Brewers Trade Deadline Preview: Top Needs, Targets and MLB Market Outlook
July has here, and the time for trade is drawing near!
Over the course of the next few weeks, I will be publishing a series of articles that will provide an overview of the prevailing trade environment in the league with regard to the Brewers. The first thing that we are going to do is investigate the requirements of the team and conduct a poll of the league to determine who might be selling before the deadline of August 3. In the weeks that are to come, we will investigate particular targets that might be available at the spots that the Brewers are desperately looking to fill.
In that case, what exactly are those positions of need?
Need #1: a high-leverage reliever
The bullpen is the most obvious spot that the Brewers could improve, and in my opinion, it is also the location that has the most realistic potential improvement.Despite the fact that Trevor Megill and Abner Uribe have both turned things around after inconsistent starts to the season, the Brewers are not in a position to feel particularly optimistic about the current state of this bunch.
Aaron Ashby is now in first place in the league in terms of victories, but he is being put through a lot of work and has not been as productive as he has been in the past two years. Ashby has made 39 appearances, which is tied for the second-most in the National League. Additionally, his 50 innings pitched rank sixth in the league among pitchers who have largely relieved this season. Given Ashby’s history of swinging the bat, it is possible that he will be able to maintain this pace; however, he has been plagued by command issues this season; Ashby currently has his worst ERA, FIP, WHIP, H/9, HR/9, and BB/9 since he missed the 2023 season due to shoulder issues (although it is important to note that his strikeout numbers are the best of his career).
Recently, Chad Patrick has been having some problematic challenges. As a result of his outstanding performance in the postseason of the previous year, it appeared as though he was prepared to take on the position of a high-leverage reliever. He did exceptionally well in this role after returning to the bullpen at the beginning of May. But the past three weeks have been terrible; Patrick has allowed 14 runs, all of which were earned, in just nine and two-thirds innings of work over the course of six games between June 10 and June 27. The meltdowns he experienced were directly responsible for two of the six games he experienced. In spite of the fact that Patrick’s last two outings have been scoreless, we will have to wait and see whether he is able to rediscover it again. This could be a sneaky indicator of the success that the Brewers have had this season.
The questions continue to be raised. There is no indication that Grant Anderson is a high-leverage individual.It is true that Shane Drohan has been successful when pitching out of the bullpen; nonetheless, he is more of a long-relief pitcher than a high-leverage pitcher.DL Hall appeared to be in fine shape early on, but he is now hurt once more.The return of Jared Koenig to the major leagues is accompanied by a significant amount of uncertainty, as he is now dealing with a slower velocity.In spite of the fact that it is possible that Craig Yoho is not yet prepared to make a contribution at the major league level, it does not appear that he will be allowed sufficient freedom to demonstrate anything.The solution does not lie with Joel Kuhnel.
Megill and Uribe can be considered high-leverage relievers for the Brewers, despite the fact that their numbers for this season are not as good as they were in past years. (I am especially unfazed by Megill’s “step back” – he had a difficult start, but since April 14, he has amassed a 1.33 earned run average and a 0.84 earned run percentage (!) There may be three of them, depending on how you feel about Ashby. I am unable to regard the other guys to be reliable at this time because there are an excessive number of questions surrounding them.
Although it is difficult, this is unquestionably a domain that could be improved. It is common knowledge that relievers are notoriously inconsistent, and the Stearns/Arnold Brewers have a poor track record when it comes to relievers acquired at the offseason deadline, of whom there are quite a number. Although the current front office has not demonstrated a great deal of activity in the midseason trade market, they have attempted to acquire at least one bullpen pitcher at each and every trade deadline since 2017, with the exception of the 2020 season, which was abbreviated due to COVID.
During this season, the stakes appear to be higher, and the metaphorical cupboard is stuffed with goodies. Based on my observations, this appears to be the most feasible location to make a significant improvement to the roster.
Need #2: another starter?
In the year 2026, the number of starting pitchers that major league teams require appears to be almost absurd.There were eleven players in Milwaukee’s roster at the beginning of the season who had a good chance of competing for a starting position with the Brewers. Hall and Ashby were not among those players.
The tenth pitcher is out for the season, the eleventh pitcher has pitched in long relief in the major leagues, and the eleventh pitcher is currently on the injured list. Now, we are in the beginning of July, and nine of those eleven pitchers have started a game in the major leagues. The general administration has properly understood that in order to get a pitching staff through an entire season, you need that many people, and their previous offseason additions have reflected that fact.
However, do the Brewers require additional resources?The season will not continue with Quinn Priester.Logan Henderson has taken time off, and he will be required to demonstrate that he can maintain his health. However, even if Carlos Rodriguez were in good health, he would not be of much assistance. It appears that Coleman Crow is not yet ready to make a contribution to the team’s victory, and he is also on the injured list.
That leaves seven of the eleven individuals healthy, but Chad Patrick is now pitching out of the bullpen, Shane Drohan has been better from the bullpen (and presumably should be there, if not for all the injuries), and another player, Robert Gasser, has been bouncing back and forth between Nashville and Milwaukee this season.Brandon Sproat has been performing quite well in his most recent appearances, but he still has a lot to show.Although Brandon Woodruff appears to be in good health, this will remain a question for the entire season.
Both Jacob Misiorowski and Kyle Harrison have performed exceptionally well overall. But Harrison, at the at least, will have to demonstrate that he is capable of maintaining his excellent level of play over the entirety of the season, and especially during the postseason, when high-powered opponents will have scouted the hell out of him. There will be problems with the number of innings pitched by both of these pitchers, as well as Henderson, Drohan, and Crow. This is also true for Crow.
There are two different paths that the Brewers might go in this situation if they decide to make a move. In order to relieve some of the strain and innings that are being taken on by the younger players, they could either make a significant offer for one of the best arms that are now available or they may search for an innings eater. Each strategy has a number of advantages as well as potential drawbacks.
Need #3: offensive help
As much as it feels like I’m repeating myself, the Brewers are in desperate need of a power bat. However, I’m not going to go so far as to state that they certainly do require one. Rather than that, I am going to advise that they should at least investigate the idea of obtaining someone who will assist them offensively. The Milwaukee Brewers are not a terrible offensive team; rather, they are a team that has the potential to look terrible, and they are most certainly a team that has the potential to have a three-hitter black hole in their lineup. In the postseason, that might prove to be a significant challenge.
In this situation, the question that needs to be answered is how one might improve the offensive in a way that is both a) realistic and b) reasonable, particularly from the point of view of a fit.
The Brewers are not going to end up burying Christian Yelich, at least not during the regular season. This is a fact that needs to be publicly acknowledged. Yelich has been egregiously ineffective at the plate for the majority of the past two months, despite the fact that he had a favorable initial couple of weeks. Yelich has only played in 40 games since April 7, which was only the 11th game of the season. He has a batting average of.225, a slugging percentage of.313, and a home run total of only four. Even worse, his Statcast page is the worst it has ever been; not only is he not driving the ball with authority, but he is also swinging and missing a lot of balls.Despite the fact that Yelich is still fairly disciplined about avoiding swinging at balls, he is whiffing a great deal more than he ever has before.
It could be beneficial to move Yelich into a strict platoon, despite the fact that he has not been significantly more effective against right-handed pitchers than he has been against left-handed pitchers in 2026. (Based on his career statistics, it appears that a platoon would be advantageous.) On the other hand, it is definitely necessary for us to acknowledge the reality that Yelich, who is expected to continue earning approximately $24 million annually for the next two years following this one, is going to be present and will be included in the lineup the majority of the time. Ironically, one of the most interesting ways in which the Brewers have exceeded expectations in comparison to their competitors over the course of the past few years has been by avoiding playing players who aren’t contributing to the team’s success. This is a decision that is directly related to the fact that they do not have a large number of players who are older and receive higher salaries. However, it is difficult for me to imagine a situation in which Yelich’s playing time is reduced to anything other than a platoon duty on the strong side. Who knows, perhaps a few modifications may correct the situation and bring him back to his former self.
There is a lot of difficulty involved in determining where this new bat will fit in. An easy solution would be third base: the single easiest method to improve the offensive would be to acquire a third baseman who is capable of hitting, regardless of the side of the plate, but most likely as a right-handed hitter. This would be the most straightforward way to improve the offense. The pickings are rather limited, which is something that we will investigate in a subsequent part.
An outfielder is also another possibility to consider. Blake Perkins has been used regularly by Milwaukee against left-handed pitchers, and while he appears to be on the verge of being competent from the right side of the plate and good in the field, there is little doubt that his performance may be improved. Although the return of Brandon Lockridge could bring about a change in this situation, it is important to note that although Lockridge is likely to be an improvement over Perkins and is an overall competent player, he is not exactly “short-term offensive upgrade” material. It is possible to say the same thing about Luis Lara.)He has been getting starts against left-handed pitchers, but his performance has been just slightly over average; a decent platoon bat would be an improvement. Jake Bauers has been getting starts. In addition, it would prevent you from being in a situation where the lineup against a left-handed starter would consist of both Joey Ortiz and Perkins, in addition to one of Bauers, Garrett Mitchell, or Sal Frelick, who would be in a platoon disadvantage.
One of the most logical choices for an upgrade would be a right-handed hitter, taking into consideration the current squad. Positionally, it appears like that would need to be either an outfielder or a third baseman, unless you were content with adding a player similar to Andrew Vaughn who would be utilized virtually exclusively as a soft-side platoon option along with Yelich.
Who’s selling?
Having said that, let’s get to the bit that makes everything more complicated: the league has been relatively terrible this year. The Brewers are one of only seven teams in the league that have a win percentage that is higher than.550. Their current record is 53-31. The White Sox are currently in first place in the American League Central with a record of just 45-40. Both the Rangers and the Mariners, who are now in first place in the American League West, have a record of just 44-43. Did you know that the Rangers were leading the AL West?
That a lot of terrible teams still have hope is a result of this. With a record of 35-52, the Royals are currently in last place in the American League; nevertheless, they are only nine games away from becoming eligible for a Wild Card slot. There are only four clubs in the American League that are more than 5.5 games behind a Wild Card place. These teams are the Tigers, the Red Sox, the Royals, and the Angels.
For the Tigers, this is the final year that they will have Tarik Skubal. It seems quite likely that they will move him, but it is also possible that they may decide to keep him and make a run at it.
An interim manager has been appointed by the Red Sox, who have also terminated the majority of the rest of their coaching staff.
The Royals will most likely sell, but they are not going to do anything that will significantly harm their immediate future. This is because they have one of the most promising young talents in the league on their roster.
It is significant to note that John Mozeliak is now in charge of the Angels, who are currently under his administration. Because of his “interim” capacity, it is not obvious how much power he has to reorganize the squad; nonetheless, the Angels appear to believe that they are in the running for the championship every year, so I do not anticipate them selling off any significant pieces. There is not much else to see here than those.
If the teams in the American League do not see an improvement in their standings within the next month, there are a few other teams that could sell their franchises. On the other hand, the Orioles are only 4.5 games behind the Red Sox in the Wild Card standings, despite the fact that they are eight games below.500 and are in the same position as the Red Sox in their own division.Minnesota has also failed to inspire confidence, as they are currently five games behind the.500 mark. However, the American League Central is completely up for grabs, particularly because José Ramírez is not currently a part of the lineup for the Guardians.Both the Astros and the Athletics have the potential to become sellers if they have a poor month of July.
The National League is a little bit different from other leagues; in every division, there is at least one team that is completely superior to the others. On the other hand, there is a slight gap between the second and third Wild Cards in the National League, and there are presently six teams that are separated by only three games from one another in the competition for the third and final Wild Card.
These are the National League teams that are most likely to sell if there is no significant improvement in the next month:
Even though they have a lot of assets that are worth building around, the Reds are also a good team.
The Giants, who are a complete and utter financial disaster.
The New York Mets, who are an even more expensive and more unfortunate debacle.
The Rockies, a team that is doomed to failure till the end of time, might now be prepared to make intelligent choices.
These are the teams that have the potential to go either way:
However, despite having a run differential of -10, the Cardinals are now tied for the final Wild Card berth in the National Football League.
Despite the fact that they are exceeding expectations (and are always willing to get rid of anyone who might cost them anything), the Marlins were the greatest club in baseball during the month of June.
The Padres are yet another team that is definitely in the running for the championship, yet they have a run differential that is negative.
The Pirates, who are likely not going to sell because this is the first time in a very long time that they have come close to competing with other teams.
On the other hand, you might say the same thing about the Nationals.
Despite having a run differential of -24, the Diamondbacks are currently playing baseball at a level that is around of a.500.
Taking into account the situation with the CBA is yet another factor that can have an impact on the market. If low-payroll teams believe that there is a possibility that there will be a salary floor in 2027, they may come to the conclusion that it is more prudent for them to retain higher-priced veterans rather than trading them for additional minor league or league-minimum contracts. This is because they would rather avoid the possibility of filling out their rosters by offering a significant amount of money on a one-year deal to a lower-tier free agent in order to get to the floor.
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