3 potential starting pitchers the Brewers can reasonably acquire at Trade Deadline
With the trade deadline approaching, the Brewers may have to add another piece to the starting rotation
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It's no secret that the Brewers are going to be looking for help in the starting rotation. With just over a week to go until the Trade Deadline, time is running out to make an addition, but luckily the market hasn't moved much yet and all targets are still on the board.
Some teams can have reasonable asking prices for the pitchers they are looking to trade, while others might not. The Brewers generally don't pay the unreasonable type of prices, but they will have to pay up in order to get some help.
Here are three starting pitchers the Brewers reasonably could acquire at the Trade Deadline.
1. Jack Flaherty, Detroit Tigers
The Detroit Tigers started the season hot but have gone cold and are considered trade deadline sellers. A potential pitcher they could trade is Jack Flaherty who has been dominating on the mound this year.
Flaherty is having his best season since 2019 with the Cardinals, in 95 innings pitched he has a 3.13 ERA along with a 3.17 FIP, 119 strikeouts, and only 16 walks. As of today, his K/9 (11.27) is 7th in the MLB and his BB/9 (1.52) is also 7th in all of baseball. Flaherty signed a 1-year, $14 million deal with the Tigers this offseason so this would be a rental acquisition for the Brewers. He's also only 28 years old so he has a very high ceiling, especially with how he's been pitching this season.
2. Erick Fedde, Chicago White Sox
The White Sox always seem to be sellers every season and it's looking like that's going to be the case for this upcoming trade deadline. Another great potential starter for the Brewers would be Erick Fedde, former NC Dinos pitcher in the KBO. The Brewers have already been connected to him as a possible landing spot.
Fedde is having an incredible comeback season with the White Sox putting up a 2.99 ERA along with a 3.53 FIP and 1.13 WHIP. The Fedde sweepstakes last offseason were hot as he came off a spectacular season in the KBO posting a 2.00 ERA, 0.95 WHIP, 21 quality starts in 180.1 innings pitched. He wasn't great during his tenure with the Washington Nationals from 2017 to 2022 but he's shown the improvement this season.
One of the best parts about acquiring Fedde would not only be his dominance on the mound but the fact that he has another year of control next season, only having an AAV of $7.5M. This would most likely drive the price up for him but if he can continue his current performances then it wouldn't be an issue going forward.
3. Yusei Kikuchi, Toronto Blue Jays
The Toronto Blue Jays have been underwhelming this season and are being looked at as heavy sellers this upcoming trade deadline. The Brewers should take advantage of this fire sale and acquire starting pitcher Yusei Kikuchi.
Making this move would bolster the Brewers' rotation as they need an innings eater for the second half of the season and so on. Kikuchi has been solid this season posting a 4.42 ERA, 3.69 FIP, and 1.30 WHIP along with 9.93 K/9 and 2.21 BB/9 in 106 innings pitched. The numbers may not be appealing but his Stuff+ has been the highest in his career. His fastball has been his main pitch as he throws it just under 50% of the time with an average velocity of 95.6 MPH which is also the highest of his career. He also throws a slider which is his secondary pitch only being thrown 16% of the time along with a curveball and changeup.
Another important part about acquiring Kikuchi is that he will be a free agent next season, making this a rental and expecting the return to Toronto very cheap.
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