Brewers: 3 Trade Targets To Track During The 2021 Season

3 of 3

SEATTLE, WA – AUGUST 19: Third baseman Kyle Seager #15 adjusts his cap during a game against the Milwaukee Brewers at Safeco Field on August 19, 2016 in Seattle, Washington. The Mariners won the game 7-6. (Photo by Stephen Brashear/Getty Images) /

The difference between pretenders and contenders can be seen around the trade deadline. Upgrades usually have to be made by GM’s to prepare for the end of the year run. David Stearns and the Brewers will encounter the same dilemma as almost every other team in the league…are we buyers or sellers?

In an ideal world, the Brewers will be competitive throughout the season and in a position to buy and improve the roster.

If the Brewers decide to become buyers, here are a few guys that could be heavily considered as trade options given the correct circumstances. Let’s take a look.

1, Kyle Seager, 3B

The 10-year MLB veteran has never left the Pacific Northwest as he’s been a staple of Seattle Mariners baseball for many years. It may be time for him to go though. Kyle Seager has never made the playoffs and he may be ready to start a new chapter and join a contender. Enter the Milwaukee Brewers.

This hypothetical trade relies on a few factors on Milwaukee’s end. The Crew currently has a few options at third base including: Travis Shaw, Orlando Arcia, and Daniel Robertson. If this list of players were to struggle though, David Stearns might be eager to make a deal given the Brewers are in contention.

Seager isn’t a guy who’s stats will jump off the page at you, but he’s a solid player. In his career he’s slashed .256/.326/.443 and is a durable guy having played at least 150 games in seven of the nine 162 game seasons he’s played in (he played all 60 last year). Defensively, he owns a career dWAR of 6.2 and impressively ranked in the 78th percentile in outs above average in 2020.

Kyle Seager’s veteran presence could be a big mid-season boost for the Brewers.

If you peel back the onion, Seager is better than his offensive stats showed last year. He only posted an average of .241 but was in the top half percentile of all hitters in every advanced offensive statistic according to Baseball Savant. Specifically, he was one of the best in the MLB in strikeout percentage, only getting punched out 13.3% of the time. Another area he excelled in was walk percentage where he found himself in the 81st percentile at 12.9% of the time.

Because he’s older and hasn’t been playing at the level a team would like to see given his salary, Seager shouldn’t cost too much in terms of a prospect return. He has a club option for next season that is sure to be declined, making him a rental acquisition.

Sodo Mojo, the Mariner’s FanSided affiliate teased a deal a couple months ago including Seager and their proposal included Brewers’ prospects Antoine Kelly and Payton Henry in addition to Avisail Garcia. If this were to happen in July, a return like that would be extremely unlikely.

Regardless, it would be pretty interesting to see Kyle Seager join a squad competing with the Dodgers, thus creating a sibling rivalry with brother Corey.

DENVER, COLORADO – SEPTEMBER 28: Trevor Story #27 of the Colorado Rockies circles the bases after hitting a walk off home in the tenth inning against the Milwaukee Brewers at Coors Field on September 28, 2019 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images) /

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.

PHOENIX, ARIZONA – JULY 21: Eduardo Escobar #5 of the Arizona Diamondbacks hits a single against the Milwaukee Brewers during the first inning of the MLB game at Chase Field on July 21, 2019 in Phoenix, Arizona. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images) /

3. Eduardo Escobar, 3B

Once again, we look at the hot corner as a position that might need to be altered if things don’t shake out the way David Stearns wants them to. This time we look at Eduardo Escobar, current third baseman for the Arizona Diamondbacks. And this isn’t the first time we’ve mentioned Escobar as a potential fit for the Crew.

Similar to Kyle Seager, he’s been in the league for 10 years and is about to enter the last year of his current contract. Acquiring Escobar if the current options at third base don’t work out may not move the needle and make Milwaukee instant World Series contenders, but he has a nice track record and would more than likely provide a spark.

In 2020 he didn’t really display the kind of power numbers you’d like from your third baseman but in 2019, Escobar was a wrecking ball. That year, he slashed .269/.320/.511 with an OPS+ of 110, 35 home runs, 118 RBI’s and an MLB-leading 10 triples. In a year that was wacky for plenty of the top players in the game, I don’t buy into his 2020 numbers too much as he even posted solid years leading up to his breakout in ‘19.

He is pretty well below average at third base defensively, committing the third most errors at third base in all of the MLB last year with eight. And according to Baseball Savant he was in the 24th percentile in ‘Outs Above Average’. So defense isn’t his specialty by any means, but if the Crew could revitalize the 2019 version of Escobar, it could still pay major dividends.

A trade package for Escobar would look fairly similar to what was discussed in the first hypothetical including Kyle Seager.

David Stearns would probably look at a prospect towards the middle to back half of the Top 30 list and considering the lack of outfield depth for Arizona right now.

Corey Ray is a viable option who’s had his struggles moving up the ranks but a change of scenery may prove beneficial. If the D-Backs were looking for someone more MLB ready maybe they’d take a chance on Tyrone Taylor who’s playing pretty well in Spring along with another prospect or two.

A final point on Escobar is his versatility at the plate as a switch hitter, providing balance for Craig Counsell wherever he would decide to put him in the lineup. As mentioned before, the Brewers upper management would have to be quite displeased with their situation at third base to make a move like this, but it is a possibility with the unsteadiness that the four players mentioned above have shown with the bat.

dark. Next. 5 Bold Predictions For The 2021 Season

These three guys will more than likely be moved at some point during the season. And the question isn’t whether they’ll produce this year, but rather where they’ll do that producing come Fall.

Home / Brewers Rumors