MLB insider's Devin Williams trade proposal to Dodgers is nowhere near good enough

Former GM Jim Bowden has put out a list of his trade ideas he'd like to see at the Winter Meetings next week. Unsurprisingly, he included the Milwaukee Brewers and their biggest trade chip, Devin Williams. Also to little surprise, he wants to see Williams with the big money, big market Los Angeles Dodgers.

The fit between the two sides as trade partners isn't ideal in terms of what the Dodgers have and what the Brewers are looking for.

Milwaukee is likely looking for a similar return to what the Corbin Burnes trade brought back with two, MLB-ready young players with full slates of team control. One infielder and one pitcher also would appear to be a likely construction of that return.

Bowden did propose that two player return with an infielder and pitcher, but he completely missed the mark in a very important area.

Proposed Devin Williams trade to Dodgers leaves a lot to be desired

Bowden proposed the Dodgers send infielder Gavin Lux and left handed pitcher Justin Wrobleski to the Brewers in exchange for Devin Williams.

I think Bowden got it right with Justin Wrobleski, a 24 year old left handed starter that's the Dodgers' 6th ranked prospect. He had a good season in the upper minors and got his feet wet at the major leagues in 2024, but still has six years of team control remaining. His polish and impressive stuff, including a feel for spinning the ball that Milwaukee loves to target in their pitchers makes him an attractive trade option for the Brewers in trade talks for Williams.

However, where this proposal falls short is the inclusion of Gavin Lux. Look, Lux is a fine player, he's a 2.0 WAR player the last two full seasons he's played, he's a league average hitter, doesn't bring a ton of power or speed but hits for a decent average. He's played primarily second base for the Dodgers but came up as a shortstop. Lux is not a particularly strong defender, with limited range and a sub-standard throwing arm, which makes the move back to shortstop or even third base difficult.

The Brewers have the best defensive second baseman in baseball, so Lux would need to move to short or third, which are more demanding defensive positions that he likely wouldn't be able to play up to the standard at.

On top of that, Lux only has two years of team control left. The Brewers are going to want someone that's in their pre-arbitration years with multiple seasons of team control remaining. While Lux isn't super expensive in arbitration, projected for just $2.7MM in 2025, it's still more than the Brewers would have with a younger, more controllable player.

Yes, there is the connection that Lux is originally from Wisconsin and bringing him back to his home state does have some appeal. Lux has been an oft-rumored trade target of the Brewers through the years because of that connection and his high prospect pedigree. Still, the addition of Lux to Milwaukee in return for the Brewers biggest trade chip just does not make logical sense for GM Matt Arnold to do.

Wrobleski is a solid start, but it's going to have to be a different young infielder to entice the Brewers to trade their All Star closer to Los Angeles.