Brewers: 3 Trade Targets To Track During The Season

2. Trevor Story, SS

This one might be the most far-fetched of the three, but to say there’s “no way” it could happen doesn’t do Trevor Story or the Brewers front office justice.

Story is a magnificent talent and is one of the best at the shortstop position. Brewers upper management and David Stearns (more specifically) rarely leave a stone unturned. Stearns added a solid outfielder in Jackie Bradley Jr. to a position group that was already a strength some might say.

There is plenty of uncertainty surrounding the Crew’s shortstop position entering the 2021 season. Orlando Arcia just went through a stretch of games going 2-27 at the plate and while Luis Urias is trending in the right direction, he doesn’t have the major league track record to make one think he can extend his solid Spring into the regular season.

Urias has a career .226 average in the MLB, but in the minors that average skyrockets to .308, so he’s shown he can hit…..he just hasn’t at this level YET.

If Urias and Arcia are struggling, don’t be surprised if the Brewers take a good hard look at Trevor Story.

He’s the complete package. He’s a Top 10 defensive shortstop ranking in the 78th percentile in ‘Outs Above Average’, he led the NL in steals and triples in 2020 and he’s a career .277 hitter with an average close to .300 each of his last three seasons. He has the perfect mix of speed and power and is the type of guy that can put his fingerprints all over games.

Lots of teams will be calling on Story come July as the Rockies are expected to be nowhere near competing for a playoff spot and Story is a free agent after the season. It’s a very strong free agent shortstop class and teams will be looking for a leg up to sign any of those players.

The Brewers may have to send quite the proposal to the Rockies front office to beat out other teams. Story would be a two to three month rental, and the Brewers know it, so the prospect return won’t be as high as it would with someone who has years of control, but if there’s a bidding war, the Brewers may not have enough or be willing to part with enough to get Story.

The packages that the Brewers propose might not be able to compete with other teams around the league, but it doesn’t hurt finding what the asking price would be.