Are the White Sox going to acquire every available former Brewers player?

The Milwaukee Brewers have been the best team in baseball for more than two months. The Chicago White Sox have not, though they're trying to capture some of Milwaukee's magic by ... acquiring everybody leaving Milwaukee?

The latest move was to claim both Milwaukee Brewers relievers who were designated for assignment shortly after the trade deadline: left-hander Bryan Hudson and right-hander Elvis Peguero. Both were central components of the 2024 team that reached the playoffs, but neither has been efficient this season after getting sent to Class AAA Nashville.

It's become a massive trend this season for the White Sox, who have rostered six other players with recent Brewers ties. Not since Bud Selig tried to buy the White Sox and move them to Milwaukee in 1969 has there been this much of a pipeline between the two organizations.

Consider these examples:

Aaron Civale

After Civale made a request to get sent elsewhere following a logjam in the starting rotation, the Brewers dealt him to the south side of Chicago in exchange for Andrew Vaughn. So, uh, thanks for that.

Civale just delivered his best outing with the White Sox, allowing just one hit and no runs in 6⅓ innings Aug. 2; he owns a 3.56 ERA and a 1.208 WHIP in his nine starts with Chicago.

Adrian Houser

This isn't a direct line; Houser hasn't pitched for the Brewers since 2023 and has bounced around, trying to get back to the bigs.

With the White Sox, he found success in 2025, posting a 2.10 ERA and 1.223 WHIP in 11 starts (he had a 5.84 ERA with the New York Mets in almost the same number of innings last year). He was traded to Tampa Bay at the deadline.

Shane Smith

The White Sox made Smith the No. 1 overall pick in the offseason Rule 5 draft, plucking him from the Brewers organization.

Smith had so much immediate success that he became the team's All-Star representative. It's been up-and-down, but he has a 4.25 ERA and a 1.308 WHIP in 19 starts, and he just returned from the injured list Aug. 1.

Tyler Alexander

Alexander made 21 appearances with the Brewers this season, with a 6.19 ERA, and once the team released him in June, he signed with the White Sox, caught an Uber from Milwaukee and actually pitched three innings at Rate Field later that day.

He's pitched well in 15 games, with a 3.27 ERA and a 1.182 WHIP, much better numbers than he had in a similar workload with the Brewers this season.

Bryse Wilson

A member of the Brewers the last two seasons, Wilson signed in the offseason with the White Sox and has appeared in 19 big-league games, but he's struggled with a 6.95 ERA.

He's been much better at Class AAA Charlotte, where he has a 2.96 ERA in 10 games (with four starts) and a 1.19 WHIP.

Vinny Capra

The star of Brewers spring training, Capra made the team out of camp and homered in the season opener, but he struggled mightily thereafter to the tune of a .074 batting average and .250 OPS, prompting the team to designate him for assigment.

Enter the White Sox, who claimed him and gave him 46 plate appearances before pulling the plug (with a .190 batting average and a .443 OPS). He became Clayton Kershaw's 3000th career strikeout victim. He's in Class AAA with the Sox.

Bryan Hudson

Hudson had a great first half of the 2024 season, his debut year with Milwaukee, and had a 1.73 ERA. But he struggled in 10 big-league innings this year (4.35 ERA, 1.935 WHIP) and couldn't get back on track in Nashville. He's now with the White Sox at Triple-A.

Elvis Peguero

He spent the last two seasons in Milwaukee and pitched seven innings in 2025, with a 4.91 ERA and a 1.636 WHIP. Peguero had a sparkling ERA last year, 2.98 ERA, despite allowing a high volume of baserunners (he had a 1.539 WHIP), and now he'll get another chance in the White Sox organization, starting in Charlotte.

Evan McKendry

McKendry spent last year and the start of this year at Class AAA Nasvhille with the Brewers, but he was traded May 5 to the White Sox in exchange for cash considerations. He's appeared in 14 games at Class AAA Charlotte and has a 5.92 ERA.

Gus Varland

The former Brewers Rule 5 pick was only briefly saw time in Milwaukee during the 2023 season. He's on the injured list in the White Sox farm system now.

Walker McKinven

Perhaps everything above makes some sense, given this guy's presence. The White Sox bench coach had been with the Brewers since 2016 in various capacities before joining Chicago this offseason.

He's part of a coaching staff that also features former Brewers Matt Wise (assistant pitching coach) and Jason Bourgeois (first base coach), along with Clintonville native Justin Jirschele (third base coach).

Morris Austin

There's a good chance you haven't heard of him yet, but for good measure, the White Sox signed pitcher Morris Austin, a 2023 Brewers draft pick who was released from the Carolina Mudcats after the 2024 season. He has a 5.70 ERA in 24 innings at Advanced Class A Winston-Salem this year.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: White Sox continue to add former Brewers to organization