Milwaukee Brewers Rumors: Is There An Offer Out To Dallas Keuchel?

There have been unconfirmed reports that the Milwaukee Brewers are among the finalists for free agent starter Dallas Keuchel, with some details on the offers.

While it’s been slow for Brewers rumors lately, there are still a couple of big fish out there in free agency, and the biggest one who makes the most sense for Milwaukee to catch is LHP Dallas Keuchel.

Let’s try to digest this report a little bit.

Paul Crane, while unverified, is a sportscaster in the Atlanta area. He hosts a podcast and used to be a minor league broadcaster, but he is not a journalist. The real question is, how much can we trust this report?

It’s interesting how he’s in Atlanta and phrases this as a Braves update, but doesn’t have any details on the Braves offer and has details on the offers from other teams. Now that could be because his source is in the Braves front office and can’t discuss his team’s offer, but was willing to reveal where the rest of the market was at, which makes sense.

So there may be some legitimacy to this. Only time will tell. But take this report with a grain of salt.

Could The Brewers Land Keuchel?

Operating under the assumption that this report is accurate, the Milwaukee Brewers appear to have a pretty good chance of signing Dallas Keuchel. They have the longest known offer out there and he would instantly improve this rotation.

Keuchel was looking for a five year deal at the outset of free agency, and while a three year deal would be a big step down from that, a higher AAV could help mitigate his concerns and perhaps there could be a fourth year option attached to it to get the deal to the finish line, but that option is my own speculation.

All three reported finalists are contending teams, so it’s going to have to come down to money and where Keuchel sees the best fit. Miller Park generally isn’t a good ballpark for attracting free agent pitchers, as shown by the Crew’s previous signings. But Keuchel is a heavy ground ball pitcher, with a career 58.8% ground ball rate, Keuchel is able to keep the ball on the ground, which is key to success in Milwaukee.

He’d definitely make sense for the Brewers to get, and a three year deal, even with a higher AAV of say, around $20MM per year, that’s still a good contract for the Brewers. They might have to clear the salary of a Chase Anderson or Eric Thames to make the payroll work, but it’s doable since it’s a shorter term pact. Doing that for five years wouldn’t make much sense.

If this report is indeed true, then Milwaukee is in striking distance, and President of Baseball Operations David Stearns can finally get that top starting pitcher he’s been looking for. Keuchel’s will be a key market to watch over the next few days and with any luck, we’ll get some more verification of this report.

It’s been a stale Brewers rumors mill lately, but this could finally get the gears turning and we could see some action in the coming days as the Brewers try to defend their NL Central title in 2019.