Trade deadline day thread

[Fear The Chorizo]

There was nothing the Brewers could have done at this (or any) year's trade deadline to make their roster look like the Dodgers, or the Mets, or the Yankees, or the Phillies - which are loaded with talented and expensive veterans everywhere.

 

The Brewers didnt luck themselves into the league's best record 4 months into the season and wake up one morning, thinking , "boy, we had better get rid of or bench/option 5-6 guys who have helped us get to where we are so far this season so we can also trade a bunch of prospects who could turn into mlb difference makers so we can add more home runs and worse defense at 3rd or short, marginally upgrade more of the bullpen, and add another OF to be left with a roster crunch when Chourio is back" .

Would have loved to get an impact, all around SS and actually pushed for using prospect capital and arms to make a splash trade - but that didnt happen.  Im not disappointed in the least to have stayed away from the rental market this deadline.

[Team Canada]

4 hours ago, MVP2110 said:

And that's basically where the similarities end. B-ref hasn't updated yet for yesterday's game, but entering yesterday Durbin had an OPS+ of 103(and it'll go up since he went 2-2), and has played elite defense at 3B. Ortiz might bring the defense but has an OPS+ of only 63. Durbin has been worth 2.2 bWAR, tied with Isaac Collins, Christian Yelich & Jackson Chourio for 5th on the team. Durbin has been awesome. 

Yeah, that was exactly my (unstated) point @greenlawler. A snide "they're both infielders, that's not hard" comment doesn't address the very obvious question your post begged by saying we didn't upgrade from Durbin.

[greenlawler]

6 hours ago, liveforoctober said:

"We had a chance to improve" = "we had a chance to add a name I have heard of"

Imagine walking up on an artist painting a stunning mural in your town. Something bigger and more beautiful than anything your town had ever seen up to that point... and having the irrational confidence to go tap them on the shoulder to suggest some edits because you use to do water colors in the 6th grade.

maybe change the quote to "someone who adds more pop to the lineup". I am not a casual fan.

I get the overall sentiment here. You guys disagree, it's fine. Looking forward to the Braves series. 

[liveforoctober]

2 hours ago, greenlawler said:

maybe change the quote to "someone who adds more pop to the lineup". I am not a casual fan.

I get the overall sentiment here. You guys disagree, it's fine. Looking forward to the Braves series. 

It's not the opinion that is the issue, it is everyone else "knowing better" than a successful FO that is the issue. 

I've been on record and I remain on record hoping we would have/will upgrade both Bauers and Mona. But the Brewers have earned the right to be right, imho. So if Arnold didn't think the price to get a backup IF was worth the ask and/or was an upgrade to Mona, etc ... then I believe him! We have no idea how the negotiations went... so how can we all be sure we did it wrong? We will see how it pans out and who ends up being right in the end. Since the deadline has passed Mona has made us all look silly.

Just really funny to me how many people already know the answers to questions that have not yet been asked. Not getting Castro might end up costing us a World Series, who knows. Maybe not getting him ends up winning us a World Series. Who knows. 

"Man I wish we had gotten another infielder" is worlds away from "Arnold failed and doesn't care".

[greenlawler]

7 minutes ago, liveforoctober said:

It's not the opinion that is the issue, it is everyone else "knowing better" than a successful FO that is the issue. 

I've been on record and I remain on record hoping we would have/will upgrade both Bauers and Mona. But the Brewers have earned the right to be right, imho. So if Arnold didn't think the price to get a backup IF was worth the ask and/or was an upgrade to Mona, etc ... then I believe him! We have no idea how the negotiations went... so how can we all be sure we did it wrong? We will see how it pans out and who ends up being right in the end. Since the deadline has passed Mona has made us all look silly.

Just really funny to me how many people already know the answers to questions that have not yet been asked. Not getting Castro might end up costing us a World Series, who knows. Maybe not getting him ends up winning us a World Series. Who knows. 

"Man I wish we had gotten another infielder" is worlds away from "Arnold failed and doesn't care".

I don't disagree with this at all. 

[markedman5]

 

[brewerfan82]

Created a custom report in FanGraphs that includes a bunch of players that got traded, players the forum brought up as trade targets, and current Brewers whose playing time would have likely been affected by acquisitions. Super small sample, but so far so good.

Since August 1st:

[liveforoctober]

On 8/6/2025 at 8:57 AM, brewerfan82 said:

Created a custom report in FanGraphs that includes a bunch of players that got traded, players the forum brought up as trade targets, and current Brewers whose playing time would have likely been affected by acquisitions. Super small sample, but so far so good.

Since August 1st:

Is there any way this can be made into an active chart?

I just saw that Castro is hitting .200 with the Cubs, McMahon is like 3 for his last 18, and Suarez has no idea where he is. This chart would be incredible to reference as the summer drags on so we don't have to check each one individually.

I'm not sure how hard that request is... thank you!

[brewerfan82]

23 minutes ago, liveforoctober said:

Is there any way this can be made into an active chart?

I don't think there's an easy way for me to do that, but I'm planning to check it once a week or so and happy to paste updates!

Since August 1st:

[SRB]

37 minutes ago, brewerfan82 said:

I don't think there's an easy way for me to do that, but I'm planning to check it once a week or so and happy to paste updates!

A bit unwieldy but I think this link should work for a live look:

https://www.fangraphs.com/leaders/splits-leaderboards?splitArr=&splitArrPitch=&autoPt=false&splitTeams=false&statType=player&statgroup=2&startDate=2025-08-01&endDate=2025-11-01&players=25477,25493,19455,26197,14162,18839,19921,17128,19913,16512,29646,15518,14854,15223,17338,23802,12552,21496,15878,18795,22823,18577,23401,24610,17929,16153,16535,16442,10243,15112&filter=&groupBy=season&wxTemperature=&wxPressure=&wxAirDensity=&wxElevation=&wxWindSpeed=&position=B&sort=15,1

[brewerfan82]

Castro, Kwan, and Suarez all off to abysmal post-trade deadline starts... (live link, nice call @SRB!)

[CheezWizHed]

On 8/12/2025 at 2:40 PM, brewerfan82 said:

Castro, Kwan, and Suarez all off to abysmal post-trade deadline starts... (live link, nice call @SRB!)

Can you add Joey Ortiz to that list?  He would've been the prime replacement target.

[Roderick]

19 minutes ago, CheezWizHed said:

Can you add Joey Ortiz to that list?  He would've been the prime replacement target.

He is on the list.  Maybe you didn't look high enough on the list.

[Outlander]

Not a huge fan of Seigler but take him every time over being stuck with Ryan McMahon.

[MadScientist]

Ortiz has a .391 average and a .983 ops in August.  He has responded to not losing his starting job in spectacular fashion. 

[Samurai Bucky]

Bleacher Reports:  Free Agents Stock Up or Stock Down (link to article below)

7. 3B Eugenio Suárez, Seattle Mariners: Down

What's Going Wrong

Before anyone flips out, this is meant to imply Eugenio Suárez's stock is down from where it was a few weeks ago.

He does still have 37 home runs, after all, not to mention 57 total since last year's All-Star break. Only four hitters have gone deep more often since then, and that list consists of two MVPs (Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani) and one MVP contender who is now his teammate (Cal Raleigh).

And yet, Suárez is only batting .111 with one home run and 27 strikeouts over his last 17 games. Given his age and profile as a bat-first corner infielder with swing-and-miss issues, a slump like that casts an unusually ominous shadow.

https://bleacherreport.com/articles/25234446-stock-stock-down-mlbs-biggest-upcoming-free-agents

 

[brewerfan82]

1 hour ago, CheezWizHed said:

Can you add Joey Ortiz to that list?  He would've been the prime replacement target.

He's already there and doing very well! 🙂

[Team Canada]

14 minutes ago, brewerfan82 said:

He's already there and doing very well! 🙂

Up to #2 on the list now behind Collins.

[Playing Catch]

The trade deadline is rife with our collective armchair psychology. For example, I'm convinced that leaving the White Sox for the Brewers has revitalized Vaughn's season, and perhaps his career.

But I don't think it does justice to what it means for the guys that are not replaced at the deadline. Perhaps Ortiz felt a boost of confidence, as well as positive peer pressure to truly give his at-bats to the team? His resurgence certainly seems to have come after a run of terrible ABs, and subsequent one-way conversations with Murph.

He has to feel more relaxed knowing that the organization effectively told him that he was their starting shortstop through this season, and almost certainly to begin 2026.

Based strictly on my reading of body language, he's always seemed to be more worried about the results of his ABs instead of his process (e.g. throwing a helmet after a lineout or hard groundball out). During this run, his ABs have been much, much better. To his credit, Ortiz's defense has never wavered regardless of how he was hitting.

This is a young team, and guys like Frelick (~1,200 MLB PAs) and Turang (~1,500) have blossomed. Based on prospect pedigrees, guys like Ortiz (~1,000), Chourio (~1,000), and Durbin (~350) are still developing, and they are developing with an eye on what they will become as big leaguers, slowly evolving to eliminate the weakest parts of their game while maximizing their strengths.

I have a lot of hope that the individuals on this team can continue to improve, or at least become more complete, consistent ballplayers. A month or two ago, I imagined these guys blossoming like Frelick and Turang, and right now, that's exactly what we're seeing.

[CheezWizHed]

58 minutes ago, brewerfan82 said:

He's already there and doing very well! 🙂

Doh!  I looked at that list twice and missed him. 🤦‍♂️

[Zad Fnark]

11 minutes ago, Playing Catch said:

The trade deadline is rife with our collective armchair psychology. For example, I'm convinced that leaving the White Sox for the Brewers has revitalized Vaughn's season, and perhaps his career.

But I don't think it does justice to what it means for the guys that are not replaced at the deadline. Perhaps Ortiz felt a boost of confidence, as well as positive peer pressure to truly give his at-bats to the team? His resurgence certainly seems to have come after a run of terrible ABs, and subsequent one-way conversations with Murph.

He has to feel more relaxed knowing that the organization effectively told him that he was their starting shortstop through this season, and almost certainly to begin 2026.

Based strictly on my reading of body language, he's always seemed to be more worried about the results of his ABs instead of his process (e.g. throwing a helmet after a lineout or hard groundball out). During this run, his ABs have been much, much better. To his credit, Ortiz's defense has never wavered regardless of how he was hitting.

This is a young team, and guys like Frelick (~1,200 MLB PAs) and Turang (~1,500) have blossomed. Based on prospect pedigrees, guys like Ortiz (~1,000), Chourio (~1,000), and Durbin (~350) are still developing, and they are developing with an eye on what they will become as big leaguers, slowly evolving to eliminate the weakest parts of their game while maximizing their strengths.

I have a lot of hope that the individuals on this team can continue to improve, or at least become more complete, consistent ballplayers. A month or two ago, I imagined these guys blossoming like Frelick and Turang, and right now, that's exactly what we're seeing.

Likewie, I think Seigler will wind up being just fine.  All the other young guys had a slow start, and I'm guessing the same will happen with him.

[markedman5]

Ryan Helsley with another blown save tonight………he has been …….bad.

 

[HarveysWBs]

One can’t be disappointed with how the Crew is doing since the deadline, of course, and Vaughn in particular has been an absolute hero.

But the fact remains that Naylor was the one that I wanted, and his recent numbers would suggest he would have been quite the asset, albeit a bit of a luxury.

I’m not losing sleep over the missed opportunity, but a lineup just that little bit deeper and more adaptable to matchups (esp. against a tough righty), is something I still think about when I get Naylor’s daily box score for being on my fantasy team.

[markedman5]

https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/mlb/columnist/bob-nightengale/2025/08/17/mlb-trade-deadline-grades-standings-playoff-picture/85695644007/

[brewerfan82]

Let's hope Joey's okay, he's been great since the deadline! (link)