Brewers’ closer Trevor Megill has perfect reaction to trade rumor season

With Major League Baseball's August 3 trade deadline fast approaching, baseball fans are squarely in the middle of trade rumor season. Though a crowded American League Wild Card picture is certainly impacting the amount of players available ahead of next Monday's trade deadline, many insiders still expect a flurry of action as contending teams work to perfect their rosters for the final stretch.

With the second-best record in baseball entering play on July 24, the Milwaukee Brewers are comfortably among that group of "contending teams" and are therefore expected to make additions to their roster over the next week and a half. In fact, though the Brewers have taken been relatively conservative at the trade deadline during the Matt Arnold era, which has covered the last three deadlines, Adam McCalvy of MLB.com recently reported that the front office is "prepared to adopt a more aggressive approach" at this year's deadline.

Many are expecting the Brewers to target a starting pitcher at the deadline -- one who is a clear upgrade over their internal options. With plenty of pitching depth, a lateral move makes little sense for the Brewers at this point, but a starter who can take the ball in Game 3 of a postseason series behind Jacob Misiorowski and Kyle Harrison should be Milwaukee's top priority at the deadline.

Others are calling for the Brewers to add some pop to their offense, as they opened play on July 24th with the least amount of team homeruns in all of baseball. While Milwaukee could make an upgrade to the left side of the infield or their outfield group, few obvious options exist on the trade market, raising the price of those who will be available.

However, while Arnold and company contemplate whether or not they should make an impact addition to their rotation or the offense, it's almost certain that they will at least make some kind of addition to their bullpen group before the trade deadline. Outside of the shortened 2020 season, the Brewers have acquired at least one reliever at every trade deadline during their stretch of seven postseason appearances in eight years. It's safe to think that trend will continue this year.

While the front office is busy thinking about what arm would be the best addition to the team's 'pen, the leader of the Brewers' relief corps, closer Trevor Megill hasn't thought twice about who might soon be joining him in the bullpen.

Brewers' closer Trevor Megill is blocking out the deadline noise as front office mulls impact additions

"I’m going to walk into the clubhouse one day and see a new face. Honestly, that’s how it’s going to be. That’s how it was with Lance [McCullers]," said Megill after the Brewers' win over the New York Mets on Wednesday afternoon. The Brewers' All-Star closer noted that he didn't know about the Brewers' trade with the Houston Astros that brought Lance McCullers Jr. and Colton Gordon to Milwaukee until two days after it went down. It's the type of locked-in mentality teams want from their closers.

“My job is to go throw zeros, and Matt and friends go do their thing," said Megill on the upcoming deadline, with Matt, of course, being the Brewers' President of Baseball Operations, Matt Arnold, and his "friends" being the stellar team of analysts in Milwaukee's front office that continues to make strong acquisitions.

While the Brewers are almost certain to add a reliever at the deadline, it's rather unlikely that Megill's job description changes. While he may describe it as "throwing zeros," Megill is now the Brewers' clear-cut closer after some early-season inconsistency led to Abner Uribe briefly taking over the role. Outside of Mason Miller of the San Diego Padres, who the Brewers are unlikely to acquire, and Aroldis Chapman of the Boston Red Sox, who is unlikely to be traded at all now, there isn't a trade candidate out there who would unseat Megill as the Brewers' closer halfway through the season.

Therefore, Megill's tunnel vision remains the ideal strategy for the towering flame-thrower as the season continues. He may suddenly have a new neighbor in the Brewers' clubhouse, but that won't change the responsibility he bears at the back-end of Milwaukee's bullpen.

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Follow