2026 Trade/Waiver Targets

[Jopal78]

1 hour ago, Playing Catch said:

I tend to agree that typically the Frelicks of the world end up as platoon/4th OF guys, but he also seems to demonstrate so many of those intangible soft-skills (hustle/attitude/blahblah) that are really nice to have on a roster, as well as those "soft" baseball skills, like being left-handed, a good thrower, a good baserunner, takes long ABs and works pitchers (at the detriment to the rest of his offensive game, but still). Even though I don't think he could headline a trade for Soriano, he probably has more value than we Brewer fans realize, as we take for granted all of those baseball-y skills.

Frelick is not a building block. For a rebuilding club, he’s a major league ready stop gap until you find someone better. 
 

It’s not that he doesn’t have value, it’s that he’s a corner OFer with a pop gun bat, so a front office must really love hustle, base running, working the counts, etc. over knocking the ball around all over the yard to be tantalized by Frelick. 

[Ron Robinsons Beard]

4 minutes ago, Jopal78 said:

Frelick is not a building block. For a rebuilding club, he’s a major league ready stop gap until you find someone better. 
 

It’s not that he doesn’t have value, it’s that he’s a corner OFer with a pop gun bat, so a front office must really love hustle, base running, working the counts, etc. over knocking the ball around all over the yard to be tantalized by Frelick. 

Frelick literally just turned 26 years old. Are we really to the point of saying "he is what he is"?

[LouisEly]

14 minutes ago, Jopal78 said:

It’s not that he doesn’t have value, it’s that he’s a corner OFer with a pop gun bat

Genuine question - is he a corner OF because he can't play CF, or is he a corner OF because he's on a team with a lot of guys who can play CF (Mitchell, Perkins, Chourio)?

What type of value would he have if he actually is an average CF?

[Jopal78]

1 hour ago, Ron Robinsons Beard said:

Frelick literally just turned 26 years old. Are we really to the point of saying "he is what he is"?

Yep. He’s got 1600 MLB PAs. He is without a doubt well experienced in the major leagues. At 26 years old and 5’9” 191 lbs. he is not going to grow 3 inches and is almost certainly not going to pack on 20 lbs of muscle, so where does his game improve from other than he has better luck some years than others?  In fact as he grows older and sustains injuries his speed and athleticism probably decrease.

[nate82]

2 hours ago, Jopal78 said:

Frelick is not a building block. For a rebuilding club, he’s a major league ready stop gap until you find someone better. 

The Angels don’t see themselves as a rebuilding club.  Moreno actually won’t even use that word and won’t allow his GM to do that.  If the Angels were a true rebuilding club they would have moved more of their assets that have value already.  They haven’t done this and probably never will as long as Moreno is the owner of the Angels. 

[owbc]

5 hours ago, TURBO said:

@owbc @KCBrewerfan34

I'm curious why you gave my post above a thumbs down?

Are you saying we could carry two DH only guys?  What was it you disagreed with?

 

You seemed to be suggesting we DFA Yelich.

[TURBO]

8 minutes ago, owbc said:

You seemed to be suggesting we DFA Yelich.

That was a joke, c'mon...

You think I think the Brewers would DFA that salary?

 

[owbc]

1 hour ago, Jopal78 said:

Yep. He’s got 1600 MLB PAs. He is without a doubt well experienced in the major leagues. At 26 years old and 5’9” 191 lbs. he is not going to grow 3 inches and is almost certainly not going to pack on 20 lbs of muscle, so where does his game improve from other than he has better luck some years than others?  In fact as he grows older and sustains injuries his speed and athleticism probably decrease.

He desperately needs 20 lbs of muscle. I get so irritated when he squares one up and it's caught at the warning track. He's 97th percentile at squaring up pitches but only 8th percentile bat speed which is a horrible combination, especially given his high contact rate and sub-optimal launch angle distribution. Such wasted potential.

[Jopal78]

26 minutes ago, nate82 said:

The Angels don’t see themselves as a rebuilding club.  Moreno actually won’t even use that word and won’t allow his GM to do that.  If the Angels were a true rebuilding club they would have moved more of their assets that have value already.  They haven’t done this and probably never will as long as Moreno is the owner of the Angels. 

Right, probably why they won’t trade Detmers or Soriano either. 
 

Either way it likely does not make Sal all that enticing in a trade. 

[TURBO]

The more I rip Yelich, the better he does!

He SUCKS!

:)

[jay87shot]

I think Elvis Alvarado a reliever for the As could be a very Brewers add. He throws 99 with decent command, there are likely a couple small stuff tweeks to tunnel pitches. Also he doesn't get good extension for a 6'6" guy, which we would help with for sure. His ERA would suggest he wouldnt be crazy expensive. It is easy to see a Megill replacement there down the line.

[RWeeksFan23]

14 hours ago, jay87shot said:

I think Elvis Alvarado a reliever for the As could be a very Brewers add. He throws 99 with decent command, there are likely a couple small stuff tweeks to tunnel pitches. Also he doesn't get good extension for a 6'6" guy, which we would help with for sure. His ERA would suggest he wouldnt be crazy expensive. It is easy to see a Megill replacement there down the line.

pretty sure he looked unhittable against us in our series vs them earlier this season.

[Playing Catch]

On 7/22/2026 at 11:42 AM, Jopal78 said:

Frelick is not a building block.

If you want to instantly improve a last place team, Frelick could absolutely be a building block. When a team, like the Angels, have minimal talent to trade, they have limited ability to improve. Frelick can be trusted to be committed to winning every day. That's a pretty important intangible for a last place team, to have a CF that you can point to, and tell everyone else on the team, "play like that guy".

He's a reliable starting CF in MLB. That's a pretty valuable thing to have on an MLB roster. He just happens to be one of the Brewers' lesser regulars.

[Jopal78]

56 minutes ago, Playing Catch said:

If you want to instantly improve a last place team, Frelick could absolutely be a building block. When a team, like the Angels, have minimal talent to trade, they have limited ability to improve. Frelick can be trusted to be committed to winning every day. That's a pretty important intangible for a last place team, to have a CF that you can point to, and tell everyone else on the team, "play like that guy".

He's a reliable starting CF in MLB. That's a pretty valuable thing to have on an MLB roster. He just happens to be one of the Brewers' lesser regulars.

Maybe as a defense oriented CFer (then not for the Angels as Trout is their every day CFer), but if the metrics mean anything even Sal’s defense in RF has taken a huge step back this year. 
 

I get it. He’s a former first round pick, that sped his way to the majors. He’s “gritty” and uses speed and hustle as well as anyone. Someone you should  want to root for.
 

But at the end of the day, Frelick has squeezed 105% out of his undersized frame and is about to start getting paid larger salaries in arbitration, he doesn’t have impact upside sought by rebuilding clubs.

[narwhalattack]

I feel like people are putting waaay too much weight to “the intangibles.” All the “grit” and “playing the right way” isn’t going to help an undersized guy magically find more power, just like how it’s not gonna magically turn a bad team into the 1927 Yankees.

[Playing Catch]

2 hours ago, narwhalattack said:

I feel like people are putting waaay too much weight to “the intangibles.” All the “grit” and “playing the right way” isn’t going to help an undersized guy magically find more power, just like how it’s not gonna magically turn a bad team into the 1927 Yankees.

I respectfully disagree to a point. Obviously, the numbers have to be there in baseball. And I completely understand and agree that a team full of Rudys won't get you anywhere.

But I think that it's impossible to ignore the types of players they've collected over the years. Most of them demonstrate tremendous humility in terms of playing within their skillset, being open to learning and improving, as well as having team-forward mindsets. Frelick being the archtype for such things.

I think with all of the [appropriate] eyerolling we do around here with Murphy's Murphisms, it's easy to lose sight of the fact that it's really, really hard to develop a culture of winning without getting winners to play for you.

The Angels, on paper, often have a similar pre-season talent pool in their 26-man. Why do the Brewers and Angels always seem to finish where they do? I happen to believe that the Brewers employ more winners.

[Jopal78]

8 hours ago, Playing Catch said:

I respectfully disagree to a point. Obviously, the numbers have to be there in baseball. And I completely understand and agree that a team full of Rudys won't get you anywhere.

But I think that it's impossible to ignore the types of players they've collected over the years. Most of them demonstrate tremendous humility in terms of playing within their skillset, being open to learning and improving, as well as having team-forward mindsets. Frelick being the archtype for such things.

I think with all of the [appropriate] eyerolling we do around here with Murphy's Murphisms, it's easy to lose sight of the fact that it's really, really hard to develop a culture of winning without getting winners to play for you.

The Angels, on paper, often have a similar pre-season talent pool in their 26-man. Why do the Brewers and Angels always seem to finish where they do? I happen to believe that the Brewers employ more winners.

Talent wins games. Chemistry/culture is usually an excuse for failure. 
 

When was the last time a championship team complained the chemistry wasn’t right?

[TURBO]

I think there is a delicate balance between talent, and all those other things...

Chemistry/culture are extremely important no doubt, but without talent, it's already over...