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It's not a fun scenario to consider. From ownership down to the farm system, the Brewers organization takes great pride in fielding a perennial contender. No one involved therein wants to see the team take a significant step back; they believe they can compete for a playoff berth every season. If you don't count 2020—which you certainly shouldn't—their last losing season was 2016. They're always buyers at the trade deadline. Sometimes, they even make that type of move much sooner than most teams do—most famously, when they acquired Willy Adames in May 2021, but also when they dealt for Aaron Civale at the front end of July last year or when they made such a leap of faith on Quinn Priester last month.
Rival front offices have heard from the Brewers already this spring (including within the last week) about deals that could be echoes of that memorable Adames deal. Matt Arnold and his staff are being proactive, behind the scenes, to see what's possible. Even as they do so, though, the team on the field looks less and less like one they'll be able to rescue. It might be that, for the first time in almost a decade, the Brewers will need to behave as true sellers at this year's trade deadline.
Because of the financial constraints of the franchise, though, we already know that they have the right clubs in that bag for that course, too. If it comes to that, without giving up any indispensable parts of the 2026 team, they could land some crucial pieces of a longer-term divisional dynasty. Even at their best, teams like the Brewers (the Guardians, the Rays, etc.) benefit from the occasional opportunity to reset and regroup. This could be that kind of summer. Here are five guys on whom the team will receive lots of calls, if they pivot toward selling off assets in July—and who could net them big value in return.
Rhys Hoskins
Let's start simply. In a year when the Red Sox are trying to contend but have lost first baseman Triston Casas for the year; the Mariners lead the AL West despite running out the 2025 versions of Rowdy Tellez and Donovan Solano at first; and every contender in the American League seems to be faking it at DH, Rhys Hoskins would have a good deal of trade value. Hoskins, 32, will be a free agent at season's end, and the Brewers are more likely to have Jake Bauers back or promote Ernesto Martinez Jr. to take over first than to bring Hoskins back in 2026.
In this platform season, though, Hoskins is enjoying what could be one of the best seasons of his career, even with only four home runs so far. His hard-hit rate would be the best of his career, if the season ended today. His strikeout rate would be close, higher only than in his rookie season of 2017. This season, drag on the ball is greater than it's been since at least 2016, which is steering offense downward and making Hoskins look less like a star than he otherwise might. That phenomenon is affecting the whole league, though, and Hoskins has weathered it much better than you might expect a power-centric fly-ball specialist to.
Because the Phillies didn't attach a qualifying offer to Hoskins when he departed via free agency after 2023, if he keeps playing this way, the Brewers could make him such an offer this fall and recoup a draft pick if he signs elsewhere. Knowing that, Hoskins would surely prefer to be dealt, because that would pulverize the possibility of a QO, which would be a major drag on his market. For Milwaukee, though, it means that any interested suitor will need to make a strong offer to peel Hoskins away.
Freddy Peralta
It might be more natural to think about what Jose Quintana, Civale, or Nestor Cortes could fetch on the market, but there's a reason why the Brewers got Quintana for less than $5 million in early March: he has a skill set most of the league doesn't trust. With huge health questions hanging over Civale, Cortes and Brandon Woodruff, therefore, the only starter with a real chance to bring back huge value is the guy the team surely wants to trade least.
On the other hand, Freddy Peralta's name was going to be all over the trade rumors ticker this winter, anyway. He's under contract for just one more season, via a club option for 2026, and as the recent cases of Josh Hader, Corbin Burnes and Devin Williams prove, this organization prefers to trade a player for longer-term pieces they believe can help—as opposed to holding them all the way to free agency, even with a mandate to be good every year.
If they do tumble out of contention as spring gives way to summer, then, the team might consider trading him before the winter. At $8 million, Peralta is priced 200% below his market value. Teams would swarm to him, if the Crew made him available, especially with the promise of two playoff races in which he could play a key role, rather than one. The Astros, Mets, and Yankees (to name just a few) would be interested. Trading Peralta would cut deeply, for the fan base and within the clubhouse. It would have to mark a resolute pivot to a new era for the team. It could, however, bring a return too tantalizing to pass up.
Nick Mears
Rarely will the Brewers trade a valuable player with multiple years of team control remaining, and after some refinement this winter and spring, Mears is a valuable piece in the bullpen. He can't become a free agent until after 2027. On the other hand, he's out of options, so he doesn't help a pitching staff stay flexible—a key for building a winning team in a market like the Brewers'. After Arnold and company swooped in and grabbed Mears at a minimal cost last summer, they could get more for him this year than they gave up, even if it's unlikely to be a game-changing return.
Trevor Megill
It hasn't quite felt the same, with Megill stepping into the place vacated by Hader, then Williams. He's a fine closer, but he's the bridge between your true heroes—your catalytic bullpen aces, of which the team dearly hopes Craig Yoho will be the next one. If this season does go sour, Megill is the right kind of player to trade a year too soon, rather than a year too late. He could become a very imposing presence in another bullpen, but his performance profile makes it easier to like him as a setup man, anyway, and his health profile makes striking while the iron's hot feel like the right idea.
Eric Haase
Good backup catchers are a dime a dozen every winter. By midsummer, though, everyone realizes that the backup catcher they were so confident in actually kind of sucks. Not so with Haase, however. He's enjoying a second consecutive season of good performance and helpful work in the clubhouse, even though he had to spend much of last season providing those things at Triple-A Nashville. He's the type of player who is, inevitably, much more valuable to a winner than to any team in the midst of a transition year. Dealing him wouldn't net a ton, but given the Brewers' preference to invest coaching and player development resources (rather than cash) in the catching spot, it makes more sense to trade him than to hold on and end up cutting ties this offseason.
This isn't even an exhaustive list of guys whom the team can discuss with other teams this summer, if they turn out not to have the juice. It's the right place to start, though. The way things are trending, the Crew needs to step back and think about how best to build a consistent winner for the next half-decade, again. These five players could be the ones you deal to make that kind of major turn toward the future.
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