How The Brewers’ Trade Deadline Compares To Their Rivals’

[Jason Wang]

Image courtesy of © Geoff Burke-Imagn Images

Let’s face it – Milwaukee wasn’t going to be one of the biggest movers at the trade deadline. There was little reason to believe that they’d finally make the moves that fans have been clamoring for, and now that they’re leading the NL Central (albeit by just one game), why would they take risks and have some fun with the roster when they can just coast?

It’s a modus operandi that has become all too familiar for fans who have been waiting for the organization to turn a good team into a great one. As per usual, the moves they did make did make them better, but whether the improvements are meaningful enough to create a deep postseason run remains to be seen. To recap, here are all of the big league moves they’ve made since the All-Star break:

Additions

• C Danny Jansen 
• RHP Shelby Miller
• LHP Jordan Montgomery
• OF Brandon Lockridge

Losses

• 2B Jadher Areinamo (#24-ranked prospect)
• LHP Nestor Cortes 
• SS Jorge Quintana

Danny Jansen was the first move made by the Brewers this year. In addition to being a solid backup option that should give William Contreras more rest, his numbers against southpaw pitchers and surprising pop should supplement an existing weakness in Milwaukee’s lineup. 

The Brewers were reportedly quite active in this year’s reliever market, where the best arms were being priced at a premium. Although they missed out on some of the more marquee names like Mason Miller and Jhoan Durán, Milwaukee managed to acquire Shelby Miller without having to forfeit a high-value prospect.

Shelby Miller has been outstanding with Arizona this year, posting a 1.98 ERA with a 3.12 FIP and ten saves over the 36 ⅓ innings he has thrown. He has been on the shelf since July 7th with a right forearm strain, but has been making excellent progress and is expected to start a rehab assignment soon.

On the other hand, Jordan Montgomery and I have about the same chance of throwing big league innings for the Brewers this year. While my problem is more of a pure skill issue, Montgomery is still recovering from Tommy John surgery and isn’t expected to return until after he hits free agency this offseason. Instead of sending a top prospect to Arizona, Milwaukee opted to pay $2 million of what is now effectively an underwater contract to get the deal done.

Brandon Lockridge has put up good numbers in Triple-A but has failed to find the same success at the major league level, currently carrying a 46 OPS+ over 95 plate appearances. He has the potential to be a decent depth piece, but likely won’t be a needle mover for the team this year, especially given the talent the Brewers currently have in the outfield. 

To be fair, the players they did sign do fill real needs. However, some of the lingering questions about positions like first base and shortstop still remain. Protecting the farm system was clearly a priority as the Brewers only lost one Top 30 prospect in Jadher Areinamo and opted to pay the Diamondbacks in cash instead of talent. 

In a vacuum, this year was a mixed bag at best and painfully underwhelming at worst. But baseball isn’t played in a vacuum. A few of the Brewers’ most heated rivals were also buyers at the deadline, and depending on the newly acquired talent, could create a serious problem for Milwaukee’s postseason aspirations.

The most obvious first place to look is in Chicago. The Cubs, who lorded over the NL Central for quite some time, have been the Brewers’ stiffest competition in the division all year. Here are the moves that they made:

Additions

• LHP Taylor Rogers
• RHP Michael Soroka
• RHP Andrew Kittredge
• UTIL Willi Castro

Losses

• RHP Ryan Gallagher (#8-ranked prospect)
• SS Ronny Cruz (#13-ranked prospect)
• OF Christian Franklin (#14-ranked prospect)
• RHP Sam Armstrong (#17-ranked prospect)
• OF Ivan Brethowr
• SS Wilfri De La Cruz

The most apparent aspect of their strategy was a far greater willingness to part with prospect talent to get big league help. Willi Castro gives them more infield depth while Taylor Rogers and Andrew Kittredge are solid bullpen options. Unfortunately, despite needing starting pitching the most, they only managed to pick up Michael Soroka, who has a lukewarm 4.87 ERA over 16 starts this season.

Like the Brewers, the Cubs didn’t make major improvements. In fact, a totally unbiased person who just so happens to write for Brewer Fanatic might even argue that the Brewers did just a little more to fill in the gaps on their roster.

As for the other teams in the NL Central, there are few notable moves to speak of, at least not ones that would shake up the standings. The Cardinals sold three key relievers, the Pirates traded away David Bednar, and the Reds added Ke'Bryan Hayes and Zack Littell. For the remaining months of the season, the division is essentially a two-horse race.

But if we zoom out and take a look at the National League as a whole, Milwaukee’s activity at the deadline pales in comparison to the bigger market teams. The Mets, Phillies, and Padres were some of the most aggressive teams this year and picked up plenty of impactful talent. Milwaukee has an upcoming series against all three of those teams before the end of the season and will more than likely face one or more of those teams in at least one postseason series. 

This is the annual Brew Crew Conundrum. They’ll give you 90-95 regular-season wins one way or another and will also probably win the division. But when it comes down to brass tacks, they just haven’t had the gumption to make a real championship run. After five consecutive first-round exits, you’d think they might want to buck the trend, but 2025 seems to be more of the same. 

It’s admittedly challenging to compete with larger payrolls and colossal media markets, but Milwaukee’s core of talent makes it worth trying. We can wax poetic about whether we felt the team did too little or just enough, but the next two months will give us the answer we’re so desperately seeking.

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[Thurston Fluff]

How can you not consider the team with the best record in baseball a great team? 

[CheeseheadInQC]

I guess my issue with this critique is that it ignores the fact that improving at the deadline was always going to be more difficult for the Brewers than for other contenders, not because of organizational philosophy or budget issues but because of simple logistics.

One of the reasons for the Brewers’ success is that they don’t have a ton of weak spots (or at least won’t once their outfield is healthy).

They could use one more reliever, which they got, but didn’t need to remake their bullpen. They didn’t need another starter. If you think Vaughn’s chase and walk rate improvements are sustainable, he could easily provide Naylor-type production even if he cools off from his absurd early pace. Between Vaughn’s start and Durbin’s rise, you are getting decent or better production from 8 spots,

Shortstop has obviously been an issue. However no shortstops were dealt, and the only one definitely available (IKF) has probably been worse than Ortiz the past couple of months.

That left the bench, and they did improve there. I might have preferred that they pick up one more bat, but overall the Brewers were never likely to upgrade as much as the Padres, Mets or Phillies did because the avenues to do so were simply greater for those teams.

[82brewcrew82]

The Brewers lacked weakness only if we don't consider depth of position players.  That is an obvious weakness that could easily have been addressed and was not. With players dropping like flies after the ASB, that depth is going to be tested and MAs failure to address it can and should be questioned if it comes back to bite them.  Having said that, this has been a "next man up" kind of year so who knows how it works out.