2026 Trade/Waiver Targets

[brewmann04]

Stay away from adding a reliever 

[wallus]

I put a little bit of time into trying to find some help for the left side of the infield. Whew, we are definitely not the only team having issues from those positions. I can't see the Astros trading Pena at this time, same with the Angels and Neto. We probably don't need a long term expensive to acquire solution with reinforcements on the way. Abrams would be interesting but the cost would also be very high.

The only name I could think of that may be worth a flier is Anthony Volpe from the Yankees. Why? Well he lost his job to Caballero and didn't seem too happy about being in the minors. He also has better road stats so he isn't a product of Yankee stadium for offense. The defense is obviously good from him. Not sure what the Yankees would be looking for either.

The bar for improvement is not very high.

 

[long ball]

4 hours ago, wallus said:

I put a little bit of time into trying to find some help for the left side of the infield. Whew, we are definitely not the only team having issues from those positions. I can't see the Astros trading Pena at this time, same with the Angels and Neto. We probably don't need a long term expensive to acquire solution with reinforcements on the way. Abrams would be interesting but the cost would also be very high.

The only name I could think of that may be worth a flier is Anthony Volpe from the Yankees. Why? Well he lost his job to Caballero and didn't seem too happy about being in the minors. He also has better road stats so he isn't a product of Yankee stadium for offense. The defense is obviously good from him. Not sure what the Yankees would be looking for either.

The bar for improvement is not very high.

 

Volpe is an interesting idea. He’s probably better than Ortiz, can definitely play SS, and he’s fallen out of favor with his current team. 
 

We’ve matched up with the Yankees on a trade recently. I think it would take a legitimate prospect to get a deal done. Someone we’re familiar with, but I’m not sure how good of a package. 
 

ultimately I think we are more likely to turn to Pratt and/or Williams than we are to acquire anyone notable.  

[jay87shot]

I like the idea of Volpe and getting him out of the pressure of NY could be a big deal. However he isn't hitting in AAA so that really doesn't move the needle from Cooper or Jett at all. 

I had a good laugh when I typed in Volpe into a google search and found an AI article saying the Yankees trade Volpe for Cooper Pratt and Jed Williams (not Jett).

[Lloyd330]

Royce Lewis is losing playing time and might get sent down - Very good buy low candidate. Not a lot of money and two years control if needed, Could probably get him for Lara/Wilken

[wntrtxn21]

40 minutes ago, Lloyd330 said:

Royce Lewis is losing playing time and might get sent down - Very good buy low candidate. Not a lot of money and two years control if needed, Could probably get him for Lara/Wilken

Lewis is making $2.9M and is arby eligible in 2027.  He's hitting .170 (BABIP .211) and not fielding well. He does have a little power and might be slightly better than Rengifo at 3B. However, I wouldn't trade Lara for him. Wilken maybe, or a collection of fringe prospects.  

[tmwiese55]

Yea he's basically near dfa level and just taking salary for them. If he requires any legit prospects like those two listed I would pass.  Low level flyers or just don't bother with him.  Not only has he sucked last year and this, but he's consistently hurt. 

[tmwiese55]

With Houston continuing to scuffle there could be some options coming from them. I know Pena has been mentioned here already.  But a past talked about person here to rehash could be Paredes.  He's been perfectly fine/ok this year.  My very quick look at D seems like hs' checking out as basically average/neutral this year at 3B.   

On a 1/9 deal with one year left of arby before FA.  So he would seem to line up well with the window we need to fill in until the prospects are ready.  Of course it all depends on what you'd have to give up to get him but he should be less than  a Pena or bigger name. I'm not breaking the bank for any of our elite guys but he's one to kick the tires on.   You'd probably look to re-flip him in the offseason since you won't wanna pay him like 13 mil next year, but you could carry that salary for one year if you don't think the youths are ready or he endears himself here.

[cragi]

I get the feeling they are comfortable filling the infield from within unless a favorable deal falls in their laps.

I think pitching is more likely. Too many question marks between Koenig, Priester, Woodruff, Woodford, Megill. Zerpa out. They dont trust the AAA arms yet. Sproat seems more suited for the pen right now.

This is a solid group for the regular season but is it enough for playoffs where top of rotation matters? Are they going to approach playoffs with low MLB experience in the starting pitchers?  

[tmwiese55]

Stearns gives us Peralta back for the stretch run for peanuts works for me. 

[jay87shot]

15 hours ago, tmwiese55 said:

Stearns gives us Peralta back for the stretch run for peanuts works for me. 

As long as the Cubs don't get him, they will be a perfect Freddy suitor when the Mets decide to sell.

[jay87shot]

Of the teams mostly likely to sell I think the Angels and Rockies fit that description at this point. The Giants, Mets, Astros, Tigers, Toronto, Baltimore, Royals, and Red Sox have the talent to turn things around but it is looking like at least a couple of those teams are going to have bad years. I would put the Twins, Nats, White Sox, and Marlins as teams that are slightly  over achieving and by the deadline there is a good chance they will sell.

The Rockies don't have much but I could see a couple pieces on the Angels being interesting Jose Soriano's price is probably too high at the moment, Zach Neto would be awesome but with our minor league guys wouldn't make much sense, Oswald Cabrera is having a nice year but isn't reliable based on his past.

I do think Reid Detmers could be a Brewers style target. He has a 4.38 ERA but his FIP is 3.29 and the stuff resembles Harrison to a degree. If we need a starter he makes sense however if he could get like 2 more mph by being a 2/3 inning reliever I think he could be way more effective. He is pretty cheap and has 2 more years of control.

[cragi]

I guess it really depends on whether Woody and/or QP can get healthy enough to compete effectively and long enough to build confidence to stick with for the playoff run.  Wouldnt expect anything significant happening until close to the deadline.

[endaround]

On 5/14/2026 at 7:41 AM, jay87shot said:

As long as the Cubs don't get him, they will be a perfect Freddy suitor when the Mets decide to sell.

Sproat for Peralta, who says no? (OK, the Mets because that would look bad but otherwise...)

[Madhawk23]

22 hours ago, endaround said:

Sproat for Peralta, who says no? (OK, the Mets because that would look bad but otherwise...)

Ummmm......no way in hell I'm trading Sproat for Freddy straight up! Sproat looks like a huge part of our rotation over the next 4-5 years....why would we want to deal him back to the Mets for 2-3 months of Freddy?  Arnold should be shipped off immediately if he made a deal like this.  

[jay87shot]

I think it would be a great year to go get a big bat maybe an OF masher. As of now Buxton would be the only potential option unless the Angels eat like 25 million a year for Trout. Can we think of any top tier bats who could conceivably be traded that would push us to that next level? We've mentioned Pena, Abrams, and Buxton enough. 

[nate82]

15 minutes ago, jay87shot said:

Can we think of any top tier bats who could conceivably be traded that would push us to that next level?

Not really.  There is not much out there to be honest.  Rutschman would be one but the Brewers already have Contreras there.

In the OF there is not much there.  Maybe a deal with the Yankees for Jasson Dominguez but that would require the Brewers to trade from their MLB roster to do that and I am not sure what the Yankees would want in return.

A Volpe for Ortiz trade makes a little sense for both teams, though not sure either team would be interested in doing that swap.  

[Madhawk23]

55 minutes ago, jay87shot said:

I think it would be a great year to go get a big bat maybe an OF masher. As of now Buxton would be the only potential option unless the Angels eat like 25 million a year for Trout. Can we think of any top tier bats who could conceivably be traded that would push us to that next level? We've mentioned Pena, Abrams, and Buxton enough. 

I've been dreaming on a Buxton trade since last summer. Of course, we saw first hand this weekend the downside of Buxton as he didn't play in any of the games due to another injury (this one sounds minor though).  I'd love to put him in the middle of our order and have him play the OF for us the next 2.5 years, as he's the power bat I think we're missing.  

Another intriguing power bat that could be available this summer (and would no doubt be in HIGH demand) is Yordan Alvarez. Not sure if the Astros are going to be willing to deal them, but that's a franchise that really needs to hit the "reset" button now and they could really replenish their farm system if they were to deal Yordan. The problem we have with a guy like that is the fact that I think he's mostly a DH these days, and with Yeli already occupying DH for us I just don't see a fit.  Again though, can you imagine his bat in the middle of our lineup??!!

[Jopal78]

2 hours ago, jay87shot said:

I think it would be a great year to go get a big bat maybe an OF masher. As of now Buxton would be the only potential option unless the Angels eat like 25 million a year for Trout. Can we think of any top tier bats who could conceivably be traded that would push us to that next level? We've mentioned Pena, Abrams, and Buxton enough. 

Buxton has already missed 15% of his team’s games this year. Plus. he’s owed 40+ million dollars through the end of 2028.

With his unreliability and remaining guarantee the Twins are stuck with him. Nobody is going to give the Twins  prospects for Buxton, and unless the Twins intend to tank there’s no incentive for Minnesota to include cash simply to move him. 

[tmwiese55]

12 minutes ago, Jopal78 said:

Buxton has already missed 15% of his team’s games this year. Plus. he’s owed 40+ million dollars through the end of 2028.

With his unreliability and remaining guarantee the Twins are stuck with him. Nobody is going to give the Twins  prospects for Buxton, and unless the Twins intend to tank there’s no incentive for Minnesota to include cash simply to move him. 

Right, but that's what makes him generally attainable for MKE that values their development system and depth who have low budget.  He shouldn't cost any of the elite prospects (if so, you just pass on  him) and while he is owed the contract it isn't at some ridiculously high level because he's often hurt.  Basically, its in the same ballpark as what we've thrown at Hoskins/Woody lately (or with inflation McCutchen/Renfroe/Garcia types) and it seems Woody's 22 mil will be off the books next year.  Really, where better could we spend 2/30 next offseason than on someone like him.

And for MKE its all about post season at this point, so we can get him and baby him to a degree to do all you can to keep him healthy for the playoffs.  Basically, we can afford him to miss 20-30 games every year as long as he's there for Sept/Oct to make the difference to our biggest weakness the last few few years.   

While of course he's not perfect because of the reasons you point out, it is also what makes him available to us.    Seems there is limited options out there, Twins are a motivated seller and do work with us from time to time so hopefully they're talking

[wallus]

1 hour ago, Jopal78 said:

Nobody is going to give the Twins  prospects for Buxton, and unless the Twins intend to tank there’s no incentive for Minnesota to include cash simply to move him. 

There would be a long line of teams willing to give good prospects if Buxton were available. 

[Jopal78]

6 hours ago, wallus said:

There would be a long line of teams willing to give good prospects if Buxton were available. 

Nope. Nobody is paying for a guy who can’t be counted on to ring the bell. 

[Jopal78]

7 hours ago, tmwiese55 said:

Right, but that's what makes him generally attainable for MKE that values their development system and depth who have low budget.  He shouldn't cost any of the elite prospects (if so, you just pass on  him) and while he is owed the contract it isn't at some ridiculously high level because he's often hurt.  Basically, its in the same ballpark as what we've thrown at Hoskins/Woody lately (or with inflation McCutchen/Renfroe/Garcia types) and it seems Woody's 22 mil will be off the books next year.  Really, where better could we spend 2/30 next offseason than on someone like him.

And for MKE its all about post season at this point, so we can get him and baby him to a degree to do all you can to keep him healthy for the playoffs.  Basically, we can afford him to miss 20-30 games every year as long as he's there for Sept/Oct to make the difference to our biggest weakness the last few few years.   

While of course he's not perfect because of the reasons you point out, it is also what makes him available to us.    Seems there is limited options out there, Twins are a motivated seller and do work with us from time to time so hopefully they're talking

No. Like I said, he’s the Twins best player. Why would they move him for anything but elite prospects? And Minnesota isn’t at the point where they’re willing to give him away simply for salary relief.

. 
 

 

[jay87shot]

14 hours ago, wallus said:

There would be a long line of teams willing to give good prospects if Buxton were available. 

Agreed, he has 15 HR in 40 games 260/319/580 for 146 ops+, even if you assume he misses 20-30 games he is going to hit 30 HR maybe 40. His contract at 16 million a year is a steal even if you assume he only play 120-130 games. The Mets are paying Bichette like 50 million this year and Buxton is/was better than him the past couple years. He was worth 8.5 WAR the past 2 year in 228 games and is on pace for around 6 this year. With 2+ years left he probably has like a 10-12 WAR projection, with his contract he probably has around a +50 million dollar value for trades. That type of value should get 2 top 100 prospects and a decent 3rd piece (maybe 2 decent extra peices if enough teams are interested). Is there reason to be concerned with injuries, for sure, but if he is healthy at the deadline he will have a ton of teams interested and a good value. 

[wallus]

25 minutes ago, jay87shot said:

Agreed, he has 15 HR in 40 games 260/319/580 for 146 ops+, even if you assume he misses 20-30 games he is going to hit 30 HR maybe 40. His contract at 16 million a year is a steal even if you assume he only play 120-130 games. The Mets are paying Bichette like 50 million this year and Buxton is/was better than him the past couple years. He was worth 8.5 WAR the past 2 year in 228 games and is on pace for around 6 this year. With 2+ years left he probably has like a 10-12 WAR projection, with his contract he probably has around a +50 million dollar value for trades. That type of value should get 2 top 100 prospects and a decent 3rd piece (maybe 2 decent extra peices if enough teams are interested). Is there reason to be concerned with injuries, for sure, but if he is healthy at the deadline he will have a ton of teams interested and a good value. 

Yeah, having to "give him away for salary relief" is certainly an interesting take....