DALLAS -- The Brewers picked up a pair of left-handed pitchers on Wednesday and took a run at another, finishing among the runners-up for Garrett Crochet when the talented left-hander was traded from the White Sox to the Red Sox on the final day of baseball’s Winter Meetings.

Milwaukee was a serious suitor for Crochet, a 2024 All-Star who is 25 years old, has two years of contractual control remaining and was a bright spot for the 121-loss White Sox, striking out 209 batters in only 146 innings. To land him, the Red Sox gave up four of their top 14 prospects, a collection that included Boston’s last two first-round Draft picks and two players on MLB Pipeline’s overall Top 100 prospects list.

Using that as a guideline, a comparable package would have put a serious dent in Milwaukee’s farm system. The Brewers have three players in MLB Pipeline’s Top 100 -- catcher Jeferson Quero (No. 43), shortstop Cooper Pratt (No. 57) and right-hander Jacob Misiorowski (No. 80), with 17-year-old infielder Jesus Made (Brewers’ No. 4 prospect) knocking on the door.

And yet GM Matt Arnold and his staff considered making a similar deal, an indication of the wide range of players in the Brewers’ sights as they seek to continue a run of success that includes playoff berths in six of the last seven years and NL Central titles in three of the last four.

“I would say we’re doing work on a lot of players in both directions,” said Arnold, who is seeking to improve the roster at the same time he weighs trade interest in closer Devin Williams as the two-time NL Reliever of the Year heads toward a contract year.

While they didn’t land Crochet, the Brewers did depart the Hilton Anatole with two new left-handed options for the pitching staff.

Grant Wolfram, who turns 28 on Thursday, received a Major League contract as a Minor League free agent after logging a 3.13 ERA and 69 strikeouts in 60 1/3 innings between the Rangers’ Double-A and Triple-A affiliates in 2024. Arnold compared his size and athleticism to another lefty in Milwaukee’s bullpen, Jared Koenig, who signed on a Minor League deal last winter and had a breakout season in ‘24.

The other addition came via Wednesday’s Rule 5 Draft. Connor Thomas, 26, will get a chance to start for the Brewers after making all but three of his 56 appearances last season for the Cardinals’ Triple-A club as a reliever. As a Rule 5 pick, Thomas will have to stick on Milwaukee’s Major League roster all season or be offered back to St. Louis.

“He’s a little more of a jacknife,” Arnold said. “When you lose guys like Hoby [Milner] and Bryse Wilson, [those are] guys that are valuable parts of good teams. These guys have a chance to help us.”

BIGGEST REMAINING NEEDS

1. A trade partner for Williams. The Yankees are among the suitors for Williams, who is on the trade block not because the Brewers don’t value him, but because he’s heading into his final year of arbitration eligibility and will reach free agency at the conclusion of the 2025 regular season. It’s the same contractual position from which the Brewers traded Corbin Burnes to the Orioles on the eve of 2024 Spring Training.

“I always want to be transparent with our guys in these types of situations,” Arnold said. “I’ll keep that conversation between us, but I’ve had conversations with Devin that, you know, I care about him and his future. He’s been such a valuable part of our team for a lot of years. I respect him a lot, and I want to treat him like he’s the best closer in the game, which I believe he is. He’s a guy who deserves that.”

2. An infielder. Willy Adames will be introduced in San Francisco on Thursday after finalizing a seven-year deal, leaving a vacancy at shortstop in Milwaukee. The Brewers will most likely fill that spot by shifting third baseman Joey Ortiz or Gold Glove Award-winning second baseman Brice Turang to short, leaving an opening at one of those other positions.

3. Pitching depth. The Brewers employed 17 starting pitchers in 2024, and a club-record 12 pitchers earned at least one save. So it’s not necessarily a matter of prioritizing starters or relievers, but rather of bringing in as much depth as possible. Wednesday’s acquisitions helped.

RULE 5 DRAFT

The Brewers lost right-handed swingman Shane Smith to the White Sox with the No. 1 pick in Wednesday’s Rule 5 Draft but added an arm in the Cardinals’ Thomas.

“This is a guy, he’s started, and he’s relieved in the past. This year he took a nice step forward pitching out of the bullpen, but it’s somebody our scouts feel like can really do both,” said Brewers special assistant for scouting Bryan Gale. “So he might start, he might pitch out of the bullpen, but we’ll give him the opportunity to give us some length in Spring Training and see where it goes.

“He gets a lot of ground balls. Obviously, we’ve been defensively-oriented on our infield and I think we can benefit him from that standpoint.”

In the Minor League phase of the Rule 5 Draft, the Brewers gained outfielder Garrett Spain from the Blue Jays and right-hander Zachary Peek from the Orioles, and lost shortstop Miguel Briceno to the Twins.

GM'S BOTTOM LINE

“I think we did a lot of work this week, and we have a much better sense of understanding the market. There’s also different windows that happen throughout the offseason, right? This is one of those,” Arnold said. “But as the free agent market shifts, dynamics can change. … I think some of those have a chance to be favorable for us.”