Lance McCullers Jr. ultimately agreed to waive his no-trade clause and accept a trade to the Milwaukee Brewers after a conversation with Houston Astros owner Jim Crane. McCullers, who had spent his 14-year career with the Astros organization, expressed his initial reluctance to play for another team.
"I didn’t want to ever wear another team’s uniform," McCullers stated in an interview with The Athletic. "This organization took a chance on me when I was an 18-year-old kid. This has been my home ever since. My daughters were born here. This is where my wife and I will live forever. I never thought about playing somewhere else or being somewhere else, but I think all things, obviously, have to come to an end."
The Astros, currently at 47-51 and trailing in the American League West, determined that trading McCullers and left-handed pitcher Colton Gordon for prospect Jayden Fielder was a beneficial move for all parties involved. Fielder is the son of former All-Star Prince Fielder and the grandson of Cecil Fielder.
McCullers acknowledged that Crane helped him see the opportunity for a fresh start with the Brewers, who hold a five-game lead in the National League Central. "I spoke to Jim Crane on Monday and we both thought — he thought — that this was going to be a good opportunity for me and that it would leave the Astros in a good situation leading up to the deadline and for the rest of the year," McCullers said. "I have a lot of respect for Mr. Crane. And out of that love and respect, I told him on the phone that I would waive it."
McCullers played a significant role in several of the Astros' deep postseason runs, notably throwing the final 12 outs in Game 7 of the 2017 American League Championship Series against the New York Yankees, which led to Houston's first World Series title. He signed a five-year, $85 million contract extension with the Astros in 2021, but has been hampered by injuries, pitching only 94 2/3 innings since the end of 2022, with 39 1/3 of those coming in the current season. McCullers expressed optimism that the trade will work out well for both the Astros and the Brewers.