Brewers land one more highly touted former SF Giants prospect via trade

It's official, the Luis Matos era is over for the SF Giants. While there was a small chance that he could have remained with the team, the Giants worked out a trade that sends Matos to the Milwaukee Brewers in exchange for cash considerations per Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area.

Now, Matos will join another former Giants prospect, left-handed pitcher Kyle Harrison, in Milwaukee. It makes sense that the Brewers wanted Matos because in a three-game series last August, Matos absolutely torched the Brewers as he recorded six hits including a double and a home run while driving in four runs and stealing two bases.

That was Matos at his best with the Giants, but fans who have followed his three years with the team closely know that while he can get super hot at the plate in short bursts, he can go cold for weeks as well.

SF Giants finally move on from Luis Matos in trade with Brewers

It's a shame that things never worked out for Matos in San Francisco because he did show so much promise at times. He won National League Player of the Week honors back in 2024 but eventually went cold at the plate and was sent back down.

After the Giants traded Mike Yastrzemski at the deadline last year, it seemed like Matos was finally going to get a shot at some real playing time. While he got hot in late August, a cold streak in September got him sent right back down.

He could just never quite maintain his success at the plate and when the Giants tried using him as a bench player he was never really able to establish a rhythm at the plate.

The Brewers have a reputation as an organization for being able to squeeze talent out of players so maybe they can work their magic with Matos. One of Milwaukee's usual starting outfielders, Jackson Chourio, is out with a hand fracture so maybe Matos can earn some playing time while Chourio is out if he makes it onto Milwaukee's big-league roster.

If Matos and Harrison both end up having breakout years for the Brewers, that might make a good portion of San Francisco's fanbase apoplectic especially if things end up going the wrong way for the Giants. Milwaukee acquired Harrison in a trade with the Boston Red Sox earlier this year after the Giants sent Harrison to Boston in last year's Rafael Devers trade.

It's a long way until that might happen, though. For now, the Giants will move on without Matos. The team has too many outfielders as it is so him getting a fresh start is probably best for all parties involved.