Brewers lose trade destination for Trevor Megill after AL Central club signs closer away from Reds

Josh Hader and Devin Williams laid the foundation for Trevor Megill as dominant closers who built All-Star legacies in Milwaukee. They also created the template for star relief pitchers to be traded by the Brewers with just one year (give or take) left on their contract.

Yes, Megill -- who will forever be remembered as the man who got the final out of the 2026 World Series -- appears to be firmly on the trade block this offseason. He's an excellent reliever, but he's also going to turn 33 next month and will make about $8 million in his final season of arbitration next year if MLB Trade Rumors' projections are correct. That's a hefty chunk of change for a reliever heading into a contract year (by Brewers standards, at least), and perhaps not the best use of resources considering that Abner Uribe is waiting in the wings for the closer gig.

Unfortunately, the Crew lost a prime trade partner this week when the Detroit Tigers inked former Cincinnati Reds closer Emilio Pagán to a one-year deal. That shouldn't prevent Matt Arnold and the front office from finding many suitors for Megill, but it could open the free-agent reliever floodgates that might drown out his market.

Trevor Megill trade could come together quickly as closer market gets a kick in the pants from Emilio Pagán

Some may be holding out hope that the Brewers will buck their historical trends and keep Megill around, but that's unlikely given his contract status and recent success.

Over the past three years, he has accumulated more fWAR (5.0) than all right-handed relievers except for Mason Miller (8.2), Cade Smith (8.0), and Jhoan Duran (6.1). That's elite company and pretty firm reinforcement that whichever team trades for Megill will be getting a dominant closer for 2027.

With the Tigers and Pagán out of the picture, expect to see the reliever market start to move quickly before the impending lockout. There is the remote possibility that losing Págan could open the door for the Reds to trade for Megill; they desperately need the bullpen help and have a vacancy for their ninth-inning job. However, it's rather unlikely that they'd pony up both the prospects and money it would take to acquire Megill for just one year, and it's not the Brewers' style to trade a win-now piece to a division rival.

More likely, Megill will be sent on his way to a mid-tier NL contender (like Hader to the Padres) that doesn't directly threaten the Brewers in the NL Central, or an AL team who is out of the Crew's way entirely (like Williams to the Yankees).

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