Brewers Rumors: Crew Have Checked In on Yankees 1B Luke Voit

Sure, it may feel like there is no end in sight for the MLB lockout. But at some point, league operations will continue once again and it’s fun to think of what moves the Milwaukee Brewers might make once they are allowed to do so.

In terms of needs, one would think the team would be wise to focus on continuing to add some more offensive firepower to the lineup. They took a small step toward addressing that need when they traded with the Red Sox for outfielder Hunter Renfroe right before the lockout began.

But considering what the Brewers’ offensive output looked like in 2021 at times, president of baseball operations David Stearns could still be in search of an impact bat, particularly at one of the corner infield spots.

At first base, Milwaukee is now down to just Keston Hiura and Rowdy Tellez after fan favorite Daniel Vogelbach was non-tendered at this fall’s deadline. Should the universal DH get added to the next collective bargaining agreement as expected, those two would be in line for at bats there as well and first base could use some reinforcement.

With only a couple bigger names on the free agent market at first base, this is an area where the Brewers could once again explore the possibility of a trade. As it turns out, they may have already done so with Boston’s biggest rivals.

Apparently, the Brewers have checked in on the availability of Yankees first baseman Luke Voit.

According to a recent post by MLB Trade Rumors, the Brewers have checked in on New York slugger Luke Voit, though it’s not known exactly when. Their source was an article written by Joel Sherman of the New York Post, where he attempts to predict the Yankees’ post-lockout activity.

Sherman considers whether the Yankees might want to bolster their outfield defense through trades, including one for Brewers center fielder Lorenzo Cain. It’s there that he mentions Milwaukee’s past inquiries into Voit.

Voit is coming off a bit of a down year in 2021. He slashed .239/.328/.437 and had just 11 homers and 35 RBIs. However, he was limited to just 68 games due to injured list stints for a right oblique strain and left knee inflammation, the latter ending his season before the playoffs began.

Prior to that, Voit was coming into his own. His career slash line sits at .267/.357/.510 and after playing in a career high 118 games in 2019, he led the American League with 22 homers in the Covid-shortened 2020 season while also finishing 9th in AL MVP voting as the team’s primary first baseman that year.

Voit would slot in as an everyday player for the Brewers. The righty-lefty splits for his career are very similar with him slashing .268/.362/.508 versus right-handers and .264/.344/.516 against left-handers. The introduction of the universal DH would help keep him in the lineup.

Voit would also come with plenty of control remaining with three years of arbitration still on the books. And as we all know, Stearns absolutely loves acquiring controllable talent when it comes to the deals that he makes.

Whether Voit is actually available isn’t really known at this point. But if he is, the Brewers would be wise to continue exploring whether a deal could actually be made.