Brewers' 2026 trade deadline acquisition should be atop Matt Arnold's free agent wish list

Like all other 29 teams, the 2026 World Series Champion Milwaukee Brewers are now officially in offseason mode. With another championship as the ultimate goal, Matt Arnold and the front office now face the challenge of building a roster capable of defending their title.

Fortunately, the Brewers don't have many glaring holes to address this offseason. Finding a left-handed complement to Andrew Vaughn at first base -- assuming Jake Bauers rejects the club's $23.15 million qualifying offer -- determining the backup catcher behind William Contreras, and adding right-handed depth to the bullpen are among the more obvious priorities.

However, one less-discussed need is another left-handed reliever with a lower arm slot, more commonly known as a sidearm delivery. Milwaukee has prioritized having that type of arm in its bullpen since Pat Murphy took over as manager in 2024, as it provides a contrasting look to Aaron Ashby's extremely high arm slot, or over-the-top, look and gives opposing hitters a different angle to navigate.

JoJo Romero is the perfect complement to Aaron Ashby in the Milwaukee Brewers bullpen

Among left-handed pitchers, Ashby's average arm angle ranked as the sixth-highest in baseball last season at 54 degrees. It clearly has been an area of focus for him throughout his career, increasing by three degrees from 2025 and six degrees since making his MLB debut in 2021. This type of look allows for his sinker and curveball to have insane amounts of induced vertical break, increasing the amount of swings and misses Ashby generates.

On the opposite end of the arm slot spectrum is a player like Jared Koenig, who was a staple in the Brewers bullpen pen during the 2024 and 2025 seasons, throwing from a 31-degree arm angle. However, when he lost his touch, Milwaukee traded for Ángel Zerpa, another low-slot lefty, who sat at 25 degrees this year before his injury.

Arnold responded to Zerpa's loss by calling up Brian Fitzpatrick, who averaged a 33-degree arm angle this season, while also acquiring Colton Gordon (31 degrees) and JoJo Romero (29 degrees). Romero, in particular, proved to be one of the most impactful trade deadline acquisitions in recent Brewers history, allowing just one earned run over eight postseason innings this year.

All that said, a reunion with Romero, now that he's a free agent, makes plenty of sense from a bullpen construction standpoint. While he's likely to command a multi-year deal that pays him a minimum of $5 million per season, reuniting with the low-slot left-hander could once again pay significant dividends for Milwaukee.

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