Milwaukee Brewers

Red Sox deals paying dividends for Brewers

Published May. 10, 2017 9:16 a.m. ET

Milwaukee Brewers third baseman Travis Shaw has been a productive addition since leaving the Boston Red Sox.

The Milwaukee Brewers and the Boston Red Sox don't play very often, but general manager David Stearns should be pretty happy to see them Tuesday, when Boston makes its first visit to Miller Park since 2003.

In fact, after convincing Boston to part ways with third baseman Travis Shaw last offseason, Stearns should be rolling out the red carpet for the Sox.

The Brewers and the Red Sox were trade partners twice in the past year, and the results have definitely worked out in Milwaukee's favor.

Shaw has been one of the most productive acquisitions in Milwaukee's history, and leads the Brewers with 24 RBI through 29 games.

That's third-most all time for a player in the first 30 games of his first season with the Brewers.

Player	RBI
Lyle Overbay	31
Richie Sexson	28
Travis Shaw	24
Carlos Lee	24

The cost to acquire him? Right-handed reliever Tyler Thornburg, who hasn't pitched yet in 2017 and is currently on the 60-day disabled list with a shoulder injury.

But that's not all.

Milwaukee added to their well-stocked pipeline in a separate deal with Boston, dealing aging third baseman Aaron Hill before the trading deadline in exchange for prospects Aaron Wilkerson and Wendell Rijo.

Hill became a free agent last winter, before signing a minor-league deal with the San Francisco Giants.

But wait, somehow, there's more.

ESPN reports that the Red Sox scouted first baseman Eric Thames last season as part of their search for David Ortiz's replacement, but reportedly balked at his contract demands.

Those concerns, of course, were unwarranted.

Thames has been among the league's most dangerous sluggers this season, and ranks second in the majors with 12 home runs.

His .731 SLG and 1.170 OPS are both top-5 as well.

Meanwhile, the Red Sox have struggled to score, and rank 17th in the majors in runs even after scoring a combined 28 runs in back-to-back wins over the Minnesota Twins.

Other notes:

-- The Brewers are 13-9 (.591) in interleague play since 2016, which is the third-best record among National League teams.

-- Wily Peralta is averaging 96.0 mph on his fastball, which is the third-highest rate in the majors (min. 30 innings pitched).

Statistics courtesy STATS