🚨 JUST IN: Milwaukee capitalizes on Angels’ sudden salary purge by scooping up three pitchers in a bold pre-holiday move ⚡.MH

While Major League Baseball’s season ends several weeks before Thanksgiving, the offseason is in full swing by the time the harvest holiday rolls around. As a result, despite football dominating sports fans’ attention after their turkey dinner, the occasional MLB trade is announced just as the pumpkin pie is being served.

The Milwaukee Brewers have been rather quiet on Thanksgiving Day itself, but that hasn’t prevented them from executing trades in the days leading up to it. Back in 2022, just two days before Thanksgiving, Matt Arnold, who was in the process of taking over the Brewers’ front office after President of Baseball Operations David Stearns announced he was taking a step back in anticipation of leaving for the New York Mets, completed a deal with the Los Angeles Angels that both shed Milwaukee of a rapidly growing contract and netted them three intriguing arms.

November 22, 2022: Brewers trade OF Hunter Renfroe to the Los Angeles Angels for RHP Elvis Peguero, RHP Jansen Junk, and LHP Adam Seminaris

At first glance, this pre-Thanksgiving swap looks like a head-scratcher for the Brewers. After barely missing out on the 2022 postseason, the only year that Milwaukee hasn’t qualified for the playoffs since 2018, the Brewers were looking to re-tool for the 2023 campaign, and Hunter Renfroe, who slugged 29 homers during the ’22 campaign, looked to be a solid piece of the puzzle. What would end up becoming Renfroe’s lone season in Milwaukee was one of the best of his career, with a slash line of .255/.315/.492 and a 124 OPS+ that deemed him 24% better than the league average hitter.

So why did the Brewers cut ties with Renfroe less than a year after acquiring him from the Boston Red Sox?

For starters, Renfroe’s salary was climbing, as he navigated through the arbitration process. With one year of arbitration eligibility remaining in 2023, Renfroe was expected to bring in a salary of $11.2 million by Matt Schwartz of MLB Trade Rumors, at the time of the trade. He went on to command an even richer salary of $11.9 million from the Angels, further justifying the Brewers “dumping” of his salary despite his productivity at the plate.

However, the trade wasn’t a pure salary dump from Milwaukee; they also brought in three intriguing arms from Los Angeles in Elvis Peguero, Jansen Junk, and Adam Seminaris. Peguero became a solid middle reliever, who, after two and a half productive years in Milwaukee, was designated for assignment at the 2025 trade deadline to make room for the Brewers’ newest trade acquisitions. Not forgotten, however, is the impressive 3.22 ERA that he posted during the 2023 and 2024 seasons.

Junk also showed some promise, appearing in the big leagues for Milwaukee in both 2023 and 2024, but he couldn’t replicate his minor league success in the majors and he was ultimately designated for assignment at the 2024 deadline. After bouncing around to a few organizations, Junk landed with the Miami Marlins for the 2025 season, and, after posting a 4.17 ERA in 21 appearances (16 starts), he has revitalized his career before his 30th birthday.

Seminaris was knocking on the door of the big leagues at the time of the trade, having already made nine starts in Triple-A. However, when he arrived in Milwaukee, a combination of injuries and underperformance prevented him from advancing farther, and he ended up spending most of his time in Double-A, where his results were not what he was hoping for. Another tough season for the Double-A Biloxi Shuckers in 2024 led the Brewers to part ways with Seminaris after the season. He has since landed in the Seattle Mariners organization and had a solid year with their Double-A affiliate in 2025.

Meanwhile, Renfroe didn’t even last the full season in Los Angeles. He played 126 games for the Angels, posting just 0.1 Wins Above Replacement (WAR) during the span, and was placed on waivers during the penultimate month of the season. The Cincinnati Reds claimed him with just one month remaining in the season, but two weeks later they designated him for assignment.

In the end, the four-player swap that the Brewers executed two days before Thanksgiving back in 2022 turned out to be a big win for Matt Arnold and company. Not only did they shed Renfroe’s salary, but they also added a reliever in Elvis Peguero, who went on to have a significant impact on the bullpen for two seasons.