The Brewers have added a veteran starter to their rotation, as Milwaukee traded for St. Louis Cardinals’ righty starter Dustin May, per The Athletic. The Brewers are also receiving reliever JoJo Romero in the deal, with St. Louis getting back prospects Alexander Frias and Josiah Ragsdale, per MLB.
May signed a one-year deal for 2026 with the Cardinals this past offseason, and possesses a 4.38 ERA in 109 innings and 21 starts. The 6-foot-6 hurler is striking out a career-best 8.8 batters per nine, but has had some poor luck with the defense behind him: his batting average on balls in play is .322, and the result of that is an adjusted ERA of 3.14 – the Brewers are hoping playing in front of a better team will mean better real-world results.
Romero has been an effective reliever for St. Louis, with the lefty posting a 3.35 ERA after a career-best 2025 with a 2.07 ERA. Romero is striking out a batter per inning and 2.7 times as many batters as he’s walking, giving the Brewers another reliable option out of the bullpen.
May is packing his bags for the second deadline in a row, and his fourth team in the last year. (Photo by Chris Coduto/Getty Images)
May has a $20 million mutual option with a $500,000 buyout for 2027. May was also dealt at the 2025 trade deadline, from the Dodgers to the Red Sox in exchange for prospect James Tibbs.
Frias is the No. 11 prospect in the Brewers’ system, per MLB Pipeline, while Ragsdale ranks No. 13. Both are outfielders: Frias is an 18-year-old who has split his season between Rookie League and Single-A ball, while Ragsdale is 22 and hit .327/.447/.528 in High-A before a promotion to Double-A, where he’s continued to rake in 96 plate appearances so far.
The Cardinals are 55-57, four games out of a wild-card spot in the NL and with additional pieces that could be moved before Monday’s 6 p.m. ET trade deadline.
