ARLINGTON -- With less than 24 hours until this year’s Trade Deadline, the Rangers made their first move ... but it was a shocking one.

Texas dealt right-handed reliever Matt Bush to the Brewers in return for left-handed pitcher Antoine Kelly, Milwaukee's No. 16 prospect per MLB Pipeline, and 28-year-old utilityman Mark Mathias.

Rangers president of baseball operations Jon Daniels said Kelly will head to Double-A Frisco after posting a 3.86 ERA in High-A with the Brewers. The lefty was a second-round pick in the 2019 MLB Draft, but the pandemic halted his first full season of professional ball.

He was a standout at the Brewers’ alternate training site in 2020, but had thoracic outlet surgery later that fall and it took him time to get the feel back.

“He's got a three-pitch mix, which will allow him to start,” Daniels said. “He's very well-regarded by our scouts, and by our R&D group. Everybody heard tremendous things about him as a person; very intelligent, very driven and [we're] excited to see what he can do.

“We want to be able to sit down and talk with him and our development folks and be able to see where his head is, but we liked him as an amateur," added Daniels. "He came back kind of middle-to-later last year, just given it was a later surgery in the fall of '20; threw pretty well and then has been outstanding there in A-ball this year. We’re going to send him to Double-A and see what he can do.”

Mathias, who will be placed on the 40-man roster, will go to Triple-A Round Rock. the utilityman was raking with Triple-A Nashville this season, posting a .318/.421/.518/.938 slash line in 50 games. He’s 2-for-16 in six Major League games.

Despite the Rangers' wealth of depth in the infield, both in the Majors and Minors, Daniels said his versatility and makeup was the point of interest.

Bush was the second-longest tenured member of the Rangers, behind just Jose Leclerc in service time, though they made their debuts just months apart in 2016.

“I was definitely a little shocked,” Bush said. “Definitely wasn't expecting it, but I guess just a bittersweet moment. It's really hard to say goodbye here. This has been home for me for quite a while. My family and I have been treated so well here. The organization is always taking care of myself first and then baseball.”

Daniels said the Rangers were receiving calls from all over about Bush and they felt like the depth in the bullpen in Triple-A set them up for reinforcements in the back half of the season. Rangers’ No. 24 prospect Yerry Rodriguez and fellow bullpen mate Chase Lee could be on their way to Arlington soon.

“There are a few other guys that we'd like to see,” Daniels said. “So we were open to considering good baseball deals because we felt like we could replace them with quality from within. And really, this was the deal that made the most sense for us and the different things that we're looking at."