Have Milwaukee Brewers Been Too Passive at 2025 MLB Trade Deadline?

[Jake McKibbin]

Image courtesy of © Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images

After all the deliberation over cost, Eugenio Suárez didn't command nearly the value that some fans expected. Part of this is because, as the deadline approaches, both sides of the negotiating table are more likely to compromise, coming toward the middle from their initial, outlying positions. That being said, the Brewers may have missed a trick, given what it actually cost for the premier rental bat on the market.

The Trade
In return for Suárez, the Arizona Diamondbacks received:

• Tyler Locklear (1B): With burgeoning power and solid swing decisions, Locklear has a propensity to put the ball on the ground more often than you would like, but when he elevates, he does so with authority. He possesses a .316/.400/.542 slash line at Triple A this season and is ready for the majors, with plus raw power if the hit tool can play against the best pitchers in the world.
• Hunter Cranton (RHP): Looking like a bullpen arm, Cranton has a big fastball in the upper 90s, with a tight gyro slider. He has some command issues, but isn't projected to start games for a big-league club. He's already been kept out of the bullpen in High A, with only 18 professional innings under his belt.
• Juan Burgos (RHP): Another arm who doesn't project to start games, but has pitched more in the pros than Cranton has. He's pitched 6 2/3 innings out of the pen for the Mariners in 2025 and had a 0.87 ERA in 31 innings at Triple A in 2025. With a heavy sinker, a high-80s cutter and a sweepy slider, he's an effective arm who should avoid the long ball but has limited upside in terms of missing bats.

All in all, Locklear is the big piece for the Diamondbacks here, looking to solidify first base for their future rather than address their pitching concerns, as was reported to be the priority. Even in this case, the Brewers had a lot of ammunition to throw at a trade, with a plethora of powerful corner infield prospects (Luke Adams, Brock Wilken and Blake Burke, to name but a few). Yes, they may have been slightly further off than Locklear, but by combining with them with a more impactful arm, the Brewers could have made this push with relative ease. Additionally, with Andrew Fischer joining that corner infield group shortly, it's fair to say that may even have cleared a logjam at first base within the Brewers farm system.

Pairing (say) Wilken with a Chad Patrick-type arm would be considered an improvement on the value the Diamondbacks received in this trade. It would have been a steep cost, but we are looking at the most powerful rental bat on the market right now, for a team that has struggled to produce consistent home run threats in 2025.

The Brewers may have had some concerns about the recent spate of hand injuries Suárez has suffered since the All-Star Game. Over his last seven outings, Suarez is slashing .120/.207/.160 and, as a rental, you can't afford for him to need a month to recover from any lingering injuries. Hand problems, if they do exist, are particularly power-sapping and take time to heal effectively.

Still, the Brewers had the ammunition to fire on Suárez, but may have chosen not to take that shot for one reason or another. Perhaps it's injury-related; perhaps they prefer their strong defensive set-up over a streaky hitter; or maybe the price the Diamondbacks demanded was more punitive on the Brewers (this can happen, as teams have different player evaluation rankings than those we see publicly). Either way, the biggest move the Brewers could make is now gone.

Do The Brewers Need To Fortify Their Roster?
Meanwhile, there have been a flurry of trades from the four other top teams in the National League:

• Chicago Cubs: acquired Michael Soroka and Andrew Kittredge
• Philadelphia Phillies: acquired Jhoan Duran
• New York Mets: acquired Tyler Rogers and Ryan Helsley
• Los Angeles Dodgers: added Ben Rortvedt, Adam Serwinowski and Paul Gervase (depth bullpen pieces with high strikeout stuff)

All of this has gone on while the Brewers have stayed still. The resurgence of Andrew Vaughn may have cooled their hand on Ryan O'Hearn, but they still require more depth on the hitting front and have excess pitching in their rotation that they might use to improve their bullpen. The first baseman is the most "Brewers-y" hitter on the market, and would help them cover for Jackson Chourio should their young star require an IL stint with his hamstring strain.

On the Mayor's Office Podcast with Sean Casey, Pat Murphy said the trade deadline "wasn't the Brewers thing" and they don't like to get involved in the melee of assets being transferred and the standard overpricing of acquisitions.

Danny Jansen was a pickup on the margins, fortifying their catching depth in case William Contreras should lose an entire limb (short of that, he's not going on the IL, for love nor money), while adding a bench bat that could be useful in some situations but isn't what you would consider a needle-mover in October.

Some might credit the pickups of Vaughn and Quinn Priester as the Brewers' "big trades" this year, but my view of it would suggest that only one of these deserves unanimous credit from the front office. It's not entirely fair to say that Vaughn was a big trade, despite the impact he's had. The Brewers effectively got him as a depth piece as his salary closely matched Aaron Civale's, with the main reason for the trade being to honor and respect Civale's wishes. We can't give the front office too much credit for that move, as if it grew from a "go for it" mentality.

The Priester trade was a big move, and it's worked out phenomenally, trading a competitive balance pick and a top-10 MLB Pipeline organizational prospect for what looks like a long-term piece of the starting rotation. Still, in the position they sit now (with everyone around them fortifying their rosters), the Brewers need to keep in touch.

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Staying still may not be a viable option, with more moves still to come on trade deadline day. Will the Milwaukee Brewers push their chips into the middle? Or will they wait too long for "value", and miss out?

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[Brian]

Surprised no one has mentioned Garrett Mitchell as a trade piece. He has been injured four years in a row I believe. May be time to move on from him. 

[JimmyC]

I disagree with your take on Vaughn.

Front  office  saw something in Vaughn nobody else did. Then, as is Brewer ability to tweak skills, they helped him unlock something!

That all for an unhappy pitcher.

 

[Frisbee Slider]

Kwan could be nice. I genuinely think we have enough starting and relief pitching.

Maybe one more high leverage arm so we don’t need to pitch Uribe and Megill 4-5 day’s per week. I’d prefer to not give up six years of a decent prospect for 25 IP of a rental.

I realize we eventually need to cash in some prospects, someday. 

[Brock Beauchamp]

6 minutes ago, JimmyC said:

I disagree with your take on Vaughn.

Front  office  saw something in Vaughn nobody else did. Then, as is Brewer ability to tweak skills, they helped him unlock something!

That all for an unhappy pitcher.

Even if Vaughn starts stinking tomorrow, his production has already validated the trade.

But for the love of god, do not rely on Andrew Vaughn. Maybe he has made some adjustments and is now better. But he's NOT this good, or even close to this good.

His BABIP is 50 points higher than any other season. His walk rate is way higher than any other season. His home run rate is double any other season. His strikeout rate is way lower than any other season.

This is what happens when you isolate 60 plate appearances. Do NOT trust 60 PAs as an indicator of future performance. What we're seeing here is called "a hot streak".

[Sixtolezcano]

Looks like the Brewer’s FO brass believes they have the roster it takes to win the World Series this season.  I sure hope they’re right.

[Brian]

25 minutes ago, Brock Beauchamp said:

Even if Vaughn starts stinking tomorrow, his production has already validated the trade.

But for the love of god, do not rely on Andrew Vaughn. Maybe he has made some adjustments and is now better. But he's NOT this good, or even close to this good.

His BABIP is 50 points higher than any other season. His walk rate is way higher than any other season. His home run rate is double any other season. His strikeout rate is way lower than any other season.

This is what happens when you isolate 60 plate appearances. Do NOT trust 60 PAs as an indicator of future performance. What we're seeing here is called "a hot streak".

I would much rather trade Hoskins than Vaughn.  Hoskins like Mitchell is hurt 1/2 the time.  I'm sick of the players continually on  the injured list, you just cannot ever count on them.

Keep Vaughn he single handedly won many games for us and true hitting .365 for Brewers now won't keep that up but that is the last reason to trade him because he is playing well. 

[snoogans8056]

So passive that they made two trades earlier in the year that completely changed their season.

If we traded for Priester and Vaughn today, everyone would be calling for Mark’s head.

[Brock Beauchamp]

4 minutes ago, Brian said:

I would much rather trade Hoskins than Vaughn.  Hoskins like Mitchell is hurt 1/2 the time.  I'm sick of the players continually on  the injured list, you just cannot ever count on them.

Keep Vaughn he single handedly won many many games for us and true hitting .365 for Brewers now won't keep that up but that is the last reason to trade him because he in playing well. 

The Brewers should not trade anyone on their MLB roster unless it's to bring back a better MLB player. Nobody is going to give MLB value for Vaughn, and trading Hoskins at this point in time would be madness. Then you're putting all of your chips behind... *checks notes*... Andrew Vaughn?

[Sixtolezcano]

27 minutes ago, Brock Beauchamp said:

Even if Vaughn starts stinking tomorrow, his production has already validated the trade.

But for the love of god, do not rely on Andrew Vaughn. Maybe he has made some adjustments and is now better. But he's NOT this good, or even close to this good.

His BABIP is 50 points higher than any other season. His walk rate is way higher than any other season. His home run rate is double any other season. His strikeout rate is way lower than any other season.

This is what happens when you isolate 60 plate appearances. Do NOT trust 60 PAs as an indicator of future performance. What we're seeing here is called "a hot streak".

Another Hurricane Hazle.

[CheeseheadInQC]

Part of the issue is that value at the trade deadline is driven largely by desperation. The relievers dealt represented less of an upgrade for Milwaukee, so they were worth less to them value wise. If the Brewers believe they can get 2022-23 Vaughn simply by getting him out off that depressing morass of a franchise, then Naylor and O’Hearn represent only marginal improvements. If the Brewers aren’t moving Turang to short, the position where they have the most desperation happens to be the one with the worst crop of obvious trade targets.

[Brian]

3 minutes ago, Brock Beauchamp said:

The Brewers should not trade anyone on their MLB roster unless it's to bring back a better MLB player. Nobody is going to give MLB value for Vaughn, and trading Hoskins at this point in time would be madness. Then you're putting all of your chips behind... *checks notes*... Andrew Vaughn?

Putting all your chips on any one single player is a huge mistake. You said, "do not trade anyone on their MLB roster unless it's to bring back a better MLB player."  Correct, I agree completely but that does not automatically equal to trading Vaughn. That would be foolish. 

[Brock Beauchamp]

12 minutes ago, Brian said:

Putting all your chips on any one single player is a huge mistake. You said, "do not trade anyone on their MLB roster unless it's to bring back a better MLB player."  Correct, I agree completely but that does not automatically equal to trading Vaughn. That would be foolish. 

We're definitely talking past each other. I would not trade Andrew Vaughn.

[ClosetBrewerFan]

The question the Brewers are likely asking is whether O'Hearn would be better than Vaughn the rest of this season and if so, by how much?  Will it be worth the prospects we have to give up?  Vaughn wont continue to hit like this, but has he made enough adjustments to revert back to the 750 OPS player he was early in his career?  O'Hearn has struggled in June but improved in July.  Will he revert back to how he hit earlier this year or will he be a 780 OPS guy the rest of the way?

I dont envy the Brewers, as I could make a case either way.

[Trax]

To answer the headline I think they've been too aggressive.  

 

I don't like the Jansen trade much although it's not a biggie and I would not have paid what Seattle did for rental ES.

Sure if we can get a bat like O'Hearn for a reasonable return I'm all for it, but don't overpay for rentals or old guys soon to break down.   Underpay or sit tight.  This team is just fine as it sits.   We need our prospects because MLB has designed a system that the small market teams can't compete in by throwing money around like the Dodgers and 10 other teams can.   Our prospects is all we have.

[GasserFace]

Andrew Vaughn IS the 1b moving forward.  Even a 50% output version of the current Vaughn is better than an injured Hoskins.

The question related to acquiring O'Hearn is this...is he better than Jake Bauers?  Yes.  Make that move. 

The trade deadline is sexy because of the coverage and the flurry of moves, but the really solid teams have made their moves in advance.

The Brewers hit with the trades for Priester and Vaughn.  O'Hearn would provide better LHH depth than Bauers.  Another RP might give them a chance to 'rest' Koenig.  I'm not sure what else this team needs, with what is possibly attainable.  Everyone needs to  understand that there are no quality SS's available AND Brice Turang is not a SS currently.  He would need a full offseason to prepare for that spot, so we can't even  dip into the weak 2B market either.

[wntrtxn21]

Too passive! Jansen won't change much. Still a glaring need at SS and 3B, pen could be upgraded. Arnold has to get creative and find somebody not on the obvious trade block, but it looks like he's going to stand pat and once again hope to get out of their first round in the playoffs.  

[bensheeps]

1 hour ago, GasserFace said:

The question related to acquiring O'Hearn is this...is he better than Jake Bauers?  Yes.  Make that move.

This is exactly where I am at.  Will Vaughn come back to Earth...maybe, but I'm more looking forward to the possibility of pinch hitting for Ortiz with someone other than Anthony Siegler.

Will O'Hearn go for a deal similar to what Seattle paid for Naylor?  If so, sign me up immediately.

[Thurston Fluff]

1 hour ago, GasserFace said:

Andrew Vaughn IS the 1b moving forward.  Even a 50% output version of the current Vaughn is better than an injured Hoskins.

The question related to acquiring O'Hearn is this...is he better than Jake Bauers?  Yes.  Make that move. 

The trade deadline is sexy because of the coverage and the flurry of moves, but the really solid teams have made their moves in advance.

The Brewers hit with the trades for Priester and Vaughn.  O'Hearn would provide better LHH depth than Bauers.  Another RP might give them a chance to 'rest' Koenig.  I'm not sure what else this team needs, with what is possibly attainable.  Everyone needs to  understand that there are no quality SS's available AND Brice Turang is not a SS currently.  He would need a full offseason to prepare for that spot, so we can't even  dip into the weak 2B market either.

Bauers is on borrowed time. Barring injury, when Hoskins comes back he's probably gone. So in reality the question should be; Is a month of O'Hearn on the bench better than a month of Bauers on the bench? Or, more accurately, how much prospect capital is a month of upgrade to a first base bench player worth?

[Brewfan70]

Is Matt Arnold even in the Country? He might be hiking in Japan for all we know

[Trax]

Durbin, Vaughn, Jansen, we've made trades and 2 have had impact.   They don't have to be at the deadline.   The key here is don't overpay and don't make desperate bad trades.   

I don't expect any big trade here today, maybe add a middle relief guy IF the price is right.

If we can find a trade partner for one of our rental older pitchers for a prospect I'd be far more interested in that.   We have a couple that could go for the right return.

 

[Profbratsch]

5 hours ago, Brock Beauchamp said:

This is what happens when you isolate 60 plate appearances. Do NOT trust 60 PAs as an indicator of future performance. What we're seeing here is called "a hot streak".

Not necessarily so. You are discounting COSS (change of scenery syndrome)—and playoff fever can be catchy. A similar transformation can be seen in Ryan McMahon's output since becoming a Yankee.

[ghostdrew]

Wouldn't McMahon look good with the brewers right now

[Thurston Fluff]

We're currently 8th in baseball in runs scored, 5th in team ERA, have one of the best defenses in all of baseball and have one of the best records against teams who would be in the playoffs today. Which is why we have the best record in baseball. We don't need to be aggressive. Other teams need to gamble their future just to be as good as we already are.