Brewers: 3 Rumored Trade Targets Fans Can Already Rule Out

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Mar 28, 2019; Milwaukee, WI, USA; Milwaukee Brewers President of Baseball Operations and General Manager David Stearns addresses the media before their game against the St. Louis Cardinals at Miller Park. Mandatory Credit: Michael McLoone-USA TODAY Sports /

The 2021 Trade Deadline is rapidly approaching. With the deadline on July 30th this year, there’s just about two months until all the trades have to be made. A lot can change between now and then, but there are a few players Brewers fans can already rule out.

David Stearns clearly hasn’t been willing to wait until July to make his in-season trades this year. He’s already completed four trades in the first two months of the season. He traded away Orlando Arcia for some pitching, traded cash to the Mariners to get Jacob Nottingham back, acquired Willy Adames in exchange for some pitching, and just recently sent Billy McKinney to the Mets for a lotto ticket.

With so many transactions in the books so far, that can help us rule some things out for what might happen as we get closer to the actual trade deadline.

Brewers fans can already rule out an acquisition of these three players at the July trade deadline:

1. Trevor Story, SS, Rockies

Perhaps the most popular Brewers trade target among fans is Trevor Story, and with good reason. Story is a star shortstop that is stuck on a bad team in Colorado and is a virtual certainty to be dealt this summer.

He’s a rental player, scheduled to hit free agency this offseason. That means the prospect acquisition cost will be lower, which is great because the Brewers farm system isn’t that strong. He would provide a massive boost to this offense that is in desperate need of one. He can provide power, hit for average, and bring speed to the basepaths while also bringing solid defense.

With the Brewers struggles to get offensive production from shortstop, Story would’ve made perfect sense as an acquisition.

If the Brewers got to July and they determined that Luis Urias wasn’t getting the job done well enough at shortstop, they could make the move to get Story to boost this season, while giving Urias the chance to reset for 2022.

But wait….

The Brewers already made the determination that Urias wasn’t getting the job done and decided to make a trade, adding Willy Adames instead. Adames is under team control for three more seasons beyond 2021. He brings strong defense and should bring better offense than what the Brewers have had so far.

While Stearns moved on from Urias after just six weeks, he’s unlikely to do the same with Adames. The Brewers, in their mind, have addressed their shortstop problem and are unlikely to make another big time acquisition this year.

That rules out Trevor Story going to the Milwaukee Brewers this summer.

Sep 1, 2019; Chicago, IL, USA; Chicago Cubs third baseman Kris Bryant (17) steals second base against Milwaukee Brewers shortstop Orlando Arcia (3) during the eight inning at Wrigley Field. Mandatory Credit: Kamil Krzaczynski-USA TODAY Sports /

2. Kris Bryant, 3B, Cubs

Some have suggested that the Brewers should get Kris Bryant from the Cubs in a trade. After all, he’s a quality third baseman that would help the offense tremendously.

Bryant this season is hitting .308/.400/.591 with 10 home runs. He’s reversed his negative offensive trend over the past few years with a strong start in 2021. He’s also slated to be a free agent at year’s end, so this wouldn’t be a long term financial commitment and he would theoretically cost less to acquire as a rental.

But…

The Chicago Cubs will not, under any circumstances, trade Kris Bryant to the Milwaukee Brewers. It just will not happen. Ever. Period.

Cubs GM Jed Hoyer would literally have to raid every good prospect from this farm system in order to be able to make this move, and even then I don’t think he’d do it. Stearns is unwilling to pay more than what he feels a player is worth, and the rival tax on this trade package would be astronomical.

This situation is like when Brett Favre wanted to go from the Green Bay Packers to the Minnesota Vikings. There was no chance Green Bay would trade Favre to Minnesota. So they traded him somewhere else, and then after that Favre signed with Minnesota. If the Brewers want Bryant, they’re going to have to acquire him after he’s on a different team.

The odds are slim that the Cubs trade Bryant at all this year, and they’ve started to heat up, jumping the Brewers in the standings after the Crew’s own tough stretch. The odds of the Cubs trading Bryant to Milwaukee are non-existent. It won’t happen. You can rule that one out.

CLEVELAND, OHIO – SEPTEMBER 06: Second base umpire Jerry Meals #41 watches as second baseman Keston Hiura #18 of the Milwaukee Brewers catches Jose Ramirez #11 of the Cleveland Indians trying to seal second during the third inning at Progressive Field on September 06, 2020 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo by Jason Miller/Getty Images) /

3. Jose Ramirez, 3B, Indians

This past offseason, Jose Ramirez was a rumored trade target. After Justin Turner signed back with the Dodgers, it was reported that the Cleveland Indians were making Ramirez available and fans were jumping to that bandwagon.

The Indians ended up not trading Ramirez and currently sit in second place in the AL Central. They’re going to end up trying to compete for a playoff spot this year and likely will not sell off their franchise cornerstone.

They traded Francisco Lindor this past offseason because he was not going to sign a long term deal with the club and they wanted to get something for him before he became a free agent this winter. Ramirez, meanwhile, is under team control through 2023 with a series of club options that are very team-friendly considering the production he puts up.

Ramirez has put up an above-average OPS+ every year since 2016 and would be a fantastic addition to the middle of the Brewers lineup.

But it won’t happen.

The Indians aren’t going to have a major sell off mid-season this year and with their financial restraints, having a player like Ramirez with the kind of contract he’s under is exactly what they want. Ramirez will earn just $9.4MM in 2021 and then has a $11MM option for 2022 and a $13MM option for 2023. So Ramirez will make just $33.4MM over three years, which about what Francisco Lindor would cost for one season on his new deal.

The Indians will keep Ramirez, and even if they shop him around, the price it would take to acquire him would be far too high for Stearns’ comfort.

The Brewers will have to look elsewhere for any addition at third base and already looked elsewhere at shortstop, because we can already rule out the Brewers acquiring Trevor Story, Kris Bryant, or Jose Ramirez.

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Brewers fans can already rule out an acquisition of these three players at the July trade deadline:

1. Trevor Story, SS, Rockies

2. Kris Bryant, 3B, Cubs

3. Jose Ramirez, 3B, Indians

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