Milwaukee Brewers: 3 Trades That Could Happen At The Winter Meetings

Chase Anderson To The Padres

Let’s face facts. Chase Anderson is an extreme fly ball pitcher. Fly ball pitchers don’t do well in Miller Park. Anderson allowed 30 home runs last year, which led the National League, and 22 of those home runs came at Miller Park.

It would make sense for the Brewers to trade Chase Anderson away this winter. He’s under control for a total of three years, but his team can cut ties with him after 2019. He’s due $6.5 million next year, and Anderson is on the fringe of the rotation at the moment. The young starters have passed him by on the depth chart as he was benched in October for the playoffs.

The San Diego Padres have been trying to acquire a veteran starting pitcher to help along their young pitching staff. Anderson would be the perfect fit as he’s experienced, is under team control, and isn’t owed a ton of money. Also, the Padres play in one of the most pitcher friendly parks in baseball. It’s very difficult to hit home runs out of there, making it the perfect place for Anderson.

AS for the return, the Milwaukee Brewers might ask for lefty reliever Matt Strahm. Strahm, 27, is an appealing target due to his four years of team control and his strong numbers last year. In 2018, he posted a 2.05 ERA over 61.1 innings. He also had 10.1 K/9 and a 0.978 WHIP.

Since the Brewers recently non-tendered lefties Xavier Cedeno and Dan Jennings, adding another lefty reliever to pair with Josh Hader makes a lot of sense to fortify the bullpen for Milwaukee.

While Anderson might cost more than Strahm to acquire, I think he would be an excellent target for David Stearns.