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After all the deliberation over cost, Eugenio Suárez didn't command nearly the value that some fans expected. Part of this is because, as the deadline approaches, both sides of the negotiating table are more likely to compromise, coming toward the middle from their initial, outlying positions. That being said, the Brewers may have missed a trick, given what it actually cost for the premier rental bat on the market.
The Trade
In return for Suárez, the Arizona Diamondbacks received:
- Tyler Locklear (1B): With burgeoning power and solid swing decisions, Locklear has a propensity to put the ball on the ground more often than you would like, but when he elevates, he does so with authority. He possesses a .316/.400/.542 slash line at Triple A this season and is ready for the majors, with plus raw power if the hit tool can play against the best pitchers in the world.
- Hunter Cranton (RHP): Looking like a bullpen arm, Cranton has a big fastball in the upper 90s, with a tight gyro slider. He has some command issues, but isn't projected to start games for a big-league club. He's already been kept out of the bullpen in High A, with only 18 professional innings under his belt.
- Juan Burgos (RHP): Another arm who doesn't project to start games, but has pitched more in the pros than Cranton has. He's pitched 6 2/3 innings out of the pen for the Mariners in 2025 and had a 0.87 ERA in 31 innings at Triple A in 2025. With a heavy sinker, a high-80s cutter and a sweepy slider, he's an effective arm who should avoid the long ball but has limited upside in terms of missing bats.
All in all, Locklear is the big piece for the Diamondbacks here, looking to solidify first base for their future rather than address their pitching concerns, as was reported to be the priority. Even in this case, the Brewers had a lot of ammunition to throw at a trade, with a plethora of powerful corner infield prospects (Luke Adams, Brock Wilken and Blake Burke, to name but a few). Yes, they may have been slightly further off than Locklear, but by combining with them with a more impactful arm, the Brewers could have made this push with relative ease. Additionally, with Andrew Fischer joining that corner infield group shortly, it's fair to say that may even have cleared a logjam at first base within the Brewers farm system.
Pairing (say) Wilken with a Chad Patrick-type arm would be considered an improvement on the value the Diamondbacks received in this trade. It would have been a steep cost, but we are looking at the most powerful rental bat on the market right now, for a team that has struggled to produce consistent home run threats in 2025.
The Brewers may have had some concerns about the recent spate of hand injuries Suárez has suffered since the All-Star Game. Over his last seven outings, Suarez is slashing .120/.207/.160 and, as a rental, you can't afford for him to need a month to recover from any lingering injuries. Hand problems, if they do exist, are particularly power-sapping and take time to heal effectively.
Still, the Brewers had the ammunition to fire on Suárez, but may have chosen not to take that shot for one reason or another. Perhaps it's injury-related; perhaps they prefer their strong defensive set-up over a streaky hitter; or maybe the price the Diamondbacks demanded was more punitive on the Brewers (this can happen, as teams have different player evaluation rankings than those we see publicly). Either way, the biggest move the Brewers could make is now gone.
Do The Brewers Need To Fortify Their Roster?
Meanwhile, there have been a flurry of trades from the four other top teams in the National League:
- Chicago Cubs: acquired Michael Soroka and Andrew Kittredge
- Philadelphia Phillies: acquired Jhoan Duran
- New York Mets: acquired Tyler Rogers and Ryan Helsley
- Los Angeles Dodgers: added Ben Rortvedt, Adam Serwinowski and Paul Gervase (depth bullpen pieces with high strikeout stuff)
All of this has gone on while the Brewers have stayed still. The resurgence of Andrew Vaughn may have cooled their hand on Ryan O'Hearn, but they still require more depth on the hitting front and have excess pitching in their rotation that they might use to improve their bullpen. The first baseman is the most "Brewers-y" hitter on the market, and would help them cover for Jackson Chourio should their young star require an IL stint with his hamstring strain.
On the Mayor's Office Podcast with Sean Casey, Pat Murphy said the trade deadline "wasn't the Brewers thing" and they don't like to get involved in the melee of assets being transferred and the standard overpricing of acquisitions.
Danny Jansen was a pickup on the margins, fortifying their catching depth in case William Contreras should lose an entire limb (short of that, he's not going on the IL, for love nor money), while adding a bench bat that could be useful in some situations but isn't what you would consider a needle-mover in October.
Some might credit the pickups of Vaughn and Quinn Priester as the Brewers' "big trades" this year, but my view of it would suggest that only one of these deserves unanimous credit from the front office. It's not entirely fair to say that Vaughn was a big trade, despite the impact he's had. The Brewers effectively got him as a depth piece as his salary closely matched Aaron Civale's, with the main reason for the trade being to honor and respect Civale's wishes. We can't give the front office too much credit for that move, as if it grew from a "go for it" mentality.
The Priester trade was a big move, and it's worked out phenomenally, trading a competitive balance pick and a top-10 MLB Pipeline organizational prospect for what looks like a long-term piece of the starting rotation. Still, in the position they sit now (with everyone around them fortifying their rosters), the Brewers need to keep in touch.
Staying still may not be a viable option, with more moves still to come on trade deadline day. Will the Milwaukee Brewers push their chips into the middle? Or will they wait too long for "value", and miss out?
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