2026 Trade/Waiver Targets

[jay87shot]

What about swinging a trade for Matt Chapman with the idea of re-trading him this offseason. We would have a big upgrade and there likely arent going to be much in the way of 3B available this offseason. If we gave up say 3 prospects we would likely be able to re-coup them and have Made take over 3B next year.

Offensively he has been average, but there should be some park factor improvement. He is currently at 2.9 WAR which is huge without hitting a ton. At 33, he has 4/100 left on his deal after the year. With a weak 3B class he would be in demand to sell over the offseason.

[wiguy94]

One guy I'd be kind of interested in is Steven Cruz on the Royals. He's been pretty terrible this year and I'm not sure the Royals would trade him but he has options and some really intriguing tools to work with. Maybe the Brewers could get him to that next level.

[Lathund]

2 hours ago, jay87shot said:

What about swinging a trade for Matt Chapman with the idea of re-trading him this offseason. We would have a big upgrade and there likely arent going to be much in the way of 3B available this offseason. If we gave up say 3 prospects we would likely be able to re-coup them and have Made take over 3B next year.

Offensively he has been average, but there should be some park factor improvement. He is currently at 2.9 WAR which is huge without hitting a ton. At 33, he has 4/100 left on his deal after the year. With a weak 3B class he would be in demand to sell over the offseason.

I don't think this is a very good way of doing business. What if he suffers a serious injury, or there are obvious signs of decline, before the Brewers can trade him and they're stuck with that $100m? If you're not able or willing to live with the contract you're acquiring, don't acquire it. I don't think the Brewers operate like this, just like I don't believe the seemingly common narrative that they offered the QO to Woody believing/hoping he'd decline it. They wouldn't have offered it if accepting it would've impacted their plans. 

If you want a 3B just for this season, ideally get a rental. Or a versatile, cheaper, player if it's for multiple years. Now I presume that part of the reason you even thought of Chapman is that the rental 3B market isn't very attractive. But the way I see it, the move then isn't to try to fit a square peg into a round hole, even if the square peg is very productive any nice. It's to not play at all, or play a different game (i.e improve elsewhere). 

[Outlander]

The Brewers won't take on long term contracts, don't see that ever happening.

[Jopal78]

8 hours ago, jay87shot said:

What about swinging a trade for Matt Chapman with the idea of re-trading him this offseason. We would have a big upgrade and there likely arent going to be much in the way of 3B available this offseason. If we gave up say 3 prospects we would likely be able to re-coup them and have Made take over 3B next year.

Offensively he has been average, but there should be some park factor improvement. He is currently at 2.9 WAR which is huge without hitting a ton. At 33, he has 4/100 left on his deal after the year. With a weak 3B class he would be in demand to sell over the offseason.

Of the Giants players with onerous contracts he is the one they're purportedly least inclined to trade. So what do you give up to get him if your intent is simply to trade him again after 60 games, and would that potential return even be tempting to the Giants? 

 

[TURBO]

Chapman's bat is going down hill quickly.

I don't see a big scramble for anyone to trade for him in the offseason, especially with that contract.

A GIANT NO for me.

[nate82]

The only way I would trade for Chapman is if the Giants accepted Joey Ortiz and Black for Chapman and paying about 40-45% of Chapman's remaining salary from 2027-2030.  

Chapman is not worth all that much as he is very similar to Nolan Arenado who the Cardinals had to pay about $31 million to Arizona and only got Jack Martinez who is a 23 year old in A ball with a 4.00 ERA currently.

[sveumrules]

Looking through the MLBTR Top 35 Deadline Trade Candidates the only guys I am really interested in (that I'd also consider good bets to actually be traded) are Aroldis Chapman and Joe Ryan. I guess maybe Antonio Senzatela COL (44 IP of 65 ERA- | 76 FIP-) for bullpen depth?

Reid Detmers, Jose Soriano, and Zach Neto could all be varying degrees of interesting...but the Angels probably aren't dealing any of them.

Looking at relievers not on the MLBTR list with good stats so far this year on likely sellers some other possible candidates could maybe be...

Huascar Brazoban NYM (34 IP of 32 ERA- | 59 FIP-)
Luke Weaver NYM (35 IP of 51 ERA- | 59 FIP-)
Brennan Bernardino COL (31 IP of 61 ERA- | 66 FIP-)
Garrett Whitlock BOS (27 IP of 60 ERA- | 68 FIP-)
Daniel Lynch IV KCR (34 IP of 61 ERA- | 78 FIP-)
 

[Brian]

On 6/29/2026 at 11:26 PM, jay87shot said:

What about swinging a trade for Matt Chapman with the idea of re-trading him this offseason. We would have a big upgrade and there likely arent going to be much in the way of 3B available this offseason. If we gave up say 3 prospects we would likely be able to re-coup them and have Made take over 3B next year.

Offensively he has been average, but there should be some park factor improvement. He is currently at 2.9 WAR which is huge without hitting a ton. At 33, he has 4/100 left on his deal after the year. With a weak 3B class he would be in demand to sell over the offseason.

Matt Chapman to receive MRI for abdominal injury he's had since April.

[KCBrewerfan34]

What about Arenado? 

[Brian]

Not Paul Skenes, he has dropped 9 straight starts in a row and only pitching maybe 5 innings tops. Many starts not even qualifying with enough innings for the start and fastball down 5 mph.  Pittsburg management can't figure out that something is wrong with his arm?

Hello, and they keep pitching him? 

[homer]

I like the idea of going for Detmers as a cheaper option (prospect-wise) than Skubal. He's only 26, has two years of control remaining, and seems to be finally tapping into his potential.

[sveumrules]

2 hours ago, KCBrewerfan34 said:

What about Arenado? 

Hasn't been very good lately. 436 PA of 84 wRC+ last year, 310 PA of 96 wRC+ so far this year with a career high strikeout rate. Defense is still good at +8 DRS | + 3 FRV last two years, but nothing like prime Arenado that averaged around +16 DRS | +11 FRV per season over the first decade of his career.

That'd be an upgrade over our current 3B production on the year with a 63 wRC+ (28th) and 0.1 WAR (25th) so far, but he's also due $15M next year which the Brewers probably wouldn't want to add to their books with guys like Made and Fischer in the wings. 

DBacks are also hovering around 20% Playoff Odds at both of FanGraphs and PECOTA so still kind of straddling that buy/sell line depending how things play out for them and teams like MIA, STL, PIT, and SDP over the next month.

[endaround]

1 hour ago, homer said:

I like the idea of going for Detmers as a cheaper option (prospect-wise) than Skubal. He's only 26, has two years of control remaining, and seems to be finally tapping into his potential.

He's not going to be cheaper in terms of prospects. Just the opposite. A cheap 4 win pitcher for 2.5 years? At least double the Peralta return.

 

[mudbutt]

28 minutes ago, sveumrules said:

Hasn't been very good lately. 436 PA of 84 wRC+ last year, 310 PA of 96 wRC+ so far this year with a career high strikeout rate. Defense is still good at +8 DRS | + 3 FRV last two years, but nothing like prime Arenado that averaged around +16 DRS | +11 FRV per season over the first decade of his career.

That'd be an upgrade over our current 3B production on the year with a 63 wRC+ (28th) and 0.1 WAR (25th) so far, but he's also due $15M next year which the Brewers probably wouldn't want to add to their books with guys like Made and Fischer in the wings. 

DBacks are also hovering around 20% Playoff Odds at both of FanGraphs and PECOTA so still kind of straddling that buy/sell line depending how things play out for them and teams like MIA, STL, PIT, and SDP over the next month.

He would cost 6 million next year as the Cardinals are paying the rest, which makes it a more interesting rental option. But as you said I don't think the Dbacks will be selling unless they have a horrendous July.

[Turning2]

On 6/29/2026 at 11:26 PM, jay87shot said:

What about swinging a trade for Matt Chapman with the idea of re-trading him this offseason. We would have a big upgrade and there likely arent going to be much in the way of 3B available this offseason. If we gave up say 3 prospects we would likely be able to re-coup them and have Made take over 3B next year.

Offensively he has been average, but there should be some park factor improvement. He is currently at 2.9 WAR which is huge without hitting a ton. At 33, he has 4/100 left on his deal after the year. With a weak 3B class he would be in demand to sell over the offseason.

.235, 7 HRs, slugging .368, OPS .692... renting for roughly 12.5 million??? We already have one of those. 

Meanwhile... Brooks Lee

.251, 14 HRs, slugging .440, OPS .746, and controllable / cheap. Perfect short term solution. Send the Twins Jett and some AA or lower pitching. Other considerations could be Bitonti or Boeve. 

Sure seems like they could address that gaping offensive 3B hole without a long-term commitment or selling too much of the farm, and he would likely still have trade value in a couple years as we admire the WS trophy he helped MIL win 😁

 

[wiguy94]

3 hours ago, homer said:

I like the idea of going for Detmers as a cheaper option (prospect-wise) than Skubal. He's only 26, has two years of control remaining, and seems to be finally tapping into his potential.

Not saying they are right or wrong but I’ve seen some baseball people say they expect Detmers to take more than Skubal because of that control and because you’re dealing with the Angels who probably aren’t going to sell despite being terrible because of their owner.

[nate82]

7 minutes ago, wiguy94 said:

Not saying they are right or wrong but I’ve seen some baseball people say they expect Detmers to take more than Skubal because of that control and because you’re dealing with the Angels who probably aren’t going to sell despite being terrible because of their owner.

If the Angels trade Detmers I would be very surprised.  I wouldn't be surprised if the Angels would demand Made and a couple of other prospects for Detmers.  I'm not even sure that would even work with the Angels owner.  Would probably have to do something like Mis, Made, Pratt, and Chourio for him to move Detmers.

[owbc]

I could see us going after Antonio Senzatela from Colorado as a middle relief depth option. He seems to fit the profile of a guy we would want. He's been terrible for years but added a cutter/2-seamer combo this year to go with a plus 4 seamer and has a career best 3.38 FIP. Averaging nearly 2 IP per start and has an Ashby-like 8-0 W/L record. He can also be a starter in August/September to help with load management. 

I also like that he's making $12 million this year so the cost to acquire should be pretty low compared with someone like JT Brubaker on SF or some of the starting pitching options we are looking at. 

[homer]

1 hour ago, wiguy94 said:

Not saying they are right or wrong but I’ve seen some baseball people say they expect Detmers to take more than Skubal because of that control and because you’re dealing with the Angels who probably aren’t going to sell despite being terrible because of their owner.

Yeah I can see that. Maybe I'm underestimating Detmers' value. 

[tmwiese55]

I think its possible Skubal's value is being overstated a bit here, well probably every where.  Top top prospects rarely get traded other by San Diego, especially for like 10 starts from someone, and rentals in general.    If Skubal gets traded I think he'll go for less than has generally been tossed around.  But what do I really know, just a guess.   And I suppose LAD are crazy with a good farm, so they might just do it so they're almost unbeatable (and so he doesn't go to someone like us) and to get a leg up on signing him in the offseason

[wntrtxn21]

5 hours ago, Turning2 said:

.235, 7 HRs, slugging .368, OPS .692... renting for roughly 12.5 million??? We already have one of those. 

Meanwhile... Brooks Lee

.251, 14 HRs, slugging .440, OPS .746, and controllable / cheap. Perfect short term solution. Send the Twins Jett and some AA or lower pitching. Other considerations could be Bitonti or Boeve. 

Sure seems like they could address that gaping offensive 3B hole without a long-term commitment or selling too much of the farm, and he would likely still have trade value in a couple years as we admire the WS trophy he helped MIL win 😁

 

Why would the Twins even consider such an awful deal? With 3B being a tough position to fill in MLB right now,  Lee is a cheap, controllable player who isn't even arby eligible until 2028. The Brewers would have to come up with a much, much better offer. 

[Turning2]

16 hours ago, wntrtxn21 said:

Why would the Twins even consider such an awful deal? With 3B being a tough position to fill in MLB right now,  Lee is a cheap, controllable player who isn't even arby eligible until 2028. The Brewers would have to come up with a much, much better offer. 

Because MN isn’t going anywhere, probably for a while and why not add prospects from a team that is currently among the gold standard of talent development. . Don’t know what players it would take to seal the deal, just tossing out some suggestions. Jett has lots of control. power and plays SS, So they flip Lee for his replacement and whatever pieces.. At the end of the day, Lee is a guy that aligns pretty well in MIL’s trade MO. 

[Underachiever]

On 7/2/2026 at 10:27 AM, mudbutt said:

He would cost 6 million next year as the Cardinals are paying the rest, which makes it a more interesting rental option. But as you said I don't think the Dbacks will be selling unless they have a horrendous July.

Not that I want Arenado, but the Brewers could definitely help push the D-Backs toward a horrendous July, starting tonight.

[Ewitkows1]

Call you up the Mets, trade for Bo who can play either SS or 3b. 2m contract for this year and has an opt out. He's hitting well the last month or so, if he keeps it up, he'll opt out.