A Two-Player Trade Idea to Help Milwaukee Brewers Leave Chicago Cubs in the Dust

[Jake McKibbin]

Image courtesy of © Daniel Kucin Jr.-Imagn Images

The Milwaukee Brewers are soaring. On the high of an 11-game winning streak, they now sit atop not just the NL Central, but the entire National League.. The rotation is the stuff of dreams, with Jacob Misiorowski, Freddy Peralta, Brandon Woodruff and Quinn Priester all throwing the ball nicely while Jose Quintana fills the fifth starter role with aplomb. The offensive output and the bullpen have been impressive, but both are showing signs that an upgrade could go a long way.

With a chance to not just take the division against a rival who are pushing their own chips in, but also take a top-two seed and avoid the Wild Card Series that's caused so much hurt to the Brewers, there's a serious opportunity for the front office to make a mark by fortifying their roster both in terms of impact and depth. Here's how.

Ryan O'Hearn - 1B/OF, Baltimore Orioles
There may not be a more perfect fit than this one. Ryan O'Hearn has improved year on year with the bat, posting an .838 OPS in 2025 while showcasing plus walk rates and strikeout rates. He's patient at the plate—perhaps, occasionally, too patient—but he's a left-handed bat with the ability to clear the fence who also plays some of the best first-base defense in baseball.

Regardless of the future performance of Rhys Hoskins or Andrew Vaughn, O'Hearn has shown himself a superior option to Jake Bauers by a healthy margin. He should be an everyday option against right-handed pitchers, whether that be at first base or the occasional spot start in left field. Against righties, O'Hearn is slashing .296/.390/.498 in 2025, whereas he has just a .597 OPS against left-handers.

The Brewers are missing some mix-and-match versatility on their bench, with limited impact offensively. Whether that comes from O'Hearn or from him pushing Vaughn or Hoskins into a bench role, he makes the infield look a lot sturdier from an offensive and defensive standpoint.

Gregory Soto - LHP, Baltimore Orioles
The other area that's shown some flakiness of late is the back end of the bullpen, and especially Jared Koenig. His aggressive approach to strike-throwing means that, when his stuff is slightly down, he can get hit hard. Unfortunately, that's shown up more of late, with two home runs against the Dodgers in a single outing. The Brewers are basically carrying a passenger on their roster as well, with Easton McGee and Tobias Myers pitching just three innings between them in July, meaning the Brewers can add a leverage arm without sacrificing anything meaningful in their bullpen assortment.

Gregory Soto is another candidate from the Orioles who makes a lot of sense. Pitching like a left-handed Abner Uribe, Soto relies on a bowling-ball sinker and tight gyro slider that garner a lot of swing-and-miss to put hitters under pressure. He also possesses an ability to add more sweep to his slider, presenting another look for hitters that allows his whole arsenal to blend together quite effectively:

He has walked more hitters this year, but he avoids barrels like the best of them and can strike out hitters with the best of them. I'd like to see him blend in the sweeper a little more often if he joined the Brewers, given its weak contact profile and deception alongside the slider, but there are a lot of tools to work with in Soto that could close up the one remaining hole in the Brewers bullpen.

Adding these two rentals shouldn't be overly expensive, although the trade market will no doubt push up prices. Both are free agents at the end of the season and, even better, the Orioles have a clear need for young, controllable major-league arms, something the Brewers are swimming in right now. It may involve a current arm like Myers or Chad Patrick alongside an upside arm from Double A or below, but the Brewers definitely have the excess depth to make this trade without breaking a sweat.

The Milwaukee Brewers need more pieces. They're an injury away from a problem in either the outfield or at first base, and the added versatility will leave them well-stocked heading into the most important months of the season. Gregory Soto can reinforce a bullpen that may just be flagging a little bit, and strengthen the depth they have in their relief corps.

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What would you give up for these Baltimore Orioles assets? How much of a boost can they provide the surging Milwaukee Brewers? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!

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[SF70]

Perfect trade idea Jake.

Baltimore needs controllable starting pitching more than just about any team out there so they are the perfect match for trading with.

O’Hearn & Soto would give MKE a huge boost in talent and with a Willie Castro addition, make them a big-time WS contender, and potential WS favorite.

 

O’Hearn & Soto to MKE for:

Patrick or Myers & Crow

 

Castro to MKE for:

Areinamo & Dubanewicz 

[MoreTrife]

This has been the ONLY trade idea to scratch my itch. I think 1B is a bigger need than SS or 3B. I don't see Vaughn being productive moving forward, or at least he could platoon. I have faith in Durbin and Ortiz, and they are a big part of our identity. Vaughn not so much. 

[Turning2]

Just wish we had a bigger sample size on Vaughn. They definitely need more from 1B, and no way to know what we're going to get when Hosk is back. Vaughn has been pretty good, but will it last? All in all, I l like the idea of bringing in O'Hearn. 

[igor67]

I think Vaughn can be a productive player, but tops out as a contributor who doesn't 'hurt' us. I could be wrong about that, but slotting him back a half step to a platoon/ bench player to get an idea of how much staying power he has makes sense. At some point if we keep cranking out productive farm players we need to deal some of them or we have a big roster crunch. Power, defense, and On base doesn't K much for O'Hearn.

[MattK]

2 hours ago, SF70 said:

Perfect trade idea Jake.

Baltimore needs controllable starting pitching more than just about any team out there so they are the perfect match for trading with.

O’Hearn & Soto would give MKE a huge boost in talent and with a Willie Castro addition, make them a big-time WS contender, and potential WS favorite.

 

O’Hearn & Soto to MKE for:

Patrick or Myers & Crow

 

Castro to MKE for:

Areinamo & Dubanewicz 

So funny that my immediate reaction to this trade suggestion wasn't Crow, wasn't Patrick or Myers, but was the 24 high schooler.  :-)  Really a fan of all of the 23 & 24 high school draftees, and moving even one of them feels a bit like trading a kid.  But, there are a number of them, and these deals make a lot of sense.

[Bob K]

I do not like your trade proposal. First, Rhys Hoskins is expected back in mid August and is generally considered a far better first baseman than O’Hearn. Second, Woodruff, Quintana, and Cortes will be gone in 2026 and maybe Peralta as well. While the Brewers may have a surplus of starting pitching for the remainder of 2025, the young controllable arms including Patrick, Myers, Henderson, Priester and others will likely be needed next year and beyond. Third, Ashby or Hall could be used in a higher leverage roll if needed and one of the other aforementioned starters be given a long relief responsibility. If anything I’ld consider trading a young position player in AA or AAA for someone who could help the Brewers off the bench in the playoffs.

[SF70]

1 hour ago, MattK said:

So funny that my immediate reaction to this trade suggestion wasn't Crow, wasn't Patrick or Myers, but was the 24 high schooler.  :-)  Really a fan of all of the 23 & 24 high school draftees, and moving even one of them feels a bit like trading a kid.  But, there are a number of them, and these deals make a lot of sense.

Then keep Peralta and go with a ‘26 rotation of:

Peralta-Misiorowski-Ashby-Hall-Henderson -Patrick or Myers-Priester-Gasser-Kuehner-CRod and a handful of solid options in the upper minors. 10-15 deep should be enough depth.

[Snoebird]

31 minutes ago, Bob K said:

I do not like your trade proposal. First, Rhys Hoskins is expected back in mid August and is generally considered a far better first baseman than O’Hearn. Second, Woodruff, Quintana, and Cortes will be gone in 2026 and maybe Peralta as well. While the Brewers may have a surplus of starting pitching for the remainder of 2025, the young controllable arms including Patrick, Myers, Henderson, Priester and others will likely be needed next year and beyond. Third, Ashby or Hall could be used in a higher leverage roll if needed and one of the other aforementioned starters be given a long relief responsibility. If anything I’ld consider trading a young position player in AA or AAA for someone who could help the Brewers off the bench in the playoffs.

I look it as O'Hearn replacing Bauers on the roster, along with Willi Castro replacing Monasterio. Both could be valuable late-game pinch hitters, and improvements over their predecessors. Let the Hoskins/Vaughn issue sort itself out. 

[gregmag]

I half agree with Bob. I like the idea of adding O’Hearn to replace Bauers. However, I think we are starting to underappreciate our young starting pitchers. I think Peralta is gone this winter. We can roll into next year with a rotation of Mis, Priester, Myers, Henderson, Gasser, and Patrick. Unlike SF70, I’m not confident yet about anyone beyond those six. I’m also not confident the market will properly value Myers and Patrick. 

[Brewer77]

1 hour ago, Bob K said:

I do not like your trade proposal. First, Rhys Hoskins is expected back in mid August and is generally considered a far better first baseman than O’Hearn.

This was true 3-4 years ago, but not after the ACL injury. At this point there’s not really anything on a baseball field that Hoskins does better than O’Hearn

[eddiemathews]

The only addition I want is impossible...go big or go home. But Jose Ramirez has a total no-trade contract, probably wouldn't agree to come to Milwuakee, is a Cleveland icon, and the Guards are kinda still in it. But man oh man...

[tmwiese55]

Seems like a reasonable enough idea.   Main issue being using draft capital at a position that has a 17 mil man coming back to it soon.   But main question I was to ask is what kind of contract O'hearn would we expect to get in the offseason?   It's not like he's been some world beater, and is 31. But has been solid enough for a couple years now, so was thinking if you got him is there a reasonable 2-3 year type deal MKE could start working with him

[GasserFace]

I totally agree with Snoebird.  O'Hearn to replace Bauers.  Soto to give Koenig a break.  Castro to replace Mona.  The only way I would consider moving off of Ortiz or Durbin is if they got back Suarez (unlikely because of the competition) and either Xavier Edwards / Otto Lopez of the Marlins.  Those 2 intrigue me, but I'm not completely sold on them as upgrades.  O'Hearn, Soto, and Castro are all definite upgrades.

[BrewerFan]

9 hours ago, SF70 said:

Perfect trade idea Jake.

Baltimore needs controllable starting pitching more than just about any team out there so they are the perfect match for trading with.

O’Hearn & Soto would give MKE a huge boost in talent and with a Willie Castro addition, make them a big-time WS contender, and potential WS favorite.

 

O’Hearn & Soto to MKE for:

Patrick or Myers & Crow

 

Castro to MKE for:

Areinamo & Dubanewicz 

Unless it was inaccurate or an outlier, seeing Myers has added velocity and improved his change in AAA makes me want to hold onto him. 

But for this package... I'd do it. I don't want to give up any of the 3 young SS, I don't want to give up a young Catcher who is top 100 or close to it. Henderson may have his peak value right now, so I suppose in a bigger trade, if you got back a Duran...eh, maybe. 

 

I do love the idea of getting back a LHH 1B. I like Bauers just fine, but he's a good defender and has some versatility. O'Hearns is a big upgrade. 

I appreciate what Vaughn has done, but I just don't trust him either. 

[BrewerFan]

5 hours ago, Bob K said:

I do not like your trade proposal. First, Rhys Hoskins is expected back in mid August and is generally considered a far better first baseman than O’Hearn. Second, Woodruff, Quintana, and Cortes will be gone in 2026 and maybe Peralta as well. While the Brewers may have a surplus of starting pitching for the remainder of 2025, the young controllable arms including Patrick, Myers, Henderson, Priester and others will likely be needed next year and beyond. Third, Ashby or Hall could be used in a higher leverage roll if needed and one of the other aforementioned starters be given a long relief responsibility. If anything I’ld consider trading a young position player in AA or AAA for someone who could help the Brewers off the bench in the playoffs.

I don't think he's a better 1B much less far better. He's also hurt and they can play together. 

Second, while Woodruff, Quintana and Cortes will be gone in 2026...I wouldn't expect Peralta to be...there's just not a good reason to any longer. We've got a top...2-3 Farm system. We can afford to take the QO and add the draft pick rather than trading the ace of the staff in what should be a year wee compete. But you've STILL got Misi, Gasser, Myers, Patrick, Henderson, Priester, Ashby, Crow...perhaps Hall IF you did trade Peralta. I'm forgetting someone because that's how deep we are and then you have guys who are coming up in AA and throwing really well AND...it's not like Quintana was on the team. You added him. You'll also offer Woodruff the QO, he'll decline, but a post-season run would give us the ability to spend money(as well as having a little coming off). Not on a star, but the Brewers know where to pick their spots. 

So they can deal a pitcher or two if it makes their chances to win a WS significantly stronger. Those deals...would do that. 

 

I want another power reliever to move Mears down a spot. And while Ashby can be used in that role...he's also pretty valuable coming in for the tough lefties in the middle of the game with the game hanging in the balance. 

 

I did not like how he was used yesterday, yesterday I thought they should have brought Anderson in to begin with, but settting that aside, there's no a good reason to not go and add to your pen. 

In the post-season, say Misi doesn't have great command but he can get you through 4 innings. You can bring in Ashby for 2, Soto, Mears, Uribe, MeGill. That's a tough group of arms to get through. 

This is the type of move the Dodgers make year after year. 

 

We're not giving up guys like Letson and we're turning guys like Wichrowski and Hardin into real legit prospects who have big fastballs and are certainly good enough to be a 9th or 10th starter in an organization. 

[mkingcheckmate]

yall fans are all delusional,trade a young arm wth 6 years of control for a rental?? lol

okay, Not.

 pus we have Vaughn (who may or may not continue being lightning in a bottle,plus Hoskin  returning next month! even if both them guys play to ther avg,  we hav1 or two  free options  in the minors !  crazy talk, i think yall are confusing th value of  some of ours guys.Cheap with control for man years, and in Myers case ,he has a proven year under his belt of above league avg play.  

 verdict Absolutely Not. 

 so what happens is a team usually selling trades for prospects  mabby AA or AAA ready in the following year to contribute (i.e. like Henderson or Patrick Last trade deadline or say the previous winter meetings. Once they made a start and did positive, they strung a month of good starts, it's over, ther good enough  to play now in the show!   ther only down ther bc of our current depth, which is not gonna be the same come off-season,  so no again. Plus yall are forgetting that these young men are it learning ther craft! go look at Max Sherzer  rookie year or other greats. Are u kidding me, trade what was so hard to develop for so long to trade on a rental or even not a rental but say a positional player with another year on the books, it's still crazy. heck no.  so off the top of my head, the last two years including Mitchell, we have like 5 or 6 homegrown positional  players now up in the majors playing good(when healthy)  if we need something, trade a bat on the farm,  if u want our young, good, controllable starting pitching  ,well.... your just going yo have to pay up big for that... thanks. good talk

[Team Canada]

2 hours ago, mkingcheckmate said:

yall fans are all delusional,trade a young arm wth 6 years of control for a rental?? lol

okay, Not.

 pus we have Vaughn (who may or may not continue being lightning in a bottle,plus Hoskin  returning next month! even if both them guys play to ther avg,  we hav1 or two  free options  in the minors !  crazy talk, i think yall are confusing th value of  some of ours guys.Cheap with control for man years, and in Myers case ,he has a proven year under his belt of above league avg play.  

 verdict Absolutely Not. 

 so what happens is a team usually selling trades for prospects  mabby AA or AAA ready in the following year to contribute (i.e. like Henderson or Patrick Last trade deadline or say the previous winter meetings. Once they made a start and did positive, they strung a month of good starts, it's over, ther good enough  to play now in the show!   ther only down ther bc of our current depth, which is not gonna be the same come off-season,  so no again. Plus yall are forgetting that these young men are it learning ther craft! go look at Max Sherzer  rookie year or other greats. Are u kidding me, trade what was so hard to develop for so long to trade on a rental or even not a rental but say a positional player with another year on the books, it's still crazy. heck no.  so off the top of my head, the last two years including Mitchell, we have like 5 or 6 homegrown positional  players now up in the majors playing good(when healthy)  if we need something, trade a bat on the farm,  if u want our young, good, controllable starting pitching  ,well.... your just going yo have to pay up big for that... thanks. good talk

One. Your tone needs work. Lay off the superiority and condescension. That's not the way we do discussions here.

Two, any semblance of grammar and spelling would help readability.