What and Whom Brewers Will Target on MLB Trade Deadline Day

Image courtesy of Mitch Stringer-Imagn Images

Brewers Video

The Brewers don't generally fish where the boats and the birds cluster. They prefer to find the quiet spot no one knows about and haul in a fish that thought itself safe via removal from the hubbub. This year, they made a minor exception by wading into the river at its busiest juncture, discussing mega-ace Tarik Skubal with the Tigers—but they found those waters too deep and retreated to safe ground. Now, with just hours before the MLB trade deadline at 5 PM CT, they're back to trawling their practically private waters.

Milwaukee never seriously pursued Freddy Peralta, a club source said. The organization respects and admires Peralta but worried that resetting him after a counterproductive stint in Queens would prove too difficult to get right on the fly, even (or perhaps especially) because of their familiarity with him. Nor were they players for Kevin Gausman, whom the Cubs acquired Sunday night. In terms of budget, team control and profile, the fit wasn't right.

The team still has lots of lines in the water, though. They're engaged with teams about some players who have flown under the radar this week, and on at least one hurler whose name has garnered headlines and gossip aplenty. Here's a rundown of a few names they've explored.

Trevor Rogers
Milwaukee would prefer to add a starter with long-term team control, and we'll talk about a couple of pitchers who fit that criterion shortly. One rental arm who does have their attention is Rogers. His season-level numbers hide significant upside. Last year, Rogers posted a sub-2.00 ERA in half a season of work. This year, after a rocky start related to an illness that sidelined him for about three weeks and left him weak afterward, he's been similarly dominant, with a 2.21 ERA over his last 10 starts. Rogers's stuff profile and delivery suit Milwaukee's predilections, too. Arguably, he's the best rental starter left on the market, and the Brewers have interest.

Tyler Phillips
At first blush, one might wonder why Phillips would even be available. He's a late bloomer, pitching just his second full season in the majors at age 28. Until late May, he held on with the Marlins as a reliever; he's made just a dozen starts since they moved him to the rotation. They should probably retain him and try to complete his impressive emergence as a useful starter.

Phillips is out of options, though, and Miami is willing to talk about him, a source said. That's all the opening the Brewers need, because Phillips checks a lot of boxes for them. He throws from a low slot and shows feel for moving the ball in both directions. He gets great extension toward the plate and throws 96 miles per hour. If the Marlins' price tag on him fairly reflects the fact that his four years of remaining team control will be mitigated a bit by his roster status and profile, he could be a perfect target for the Crew.

Ryan Feltner
Evaluating pitchers who spend half their time pitching at Coors Field is always challenging; the Brewers like to take advantage of that uncertainty when they can. Two years ago, they swooped in and scooped up Nick Mears in a deal with Colorado. The Rockies' front office has gotten smarter since then, but they're also more realistic about their prospects and the need to look toward the future than they used to be. That could be building the perfect storm for Milwaukee to acquire a starter with two more years of team control, who has flashed frontline upside when he's been healthy over the last few years.

Already 29 and with just two more years of team control, Feltner doesn't feel like a high-ceiling target. His stuff rates poorly on models that struggle to account for the effects of working at elevation; there are also things the Brewers would truly want to tweak. But Feltner has one more year of optionability (usable either this season or next), and there are enough markers to tantalize the Brewers, a source familiar with the team's thinking said.

Caleb Ferguson
Now, let's talk about a couple of left-handed relievers in whom the team has shown interest. Ferguson is the simple kind of target. He's on a one-year, $4.5-million deal with the Reds, so he'd strictly be a rental. He has a three-fastball mix and a fairly forgettable curveball. He gets ground balls and does a lot of things (spotting his sinker to the glove side against fellow lefties; using his fastball variants to induce weak contact) the Brewers like. He'd be a low-friction addition to take some pressure off of Aaron Ashby and the rest of the left-handed relief options down the stretch.

Daniel Lynch IV
This acquisition wouldn't be quite as simple as Ferguson could be. Lynch is still under team control for two more seasons after 2026, and he has one option year remaining, giving the Royals some flexibility. He does several things the Brewers like with his fastballs, though, and shows good feel for his breaking balls, even though he's constrained by a bias toward pronation and doesn't achieve much sweep or depth on those offerings. His sinker and changeup get grounders, and he shows a converted starter's command and control. Milwaukee is ready to get hurt again, if they must, after dealing for fellow Royals lefty Ángel Zerpa over the winter and watching him go down with a torn UCL. Lynch is a fit for them in both the short and the medium term.

Luke Weaver
The five names above all represent some level of potential creativity on the Brewers' part. Weaver is the straightforward alternative to all of that. He's under contract for 2027 and will be expensive, both financially and in terms of prospect capital. However, he's regarded as one of the three best relievers likely to move at this deadline, and he suits the Brewers better than either of the other two. The team has discussed Weaver with the Mets, a source briefed on the talks said. They could land him with the idea of mixing him in with Trevor Megill and Abner Uribe this fall, then move one of the three (Megill being the most likely) this winter in a trade to recapture almost all the value they surrender this summer. In the meantime, they'd once again have a bullpen that would be the envy of the National League playoff bracket.

Obviously, this is not an exhaustive list of pitchers the Brewers are pursuing. They still have a lot of options, and they're exploring them aggressively. Keep these six names in mind, though, and understand that each represents a tier or a flavor of addition that the team is interested in—even if they ultimately secure a different specific player. One way or another, they should make a significant move on Monday. These are each candidates to be that move.