Brewers: 3 Teams The Brewers Could Trade For Offense From

Oakland A’s

This may not be the most obvious fit, but there are some opportunities here. Oakland has always been cash-strapped, and the 2020 season only made that situation worse. Their payroll reached over $100MM in 2020, if a full season was played. That number is going to come down heading into 2021.

A lot of productive players are also going into free agency this winter, including Marcus Semien, Mike Fiers, Joakim Soria, and Liam Hendriks.

The A’s are not going to be able to re-sign a lot of those guys and will need to supplement the rest of their roster with cheap, controllable players.

At the corner infield spots, Oakland has Matt Chapman and Matt Olson. Both are reaching arbitration for the first time this winter and their salaries are expected to jump into the $3-5MM range.

Matt Chapman is unlikely to be moved anywhere unless for an absolute haul. The Brewers have pitching depth, but they don’t have that much expendable pitching depth.

Matt Olson, however, might be more attainable. He’s a first baseman, and over the past three seasons he has a .246/.337/.483 slash line with a 79 homers, 217 RBIs, .820 OPS, and a 123 OPS+.

Olson had a down year in 2020, hitting just .195, but still had his power, blasting 14 home runs in the shortened season.

Oakland could use some more pitching help, whether it be to fill out their rotation or help out the back end of their bullpen if they don’t re-sign Hendriks.

Olson would help out the Brewers at first base, giving them a thumper in the middle of the lineup. He’s under control for three seasons as well, which makes him an attractive target.

The Brewers are going to leave no stone unturned in their search for offense, and these three teams seem like some of the more promising options.