Brewers-Guardians Grades: Craig Yoho Surprisingly Out of Milwaukee

The Milwaukee Brewers have gotten involved in the trade market.

Jul 7, 2026; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; Milwaukee Brewers pitcher Craig Yoho (48) pitches against the St. Louis Cardinals during the ninth inning at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The Milwaukee Brewers got the trade deadline action started early on Saturday.

Milwaukee has been looking for some pop for the lineup and responded by going out and acquiring catcher Bo Naylor and right-handed reliever Codi Heuer in exchange for outfielder Blake Perkins as well as young reliever Craig Yoho.

We have made the following trade with Cleveland pic.twitter.com/jvEDExjo59

— Milwaukee Brewers (@Brewers) August 1, 2026

Arguably, this is a bit of a surprising trade. Let's break it down and grade each team's return.

Cleveland Guardians — B+

Jul 12, 2026; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Milwaukee Brewers relief pitcher Craig Yoho (48) pitches against the Pittsburgh Pirates during the fifth inning at PNC Park. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Yoho has had the most success in the majors this season among the four players on the move. Yoho has pitched in 15 games and has a 3.15 ERA and an 18-to-8 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 20 innings pitched. Arguably, he should've had a bigger role in the Brewers' bullpen than he did. He was bounced between Triple-A and the big leagues with a very short leash.

In Triple-A, he has a 0.78 ERA in 23 innings pitched across 19 outings. So far in his career, he has been amazing down in the minors. In 2024, he finished the season with a 0.94 ERA in 48 outings. In 2025, he had a 0.94 ERA in 43 Triple-A appearances. This year, he has been even better and has started to find his footing in the majors. The Guardians are fortunate to get him, plus he's under team control through the 2031 season.

Perkins has had a bad season, but he's under team control through the 2029 season and has had some success in the majors, plus he's good defensively.

Milwaukee Brewers — B-

May 7, 2026; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; Cleveland Guardians catcher Bo Naylor (23) is congratulated by teammates after hitting a home run during the seventh inning against the Kansas City Royals at Kauffman Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

On the birght side, Bo Naylor has some pop. Naylor is 28 years old and hit 11 home runs in 2023, 13 home runs in 2024, and 14 home runs in 2025. But he has played in just 28 games this season and the Brewers are set at catcher with William Contreras.

It's going to be interesting to see how Milwaukee handles the position from here on out. What about Gary Sánchez? What about prospect Jeferson Quero? Could another move be on the way? Milwaukee is a bit crowded at catcher.

Codi Heuer is an intriguing right-handed addition for the bullpen, but he's pitched in just eight games in the majors and has a 4.66 ERA in 9 2/3 innings pitched. He does have a 3.46 ERA in 26 games down in Triple-A this season as well. Overall, he's a four-year big league veteran with a 3.76 ERA in 97 games played. This is an intriguing deal for Milwaukee, but not one that makes the club significantly better right now on paper.