{"id":779909,"date":"2026-07-23T13:41:16","date_gmt":"2026-07-23T13:41:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/779909\/"},"modified":"2026-07-23T13:41:16","modified_gmt":"2026-07-23T13:41:16","slug":"brewers-trade-deadline-primer-part-4-position-player-targets","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/779909\/","title":{"rendered":"Brewers trade deadline primer, part 4: position player targets"},"content":{"rendered":"

Welcome back to the five-week-long trade deadline primer! After surveying the Brewers\u2019 roster<\/a> and the landscape in week one, in the past two installments we\u2019ve looked at potential targets among relievers<\/a> and starters<\/a>. Today, we\u2019re going to look at the third identified potential need on the Brewers: offensive help.<\/p>\n

A lot has changed since I first examined the team\u2019s needs at the beginning of the month. After Wednesday\u2019s game, Joey Ortiz had a .984 OPS in July, and if there\u2019s any sort of longevity to that, it solves many of Milwaukee\u2019s problems. Cooper Pratt, also, is trending up: he hit his first home run on Monday, and in 16 games this month is batting .291\/.375\/.418.<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t expect Ortiz and Pratt to both maintain those levels for the rest of the season, but if you think these guys can both be even average hitters, it really changes what you might perceive as needs for the Brewers. There\u2019s also an issue of where any potential new signing would play. Milwaukee clearly values defensive prowess in their bench players, and once you start adding up the names that it\u2019s difficult to see moved away from, you get to 13 pretty quickly:<\/p>\n

William Contreras and Gary S\u00e1nchez seem set at catcherJake Bauers and Andrew Vaughn will continue to play at first base unless one of them is traded, which seems unlikely but not outside the realm of possibility\u2014Bauers is a free agent after the season, and Vaughn will be very expensive in his last year of arbitration next season, possibly more expensive than Milwaukee is willing to pay. I could see a situation where if the Brewers made a move for a player who they thought could approximate either player\u2019s production while moving back the free agency timeline, they might shuffle things around.Brice Turang, Cooper Pratt, and Joey Ortiz have infield positions locked down\u2014say what you will about Ortiz\u2019s offense keeping up at this level, his defense is immensely valuable and he will, at minimum, be a bench player in the postseason.Jackson Chourio and Garrett Mitchell are locked into outfield spots. With Sal Frelick on the injured list (for who knows how long), I could potentially see a situation where an outfielder is acquired and Luis Lara is optioned back to Triple-A.Christian Yelich isn\u2019t going to go anywhere, and he\u2019s not going to get benched.Players not accounted for at this point include Braden Shewmake and Blake Perkins, plus two more players on the injured list and presumably back soon, David Hamilton and Brandon Lockridge<\/p>\n

So, the way I see it, ten of Milwaukee\u2019s 13 available position player slots are occupied by guys who will be, barring injury or an unexpected trade, on a potential postseason roster: Contreras, S\u00e1nchez, Vaughn, Bauers, Turang, Pratt, Ortiz, Chourio, Mitchell, and Yelich. I\u2019d add Frelick to that group if he is healthy (and it looks likely that he\u2019ll be back), so that would make 11. (Whether rostering Frelick over Lara\u2014particularly as a defense-first fourth outfielder\u2014would be wise is a different conversation, but I\u2019m going to presume that Frelick would not get optioned.)<\/p>\n

That leaves two spots. One will be an outfielder, probably Lara, but that\u2019s a spot that I could see the Brewers hunt for a short-term upgrade. The other would be an infielder, an upgrade over Shewmake and Hamilton. This is where the Brewers could conceivably look for an offense-first solution at third base, either a left-handed hitter to function in a sort of platoon with Ortiz, or a right-handed hitter who would take many of Ortiz\u2019s starts. In either situation, Ortiz would then move to a super-sub defensive utility role.<\/p>\n

That was a long preamble, but I found it necessary because it is particularly difficult this season to find players who fulfill all the following criteria:<\/p>\n

They improve the Brewers\u2019 offenseThere is a logical positional fit (that doesn\u2019t require benching Yelich, which Pat Murphy is clearly not going to do, though I did consider right-handed platoon options)They are available in a tough trade market<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s see what we found.<\/p>\n

For this one I\u2019m going to go team by team amongst the teams who I think either will or might sell, then I\u2019ll wrap up with my thoughts about the best potential targets.<\/p>\n

Reds (47-54, 5.5 games back of Wild Card, 16.5 in division)<\/p>\n

Stop me if this sounds familiar, but\u2026 what about Eugenio Su\u00e1rez? He was awful to start the season, but over his last 21 games, he\u2019s got an OPS of .846 and six home runs. He\u2019s a major defensive liability at third base but even in a down season he\u2019s got 13 homers in 286 plate appearances, and he\u2019s the type of player who can carry a team for a couple weeks if he goes on a heater. Su\u00e1rez has a mutual option for $15 million next season.<\/p>\n

Spencer Steer could be a viable target in a platoon role\u2014he has destroyed left-handed pitching this year (.342\/.442\/.620). He also conceivably can play other infield spots besides first base, but he\u2019s not very reliable there. Steer has two more years of arbitration after this season.<\/p>\n

Nathaniel Lowe started the season hot but hasn\u2019t been very good over the last two months, a pretty large sample. He\u2019s also a left-handed first baseman, so there\u2019s not much of a fit. J.J. Bleday also started the year hot but has cooled considerably.<\/p>\n

Mets (43-60, 10.5 GB in WC, 17 in division)<\/p>\n

Not much here that makes any sense. Old friend Tyrone Taylor is a free agent after the season and can hit lefties, but his defense has fallen off some this year and he\u2019s not really good enough to take a roster spot just to hit lefties. Brett Baty broke out in 2025 and still could be an intriguing acquisition, but he\u2019s having an awful year. A look under the hood suggests he\u2019s underperforming his expected outcomes, but not by so much that you\u2019d expect a huge rebound.<\/p>\n

Giants (42-60, 11 GB in WC, 22.5 in division)<\/p>\n

The obvious target here is second baseman Luis Arraez, who will be a free agent after the season. Arraez is doing his thing offensively (hitting .320, 22 doubles and seven triples) and is even showing some shocking signs of defensive value at second base. But where does he play on the Brewers? You don\u2019t trade for Arraez if he\u2019s not going to play every day, and the Brewers aren\u2019t going to move Brice Turang off of second, which is complicated by the fact that Arraez has publicly stated<\/a> he wants to keep playing second if he gets traded. (That\u2019s probably smart on his part\u2014if potential free agent suitors think he\u2019s a viable second baseman, he\u2019s far more valuable.) He could conceivably go back to first base and Andrew Vaughn could move into a DH platoon, but the fit is weird enough that I don\u2019t think he\u2019ll be a primary target for the Brewers.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not clear how deeply the Giants are committing to a rebuild, so I have my doubts that a guy like Heliot Ramos, who has three more years of team control, would be available. The Giants would surely love to get off of any and all of Willy Adames, Rafael Devers, Matt Chapman, and maybe Jung Hoo Lee, but all four make way too much money to justify their mediocre performance really for any team, but especially for a team like the Brewers.<\/p>\n

Rockies (41-63, 13 GB in WC, 24.5 in division)<\/p>\n

A couple of outfielders who feel like journeymen but who are still in their 20s are having solid seasons: Mickey Moniak and Jake McCarthy. Both are offensive upgrades if they keep up their current production, but there\u2019s reason to be skeptical of those offensive gains over a larger sample. Both are also left-handed, and seem a bit too duplicative of Frelick.<\/p>\n

Hunter Goodman is a star, and he already has 31 homers this season. But he\u2019s also a catcher, which is not a position of need for the Brewers. He\u2019s not such a good catcher that you wouldn\u2019t consider moving him off the position, and maybe there\u2019s a way that the Brewers could use him as a DH this season and then trade Contreras in the offseason, as Goodman has three more years of team control while Contreras has just one. But for now, Goodman hasn\u2019t played anywhere other than catcher or DH for two years, the fit is just too weird, and the cost would be very, very high.<\/p>\n

One more to just mention: TJ Rumfield is having a very nice season, but he\u2019s a rookie, so I don\u2019t see Colorado moving him yet.<\/p>\n

Blue Jays (46-56, 6.5 GB in WC, 13.5 in division)<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a surprise to see the Blue Jays in this category, but they enter play on Thursday six-and-a-half games back in the Wild Card and 13 1\/2 in the division, so we need to consider them sellers. The problem: there\u2019s not really much here to get excited about in terms of players who would realistically be moved. Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Ernie Clement, and Addison Barger would be the most interesting players, but none will be traded by a team that will certainly expect to bounce back next season even if they decide to sell this year.<\/p>\n

That leaves a couple of less interesting options. George Springer is a free agent after the season and has had an excellent career, but he turns 37 soon and his great 2025 season now looks like quite an outlier in his late career\u2014his OPS+ the last four seasons has been 102, 91, 159, and 90. Daulton Varsho is also a free agent after the season but offense is not his selling point.<\/p>\n

The one potentially interesting player is Jes\u00fas S\u00e1nchez, who has one more arbitration season next year and has a lot of red on his Statcast page despite mediocre results so far. He\u2019s a terrible fielder and he\u2019s a lefty, so my concern here is that he\u2019s too duplicative of Yelich.<\/p>\n

Tigers (48-54, 4.5 GB in WC, 6 in division)<\/p>\n

Detroit is another mystery team but I suspect they\u2019ll end up doing at least a limited sell, but we\u2019ll have to see what happens with Tarik Skubal. If they do unload a few pieces, an obvious one would be Gleyber Torres, who is an impending free agent and was recently out for a month but returned to the lineup on Monday. He\u2019s not really a power hitter but he\u2019s a good offensive player, and his defense looks solid. He\u2019s really only played second base in the last five years, but is there a possibility of getting him over to third? If so, he\u2019s a good fit.<\/p>\n

If Detroit is looking to sell a couple of pieces who will still be under contract next year, there are a couple of change-of-scenery candidates here. Spencer Torkelson, a former consensus top-five prospect, is still hitting homers\u201419 this season\u2014but he\u2019s striking out 32% of the time with an OBP barely above .300. He\u2019s also a lousy fielder who could only play at first base. Kerry Carpenter, too, is struggling this season\u2014he\u2019s been trending downward for a couple of years and his Statcast page doesn\u2019t show anything more than a mediocre hitter. Both players have two more arbitration seasons after this one.<\/p>\n

Royals (43-60, 10 GB in WC, 11.5 in division)<\/p>\n

A low-key pickup that would probably not cost much but wouldn\u2019t exactly light the fanbase on fire would be outfielder Lane Thomas. He\u2019s a free agent after the season, and he\u2019s just a pretty decent player\u2014not a ton of power, but he\u2019s very fast and has a solid hit tool. He\u2019s right-handed, too, so he could be a Perkins replacement if Lockridge doesn\u2019t lock down that role.<\/p>\n

Michael Massey is another potential guy, but he may not have the arm to play anywhere in the infield except second base. He\u2019s much slower than Hamilton, too, so while he is a better hitter against righties than Hamilton is, he doesn\u2019t do any of the secondary stuff as well and I don\u2019t see him as a fit.<\/p>\n

Athletics (43-59, 9.5 GB in WC, 8.5 in division)<\/p>\n

There is no shortage of interesting names here, but I doubt the availability of most of them. Shea Langeliers, like Goodman, is a stud catcher who would be a huge get but I\u2019m not sure one that makes sense for the Brewers. Langeliers, unlike Goodman, has only one more season of control than Contreras does, so even going that route\u2014a longer-term replacement enabling you to trade Contreras\u2014doesn\u2019t make that much sense.<\/p>\n

Nick Kurtz isn\u2019t going to be traded, sorry. Tyler Soderstrom and Jacob Wilson are also both locked into long-term contracts. So is Lawrence Butler, though I assume there\u2019s some significant buyer\u2019s remorse there; I might be interested in Butler as a bounce-back candidate if he weren\u2019t owed an average of over $9m a year for the next five years, but he is, so that\u2019s not happening.<\/p>\n

Zack Gelof is having a really nice year, but with three more years of team control and the Brewers\u2019 glut of infield prospects, this doesn\u2019t seem like a fit to me. He\u2019d be a straight upgrade over Ortiz offensively, but Ortiz is better defensively and I don\u2019t think it\u2019s enough of an offensive upgrade to justify parting with real prospect capital, especially with Ortiz playing as well as he is right now.<\/p>\n

Angels (41-62, 12 GB in WC, 11 in division)<\/p>\n

Mike Trout? (Just kidding.)<\/p>\n

A name that does intrigue me here is Jo Adell, who is under control for one more season after this one. He\u2019s terrible defensively and last season was the only time in his career he\u2019s had an OPS+ better than this season\u2019s 94. But: he\u2019s a right-handed power hitter (15 homers despite a .241 batting average and .288 OBP), he hit 37 homers last year, and he\u2019s not a big financial risk. The cost should be reasonable, too.<\/p>\n

Oswald Peraza hits lefties okay and isn\u2019t a bad defender, but he can\u2019t play every day and he\u2019s got three more years on his contract, raising the same \u201cwhere does he fit into future plans\u201d questions that a Gelof acquisition would. Jorge Soler is a free agent after the season and can still run into them, but he\u2019s not hitting lefties at all this season (despite a career platoon advantage, though not as large as you might expect), harming his only possible utility to the Brewers\u2014as a right-handed platoon option with Yelich.<\/p>\n

One last one to mention is Nolan Schanuel, who has three more years of control and could potentially be a post-2026 Bauers replacement as a left-handed first base platoon option. Right now, though, he feels too duplicative. Schanuel is in his fourth season but he\u2019s still only 24\u2014he was called up way too early\u2014but hasn\u2019t shown a ton of improvement since coming up, which is somewhat concerning.<\/p>\n

Zach Neto is a big name here, but I don\u2019t think the Angels would trade him, and even if they did, I don\u2019t think it makes a ton of sense for the Brewers to be the team to pay what would certainly be a huge cost given that they\u2019re pretty well covered for the future at shortstop. He\u2019s got three more years of control, and at this stage in Trout\u2019s career, Neto is probably the Angels\u2019 best player.<\/p>\n

Astros (50-54, 3.5 GB in WC, 2.5 in division)<\/p>\n

Now we\u2019re getting to teams that probably won\u2019t sell unless they struggle over the next couple of weeks. We\u2019ll start in Houston, where there are a lot of intriguing players\u2014and, if it means anything, the Brewers have already made two trades this month with the Astros, which netted them Shewmake, Lance McCullers Jr., and Colton Gordon.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s a hypothetical: would you trade Jes\u00fas Made for Yordan Alvarez? What about a package of, say, Luis Pe\u00f1a, Logan Henderson, Josh Adamczewski, and Andrew Fischer? I\u2019m not sure the Astros would do it in either situation, and the acquistion of Alvarez\u2014maybe the league\u2019s best hitter, and a pure DH\u2014would essentially be telling Yelich that he\u2019s a full-time pinch hitter. This is more of a psychological exercise than a real trade proposal.<\/p>\n

(It also got me wondering if a player has ever been traded in a season in which they won MVP, and the answer is no\u2014in fact, only Sal Maglie, who made only two appearances early in the 1956 season with Cleveland before he was acquired by the Dodgers, is the only player to ever finish as high as second in a season in which they were traded. A lot of you will remember that one pitcher has won the Cy Young in a season in which they were traded\u2014Rick Sutcliffe, who went 16-1 with a 2.59 ERA with the 1984 Cubs after going 4-5 with a 5.15 ERA in 15 starts with Cleveland.)<\/p>\n

Another big name on Houston is Jeremy Pe\u00f1a, who is under control next season, too. If he\u2019s traded, he\u2019ll be one of the deadline\u2019s biggest prizes. He\u2019s hitting .304\/.363\/.475 over the last two seasons (a 133 OPS+) and has a some pop, though his shortstop defense is a little bit of a question mark and he would also bring inevitable questions of \u201cwhere would he play\u201d on the Brewers.<\/p>\n

Isaac Paredes was a popular name during the offseason, and he makes sense now, too. He has a team option in his contract for next season (which becomes a mutual option if he manages to finish top-ten in MVP, which is, we\u2019ll say, unlikely), so that provides some flexibility. He\u2019s kind of a weird player\u2014a hyper pull-side fly ball guy\u2014but he\u2019s on track to get to at least 19 home runs for the fifth straight year, and he\u2019s a passable defensive player at third, and he could platoon at DH with Yelich, though his career platoon split is pretty even.<\/p>\n

Twins (50-53, 3 GB in WC, 4.5 in division)<\/p>\n

I\u2019m going to get this out of the way: Byron Buxton is not going to get traded to the Brewers. His name has been very popular amongst Brewers fans for basically a whole year, and it\u2019s 100% correct that he would solve a lot of issues. But Buxton holds a no-trade clause and he\u2019s made it pretty clear<\/a> that he would not allow a trade, and from the rumors that have been going around, it sounds like the only team he\u2019d even consider allowing a trade to is his hometown team, the Braves. Plus, the Twins are better than expected and in the thick of the race at the moment, and it sounds like ownership does not want a repeat of last season\u2019s sell-off.<\/p>\n

That could also mean that Ryan Jeffers is going to be a tough get. Jeffers, unlike Buxton, is a free agent after the season, so if the Twins aren\u2019t sure, they might trade him. Jeffers has been fantastic when he\u2019s been on the field this year, one of the very best hitters in the AL. But he, like Goodman and Langeliers, is a catcher or a DH and doesn\u2019t make a ton of sense for the Brewers\u2019 roster.<\/p>\n

Royce Lewis was awful to start the season, but he\u2019s quietly hit .254\/.316\/.465 with seven homers and nine doubles in 37 games since returning from a somewhat shocking demotion. I don\u2019t see this happening, but it would be somewhat interesting. Josh Bell is fine, but he\u2019s a DH only, and I don\u2019t see a fit. Trevor Larnach is also a good hitter, but a left-handed bad defensive outfielder doesn\u2019t seem to have a place with the Brewers.<\/p>\n

Orioles (50-53, 3 GB in WC, 10 in division)<\/p>\n

Another player who started poorly but has rebounded some is Tyler O\u2019Neill, who has hit .286\/.362\/.643 with four homers in his last 17 games. He\u2019s expensive, though, and is under contract for $16.5 million next year.<\/p>\n

A name that does make some real sense is Taylor Ward, who is a free agent after the season. He\u2019s been decent this year but after hitting 36 homers last year, he has only seven this year despite leading the AL in plate appearances. He\u2019s not much of a fielder, but he\u2019s a solid offensive player.<\/p>\n

What do you think it woul take to buy low on Gunnar Henderson? (That\u2019s mostly a joke.)<\/p>\n

Padres (50-52, 3 GB in WC, 14.5 in division)<\/p>\n

Ty France is having a monster season. Is it real? He was a very good hitter from 2020-22 but then pretty bad from 2023-25. It\u2019s unusual for players to bounce back after three down years, but he\u2019s also shown real ability as a hitter in the past. Hard to say. He\u2019s very cheap and will be a free agent after the season.<\/p>\n

The last guy I\u2019ll mention is Gavin Sheets, who is a capable left-handed hitter but whom I don\u2019t really see as a fit for the Brewers.<\/p>\n

I gave most of my analysis, so I\u2019m going to list a few players who fit my earlier criteria: a realistic target who fits and who makes the team better. I\u2019ll list them in order of my personal preference.<\/p>\n

Isaac ParedesJo AdellGleyber TorresTaylor WardLuis ArraezSpencer SteerEugenio Su\u00e1rezLane Thomas<\/p>\n

Paredes was a popular name in the offseason for a reason, and to me he\u2019s the player who is the best combination of fit and ability among those who could be available. But\u2026 Paredes might not be available, as the Astros look like they\u2019re going to hang around in the very poor AL West. The same might be true of Torres\u2014I\u2019m not at all convinced the Tigers are going to sell.<\/p>\n

That means that Adell is the name that I think is most likely to be realistically available and offers the most upside\u2014a right-handed power hitter who can be subbed off for defense late in games or work as a platoon option with Yelich. Ward would be a similar add to Adell, though without the extra year of service and in a season in which he isn\u2019t really hitting homers. I don\u2019t really think Arraez is a realistic target for Milwaukee given the fit issues, but he should get traded, and he\u2019d help the offense. Steer, Su\u00e1rez, and Thomas are not exciting options, but they could all offer some marginal improvement for the Brewers and they\u2019re all on teams that should be looking to trade them.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Welcome back to the five-week-long trade deadline primer! After surveying the Brewers\u2019 roster and the landscape in week…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":779910,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[65],"tags":[292994,34978,363,99],"class_list":["post-779909","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mlb","tag-milwaukee-brewers-analysis","tag-milwaukee-brewers-roster","tag-mlb","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/779909","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=779909"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/779909\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/779910"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=779909"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=779909"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=779909"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}