5 Brewers players who could be traded off the 40 man roster before 2024 Deadline

The trade winds are howling. Rumors are percolating. The Milwaukee Brewers, sitting in first place in the NL Central with a six game cushion could both buy *and* sell at the 2024 trade deadline.

We've already seen them act as buyers with the Aaron Civale and Nick Mears trades. But as the roster crunch grows with players returning from injury and external additions brought in via trade, the Brewers may be forced to sell off some pieces from their 40 man roster in order to make the roster math work.

For example, Bradley Blalock was on the Brewers 40 man roster when they included him in the deal to Colorado for Nick Mears. It's highly likely that before this trade deadline is over, the Brewers will trade a few more players from their current 40 man roster.

But who could those players be? Here are five possibilities.

1. OF Garrett Mitchell

The Brewers first round pick in the 2020 Draft has faced some tough challenges thus far in his pro career. After a great debut late in 2022, Mitchell missed all but a few weeks of the 2023 season with shoulder surgery, then he missed the first three months of 2024 with a broken bone in his hand.

Mitchell can be a sparkplug when healthy, and he has excellent prospect pedigree. Fansided's Robert Murray reported recently that teams were calling about Mitchell and that he could be included in a trade to get some starting pitching.

The Brewers do have a surplus in the outfield. Sal Frelick, Jackson Chourio, and Blake Perkins have all done extremely well this season, plus there's Christian Yelich. Yelich's injury may change the calculus on a potential Mitchell deal, though. The Brewers are seeking a left handed bat to help fill the void, while Mitchell himself is a left handed hitter and plays the same position as Yelich.

Either the Brewers are going to shut down trade conversations involving Mitchell in the wake of Yelich's injury or they can look to bring in a different left handed bat to help fill out the lineup and ship Mitchell elsewhere to get some pitching help.

That surplus means Mitchell is not the only outfielder from the 40 man roster who could find himself with a new team soon, though.

2. OF Joey Wiemer

Joey Wiemer's trade stock has to be rising. In the month of July, Wiemer is hitting .351 in Triple-A Nashville with a .507 OBP. He's walking more than he's striking out and getting on base a ton. That performance could be just what he needs and the Brewers need to get his value up high enough that another team will trade for him. He's still just 25 years old.

Wiemer's value is not as high as it once was, but similar to Brett Phillips in 2018, the Brewers may seek to move him while they can before the trade value completely bottoms out. It's rising right now and it may not ever get much higher.

For a rental starting pitcher, Wiemer would be an excellent return. He brings the upside of a 30-30 threat and can play centerfield.

It's become quite clear as the 2024 season has gone on that Wiemer is not in the Brewers big league outfield plans. Yelich will be here for a while, even with the back issue. Jackson Chourio has a spot secured and the trio of Mitchell, Frelick, and Perkins have solidified themselves as big league hitters. There's not much room on the 26 man roster for Wiemer to crack that depth chart.

The wise move for the Brewers front office, it would appear, would be to trade Wiemer while his value is up. Waiting could only lead to his value bottoming back out. There's a chance it could continue to rise and Wiemer has finally figured out how to improve his hit tool as he's adjusted to his new swing, but should the Brewers take that risk if they can sell now?

3. Eric Haase/Gary Sanchez

I'm going to cheat and include both Eric Haase and Gary Sanchez here because likely one of these two is going to be gone in the near future, I'm just not sure which.

Currently, the Brewers are carrying three catchers on the active roster. That's not a sustainable roster construction. Instead of having to DFA one of the two catchers shortly after the deadline and losing them for nothing in return, the Brewers could simply trade one of them to a team that's looking for catching help at the deadline. This opens them up to a possible contender-to-contender trade.

It's been reported the Brewers are seeking to add a left handed bat at the deadline in the wake of Yelich's injury. If they do add that bat, how will they fit him on to the 26 man active roster? The easy solution is to clear one of the extra backup catchers.

There's little chance the Brewers could sneak Haase through waivers this time around. He's been excellent in a limited role and his trade value has skyrocketed as a result. If the Brewers know they want to roll with Gary Sanchez as the backup to William Contreras, then the best course of action would be to trade Haase now and get something for him rather than lose him on waivers for nothing.

If the Brewers prefer to keep Haase, then Gary Sanchez could be a hot name on the trade market. Teams are always looking for a little extra power at the deadline and Sanchez's name carries weight in that regard. Haase has impressed so much, it's entirely possible they move Sanchez instead.

There's virtually no chance both of these players stick around through the rest of the season. Haase can't be optioned and neither can Sanchez. Don't be surprised if either one of them gets shipped out before Tuesday is over.

4. RHP Joel Payamps

The Brewers bullpen is going to go through a bit of a shakeup. Relievers are going to be on the table in trade talks. It's already a crowded group and it's going to get more crowded. Devin Williams is due back soon and Nick Mears will join the team in the coming days as well. That means two bullpen spots will need to be opened.

Plus there's other relievers due back from injury, so this is again an area of the roster where the Brewers may need to do some shuffling to make the roster math work out.

Joel Payamps is one such bullpen arm who could find himself on the outside looking in. Payamps has had a bit of regression this year, pitching to a 4.14 ERA in 43 appearances. It's a far cry from the 2.55 ERA he put up last season in a high leverage role.

Because of his struggles, Payamps has been moved out of some of the higher leverage spots this season. He's also out of minor league options.

The Brewers like having flexibility with their bullpen group and since Payamps can't be sent back down to the minors, they may be more suited to trade him and the two and half years of control he has remaining. The Nick Mears trade on Saturday showed that even a reliever with a not-so-great ERA with years of control can command a solid return.