McCullers was a key member of Houston’s pitching staff. From 2015-21, the 2012 No. 41 overall draft pick pitched the Astros 671 innings with a 3.57 ERA, a 26.6% strikeout rate, a 9.7% walk rate and a massive 55.5% groundball rate. Even in that injury-shortened 2022 season, McCullers posted a 2.27 ERA in 47 2/3 frames (eight starts). He was a key contributor last season, as evidenced by the 3.47 ERA he compiled in 72 2/3 playoff innings.
Injuries have been a recurring theme throughout McCullers’ career. He missed the 2019 season due to Tommy John surgery. He didn’t make his 2022 debut until Aug. 13 due to flexibility issues. Recurring flexibility issues in 2023 led to him opening the season on the injured list and eventually undergoing surgery to repair his right tendon and remove bone spurs from his elbow. Since returning in 2025, he has averaged just 91.4 mph in his sinker — just south of the 94 mph he averaged before the onset of his hip and shoulder issues.
As one would expect, McCullers’ strikeout rate and strikeout rate have declined. The level of communication with his opponents has improved, as has the quality of communication. Opposing hitters averaged 90.9 mph off the bat with a 50% strikeout rate dating back to last season. From 2015-22, those numbers sat at 88.8 mph and 35.2%, respectively.
The Brewers, of course, have a reputation as one of the better development organizations in the industry. Milwaukee’s “pitch lab” has helped engineer transitions and/or breakouts for young pitchers Quinn Priester, Kyle Harrison, Tobias Myers, Trevor McGill, Joel Payamps, Bryan Hudson again Bryse Wilson in recent years. They will hope to add McCullers to that list of success stories, although the six years of Gordon’s control they are taking is the most attractive end of their deal.
Gordon has just 95 1/3 major league innings to his name – only 9 1/3 of which will come this season. He posted an abysmal 5.95 ERA in that small sample, trailing an average of less than 19.3% of his opponents with a path-leading 5.1% walk rate. Gordon hasn’t been very popular at home — the short left field porch at Daikin Park in Houston doesn’t help him in that regard — despite doing a good job of avoiding hard contact.
Although Gordon’s track record in the big leagues is lacking, he has been effective in Triple-A. He pitched in parts of four seasons at the minor league level, turning in a sub-4.00 ERA over the past three. Overall, in 285 innings with Houston’s Triple-A affiliate in Sugar Land, Gordon has a 3.85 ERA, a 21.8% strikeout rate and a 7.5% walk rate. He is in the second of three minor league options and could be comfortably sandwiched between Milwaukee and Nashville this year and beyond.
The extent to which Milwaukee can control Gordon will depend on how much time he spends on the big league roster until the end of the season. He entered the 2026 campaign with 112 days of major league service and has started 14 more. If he spends another 46 days on the disabled/injured list, he can reach one full year of service time and be in control for five years, in 2031. If Gordon spends 45 days or less on the active calendar list – he leaves the regular calendar list 7 days shy of one full year and is controlled for six full seasons, until 2032.
More to come.
