Brewers rumors: MLB insider reveals Aaron Civale trade request

A trade request. It's not something you often see in the sport of baseball. The negotiating tactic is generally reserved for the NFL or NBA, but occasionally it will pop up in MLB. On Thursday morning, MLB insider for The Athletic Ken Rosenthal revealed that after Aaron Civale's move to the bullpen and subsequent meeting with Brewers management, he formally requested a trade from the organization so that he could resume pitching as a starting pitcher for the remainder of the season, which sees Civale become a free agent at its end.

The Brewers elected to move Civale to the bullpen to make room in the starting rotation for top pitching prospect Jacob Misiorowski, who makes his debut this evening against the St. Louis Cardinals. But the move was a strange one and evidently came as a surprise to Civale, who hasn't made a single appearance out of the bullpen throughout his professional career.

With free agency looming, Civale would rather continue his season as a starting pitcher with another ball club than remain in the Brewers bullpen, which makes complete sense — just look at the free agent contracts that starting pitchers earned last offseason compared to those that relief pitchers brought in. The Brewers would no doubt love to find a trade partner for Civale, so a fulfillment of his request would come as a win for both parties involved.

Assessing Aaron Civale's trade value following his trade request

As the Brewers search for a trade partner, what might Aaron Civale's trade value look like? He's a reliable middle-to-back-end rotation piece with a high floor. He had a strong second half last year and has been solid this season since his return from the IL. Civale is on an $8 million contract for 2025, so an acquiring team would take on roughly $4.5 million by trading for Civale, assuming no other money is exchanged in the deal.

To get an understanding of Civale's trade value, let's take a look at a trade the Brewers made at last year's trade deadline: acquiring Frankie Montas for Jakob Junis and Joey Weimer. Montas held a 5.01 season ERA at the time of this trade and was owed $6.7 million, between his pro-rated contract and the buyout of his 2025 mutual option. By those metrics, Civale has more value than Montas did; he certainly has a higher floor as a pitcher, while Montas might have the higher ceiling. The Brewers did counter some of the financial imbalance by including Jakob Junis, who was owed about $4.5 million, and also sending $1 million cash to the Cincinnati Reds. Even still, the Brewers should theoretically be able to net a similar return to what the Reds received for Montas last July.

However, with the Brewers losing some of their negotiating strength after Civale made a formal trade request, and the timeline not hurried for potential acquiring clubs with the trade deadline still six weeks away, Milwaukee might just be happy shedding the rest of Civale's contract and giving him a better opportunity with a new ball club. That would be a win for both Civale and the Brewers, as well as the acquiring team who will be getting a consistent big league arm on a reasonable salary.