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Firstly, let's make something clear. Rosenthal didn't offer news, or even a sourced rumor, in his piece. Because the great work of Rosenthal and other writers at that outlet is behind a paywall, I'll only reproduce a small portion of it here, but this is the telling tidbit.
"Sure, the team’s offense would suffer. Its morale would, too. But how exactly are the Brewers going to get through the season with their rotation in such a dubious state?" Rosenthal wrote. "Brandon Woodruff and Wade Miley already are out for the year. Robert Gasser might soon join them. Both external free-agent additions, Jakob Junis ($7 million) and Joe Ross ($1.75 million), are on the injured list as well."
The thrust of his argument was that, whereas Josh Hader was a year and a half from free agency when the Brewers traded him, Adames is only half a season away; that the injuries to the rotation make it hard to envision how the team will get to the end of the season (and beyond) without a major external infusion of talent; and that the prospect prices for controllable starters are likely to be higher than the Brewers are willing to pay.
Some of those points have merit, but as a whole, the case Rosenthal tried to build here falls flat. Even more than Hader was--far more than Hader was, I would argue--Adames is a linchpin of both the lineup and the clubhouse. The Brewers need him, in a vital way, and they can't replace him just by sliding Joey Ortiz to shortstop. The first thing Rosenthal missed is how special Adames really is, as a person and a player.
Another thing he missed, though, is that the Brewers are in command of the NL Central, and aren't likely to relinquish it. Rosenthal came of age as a beat reporter for the Baltimore Orioles, a team with some spiritual fraternity with the Brewers. He's not unfamiliar with the plight of the baseball underdog or the tendency on the part of big-market and national media to underestimate small-market teams and their worth. With each passing year, though, he seems to be subsumed more into the machine that treats the Brewers and other teams like them into something close to farm clubs for richer teams, especially on the coasts.
I understand why outsiders don't believe the Brewers can make it through 162 (and beyond), because of their pitching injuries. Here's the thing about that belief: it's wrong. The Brewers are good enough at scouting and player development; nimble and proactive enough; and quietly deep enough, already, to improve as needed and cover the places where they've been weakened and deployed. This is not 2007. The Brewers aren't leading the NL Central solely by default. They're a well-managed, well-rounded, well-constructed team, and they're going to the playoffs. They can make noise there, too, if they make an important upgrade to the rotation. They absolutely can't do so if they trade Adames.
That's the final place where I depart from Rosenthal's thinking in his piece. He suggests that the team will balk at the prices for Garrett Crochet and Jesús Luzardo, specifically, and that might be true. I think it would even be wise: Crochet and Luzardo carry both health and performance risks that I expect will not be weighed heavily enough when their teams set their asking prices this summer. There are other starting pitchers who are (or might become) available, though, and if the Brewers don't get aggressive enough to grab someone substantial, then shame on them.
This team just locked up Jackson Chourio on an extremely team-friendly deal that could last a decade. They have long-term team control of Ortiz, Christian Yelich, William Contreras, and Brice Turang, not to mention a handful of prospects who range from interesting to downright exciting. The days Adames, Rhys Hoskins, Devin Williams, and maybe even Freddy Peralta will spend in this organization might be numbered, but the team has the skeleton of another very impressive core in place already. That's why this season, which felt like it might be a short-term step back and transition year, is turning out to be one to remember.
It's time to invest in that, and take a chance on it. They can afford to surrender some prospect capital. They're going to get a bunch of new talent next month via the MLB Draft, especially after getting a very valuable pick as part of the Corbin Burnes trade, alongside Ortiz and DL Hall. The Brewers shouldn't even entertain Willy Adames trade offers. They should make sure they have his ring size right, and then go make that matter.
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