Brewers trade with Rays for former 1st-round pick pitcher
Brewers trade with Rays for former 1st-round pick pitcher originally appeared on The Sporting News . Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here .
With Opening Day just around the corner, the Milwaukee Brewers have pulled off a trade with the Tampa Bay Rays .
MLB.com's Adam McCalvy reported the deal on Tuesday afternoon: It's Jake Woodford coming to Milwaukee in exchange for K.C. Hunt.
Woodford is a right-handed pitcher who will start the season in the major leagues.
Hunt is a minor league righty pitcher with a ways to go.
Woodford is 6-foot-4 and 29 years old. He was a first-round pick by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 2015 MLB Draft.
He has pitched in parts of six MLB seasons, including four years with the Cardinals and partial campaigns with the Chicago White Sox , Pittsburgh Pirates and Arizona Diamondbacks .
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Woodford has a career 5.10 ERA in the majors with a mediocre 5.9 strikeouts per nine innings ratio.
Last season with the Diamondbacks, he had a 6.44 ERA in 22 appearances spread across 36.1 innings pitched.
This spring, Woodford made four appearances for the Rays that spanned 7.1 innings. He allowed just one run (1.23 ERA) and struck out five.
Hunt is a 25-year old who was a 12th-round pick in 2022.
He reached Double-A in the Brewers' system each of the past two seasons. He made 26 starts for Biloxi in 2025 with a 4.45 ERA, but his career minor league ERA is 3.36.
Knowing the Rays, they likely believe they can develop Hunt into a quality big league arm. The Brewers seem to have wanted some immediate depth and get it with Woodford.
