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Brewers Trade Deadline: 3 Trade Ideas To Signal Crew Is “All In” On 2021

By David Gasper |
Oct 4, 2018; Milwaukee, WI, USA; Milwaukee Brewers general manager David Stearns before game one of the 2018 NLDS playoff baseball series against the Colorado Rockies at Miller Park. Mandatory Credit: Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 4, 2018; Milwaukee, WI, USA; Milwaukee Brewers general manager David Stearns before game one of the 2018 NLDS playoff baseball series against the Colorado Rockies at Miller Park. Mandatory Credit: Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports
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Oct 4, 2018; Milwaukee, WI, USA; Milwaukee Brewers general manager David Stearns before game one of the 2018 NLDS playoff baseball series against the Colorado Rockies at Miller Park. Mandatory Credit: Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 4, 2018; Milwaukee, WI, USA; Milwaukee Brewers general manager David Stearns before game one of the 2018 NLDS playoff baseball series against the Colorado Rockies at Miller Park. Mandatory Credit: Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports /

Go big or go home. Although Brewers president of baseball ops David Stearns is typically patient and looking to play the long game, 2021 might be the year to push the Milwaukee Brewers “all in” for a World Series in 2021.

As other outlets and pundits have mentioned, this year might be the year to make this kind of push. Milwaukee has been willing to be patient and take “as many bites at the apple” as they can to try to win the World Series. But it’s also hard not to recognize that this season might present their best shot to win it all.

Right now, the Brewers have their four key pitchers (Brandon Woodruff, Corbin Burnes, Freddy Peralta, Josh Hader) all dominating at the same time. It’s not particularly likely this group will be this dominant for a whole season all at the same time again. All four pitchers are also relatively cheap, but will be getting more expensive next year and even more expensive the year after that.

If the Milwaukee Brewers decide they want to go “all in” on 2021, what trades can they make ahead of the 2021 MLB Trade Deadline to do so?

Brewers “All-in” Trade Idea #1: Trade for Trevor Story

It’s a down year offensively for Trevor Story, even though he plays half his games at Coors Field. He’s hitting just .242 with a .737 OPS and 12 home runs on the season. That’s nothing like the player who hit in the .290s with an OPS over .900 and 30+ homers in each of 2018 and 2019.

Still, just like Christian Yelich, that star offensive player is in there somewhere.

If the Brewers can get both Yelich and Story in the same lineup and back to their All-Star form down the stretch, this lineup instantly becomes electric.

Story is going to be one of the biggest bats on the trade market this July and on the free agent market this offseason. There’s a large numbers of star-level shortstops hitting free agency this winter and Story will get his share of the money that’s sure to be flying around. The Brewers, if they trade for him, likely won’t be the team to pay him that money. This would be more of a CC Sabathia level move where they know going into this that they won’t re-sign the player they bring in.

Whether Story has a similar kind of impact on the Brewers as Sabathia or not, this would be a move that signals the Milwaukee Brewers are all in on 2021 as their World Series year.

The cost to acquire Story might not be enormously high, given that he’s a rental, he’s having a down year so far, and not many contending teams are desperate for a shortstop.

The Brewers have Willy Adames now, but having a player at a certain position hasn’t stopped David Stearns from acquiring someone else who plays that same position before. Story could move around the field, potentially to centerfield, or even third base. Milwaukee could use an offensive jolt at both of those positions.

Story is the biggest name on the hitting market and the Brewers need to boost their lineup. If they make this move, they are all in on 2021 being their World Series year.

Jul 18, 2021; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; Washington Nationals starting pitcher Max Scherzer (31) throws to the San Diego Padres during the first inning at Nationals Park. Mandatory Credit: Brad Mills-USA TODAY Sports
Jul 18, 2021; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; Washington Nationals starting pitcher Max Scherzer (31) throws to the San Diego Padres during the first inning at Nationals Park. Mandatory Credit: Brad Mills-USA TODAY Sports /

Brewers “All-in” Trade Idea #2: Trade for Max Scherzer

Starting pitching isn’t a need. Why would they do this?

While the Milwaukee Brewers have a very talented crop of starting pitchers, they lack experience, especially in big postseason moments. The current trio of starters were all pitching out of the bullpen during the Crew’s postseason run in 2018. Pitching in the postseason out of the bullpen and pitching as a starter are two very different things.

Adding someone who has experience starting games when the lights are brightest isn’t the worst idea. Max Scherzer has that experience and three Cy Young awards under his belt.

While the argument can be made that the Brewers have the best rotation in baseball already, there are other contenders. If they add Scherzer to the mix, there is no doubt the best rotation resides in Milwaukee.

A postseason rotation of Scherzer-Woodruff-Burnes-Peralta would be a nightmare for opposing offenses. The Brewers offense would only need two or three runs a game to lock down games.

Scherzer is another rental that would likely not re-sign with Milwaukee at the end of the season, so this would be just for 2021 if done. But the value of having Scherzer on the staff to help guide the Brewers young starters through their big postseason starts is immense. He’s been on that stage.

This may not be particularly likely or even the best use of going all-in, but Stearns has doubled down on positions of strength before, so it wouldn’t be too shocking or out of character for him to do it again.

Jul 21, 2021; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Minnesota Twins third baseman Josh Donaldson (20) hits a two RBI single against the Chicago White Sox during the fifth inning at Guaranteed Rate Field. Mandatory Credit: Matt Marton-USA TODAY Sports
Jul 21, 2021; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Minnesota Twins third baseman Josh Donaldson (20) hits a two RBI single against the Chicago White Sox during the fifth inning at Guaranteed Rate Field. Mandatory Credit: Matt Marton-USA TODAY Sports /

Brewers “All-in” Trade Idea #3: Trade For Josh Donaldson

Bring on the rain, because the Brewers have a retractable roof. Josh Donaldson, known as the “Bringer of Rain”, could be available at the trade deadline this year, and Milwaukee may make some sense as a destination.

In fact, Jon Heyman has reported that the Brewers have indeed checked in on Donaldson.

As Heyman notes, Donaldson’s contract could be a stumbling block in getting a deal done, but the Twins could offer to eat some of the money on his contract in order to facilitate a deal. Honestly, that would be the only way the Brewers would be able to afford to trade for Donaldson.

Although Donaldson is in the back half of his career, playing this season at age 35, he’s still been a fairly productive bat when healthy. He’s no longer the player he was in 2015 when he won AL MVP for Toronto, but he can still swing it. Donaldson crushed 37 homers in 2019 with the Braves.

This season for Minnesota, Donaldson is hitting .249/.352/.475 with 15 homers and 15 doubles. His 132 OPS+ is right in line with his career average and several of his most recent seasons.

The key for Donaldson is health as he missed a few weeks in April after getting hurt on Opening Day against the Brewers, and then has had a few scares but no other IL stints this year. He only played in 28 games last year due to injuries.

When it comes to Donaldson’s contract, he’s the only one on this list that isn’t a rental. Donaldson is owed just over $7MM for the remainder of this season, and then has two more guaranteed years with a $21.75MM salary for each of them, and then a club option for $16MM in 2024 with an $8MM buyout. That’s about $66.5MM remaining on his contract if the Brewers acquired him at the Deadline and picked up his option. If they chose the buyout in 2024, it would be $58.5MM.

As stated above, the Twins would have to pick up a significant amount of Donaldson’s salary for this trade to work for Milwaukee.

But if they can get him to Milwaukee and keep him healthy while splitting the bill with Minnesota, Donaldson is the type of impact bat the Milwaukee Brewers need to add to this lineup right now. It would solidify third base with a true power bat and vastly improve this team. Donaldson is another veteran with plenty of postseason experience.

The Brewers would have Donaldson for the next few years if they go this route, and he could help anchor this lineup as they look to keep their window of contention open as long as possible.

Next. The 3 Best Trade Deadline Deals In Brewers History. dark

These are just a few ideas for the Brewers to consider. While some may be long shots, any one of these transactions would signal not only to fans but to the rest of the league that the Milwaukee Brewers are serious about their chances this year and that they’re all in for a World Series victory in 2021.

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