The Best Move For The Brewers At The Trade Deadline May Be To Do… Nothing

As the team hits the halfway mark of the season, it’s time to seriously consider the club's weaknesses and what can be done to address them. But let’s be clear: just because the club identifies a weakness, it doesn’t mean it should overpay to address that issue.

Let’s look at each position on the team.

Hitters
Catcher: William Contreras rocks. Yes, he struggled in June (.525 OPS), but overall, he has been really good and deserves to start the upcoming All-Star game. Backup catcher (and sometimes DH) Gary Sanchez has been adequate. He has hit some home runs but not much else. Let’s be clear - he’s not awful - just not particularly good. But given the man’s track record and salary, it’s probably best to just live with what he does. He’s a streaky player who could break out. 

First Base: Rhys Hoskins has been ‘meh’. He’s hit some dingers, but he’s not been very inspiring. That said, he has been injured and has a solid track record of success. With the money the team is paying him, they aren’t going to cut bait with him at any time. And there’s good reason to believe he’ll improve - even just a bit. Backup first baseman Jake Bauers is hitting right around the league average. But a .219 batting average and a 32% strikeout rate is pretty frustrating. Bauers offers the ability to play corner outfield (although not very well) - and he’s got a better glove than Hoskins. So, while it’s tempting to be rid of the guy, especially since he doesn’t make that much money, he’s not exactly hurting the club. 

Second Base: Brice Turang rocks. On pace for 50+ steals. Gold Glove play. He could be the club’s MVP. 

Third Base: Joey Ortiz rocks. He took a little time to acclimate to the position - but he’s exactly what the club has needed. 

Shortstop: Willie is good. Move along.

Outfield: Christian Yelich rocks (as long as he is healthy). The man isn’t going anywhere. That leaves us with Jackson Chourio, Sal Frelick, and Blake Perkins.

Chourio has been the least accomplished of the trio. But he quietly has hit .300+ in June. And he offers the highest upside of any of the three. The Brewers just need to keep giving him reps.

Frelick sits on the fence of mediocrity. He’s hitting .269 and has consistently sat in the .250-.270 range all year. You want to see Frelick hit .280 with a dozen home runs and a bunch of doubles. And while the batting average isn’t bad, much of what he has done has been somewhat empty (out of 66 hits, he has only 13 extra-base hits). Also, his defense has been okay - instead of good - as expected. Frelick moves well going back on balls but often struggles with taking good angles. But all that said, Frelick has been a solid player, albeit very average. Still, there’s hope something clicks, and he can up his game.

Blake Perkins is the guy few of us thought we’d be talking about at this time of year. He was a fourth or fifth outfielder (at best). Perkins’ offense is on par with Frelick’s (meaning nothing special), but he’s earned so much play time due to his outstanding defense. He’s one of the finest outfielders in baseball. 

Conclusion: the Brewers offense has been solid in 2024. They’ve scored the sixth most runs in baseball, which is good. No player is tanking the club. Even the worst of the hitters - Frelick, Chourio, Perkins, Sanchez - offer something that makes the Brewers want to keep playing them.

The club’s depth could be addressed with a proven utility player, but that’s quibbling. 

The team also needs to address Contreras's heavy workload. Catching is a tough job. That means giving Sanchez a few more turns behind the dish and letting Yelich DH more often.

When Garrett Mitchell returns, one interesting decision will come. The logical move would be to send down Chourio or Frelick. But it might mean more Yelich at DH and fewer at-bats for Bauers and Sanchez. But those are all good problems to have. 

In the end, if the club doesn’t see anything that’s a genuine upgrade, there isn’t an urgency to make a move. And this is especially true if any upgrade costs too much. The lifeblood of this team is young, controllable players. So, trading quality prospects for a marginal upgrade should not be in the cards.

Pitchers
Starting Pitchers: the injuries have been brutal - but the club has managed to make things work. Freddy Peralta, Colin Rea, Tobias Myers, and Bryse Wilson are now entrenched rotation members. The Brewers have recently added Dallas Keuchel but we will have to see if he has anything left in the tank. Otherwise, DL Hall or Jakob Junis might eventually fill this slot. And Joe Ross is scheduled to return later in July. And we can’t forget that Carlos F Rodriguez (who had an uninspiring three-game stint already) and Chad Patrick are at Triple-A. Fans have been clamoring for the latter (2.89 ERA in 70+ innings).

Relievers: Bryan Hudson, Hoby Milner, Jared Koenig, Elvis Peguero, Joel Payamps, Trevor Megill, and Enoli Paredes all look pretty solid going forward. With Devin Williams scheduled to return soon, that should only improve the relief corps, one of the best in baseball. Junis and Hall could be added to this group as well.

Conclusion: The relief corps looks good (with the third-best ERA for relievers in the game). There is no need to make any moves here, especially with Williams coming back.

If any position needs looking at, it’s the rotation. Brewer starters rank 18th in the league in ERA. The depth is sketchy with has-beens (Keuchel), unproven rookies (Rodriguez/Patrick), and guys returning from injury (Hall/Junis/Ross). And to be honest, some of those guys, even when healthy, aren’t very inspiring. Some of the healthy players (Myers/Rea/Wilson) don’t have a long record of success - and fans hold their breath when they take the mound.

Some people have called for the Brewers to acquire an ‘ace'-type rotation arm. Of course, that’s easier said than done. Any quality starter is going to cost a lot. And that’s the issue. We want a Corbin Burnes’ arm, but we don’t want to give back a Joey Ortiz-type to get such a player. 

Getting an ace arm requires giving up quality big leaguers or promising minor leaguers. Tyler Black, Jacob Misiorowski, Brock Wilkin, Jeferson Quero—do we sacrifice one or more of these players to get back a superior starter for a season or two? I’d say skip it. Greg Markle’s recent article argues the same thing. 

You might think the Brewers have been winning with voodoo. If that’s the case, I’ll say let’s just keep up the voodoo. It’s worked thus far. 

What I will argue is that the Brewers should be opportunistic. If an arm (or a bat) is made available that helps this club then inquire about it, but don’t overpay. Milwaukee may have some leverage: money. 

One thing the club has done is keep its payroll low. Milwaukee's opening-day roster was less than $105 million in 2024. Many clubs—even the big spenders—are reluctant to add a lot of payroll. Let’s hope the team is willing to take on some salary at the deadline—but without giving up a lot of talent in return.

Spencer Michaelis' recent article discusses renting a pitcher instead of buying one. And that’s exactly what the team should be looking at. If the club can take on a rotation arm by absorbing salary, as opposed to quality minor leaguers, that’s how the Brewers need to operate.

Injuries can, of course, dramatically alter the plans of any team - including the Brewers. But that aside, the club can stay the course if needed. They don’t have to make any moves - even in the rotation (although that wouldn’t be a bad thing). The key is for the club to wait for the opportunities presented. If something arises - pounce. But don’t give up your most valuable assets for a short-term fix.