Brewers: 3 Relievers to Target on MLBTR’s Early Trade Candidate List

2. RHP Yimi Garcia

Sure, Brewers fans may be holding out hope that the team will target a different Miami Marlin in Jesus Aguilar. But if president of baseball operations David Stearns can’t get that done, reliever Yimi Garcia might be a more attainable target who would still help a position of need.

Garcia has been excellent since signing with the Marlins prior to the 2020 season. After putting up a 0.60 ERA and 0.933 WHIP in 14 games last season, he has currently shifted to a closer’s role for Miami for the first time in his career and his still put up solid results.

In 24 innings, Garcia is 3-4 with a 2.63 ERA and a 1.042 WHIP. He has 10 saves in 13 opportunities so far in 2021 and has only given up more than one earned run in one outing all season.

Garcia’s K/9 is a bit down from last season (8.6 vs 11.4) and he has given up three homers after giving up none last season, though his HR/9 rate is still plenty lower than his last couple seasons with the Dodgers prior to arriving in Miami (1.1 HR/9 in 2021 vs 2.2 in 2019 and 2.8 in 2018).

Garcia relies mostly on his mid to upper 90s fastball and a slider that sits in the low 90s, though he throws in a low 80s curve and high 80s changeup as well. Opposing batters are hitting .219 or lower on every pitch but the curve so far in 2021.

Though not a ground ball machine, Garcia’s 40% ground ball rate would rank him behind Williams and Suter, but ahead of Hader and Boxberger in the Brewers bullpen and would play well to the Milwaukee defense. In fact, his 0.96 ground ball to fly ball ratio profiles very similarly to Boxberger’s (0.92), which is a profile that has mostly worked out well for the team in 2021.

Like Kennedy, Garcia is on an expiring contract and would shift out of a closer’s role upon coming to the Brewers. He would fit in a number of shorter relief roles and would be a rental worth targeting.

3. RHP Raisel Iglesias

Perhaps the Brewers would decide to go with a name that is a little more familiar to them. In this case, the name is not just familiar to Milwaukee fans, but all the other teams in the division as well.

Raisel Iglesias spent six years as one of the better relief arms in the National League Central division prior to 2020. But this past offseason, the Cincinnati Reds traded him to the Los Angeles Angels, mostly due to the $9.125MM he was set to make in 2021.

Though he started the season a little rough, Iglesias has been improving as the season has gone on. His ERA currently sits at 3.91 with his WHIP at a nice even 1.000 through 23 innings. He’s also picked up 10 saves in 12 opportunities as the Halos’ closer.

There are some concerns as his home run rate is at the highest it’s ever been (2.0 HR/9) and his hit rate is close to the same (7.8 H/9 vs 8.2 career high in 2019). But he has been causing batters to swing and miss at the plate at one of the best levels of his career.

Iglesias’ 13.3 K/9 is the highest mark of his career by a full strikeout per nine. Meanwhile his strikeout rate (37.4%) and whiff rate (41.6%), not to mention his miniscule walk rate (3.3%), all sit in the 97th percentile or higher per Baseball Savant.

As an added bonus, his familiarity with the NL Central could be a nice asset. It will be a fight to the finish for the division title and Iglesias has good career numbers against both the Cubs (3.46 ERA, 1.116 WHIP, .210 batting average against), and Cardinals (3.33/1.266/.204).

Just like the previous two candidates, Iglesias becomes a free agent after this season, so there are no worries about having to match a hefty price tag going forward.

Based on his track record, Stearns will almost certainly make a move for a reliever, assuming the Brewers stay competitive. Any of these three candidates would make a fine addition to the bullpen.