Brewers GM thought rumored Kemp-for-Braun swap was early April Fool's joke
The earliest casualty of April Fool's Day this year might be the Milwaukee Brewers general manager.
Early Saturday evening, a rumored deal between the Brewers and Los Angeles Dodgers involving Ryan Braun and Matt Kemp began floating around. However, according to Michael J. Duarte of NBC Los Angeles, the deal was held up because Milwaukee was adamant about the inclusion of a particular player the Dodgers weren't willing to move.
Prior to Saturday's game against the San Diego Padres, Brewers general manager David Stearns shot down the rumor, saying "there's nothing to it," and telling Adam McCalvy of MLB.com he thought it was an early April Fool's joke.
Braun has been a bit of a fixture in trade rumors, being previously connected to the Dodgers in a trade that would have made Yasiel Puig a member of the Brewers during last year's trade deadline. Nothing has come of any of these rumors despite Milwaukee adding both Lorenzo Cain and Christian Yelich to their roster, relegating Braun to first base duties.
On Friday, Braun capped a five-run ninth inning comeback against the Padres by hitting a three-run homer down to his last strike with two outs in the inning. Corey Knebel went on to close out the game to seal the Brewers' 2-0 record to start the 2018 season.
For Saturday's game in San Diego, Braun got the day off with Eric Thames getting the start at first.