Milwaukee Brewers: Could They Acquire Daniel Murphy?

The Milwaukee Brewers have not gotten the production they wanted out of the second base position this season. Could they be trying to acquire a player like Daniel Murphy?

August is an interesting time for the trade market. Very little is generally known about the trade discussions going on, and we only learn about possible trades right before they’re made official.

But one thing that is a known fact right now is that Daniel Murphy of the Washington Nationals has been claimed on waivers by a mystery team. Could the Milwaukee Brewers be that mystery team?

National League teams get the first chance at Murphy on waivers, so there’s a good possibility the Brew Crew got a chance to claim him.

Why Would The Brewers Want Daniel Murphy?

Daniel Murphy is a good hitter. After returning from offseason knee surgery earlier in the season, Murphy has gotten hot through July and into August. He’s hitting .300 on the season and has a 105 OPS+ through 56 games.

He has pretty good power as well and doesn’t strike out much. He’s never struck out 100 times in a season before in his career, so Murphy makes a lot of contact.

He can play second base, which is a position that Milwaukee still needs more offensive production from. But there’s currently a logjam in the infield, so that would need to be remedied before the Milwaukee Brewers can add Murphy to the team.

Who Could The Brewers Trade To Get Murphy?

Why not give them Jonathan Schoop? He’s struggled in Milwaukee, and the team is reportedly considering trading or non-tendering him in the winter anyway. Why not trade him now?

The main problem is convincing the Nationals that they should want Schoop in return. He’s under control for next season, and that could hold some interest if the Nationals are waiving the white flag on the 2018 season.

Another problem is how this could be perceived. Trading away Schoop, or at least acquiring his replacement, three weeks into his tenure is a bad look for everyone. It would be a bad look for the front office, who gave up a lot to get Schoop, whom they made him their marquee Trade Deadline addition. It’s also a bad look for Schoop, who would get shipped out of town only three weeks in, which could be a sign he quickly wore out his welcome and might be a bad teammate.

Again, that’s all hypothetical about Schoop, but he certainly hasn’t endeared himself to the Milwaukee faithful these past three weeks.

The Nationals’ Options

Washington could pull Murphy back from waivers if they can’t find a trade to their liking. That’s the beauty of revocable trade waivers.

The Nationals could also just let the claiming team take Murphy for nothing. He’s an impending free agent this winter and it could give them some salary relief on the remaining money on his contract. But the Brewers can’t just add Murphy without removing someone from the current infield picture. The most likely candidate to be removed is Jonathan Schoop.

We will find out fairly quickly if the Brewers were the claiming team. If they get him, it could be a season defining shift for GM David Stearns.

The Washington Nationals are surprisingly mediocre this season, and they’re likely close to selling off their best assets for some sort of return.