Brewers acquire Drew Pomeranz and Ray Black from Giants for Mauricio Dubon, per report

The Brewers have acquired left-hander Drew Pomeranz and right-hander Ray Black from the Giants in exchange for infielder Mauricio Dubon, per The Athletic’s Robert Murray and Ken Rosenthal:

Pomeranz’s numbers don’t look great this year, as he has a 5.75 ERA and a 1.63 WHIP over 76.2 innings. He’s doing several encouraging things that would make one think he’s better than that, though. He has a career-high 10.6 strikeouts per nine. If you remove an awful May in which he had a 19.16 ERA from his record, his ERA drops by nearly two whole runs, down to 3.93, and it goes all the way down to a 3.35 mark if you go off what he’s done since June 1. Pomeranz, who was recently moved to the bullpen, has thrown 5.1 scoreless innings in relief while flashing improved velocity.

Black, an injury-plagued right-hander who is best known for his 100-MPH-plus fastball, just hasn’t been able to get a fair chance in San Francisco this year with the Giants having such impressive bullpen depth. In two major-league appearances this season, the 29-year-old has a 4.50 ERA with a 2.50 WHIP, five strikeouts, and a walk. In 23 appearances, including a start as an opener, at Triple-A Sacramento, he has a 5.16 ERA and a 1.41 WHIP with 36 strikeouts and 16 walks over 22.2 frames. He seems more likely to get a major-league opportunity in a Brewers ‘pen that has seen its depth thin out recently.

Dubon, a 25-year-old infielder who was ranked as the No. 3 prospect in the Brewers’ system, is a native of Honduras who grew up in Sacramento, California (which, interestingly, is the city where the Triple-A affiliate he’ll likely be assigned to is located). Dubon, who was drafted by the Red Sox but was part of the infamous Travis Shaw-Tyler Thornburg trade in the winter of 2016, was hitting .297/.333/.475 with 22 doubles and 16 homers at Triple-A San Antonio this year. He made his major-league debut with Milwaukee earlier this month and went 0 for 2 with a strikeout. This season is the first time Dubon has had more than eight homers, so while it’s possible that he could have added strength, he’s likely been a benificiary of the major-league ball coming to the ultra-hitter-friendly ballparks of the Pacific Coast League, so we probably won’t see him carry that much power to Oracle Park. Dubon’s greatest assets are his contact-hitting ability, plus speed on the basepaths, and ability to play plus defense at shortstop, third base, and second base, so the right-handed hitter should at least be able to become a guy who can give Brandon Crawford or Joe Panik a day off against a tough lefty sooner than later.