Milwaukee Brewers: Which teams make the most sense as trade partners?

San Francisco Giants

We’ve covered the Milwaukee Brewers’ pursuit, or lack thereof, of Madison Bumgarner for months. But the Brewers could also deal for second baseman Joe Panik, or they could flip a starting pitcher to the Giants to add to other key areas of the Milwaukee roster.

While the Giants aren’t an obvious choice to deal for Anderson or Davies, they still have to field a representative Major League team. They won’t have Johnny Cueto for most of the year, and have names like Dereck Rodriguez, Chris Stratton, and Andrew Suarez occupying space on their depth chart. Davies and Anderson are both clear upgrades, and could make sense if the Brewers are willing to sell for pennies on the dollar for salary relief.

The Giants have about $150 million already committed to their payroll for 2019. They can either choose to go all in with a deal for Anderson or Davies, or they can look to shed salary. The Brewers are a match for both options as they have solid prospects they can ship to San Francisco, or they can offer Major League-caliber arms in exchange for salary relief. It’s hard to believe that these two teams have had more smoke around possible deals.