Milwaukee Brewers Rumors: Mike Minor On The Crew’s Radar

The latest Milwaukee Brewers rumors have the team casting a wide net in their search for starting pitching upgrades this summer. They’re now connected to another name on the market.

In the latest round of Milwaukee Brewers rumors, the Crew reportedly has interest in Texas Rangers LHP Mike Minor.

This should come as no surprise given Minor’s resurgent 2019 campaign and the fact that the Rangers are likely to sell at the deadline.

According to Jon Morosi, there are a number of interested teams, and a deal should come together before the deadline, but at the moment, a deal is not close.

The Brewers have a long history of trading with the Texas Rangers, with the most recent deal being the acquisition of Alex Claudio during the 2018 Winter Meetings. Prior to that, sending Jonathan Lucroy and Jeremy Jeffress there at the deadline in 2016, and getting Jeffress back in 2017.

Mike Minor As A Trade Target

We detailed a possible Brewers pursuit of Mike Minor in our second tier starting pitchers article.  Minor has pitched to a 2.73 ERA this year and is looking a lot like his 2013 self that dominated the NL that year.

Normally, Minor has been more of a fly ball pitcher than a ground ball pitcher, but he’s reversed that trend this year, getting ground balls 43.8% of the time and fly balls just 38.4% of the time. That should lead to success in Miller Park.

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Also, Minor is under contract through next season, so he’s not a rental. That will increase the prospect price, but the extra team control should entice GM David Stearns. Minor is due $9.5 million next season. The Rangers could throw in some money to pay that down if they want a better prospect return. But it’s not an unreasonable salary, even for the Brewers.

Should They Get Mike Minor?

It depends on how much you believe in his breakout season. With his 2.73 ERA, he has a 3.82 FIP and a 4.42 xFIP, so his peripheral stats point to a regression happening eventually. If you believe in those peripherals, then you might not want him.

Then again, Wade Miley had a poor outlook from FIP and xFIP last year and he still ended up pitching just fine and not regressing throughout the season, so it’s possible to outpitch the peripheral stats. If you believe that, then you’ll want him.

Bottom line, there’s a reason Minor was included in our article on the second tier of starting pitchers on the market and not the top tier of guys. He’s a solid, if unspectacular option for the rotation. He’ll eat up innings and pitch pretty well. But he’s not an established ace that will carry the team through September and October. Expecting him to be so would only lead to disappointment.

He’ll add depth and help solidify the fluid state of this Milwaukee Brewers rotation. We’ll see what happens, but it’s likely we’re going to hear the Brewers connected to pretty much every available starting pitcher over the next two weeks.

If the Milwaukee Brewers are going to add some starting pitching, they’re going to have to do so before the July 31st deadline.