3 Low-Cost Left-Handed Relief Arms Brewers Could Acquire at MLB Trade Deadline

Before the season began, the Brewers appeared to have an elite set of left-handed options out of the bullpen. While some of those players have performed well at times this year (such as Aaron Ashby and DL Hall), others (like Jared Koenig and Ángel Zerpa) have been unable to deliver, betrayed in one form or another by their arms. Pressed into extremely heavy duty, Ashby has started to waver, especially over the last two months. Left-handed relief help is a need as the trade deadline approaches and will be crucial for the Brewers down the stretch. Here are three options that shouldn’t cost too much, but could leave a big impact, leaning on our DiamondCentric Trade Candidates rankings.

Steven Okert – Astros 
It’s Year Two of Okert being a dominant lefty setup man. The southpaw has become an expert at upsetting hitters’ timing, with a fastball-slider combination that makes him death on fellow lefties but also handles righties well enough to be a high-leverage arm. He’s a free agent at the end of the season. 

Okert has resurrected his career with the Astros after a rough 2024 in Minnesota. He’s pitched to a 2.66 ERA and 2.92 FIP in 125 innings in his two years in Houston. His slider, by far the best of his pitches, has been worth 10 runs, and opposing hitters are slugging .292 off it. Look for that slider to continue to be his most common pitch if he were to put on a Brewers uniform, but the Crew do love to help hurlers find a fastball they can lean on more.

José Suarez – Athletics
It's true that there are many relievers available this summer who have sexier arsenals. Suarez operates with a mix led by two fastballs that each sit in the low-to-mid-90s. He doesn’t offer a whole lot of funk in his delivery, and he’s never been considered a premium relief weapon. He’s already pitching for his third team this year. However, the A’s gave him a sweeper and told him to mothball his sinker, and the results have been dazzling. He can miss bats with his changeup to righties and with the sweeper and a tighter slider to lefties. He’s under team control for one more year after this. He might even be able to start for you next season. 

Suarez struggled for the Braves and Mariners earlier this season before picking it up with the Athletics, pitching to a 3.79 ERA (4.18 FIP) in 38 innings. Like Okert, Suarez’s best pitch is his slider with a run value of 3, and with another year of control, Suarez could be a middle-innings reliever the Brewers target not only for the remainder of this year, but for 2027, as well.

Brent Suter – Angels
Suter won’t miss bats. Yes, he must pitch in front of a good defense, and yes, you need to leave a little margin for error. As second lefties in a playoff bullpen go, though, you really can’t beat Suter. He’s so deceptive and so good at commanding his changeup-and-sinker-forward arsenal that almost no pitcher in the league limits hard contact as well. He fills up the zone; he gets ground balls; he works quickly. He’s a tremendous complementary piece in almost any relief corps, capable of coming into a dirty inning and defusing the bomb before it can go off. He just needs to pitch in medium leverage, rather than high leverage, because you never know when some mishit grounder will trickle through the infield and cause a problem. 

That shouldn’t be a huge problem for the Brewers, who are consistently one of the better defensive teams in the league. The former Brewer has pitched to a 4.26 ERA (3.56 FIP) in 61 1/3 innings so far for the Angels. Suter wouldn’t cost much, as he’s a rental (and 36 years old), but he could be a solid bullpen arm for the Brewers come October. 

These arms aren’t exactly needle-movers, but the Brewers need reliable, left-handed options in the postseason, Sure, they could make a bigger swing for a frontline starter or a higher-end reliever like Mason Miller, but arms like the ones listed above can provide immense value the rest of the year as well. Personally, Okert would be the top option out of these three, but any of the group could help. Given the Astros' newfound status as likely buyers, Suter might be the most realistic target.

What are your thoughts? Should the Brewers acquire a left-handed relief arm, and if so, whom?

View our top trade candidates list, up to nearly 70 names and updated regularly!