Brewers had Carlos reversal of their own in '15

This story was excerpted from Adam McCalvy's Brewers Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

Carlos Correa’s stunning overnight switch from the Giants to the Mets probably reminded many Brewers fans of another Carlos: Carlos Gómez, who was traded, then not traded, then traded again in 2015 -- ostensibly over a dispute about medical reports.

The Mets were a major player in that saga, too.

Earlier that year, the Brewers dove headlong into a selloff of players for prospects. Gómez was one of Milwaukee’s best trade assets, and all of the Brewers’ scouts came to town to participate in brainstorming sessions as the July 31 Trade Deadline approached. On July 29, it looked like Gómez was gone.

General manager Doug Melvin had verbally agreed to trade Gómez to the Mets for Zack Wheeler (then a young pitcher in the early stages of recovery from Tommy John surgery) and infielder Wilmer Flores. With the deal done, Brewers scouts went to dinner in a private room at a Milwaukee steakhouse, where TVs showed the Padres-Mets game at Citi Field. Everyone was bewildered to see Flores' eyes filling with tears as he manned shortstop in the seventh inning.

Still, the Brewers believed they had a trade.

“It became almost like a party atmosphere,” Zack Minasian, the pro scouting director at the time, told me a couple of years ago during research for "The Milwaukee Brewers at 50." “We weren’t high-fiving or anything, but everyone had a really good energy. It was a little bit of a deep breath. Then, probably an hour into the dinner, Doug is in the corner on the phone.”

The deal had fallen apart. The Mets blamed Gómez’s medicals, which was simultaneously curious -- the Brewers believed the reports were fine -- and damaging to whatever was to come next. Now other teams would have questions about Gómez’s health, wondering what the Mets saw and didn’t like.

Minasian picked up his plate and put it down so hard it broke it into a few pieces. He left to go on a walk. The room drained of its energy. Scouts dispersed.

Late that night, perhaps 1 a.m., Minasian’s phone rang. It was Melvin.

“Are you OK?” Melvin asked.

When Minasian assured his boss he was fine, Melvin replied, “OK, we have to trade him tomorrow. We need to be in the office tomorrow morning ready to go.”

While club officials worked the phones, Gómez met reporters and helped dispel rumors about his health. He did it in the most Carlos Gómez way possible.

“I don’t have problems,” Gómez said. “I’m playing, and I feel really sexy about it.”

Fortunately, there was another match in the Astros, who were just emerging from their own rebuild under GM Jeff Luhnow and his up-and-coming assistant, David Stearns. Earlier talks hit a wall when Melvin asked for Brett Phillips, the strong-armed outfield prospect. The Astros said no. The Brewers moved on.

But when the teams reengaged in the wake of the Mets debacle, they agreed to swap Gómez for outfielder Domingo Santana and left-hander Josh Hader, whom the Brewers had scouted on seven occasions in the runup to the Deadline. Only after the Brewers agreed to include right-hander Mike Fiers did Houston bend on Phillips. In fact, not only did the Brewers get Phillips, they also picked up another prospect, right-hander Adrian Houser.

This time, the deal stuck.

“I had [Oakland executive] Billy Beane send me a text the next day and say, ‘Doug, how did you get Phillips in that deal?’” Melvin said. “Everyone wanted Phillips at the time.”

Who knows how the Correa reversal will turn out for the Giants and Mets. Looking back, the Gómez situation was fortuitous for the Brewers. Wheeler eventually developed into an ace, but the Houston haul was better, propelling Milwaukee back into contention far quicker than expected. Santana had a 30-homer season for the Brewers. Houser has been a decent back-end starter. Phillips was flipped to the Royals for Mike Moustakas, a final piece of the 2018 Brewers team that made it within one game of the World Series. And Hader became a record-setting closer.

Less than two months after the quick pivot, Stearns found himself reunited with all of those prospects when he was hired as Milwaukee’s GM. It was quite a twist of fate.

“It’s crazy,” Stearns said a couple of years ago. “I can’t say I was smart enough to see any of that coming.”

And speaking of twists of fate: Minasian is now vice president of pro scouting for the Giants, who must pivot after losing Correa.