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As stated above, one consequence of this trade is that the Brewers power-hitting is diminished considerably. It was thought by management entering into the 1965 season that this would be an area of weakness for the team, but as it turned out the Brewers were near the top of the team HR category for most of the season. Not true this year though, as the Brewers are currently 8th in the league in this category. With Compton gone it is expected they might well fall to the bottom of the pack as far as HR's go.
Another consequence is that the Brewers may have just made the best team in their league even more powerful. In the short run, anyway. It was very unorthodox making this deal with the team they are aiming to catch. But the thought, in the end, was that for this season any thought of catching up to the Spinners was unrealistic, even at this stage of the season, and that the most important thing was to put the Brewers in a better position to win in the next several years, even if that meant giving some potential advantage to the Spinners right now.
A more positive consequence of the trade is to provide the pitching staff with some youthful arms with potential. In Steve Alonso they get a pitcher in the prime of his career having a great season. He is also considered a very durable pitcher. It also doesn't hurt that he is signed through the 1968 season to a very reasonable contract. Granted, although he has premium stuff the movement of his pitches is somewhat suspect. But Brewers Scouting Director Nick Meskill is very high on his combination of skills and future potential. In addition, the Brewers add a young pitcher who is nearly major league ready in Abel Pennington. While it is not clear whether Pennington will develop a decent enough third pitch to be a useful starting pitcher, it does appear that he should have a role in the future somewhere on the Brewers pitching staff. Meskill is a big believer in the young right hander, who earns much praise for his baseball smarts and hard work, and feels he could become a top of the rotation starter.
There was also a sense of addition by subtraction as the team was able to unload veteran starting pitcher Volker Kuhn, who was merely a stop-gap option who was very unlikely to accept demotion back down to AAA and was up for free agency at the end of the season. Also, it gives young catcher, Leo Madrigal, who had started the 1965 season as the Brewers backup at that position, a chance for a fresh start as it was clear he was heading in the wrong direction in the Brewers organization and had been bypassed by several other prospects.
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