Milwaukee Brewers: Rumors Roundup on Winter Meetings Day 1

The Winter Meetings are in full swing. Milwaukee Brewers GM David Stearns and his staff is down in Orlando right now working on improving the team for next year. There were a lot of rumors that came out today.

All of baseball is located in Orlando, FL right now as every team, every agent, and every reporter is in the Swan and Dolphin Resort. Because of this, rumors were flying everywhere today on a number of players. Some of those players could be future members of the Milwaukee Brewers if things work out.

To start this rumor roundup, however, we will give an update on a current Brewers player.

Domingo Santana

Coming into these meetings, we saw a report that teams were interested in Domingo Santana. Today, David Stearns did confirm that he has been receiving calls on Santana. But he also said it would take a sizable return to move Domingo. As of right now, it appears Santana isn’t going anywhere.

The lack of traction is likely due to that high asking price. Teams like the Giants and A’s are reportedly interested. San Francisco doesn’t appear to have the movable talent to entice the Crew and Oakland will want to keep their young talent as much as possible.

Neil Walker/Anthony Swarzak

As far as the Brewers own free agents, David Stearns had this to say.

So he’s being secretive about whether or not he’s reached out to Walker and Swarzak. He’s probably talked to them and their agents previously but he will cross paths and touch base with their agents at the meetings. Swarzak should be the bigger priority of the two. First, because of the need at the position and, second, because the relief market is expected to move quickly and Swarzak could be signed by the end of these meetings.

Jed Lowrie

Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle believes Jed Lowrie to be a trade candidate from the Oakland A’s, a possibility we suggested a while back. She posits that the Brewers would make a good match in a Lowrie trade and we have the outfielders the A’s desire. She mentions Santana as a target but recognizes Oakland would need to send a starting pitcher as well in that trade.

Danny Duffy/Whit Merrifield

The Kansas City Royals are going to be sellers at these Meetings as they begin a rebuilding process. Some of their best players that we’ve mentioned a few times as options for the Brewers are now known to be on the market.

While there was no direct report that the Milwaukee Brewers were one of the teams that called about these players, it’s safe to assume David Stearns has given Royals GM Dayton Moore a call or two on these players. It’s not out of the question that Stearns leaves these meetings with one these Royals players in tow.

Ian Kinsler

Kinsler has been connected to the Brewers since July. Although a deal didn’t get done then, the Tigers believe that they will trade Kinsler at these Meetings. They have received a number of calls on Kinsler and they are motivated to move him.

There are a few teams in search of a second baseman that could take Kinsler instead. The Angels and Mets are two teams known to be scouring the market.

Chris Archer

Rays GM Erik Neander said today that the trade conversations he’s having on all of his players are “more talk and not as much action” so far. Archer isn’t believed to be a priority sale for the Rays and they will want a large return on him, double the return of a potential Jake Odorizzi trade.

So action hasn’t really happened yet for Archer but things can move quickly at the Winter Meetings. And with the improvements the Chicago Cubs have made and knowing where they are at, the Milwaukee Brewers could be motivated to get some action on Archer. The Cubs are also thought to be interested in Archer.

Marcus Stroman

Marcus Stroman isn’t thought to be on the trade market. The Blue Jays still stubbornly believe that they can contend in the AL East. They will likely have to sell in July at the deadline and start their rebuild next offseason. But Stroman might be recognizing an opportunity. He just liked a tweet suggesting he be traded to the Milwaukee Brewers.

Stroman has no control over being traded and cannot demand a trade, but this is definitely interesting. Stroman had to know what he was doing when he liked this tweet and understood how people would interpret it. If he wants to come to Milwaukee, David Stearns should try to make that wish come true.

Next: Ted Simmons snubbed from the Hall of Fame again

The Winter Meetings will continue through Thursday and it was a fairly quiet first day in terms of actual transactions. But that means the rest of the week figures to be extremely active. Expect David Stearns to make a transaction or two in the coming days.