Milwaukee Brewers: Why A Deadline Move Should Be Made

The Milwaukee Brewers have had rumors circulating that they are interested in bolstering their starting pitching.  These rumors are based around Jose Quintana and Sonny Gray.

Reviewing the Brew ran a Twitter poll to see what fans of the Milwaukee Brewers thought about this subject.  Of the four options given, doing nothing was the winning response with 40 percent of the vote.

The second place vote was Gray with 26 percent, followed by Quintana at 22 percent, and the other option got last with 12 percent.

I could see the appeal of leaving the team the way it is.  They are in first place and playing well.  Plus there are some extremely talented prospects waiting in the wings.  It would be a shame to give them away.

That being said, it is time to take advantage of a weak National League Central.  There are plenty of teams underperforming, but it is still a close race.  Between the Cardinals and Cubs there is some serious talent.  And there is some serious talent being linked to them as well.

The Cubs, who have essentially the same roster than won them a World Series last year, are being linked to former Cy Young award winner Justin Verlander.  While the Cardinals are being linked to former MVP Josh Donaldson.

If the other teams add the right talent, there will be a fire lit under them that could propel them to a strong second half.  That will put a lot of pressure on the first place Milwaukee Brewers.  So I truly believe they need to sacrifice some prospects to get some MLB ready talent.  In this case they should go after Sonny Gray.

While Quintana may add a little more value being a lefty, the White Sox run very high prices for their players.  This off season they robbed the Red Sox for Yoan Moncada, and the Nationals for Lucas Giolito.  That would be the equivalent to either Lewis Brinson or Corey Ray.  If not both.  That is giving too much away for the lefty pitcher.

That is why the move that should be made is to get Gray.  He is an established MLB arm who can add immediate value to the front Milwaukee Brewers rotation.  With a list of pitchers exceeding pre season expectations, it would be smart to add a guy who has performed.

Gray is a career 3.48 ERA and has been pitching in the majors since 2013.  The only issue with him is that he consistently has a high WHIP.  On his career he has a frustrating 1.20.  His fastball velocity sits right where the league average, but his spin rate sits higher than the mark of the league by just under 200 rotations per minute.

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The price tag on Gray will not require a ridiculous amount, or quality of prospects.  Where the White Sox overvalue players, the A’s do a good job of valuing their players at just the right level.  That is the main reason that Gray is the smarter move for the Milwaukee Brewers.