Milwaukee Brewers Rumors: Does Adding Kyle Gibson Make Sense?

Milwaukee Brewers GM David Stearns has been talking to the Minnesota Twins about their infielders, but now a starting pitcher might be in play?

Jon Morosi of MLB Network reiterated the Brewers interest in Twins infielders like Eduardo Escobar and Brian Dozier. But he also mentioned Kyle Gibson could make some sense for the Brewers to acquire as well.

After losing Brent Suter to a torn UCL and Zach Davies to another setback, the Milwaukee Brewers need for a starting pitcher has grown larger. Gibson has shown an ability to go deep into games this season, something the Brewers could use, as Morosi points out.

Stearns is on record saying that he wasn’t looking for back of the rotation, innings eater types at the Deadline, but those comments were made before the recent injuries.

Kyle Gibson

Gibson is not a highly regarded pitcher by any stretch. He’s a back end starter who has had an ERA over 5.00 the past two seasons. Gibson’s put together a good 2018 so far, with a 3.57 ERA in 20 starts covering 121 innings.

He’s under contract for next season as well, giving the Milwaukee Brewers a year and a half of control over Gibson, which might be enticing to David Stearns.

Then again, it might not. The Brewers already have a logjam of back-end starters and adding another to the group that’s under control for next year would only lead to more issues with limited roster space. There will be a lot of players that will be eligible for the Rule 5 Draft this winter and need to be protected on the 40 man roster.

Gibson has been incredibly lucky this season. Opponents have only a .278 BAbip against Gibson, which is well below normal. That luck can change at any moment and this season is not an indicator that he’s turned a corner in his career. He’s bound for regression.

I don’t find Gibson to be a major upgrade over what the Brewers currently possess. He’s essentially a less-hairy version of Wade Miley. He’s never been that great and is basically lucky to be having the success that he’s having this year.

The Milwaukee Brewers will keep their eyes peeled for any worthwhile rotation additions, but Gibson is likely a speculative fit as opposed to a main target.