Milwaukee Brewers: Five potential August trade targets

The July Non-Waiver Trade Deadline has come and gone. The Milwaukee Brewers made a couple acquisitions prior to that deadline but now a new trading season has begun.

The August Waiver trade period is slightly different than July. It can be difficult to fully understand the waiver process. MLB Trade Rumors has an excellent explanation here. But basically, players go on revocable waivers and there are a variety of ways it can go from there.

If a player isn’t claimed, they can be traded anywhere. If a player is claimed, they can be either pulled back, have a trade worked out, or simply let go to the claiming team.

Teams put most of their players through on waivers and for the most part, nothing ever comes of it. Bryce Harper was even put through waivers. And, while no one claimed him, the Nationals likely have no interest in getting rid of Harper. So it wouldn’t surprise anyone to see most of the Brewers on waivers, even guys like Orlando Arcia who obviously won’t go anywhere.

Generally, no one outside of front offices really knows who gets put on waivers and who gets claimed. In July there was a rumor for everything, now it’s mostly silent. The Mariners traded for Yonder Alonso from Oakland and he was claimed off waivers. There were no rumors that he was claimed at all until the trade came down. We likely won’t get a warning ahead of time before these deals go down. And they can go down at literally any time.

Last year, the Milwaukee Brewers were reportedly close to making an August trade of Ryan Braun to the Los Angeles Dodgers. This year, David Stearns and the Brewers are unlikely to be dealing from their major league roster and will instead look to add to it. There are places for upgrades on this roster, whether big or small, August trades can fill them.

To be eligible for a Postseason roster, a player must be on the roster before September 1 so the deadline on August 31 represents the last opportunity to add to the ballclub for the playoff run. The Milwaukee Brewers didn’t do too much at the July deadline but are poised to make a few more moves in August given they’re still in contention. Here are five potential players that could join Milwaukee in August.

Justin Verlander

We’ve already written that the Brewers would be a good fit for Verlander. And Milwaukee was connected to him back in July. However that contract and the no-trade clause are major inhibitors to any deal.

If David Stearns and Mark Attanasio are willing to take on the rest of his contract, a deal could get done with minimal prospect sacrifices. That would satisfy Attanasio’s desire to go for it this year and also satisfy Stearns’ desire to keep his prospects.

The Astros are also rumored to be looking at Verlander but haven’t gotten much traction, leaving the Brewers an opportunity to swoop in. As long as Stearns gets to keep Brinson and others that are in his untouchable prospects corps, Verlander could very well come to Milwaukee.

While his stats may be underwhelming this year, he has done better of late and still shows flashes of his Cy Young stuff. A top of the rotation with Verlander, Jimmy Nelson, and Chase Anderson would provide some hope in a playoff series.

Blockbuster deals are rare in August and make no mistake, this would be a blockbuster. An ace the quality of Verlander moving from one side of Lake Michigan to the other would put the rest of MLB on notice that the Milwaukee Brewers are for real and are here to stay.

Ian Kinsler

Another player the Milwaukee Brewers were connected to back in July was Ian Kinsler. It seemed as if Detroit was trying to include him in negotiations for Justin Wilson, who ended up going to Chicago. But Kinsler presents an intriguing option for Milwaukee.

Jonathan Villar hasn’t produced this year. And Eric Sogard seems to be regressing back to his career average at the plate. So with a lack of production at second base, Hernan Perez has been getting some playing time at the keystone. But he will also need to play elsewhere and this lineup could use a boost.

Ian Kinsler is a career .275 hitter, which is good, but this year his average sits around .247 and he is 35 years old already. Maybe getting the Kinsler of five years ago would be great, but the current Kinsler may be past his prime too much to contribute.

Regardless, he provides veteran leadership and has plenty of postseason experience. Which could be beneficial for this young club as we head into September and hopefully October.

The rumors are already there and he’s likely to clear waivers. He has a team option for next year and Milwaukee would only be on the hook for the remainder of this year’s salary if they decide to decline it. Given acquiring him with only a month to go in the regular season would mean his salaray wouldn’t be that large to begin with. The cost of acquiring him alone could be rather small.

J.A. Happ

J.A. Happ is a left handed starting pticher that was connected to Milwaukee early in July. But nothing materialized because Toronto wanted to keep him and they felt they were still in the hunt. But now, things might have changed.

Happ is under control through next season and provides another good option for the starting rotation down the stretch. Toronto may still be unwilling to move him since they want to reload and make a playoff push next season but perhaps David Stearns could entice Toronto.

The Milwaukee Brewers have had a long history of trading with the Toronto Blue Jays and maybe that history will be allow the two to link up once again.

Happ has a 3.92 ERA in 85 innings with 80 strikeouts this season. The 34 year old is coming off of the best season of his career last year and while his numbers have regressed from that, he’s still an effective starter.

He could make a great depth addition to the starting rotation that has seen its depth crumble away this year with the poor seasons from Wily Peralta and Junior Guerra, along with the injury to Chase Anderson.

Dan Straily

Straily provided an interesting alternative to Sonny Gray back in July and has stayed put in Miami. It’s difficult to see that changing because of his long term control and relative success and high potential.

While it’s true that he hasn’t had the success of Sonny Gray, he’s performed well this year. And Miami’s asking price is understandably high. Still, the Milwaukee Brewers value long term control and perhaps that could entice David Stearns enough to pull the trigger. Unlikely, though.

Stearns practiced patience and restraint in July and one will expect him to do the same in August, but you never know. Perhaps some more success will convince Stearns that he needs to go for it this year but the prospect package may be too much.

The rumors connecting Milwaukee to Straily back in July are enough to consider him becoming a potential target this month. Miami will most likely put Straily on waivers, if they haven’t already. The Brewers could put in a claim for him and try to work something out, but it will be difficult.