The Brewers are looking to add to their NL Central-leading roster, and are considering some big names. MLB Network’s Jon Heyman (Twitter links) reports that Milwaukee has shown interest in Twins third baseman Josh Donaldson and Rockies shortstop Trevor Story, and The Athletic’s Levi Weaver tweets that Rangers right-hander Kyle Gibson is also on the Brewers’ radar.
Brewers GM Matt Arnold indicated this past weekend that the team would look into adding some hitting help, as the Brew Crew has managed their success despite middling numbers in most major offensive categories. Of course, Milwaukee has already made two notable trades to land hitters, obtaining Rowdy Tellez from the Blue Jays earlier this month and landing Willy Adames as part of a four-player deal with the Rays way back in May. Tellez has looked great in his brief (30 plate appearances) since joining the team, while Adames has been nothing less than spectacular in hitting .294/.388/.537 over 232 PA.
Adames would seemingly be locked in at the everyday shortstop, though adding Story could create an interesting dilemma about who plays the position. Both players are strong defenders, and since Kolten Wong is one of the game’s better defensive second basemen, third base would be the most obvious landing spot for either Adames or Story. Such contenders as the White Sox and Padres were known to be considering Story at other positions, and it could be that Milwaukee was another one of the teams thinking of a creative use of Story’s ability.
Of course, just acquiring an actual third baseman like Donaldson would be a cleaner way of upgrading the hot corner, though that trade would offer another of complications. Story is a free agent after the season, while Donaldson is guaranteed at least $50MM through the end of the 2023 (with a club option for 2024 that would add another $8MM to the ledger). Donaldson would also be owed a $2MM bonus in the event of a trade, and it isn’t known if the Brewers are one of the clubs on Donaldson’s five-team no-trade list.
Donaldson also turns 36 in December, making him a riskier proposition for such a long-term deal even though he is still delivering big production in his age-35 season. The Brewers already have big money committed to Christian Yelich and Lorenzo Cain, and Yelich has been hampered by injury over the last seasons while Cain has had two injury-plagued years sandwiched around his decision to opt out of most of the 2020 campaign.
It would stand to reason that the Twins would at least listen to offers involving getting a mid-30’s player off their own books. That said, Minnesota doesn’t have much future money committed, and the Twins are reportedly not looking to move players controlled beyond this season since the team is planning to bounce back and contend again in 2022.
Gibson is himself controlled through 2022, but at a modest $8MM price tag for next year plus the remainder (roughly $3.2MM) of his 2021 salary. While every team wants as much pitching as possible, Gibson might be something of a luxury for a Brewers team that has gotten great-to-solid results from its rotation. Milwaukee could see adding Gibson as a way of limiting innings for everyone to keep the rotation fresh for the postseason, and to add further length and depth to the bullpen. However, there are many other teams with more pressing pitching needs looking at Gibson, so it remains to be seen if the Brew Crew would be willing or able to outbid the field for the veteran righty.
Id love Trey Mancini on this roster tbh
I think you are hitting it on the head. Go get Mancini to play first for you . Now I don’t like the idea bringing in a third baseman. Keep Urias from looking over his shoulder. It could mess with him. Yes we need to move on from Vogel and JBJ. Send Huira back down to minors for everyday playing ( not at all giving up on him at all just let him get ready for coming up in September. Now maybe I would to find a super utility guy in possibly in Escobar. I could handle seeing Santana if not Mancini but not really sure I want to see much change to roster. I do wonder about maybe trying to pick up Haase from Detroit but is it worth taking away what Pina does with pitchers and clubhouse ? Now if we add a starting pitcher I think I would honestly not add anyone from outside the organization and kinda feel that way with the bullpen too. Look at that I didn’t even try to add Myers or Hosmer lol
Rowdy Tellez has been the middle of the order LH power bat they needed to balance the line up.
The Brewers FO is one of the smartest in MLB, and I consider Craig Counsel the best manager in MLB next to Terry Francona. The Brewers continue to make efficient, surgical moves. For all the pub with the 3 teams in the NL West and the NE baseball media breathlessly covering the Mets every day as if they’re a power, it wouldn’t surprise me at all to see the Brewers in the 2021 World Series.
Rowdy is not a middle of the order power bat. He has 6 HR on the year. If that’s the case every player on the Brewers is a middle of the order power bat. He’s a carbon copy of Vogelbach.
Tellez has hit 2 HR’s in 12 games since joining the Brewers so the potential is definitely there. Adames says he can now see the ball after getting out of the Trop and the numbers reflect that. 3B has been a blackhole since Moustakas left and Donaldson would probably rake in Milwaukee
They have almost the same OPS+, only a bit below league average, and Rowdy has been hot lately and is climbing toward average (his career average is 107). Vogelbach was also hot before getting hurt. Both have 7 HRs and based on ABs, were on pace to hit 28 in a full season.
Both are legit middle of the order power bats and threats to take one out at any time. Vogelbach was leading the league in pitches seen over the first half of the season and both have good ABs and see the zone well.
I’d package any 4 minor league players they want to get mancini for a year and a half
You would be a very bad GM.
Gibson and Story I can see. They should pass on Donaldson.
At this point what is Trevor story worth? Not much I bet. He’s having a pretty down offensive and defensive year, he’s a rental, and he just got drilled last night on the hand so he could miss some time if that swells up. Rockies blew this.
Nice try. He’s certainly worth more than a late first round pick, which is what the Rockies will get if they don’t trade him (unless they extend him).
This should have been done when they traded Arenado. There’s zero chance he is signing an extension lol
Jeebus m8 you are having lots of trouble with the rules today.. A QO player returns a late second rounder these days..
Storys meh-bad year he may not even get an offer reaching that value.
What is this the NFL or the NBA? Late first round pick lol. They’re not gonna get as much as they hope for him
Speaking of which…..
Nolan Arenado is not putting up the power numbers this season that he did playing home games at Coors. No surprise. He’s still a solid player.
But Story’s numbers are down this year even though he’s still playing home games at Coors. His away BA and OBP are .181 and .274. Can’t find power averages, but in 168 PA’s he’s hit 6 HR’s with 15 RBI away.
He’s worth a lot more than Josh Donaldson
I’d rather have Donaldson than Story. Better hitter and controllable. Story would be moved to 3B so his defensive value suffers.
Donaldson is an aging, injury prone, expensive player. Buyer Beware.
Donaldson is aging- We all are sweetie
Inj prone – Not much more than any other player this year
Expensive – He’s got a 2/50 left essentially , Id rather have that than signing one of these over-priced SS this offseason to a gazillion years
Wonder why you didn’t include his on field numbers this year to the argument ?
Twins shouldn’t trade Donny Imo, but if they do Mets and Brewers should 150% be IN –
You don’t make profits signing 20+ mill AAV contracts or “get deals” you get STABILITY ,
Donny at 2 years for young upcoming teams that currently have Div leads….um Yes always Yes , time to take the leap off the high dive and get wet
Yes, but we are improving from 20-28. We are peak athletes from 28-32 on average. As an athlete and physical therapist and fan, those are what the averages say. Nolan Ryan and DeGrom defied them somewhat. A rare few do and still suddenly fall off. Anything after 32-35 depending on the sport is a bonus.
And I said Cain would be terrible for the last 3 years of his contract, and we could surprisingly see Yelich be a huge overpay despite signing him while he is still in his 20s (barely).
The Brewers don’t need to be stuck with a bad contract with a guy who is already 36. Those little injuries add up at that age. You can still be brilliant, but can you stay on the field?
Hard pass.
Also, zero chance he will be anything. but a rental to a club asking him to switch positions from SS.
Controllable is only meaningful when you are in pre-arb or arb years and are in your 20s.
Control is a complete detriment with guys in their 30s (and Donaldson is WAY past that at 36). See for example Lorenzo Cain (and possibly Yelich’s contract being a bust).
Braun’s now seemed like a bargain at the end as he had a few bounce back years.
We’d be stuck with Donaldson until at least 2023 and the remainder of the contract is over 50 million (though pro rated for the rest of this year).
No thanks.
Story’s D shrinks the IF even further, allowing them to play guys with good gloves but no range like Tellez and Vogelbach (and even Shaw).
He doesn’t make the overall IF D worse. Rather have an overvalue at one skill than an undervalue.
Nothing getting through that IF with this pitching.
I wondrr if they are the team considering Story for CF. Im not sure there OF situation but if Cain is still the CF them maybe Stort would be an upgrade
How do you know Story would be an upgrade? That’s a position he has never played at any level I believe so its not always universal that even MLB players can just change gloves and excel.
They’re paying Jackie Bradley Jr. $24M over 2 years to play CF with Cain out. It’s surely not for his hitting.
With the DH likely in 2022, they can manage Donaldson’s calf issues by using him at DH.
Lots of big decisions for Falvey right now. I’d expect the Twins to eat a significant portion of Donaldson’s contract when moving him to get a better return. In regard to Donaldson, the guy has been raking recently and is clearly still a very productive bat with an ability to play at the hot corner. Pretty valuable.
Chisox fans just laughing at any Twin fan, that thinks it’s possible for the Twins to contend at all, for the next 5 years. Don’t you people realize the dynasty you’re up against. Chisox expect to run away with the division, after all they should win 80 plus games this year, first time in 10 years. Dadgummit. Put it on the board!
Dogbone does not speak for Sox fans. He is an idiot
Just let Dogbone be Dogbone with his Dogbone comments about baseball.
Twins selling every asset they have, but they are “absolutely not” in rebuild mode….. should be in contention as soon as…. 2022? 23?
Ummm buddy, the Twins have traded one player so far, one. If they end up only trading Cruz, I would say they are NOT in rebuild mode. Now if they trade 5-8 players, they are in rebuild mode. Just because players have been “rumored” to be traded, doesn’t mean they are on the trading block.
They traded their best hitter because they thought that might make them more competitive in the immediate present and future? Why are the Twins in last place? What mode are they in if they aren’t rebuilding?
So by trading Cruz they are in “rebuild mode”. If they do not trade another player, they will be bringing back a bunch of players from this years roster. 2021 may be a stepping stone or it may be a step back, we honestly don’t know.. There are a TON of Twins players who made their major league debut this year or at least got to see significant playing time. Good bad or indifferent, the front office will determine if they are worth keep around or not..
Not really sure what the brewers could offer in trade….we barely have 2-3 guys in the top 100 prospects list and none of them are that close to mlb ready. We already gave mlb players just to get adames.
Turang seems to pretty much be the consensus headliner of any potential major Brewers trade. With Adames and Urias both controllable for the immediate future they’ll use that as justification to trade him since he’s “blocked” even though most fans would hate to see him go. That said unless the Twins eat a lot of salary on JD neither one of these guys may require a prospect that high in return due to Story being a rental and JD’s age/injury/salary concerns.
Wouldn’t be that sad if that is who we traded. (He should have went to LSU honestly.) Though I am guessing there’d be other prospects attached as well if it’s a big name we’re getting back. Also, yes I understand those lists aren’t the end all-be all but like 99.9% of us out there that can’t watch the minor guys like we do the pros, that’s what I have to go off of. The brewers farm isn’t magically stocked with tons of top rated talent. That’s not some disputed claim I made above.
Fans put way too much weight on these prospect lists. First of all, no front office concern themselves with the lists available to fans. Second, they understand that these rankings CHANGE over time. A guy ranked 125th at A ball is a good bet to move up on lists as they move up in the system. So even using such lists needs to be done with some perspective. Front offices have their own evaluation systems, nowhere near as simplified and rigid as say, what MLB.com offers for fan consumption.
It’s always amusing when a poster on here talks about “fans” as if they are not one. Dude, you are in the same boat as the rest of us. You are not a baseball executive, nor are you some cosmic being looking down on the proceedings.
Why must you take unnecessary offense at everything I post, Hiflew? I’m using language to convey an idea. “(In general) fans put way too much weight”… There. Is that better? Does that satisfy you? Why is my having an opinion akin to my being a “cosmic being”? Am I hurting your feelings by being critical of certain views? What’s the deal?
Their system is vastly under rated and they have a lot of break out players in the minors this year. And some top prospects who are blocked (Turang and Bettinger, Peyton Henry). And 2 of those 3 are ready to debut next year (Henry would have this year) and Bettinger did.
Those 3 alone should get the best rental bat on the market if that’s how you want to roll, and the Crew would not be at a loss at any of those positions (unless they envision Henry as Feliciano’s back up in 2 years).
Plenty of MLB guys to throw in as well. Hiura. Vogie. Anderson. Suter. Peterson. .
If Milwaukee does land one of those infielders, I hope Urias goes back in the deal. He deserves to start.
How do you acquire these type names when your farm sucks? No way do Brewers have what it takes to trade for Story.
Storys an expensive rental having a meh season.. Hes doesnt carry that much trade value atm.
Even a bad farm is gonna have a few interesting prospects. Story is a rental having a bad year. How much you really think he’s gonna cost?
The return on Story won’t be great. Probably the only thing that prevents Story from being traded is the Rockies owner. The price necessary to acquire him is easily within the Brewers reach.
Yeah the Brewers farm system sucks. Burns, Woodruff, and Peralta came through that crappy farm system and if I remember right Burns was the only one that might have barely cracked the top One hundred. Just because you read what a bunch of writers think doesn’t mean it’s actually true.
Just because you’re a fan of a team it’s ok to say your farm system is terrible. Yes you list guys that have been successful but really what’s left???
The media had Lewis Brinson has a can’t miss prospect, and one of the best in baseball. He was the “key” prospect for the Yelich trade.
So much for those can’t miss top 100 lists that the media coronates.
Straw man. He was highly rated, no professional ever labeled him literally “can’t miss”. Everyone knows prospects can fail, you’re not onto some secret.
I mean look at what pirates got for Frazier… I mean it feels like they got fleeced. But shouldn’t take much to get story.
You clearly know nothing about the Brewer farm system. It’s probably underrated by 10 spots or more.
It’s no worse than middle of the pack and has a huge number of top prospects ready for MLB who are blocked by stars in Milwaukee. Henry, Turang, and Bettinger should be enough to get the best bat on the market.
Clearly, this must mean that all of the teams are interested in all of the players.
Willy Adames was the real star of Charles In Charge
Budddy Lembeck, I used that extra letter for you to make your statement more accurate but yes, I completely agree.
Trevor Story is fool’s gold IMO.
These are my favorite kind of articles. “(Insert Playoff Contention Team) Is Interested in Good Players on Losing Teams.”
You’re telling me, that a team that may very well make the playoffs, are interested in acquiring good players from losing teams?
What a revelation.
Would you prefer that this trade rumor website did not post trade rumors?
No, I would prefer them to continue, as I already stated, these are my favorite articles. Obvious, and to the point.
So there was 0 sarcasm when you said “what a revelation?”
No. There was.
From a Brewers fan perspective, what is an acceptable/realistic prospect you would give up for Gibson?
Tbh I don’t know why they would trade for Gibson. Pitching isn’t their problem. And before someone comes at me about the bullpen, understand you don’t use 5SPs in a playoff series. Houser has a great RP history. Addition just right there.
A guy though Milw may send is Joe Gray who’s having a breakout minor League year but is behind the likes of recent 1st rd picks Mitchell and Frelick.
Might want to hang on to Gray. It’s a pretty big break out by an OF candidate.
Turang is now blocked and may not be as good, but has reached what could be his highest ceiling as a batter. Other teams could overvalue him and he could garner someone a lot better than Gibson (who I don’t want at all).
Honestly if they make a deal with the Rockies, I think it should be for Jon Gray/CJ Cron. It addresses adding a bat and bolsters the rotation. Which moving Brett Anderson to the pen should also hopefully help that out as long as he can handle his own in the pen. Cron/Tellez can split time at first base, Urias should stay at third. Ever since he’s moved there after we got Adames, he’s been much more solid
Anderson has actually pitched really well recently. Obviously, that could change, or he could get injured (again) but it’s not like he’s getting rocked for 5 runs in 3+ innings every time out. He threw 6 shutout tonight, on like 72 pitches.
Conversely (and I feel I’m just playing devil’s advocate here..), Urias is struggling at the plate recently. I didn’t see the game or box score tonight, but I believe he went 0-for the last homestand..maybe even the Reds series before that (can’t recall at the moment)?
I thought he’d been bad lately. Baseball Reference had him opening the season really cold, going 7 for 41 in the first 17 games. He was decent for a long stretch after that, getting lots of walks and often scratching out a hit every night with few stretches of ofers (none longer than 4 games).
He’s now in his second coldest spell since the opening 17 games. He’s 1 for his last 16 with no extra base hits and only 5 walks in the last 6 games. On base of only .285 and contributing almost nothing. He’d been really good over the previous 10 and even better over the previous 26.
Hope it’s just a little slump.
It’s amazing that the article doesn’t even mention Urias. He’s been very good.
Using a week’s worth of stats for any player is meaningless.
Consider these splits:
Since May 15: .239 PA, 248/.345/.437, .341 wOBA. 113 wRC+, 9 HR, 20 XBH
Since June 1: 198 PA, .250/.345/.448, .346 wOBA, 116 wRC+, 8 HR, 17 XBH
(The above include a bad July.)
In June only: 115 PA, .284/.365/.510, .376 wOBA, 135 wRC+, 5 HR, 12 XBH
You could say Urias has been streaky, but they’ve moved him all over the IF and lineup all year, traded for another SS, etc. He’s 24 and this is really his first full MLB season. He’s hitting plenty well enough not to mess with him right now.
Trading for Story or Donaldson (or any big-name SS/3B) isn’t the answer. If they’re going to pay any sort of price for a hitter, they should be after Mancini (as mentioned by several people) or Joey Gallo (my preference). Both of those guys can play 1B and corner OF (Gallo is actually a decent CF). I’d much rather bank on Urias being productive long term than Vogelbach or Tellez. Or Cain or JBJ for that matter.
Go get a guy that can play 1B and can also provide OF depth. If the DH comes to the NL in 2022, then you can keep Rowdy on the roster as he’ll be relatively cheap for a few more years, still has room to improve, and has an option year remaining if needed (Vogelbach is out of options).
I get the feeling the Trevor Story “interest” is a diversion. It makes zero sense, unless he or Adames is moving to 1B. And that doesn’t make much sense either.
Hey, I suggested Milwaukee get donaldson yesterday in the twins thread…
Gibson is not the real deal and Donaldson is ridiculously overpriced and would destroy the long window we are going to have open for the next 3-4 years (the end of Cain’s contract has hurt us, and we now have to view him as the deadline ‘acquisition’ for OF depth, and Yelich is struggling to live up to the back end of his, even if we consider a big chunk of it a bonus for what he already did).. We would similarly feel bad if Donaldson should start to really tail off with age and be stuck with him for 2 more full years at somewhere around 20 million a year.
I just don’t like the idea of Story as a rental and playing out of position (the initial reports were OF). It would make the team stronger if he played 3rd, and Urias was the first IF off the bench instead of most of our choices (except Jace, who has been decent). Rowdy has been OK and Vogie was on a tear before getting hurt, so I don’t know what we could use at first, except maybe a RH bat (send Hiura down at that point and maybe sadly trade Vogie and Jase for a RH 1B, along with some lower level prospects).
The offense was near dead last before Adames and has played about 12th best since to move up to around 22nd in the league. It’s bad overall, but the first two months were so bad that it distorts how much better it has been.
With the 3 best pitchers in baseball, and Houser, Lauer and Anderson going to the pen by the play offs, it’s pretty clear the Crew can get by on modest moves to win it all.
A couple of bullpen pieces might be a bigger priority, and if the right impact bat comes along that doesn’t cost a lot of prospect capital, pull the trigger.
But the team’s chemistry is great too. I like this clubhouse. Shaw is also about to come back from IL, and it’s like an acquisition, but I’d almost be inclined to throw him in a trade if someone would take him.
I wouldn’t put Peralta among the best SP in baseball. I love him, but the walk rate is still way too high, preventing him from going deep into games, and his BABIP (.176) is bolstering his excellent ERA right now.
Not saying Gibson is the answer here—he definitely would not be at the top of my list of deadline trade targets. But if Freddy is going to pitch only 4 innings per start, nabbing another very good RP would be a boon for the postseason roster. Surprised we haven’t heard much about the Brewers being interested in any of the good RP that will be available (Richard Rodriguez, etc.).
Sorry, I was assuming that by “the 3 best pitchers in baseball” you meant Woodruff, Burnes, and Peralta and not Woodruff, Burnes, and Hader. Which did you mean?