With Giants Listening on LaMonte Wade Jr., Brewers Had Better Be Talking

Over the last two seasons, LaMonte Wade Jr. has batted .258/.376/.401. That's almost a whole article, right there. I want to discuss the particular ways in which he suits and could help the Brewers, and the hurdle posed by his status with regard to salary and team control, but the bones of this are extremely simple: The Giants are cutting payroll, and rumor has it they're listening on their first baseman (and occasional outfielder). Should the Brewers call on him? Well, he's run a .376 OBP over the last two seasons.

It is more complicated than that, of course. Wade will be eligible for free agency at the end of the 2025 season, and before then, he's projected to earn $4.5-5 million via arbitration. As you've probably noticed, the Brewers tend not to acquire such players, but to trade them away, as they did with Corbin Burnes last year and are pondering doing with Devin Williams this year. They also face their own budgetary constraints this offseason, though it's less clear that they intend to reduce payroll than it is with many other teams throughout MLB. It helps that the team draws so well in terms of in-person attendance, and it hurts less for them to lose their RSN deal with Bally Sports Wisconsin than it does for many other teams in the same predicament because they were already receiving one of the smallest rights fees in the league. Nonetheless, that kind of salary is a bit tough to fit into the payroll picture.

For Wade, though, it's worth it. He's quietly one of the best left-handed hitters in the league, especially against right-handed pitchers. A fine defensive first baseman, he would fit a perfect, currently open tripartite role for the 2025 Brewers:

1. Leadoff man. As fun as Brice Turang's speed is at the top of the lineup, there's nothing fun about a leadoff hitter getting on base at roughly a .300 clip. The Brewers need to upgrade there, and they know it.
2. Platoon partner and insurance policy for Rhys Hoskins. The hulking right-handed slugger opted into the second year of his deal with the team earlier this month, surprising no one, and while his thump is still welcome when he's right, the Crew can't enter 2025 blindly assuming that he will return to his previous form. They have to get better production from first base than they got from him in 2024, including better defense, and Wade can provide that. Even if Hoskins does play better, it would also be nice to have a left-handed batter who could spell him against the odd right-handed starter, thereby keeping him fresher and increasing the team's marginal edge in platoon matchups.
3. A skill set very similar to that of Christian Yelich, as a complement to or replacement for the man himself. High OBPs are never redundant skill sets, so there's no problem if Wade ends up playing first or DHing often and bats two spots ahead of Yelich (DHing or playing left field) in the batting order. Should Yelich struggle to come back from the surgery on his back that truncated his 2024, though, the team desperately needs a good Plan B. Wade would be just that.

Wade's on-base skills in front of players like Jackson Chourio, William Contreras and Yelich would be a massive boost for a lineup that already performed well last year. He's also a good enough hitter for average and power to punish teams who let the guys at the bottom of the batting order—perhaps including Turang, but also Sal Frelick, Joey Ortiz, Garrett Mitchell or Blake Perkins—get on base before the lineup card turns over.

As you'd expect, few hitters have lower rates of swinging at pitches outside the zone than Wade's. He also doesn't whiff much in the strike zone, and he does pull the ball with authority in the air at an above-average rate. In 2024, he traded some of his lift for more consistent exit velocity, but that was a sound exchange in his case, because he got an extra 3 miles per hour on average out of it. He hasn't hit many home runs during his time in San Francisco, but he would provide considerable punch if transplanted to Milwaukee, in addition to those on-base skills.

Because there isn't a great deal of leverage on the Giants' side, the cost to acquire Wade shouldn't be exorbitant. If the Brewers traded Devin Williams to San Francisco, Wade could be a key piece, but he would need to be just one of two or three pieces. Williams is worth more than Wade, because he's capable of elite production at a position in high demand. For better or worse, the modern game treats players like Wade as fundamentally replaceable, even if they excel at the things they do well to the extent that Wade does.

A more likely framework might involve the Brewers sending San Francisco a cost-controlled player whose future with the team is uncertain anyway, like Perkins or DL Hall. That would be a bit of a risky, uncharacteristic move by Arnold and his front office, who tend to prefer a long-term focus and usually don't swap players with team control for short-term help. The Brewers are in a unique position right now, though, with uncertainty about Yelich and Hoskins; limited resources to try to improve their lineup via free agency; and a wide-open lane to a third straight NL Central championship. They should be in Buster Posey's ear in the coming days and weeks, trying to pry Wade loose and finish building one of the deepest lineups in the National League.