What (if anything) should the Brewers do by the trade deadline?

[Team Canada]

29 minutes ago, adambr2 said:

My assumption is that they are being ultra-conservative with his return from back surgery. They’ve been fortunate to have that luxury with Collins emerging well enough to play every day. I don’t believe that Christian Yelich has now been reduced to our full time DH for the next 5 years.

Your first statement is undoubtedly true, but if Collins is for real or Garrett Mitchell somehow plays more games (work with me here) or someone else comes on the scene, I think Yelich is very likely to be mostly DHing.

[sveumrules]

2 hours ago, Team Canada said:

Your first statement is undoubtedly true, but if Collins is for real or Garrett Mitchell somehow plays more games (work with me here) or someone else comes on the scene, I think Yelich is very likely to be mostly DHing.

Yeah, Yelich is behind Chourio, Sal, Collins, and Perkins for priority on the grass.

Plus Mitchell if he's ever healthy, and Lara once he works his way to MLB. 

That the Brewers played Bauers 18 games in the outfield so far this year versus only nine for Christian speaks to his likely future role being a pretty near full time DH / 6th outfielder.

They've even played Daz Cameron (he of the -11 DRS | -6 FRV for his career) more innings in the OF than Yelich this year.

[thebruce44]

On 7/9/2025 at 11:11 AM, rickh150 said:

Jose Ramirez for Made, MYers, Letson, and change….

Brewers would get a legit 3B/1B thru 2028 for roughly $78 million.

The cost would be steep with a lack of big bat in MLB and a large hole seemingly since Molitor in Milwaukee.

Start with elite Made and add a couple of promising arms to help Guardians reload.

Jeff Cirillo would like a word...

[rickh150]

6 minutes ago, thebruce44 said:

Jeff Cirillo would like a word...

113 OPS+ as a Brewer…..ok.

Inconsistent or meh roughly 25 years then?

[Jim French Stepstool]

13 hours ago, BrewerFan said:

Yeah, the "think it through," may be intended to be, but it's... pretty condescending. 

Turang was an elite defensive SS coming up. To say there's "no way" he'd be moved... just makes very little sense to me. 

He was set to be the opening day SS this year until he had arm fatigue. That's...nothing. Very normal early in the season. If...Jazz Chisholm was available in a trade, they'd definitely move Turang to SS to accommodate him.

Hell, even a realistic move like DJ LeMahieu, if he came back healthy, it's hardly a stretch that they'd take the guy who had all but won the starting SS job in Spring Training over the guy currently in Murphy's clubhouse. 

 

Even if they were to just trade for Suraez...at this point, Durbin is the guy you'd prefer to keep in the lineup. Suarez 3rd, Durbin to 2nd, Turang to SS. I don't think people remember what he looked like at SS coming up. 

We'll see I guess. He certainly did come up as a SS, and a very good one. And we all know what he's doing defensively at 2B. He was moved to SS well into spring training IIRC, and then had the arm issues, which he hadn't had before the move, or since (did the longer & more overhand type throws factor in? We don't know, but I think it's reckless to just dismiss the possibility). Certainly there are players out there that might tempt one to make such a move if acquired, but that requires a desire or willingness to move him off 2B & I just don't see them moving a couple people around like that in-season. To me that's the stuff you more likely see in March (or in 2018 when you could shift anywhere & hide a Travis Shaw at 2B). 

I believe a splashier INF acquisition (probably on the unlikely side, but who knows?) simply cuts into the PT of a Durbin or Ortiz while sending a Monasterio or Seigler back to N'Ville & when Ortiz plays he gets PH for late in games when necessary. At the end of the day yeah, people might not remember how good a SS Turang was. I just feel how good he is at 2B RIGHT NOW trumps making a shift.

[TURBO]

2 hours ago, adambr2 said:

My assumption is that they are being ultra-conservative with his return from back surgery. They’ve been fortunate to have that luxury with Collins emerging well enough to play every day. I don’t believe that Christian Yelich has now been reduced to our full time DH for the next 5 years.

Then we must simply agree to disagree.

I don't ever see Yelich getting a large amount of playing time in the outfield again.  His defense was already becoming a liability, that won't improve in the next few seasons.

[wallus]

I know Collins has been great in the outfield but putting his bat at 2nd base and moving Turang to short is getting tempting.

[liveforoctober]

Where did we ever land on Yelich at 1b years ago? If he could learn how to scoop a throw it would sure solve a bunch of issues.

[BrewerFan]

4 hours ago, Jim French Stepstool said:

We'll see I guess. He certainly did come up as a SS, and a very good one. And we all know what he's doing defensively at 2B. He was moved to SS well into spring training IIRC, and then had the arm issues, which he hadn't had before the move, or since (did the longer & more overhand type throws factor in? We don't know, but I think it's reckless to just dismiss the possibility). Certainly there are players out there that might tempt one to make such a move if acquired, but that requires a desire or willingness to move him off 2B & I just don't see them moving a couple people around like that in-season. To me that's the stuff you more likely see in March (or in 2018 when you could shift anywhere & hide a Travis Shaw at 2B). 

I believe a splashier INF acquisition (probably on the unlikely side, but who knows?) simply cuts into the PT of a Durbin or Ortiz while sending a Monasterio or Seigler back to N'Ville & when Ortiz plays he gets PH for late in games when necessary. At the end of the day yeah, people might not remember how good a SS Turang was. I just feel how good he is at 2B RIGHT NOW trumps making a shift.

-He's been making them all his life. I think dead arm is just...dead arm. 

I don't think it's akin to moving Travis Shaw to 2B when you could shift or anything else crazy. 9 days before the season, he was set to start at SS, he had a tired arm. 

To me that makes complete sense. On the lowly level of HS Baseball, I used to have that every year. Now sure, I was an idiot and didn't build up(also wasn't good enough for anyone to care) but... It just seemed normal. 

This is also predicated on finding someone who makes it worthwhile. Alex Bregman for example. If you traded for him...the choice would be Durbin or Ortiz. I feel like Murphy would make that choice pretty easily. 

 

2 hours ago, wallus said:

I know Collins has been great in the outfield but putting his bat at 2nd base and moving Turang to short is getting tempting.

Sure... but who is playing LF or DHing at that point? Yelich does one, preferably DH. Who plays LF? 

It IS easier to trade for an OFer.  Adolis García? He was way up on that list with Bryan Reynolds for unluckiest hitters of the year so far. Another guy just crushing the ball and not getting hits.

But it seems like very few people want those guys when they've got bad numbers despite good underlying metrics. Seems like you could shift Collins to 2B, Garcia could play RF, Frelick LF or he plays LF. Taylor Ward? I don't know if any of these trades are worth upsetting the dynamic of the team...and then you also have the fact that if Ortiz is your worst hitter and he's coming on, you just stick with what's working. 

 

I don't know if this is all worth it unless it's a BIG upgrade(looking at you Cleveland). 

[Jim French Stepstool]

2 minutes ago, BrewerFan said:

-He's been making them all his life. I think dead arm is just...dead arm. 

I don't think it's akin to moving Travis Shaw to 2B when you could shift or anything else crazy. 9 days before the season, he was set to start at SS, he had a tired arm. 

To me that makes complete sense. On the lowly level of HS Baseball, I used to have that every year. Now sure, I was an idiot and didn't build up(also wasn't good enough for anyone to care) but... It just seemed normal. 

This is also predicated on finding someone who makes it worthwhile. Alex Bregman for example. If you traded for him...the choice would be Durbin or Ortiz. I feel like Murphy would make that choice pretty easily. 

 

 

I guess I just look at how important run prevention is to this team, and has been for years. Right now they're very strong up the middle in the INF. IMO, an immediate move of Turang to SS & Durbin to 2B would make us something less than that---not horrible by any means, but not as good. And it's hard for me to picture them downgrading defensively, even if it's a just little bit.

If I'm wrong, you're correct that it would need to be a substantial acquisition. And my gut tells me they aren't excited about getting into a prospect bidding war for Suarez. And I'm not sure what Bregman would command on the trade market; he has opt-outs so they'd almost certainly view him as a rental.

Agree re Shaw; not any kind of a parallel. Just pointing out a specific instance where moving a chess piece around the INF was somewhat doable.

Talk about being an idiot---I was a catcher, and never built up in HS either.😕

[BrewerFan]

15 minutes ago, liveforoctober said:

Where did we ever land on Yelich at 1b years ago? If he could learn how to scoop a throw it would sure solve a bunch of issues.

Speculation that he doesn't want to. Some have speculated it'd be worse for his health(that makes sense now, it did not make sense when he was playing LF). 

Also, a move like that would have to be a whole off-season thing and by that time, you have Luke Adams, Brock Wilken and Cooper Pratt all knocking on the doorstep, making him playing 1B less valuable. 

[endaround]

5 hours ago, thebruce44 said:

Jeff Cirillo would like a word...

Why, is he going to talk about Aramis Ramirez?

[BrewerFan]

4 minutes ago, Jim French Stepstool said:

I guess I just look at how important run prevention is to this team, and has been for years. Right now they're very strong up the middle in the INF. IMO, an immediate move of Turang to SS & Durbin to 2B would make us something less than that---not horrible by any means, but not as good. And it's hard for me to picture them downgrading defensively, even if it's a just little bit.

If I'm wrong, you're correct that it would need to be a substantial acquisition. And my gut tells me they aren't excited about getting into a prospect bidding war for Suarez. And I'm not sure what Bregman would command on the trade market; he has opt-outs so they'd almost certainly view him as a rental.

Agree re Shaw; not any kind of a parallel. Just pointing out a specific instance where moving a chess piece around the INF was somewhat doable.

Well, I don't know what Durbin is like at 2B. He's a helluva 3B though. 

I think Ortiz and Turang are...at worst a push at SS. So maybe Durbin is a better 3B or maybe I'm wrong. I've always been big on Turang. I thought was a Trea Turner lite IMO with a better glove.  And again, he was set to be the shortstop. 

It's really hard to see them touching Bregman as that'd destroy your payroll for the next two years if he gets hurt. I think that has to be enough for the Brewers to not touch him. 

I don't know what it'd take to Suarez, but it's haf a year and we have a pretty deep system. 

It also feels like Murphy has soured on Ortiz a bit. 

I'm actually just fine with the way it is. I think Chourio will have a big 2nd half, Contreras should as well after he gets some time off to let his body heal. Hopefully a year from now we'll have several more options and 4-5 more players who CAN contribute in Wilken, Adams, maybe Pratt, Black, Lara and Murray has looked good. 

8 minutes ago, Jim French Stepstool said:

Talk about being an idiot---I was a catcher, and never built up in HS either.😕

Yup. Same here. EVERY year. And it was even before HS playing travel ball. 

I couldn't throw the ball playing catch the first couple weeks of the season unless I threw it hard. It's 100% like the Major League 2 catcher(though they didn't have me memorize the same thing). We were really good my Jr year, supposed to be good again, but we had a new coach who didn't know me.

About a week into the season and I don't remember why, but as we were playing a scrimmage early in the year, I short hoped the pitcher on the mound and as he kinda turned away, I for some reason was jogging toward the dugout, and I still remember this guy saying, 'this is our ##### catcher? Kid can't throw the ball back to God..... pitcher. JC!'

He apologized...way too much for it(he was right at the time) and even in the years since when I've ran into him like I was traumatized. I'm like...'yeah, I was thinking the same thing.'  

[BrewerFan]

9 hours ago, rickh150 said:

The Brewers missed the postseason by one game in 2022.

Hader wouldn’t have made a one game difference? 

Well...it's really like do I think Hader would have made a 3-4 game difference since we were eliminated on Oct 3rd(3rd to last game) of the year and actually finished 2 games out of the WC having lost the Tie-Breaker to the Phillies(no more game 163 that year, head 2 head decided it). The Phillies then sat most of their starters for the final 2 games and got their rotation set up for the run...so it's really more like 2 or 3 games.

Do I think Hader who put up a 7.31 ERA and a -1.0 WAR after the trade would have made up that difference? The same Hader who put up an 8.82 ERA the final 18 games he pitched for Milwaukee?

No,I really don't he would have. 

[Brian]

6 hours ago, BrewerFan said:

It also feels like Murphy has soured on Ortiz a bit. 

I say the Problem is Ortiz at SS. 

Struggling all season at the plate and even below .200 again as of late (last 15 games)  and never even one hit in a playoff game in his whole life.  

[liveforoctober]

8 hours ago, endaround said:

Why, is he going to talk about Aramis Ramirez?

The Kevin Seitzer hate around here has to stop.

[liveforoctober]

1 hour ago, Brian said:

I say the Problem is Ortiz at SS. 

Struggling all season at the plate and even below .200 again as of late (last 15 games)  and never even one hit in a playoff game in his whole life.  

Haha this makes it sound like he is 38yo and is 0-146 in his lifetime in the playoffs.

[Brian]

8 minutes ago, liveforoctober said:

Haha this makes it sound like he is 38yo and is 0-146 in his lifetime in the playoffs.

OK then, I will run with his current 58 out of 283 

[igor67]

14 hours ago, rickh150 said:

113 OPS+ as a Brewer…..ok.

Inconsistent or meh roughly 25 years then?

Well as a longtime fan of the combination of respectable power, high average, good OBP and above average defense, yes. But it's also a fun way to look at differences in Era's. Cirillo's entire career OPS is .796 for a 102+ Career OPS+. That raw total would put him 54th this year in all of baseball. For ease of comparison Matt Chapman has a .797 OPS this year heavy on the OBP for a much more impressive 130 OPS+

[SeaBass]

39 minutes ago, liveforoctober said:

The Kevin Seitzer hate around here has to stop.

Where's Clancy to remind us that Ryan Braun played out of position for most of his career?

[TURBO]

12 hours ago, wallus said:

I know Collins has been great in the outfield but putting his bat at 2nd base and moving Turang to short is getting tempting.

Curious, then who plays LF on a daily basis?

[adambr2]

16 hours ago, rickh150 said:

Adam, we were arguing different points.  Yes, I see Yelich as our DH this season since he has played there the majority of time.  If he were still OF, then no he would make more than everybody.

Also, I cannot see Pittsburgh trading him in division to play against them four series each season for a few more seasons.

And I don’t see the Brewers giving top prospects for the same reason.. to haunt them for a decade.

I could be wrong but I don’t like pigeonholing one guy to your DH position for half a decade. It kind of limits your roster flexibility. Other guys need occasional days off from the field too where you still want to get their bat in the lineup — Contreras could have benefited from that this year.

I hope that isn’t their long-term plan with Yelich. If he can’t get back to being at least somewhat serviceable in the OF I’d rather see if there’s any potential at 1B as has been suggested.

Maybe they won’t want to trade him within the division, but if my memory is right Pittsburgh has been willing to go that route in the past. It’s not like they’re going to be contending anytime soon anyway. 

Agreed that I wouldn’t give up any notable prospects for Reynolds.

[liveforoctober]

25 minutes ago, TURBO said:

Curious, then who plays LF on a daily basis?

I can't speak for OP ... but the two scenarios in my head would be 1) Chourio (Perkins back to CF) or 2) This opens up a whole new trade opportunity to fix "the issue" if the issue is Ortiz. Instead of only having to find an infielder via trade, you can now get anyone in CF or LF and then shift the rest around.

[JCREW]

1 hour ago, liveforoctober said:

I can't speak for OP ... but the two scenarios in my head would be 1) Chourio (Perkins back to CF) or 2) This opens up a whole new trade opportunity to fix "the issue" if the issue is Ortiz. Instead of only having to find an infielder via trade, you can now get anyone in CF or LF and then shift the rest around.

In a vacuum, yes, I would shift the infield around and plug in just the right piece, but when it comes to actually available players, it kind of feels like Eugenio Suarez, Ryan O'Hearn, or bust. 

Suarez could work with the Turang --> SS, Collins --> 2B scenario. O'Hearn would just mean the displacement of a healthy Hoskins. 

If I'm the GM, I'm looking for ways to do a slight overpay to get O'Hearn to MKE as soon as the All Star Game ends. 

[rickh150]

13 hours ago, BrewerFan said:

Well...it's really like do I think Hader would have made a 3-4 game difference since we were eliminated on Oct 3rd(3rd to last game) of the year and actually finished 2 games out of the WC having lost the Tie-Breaker to the Phillies(no more game 163 that year, head 2 head decided it). The Phillies then sat most of their starters for the final 2 games and got their rotation set up for the run...so it's really more like 2 or 3 games.

Do I think Hader who put up a 7.31 ERA and a -1.0 WAR after the trade would have made up that difference? The same Hader who put up an 8.82 ERA the final 18 games he pitched for Milwaukee?

No,I really don't he would have. 

Well, I really do he would have. The Padres with Hader finished  three games ahead of Brewers without Hader. There is the difference.

You also ignored the collective groan from the entire organization. That groan likely cost them a playoff berth. It is the only time in the last 7 years they have missed the playoffs and the only time they traded away a top star while in the hunt. 

The Brewers bullpen roles were now all shifted…and boy did it show. The team led MLB with 16 blown saves after the trade..

Numbers wise, a 6 run blown save blew up his numbers with SD. You ignore he was about perfect the last month in must win games while the Brewers had the most blown saves in the NL with traded for Taylor Rogers leading all of baseball in 2022 with 8. Taylor played a big role in Brewers missing playoffs too with a 845 OPS with Brewers..(Hader .737 with SD).

Hader was lights out in playoffs too (.091 BA, .348 OPS)  in  5.1 innings getting Padres to NLCS.