5 prospect trade chips the Brewers could sell for pitching help at MLB Trade Deadline

The Brewers have already struck in the trade market, landing Aaron Civale from the Tampa Bay Rays. In order to acquire Civale, Milwaukee had to give up one of their trade chips in shortstop Gregory Barrios.

Barrios was having a breakout season and was rising quickly in a loaded Brewers farm system. Milwaukee has plenty of trade chips they could deal in order to make more moves this month. The tough part for the front office is deciding which prospects they would be willing to part with and which ones they would prefer to keep.

Lately, the Brewers front office has leaned more towards keeping as many of their prospects as possible rather than parting with them. Still, there are a number of players in this system that the Brewers could view as trade chips and other teams would be interested in.

As rumors unfold over the next few weeks about which pitchers the Brewers might try to acquire, here are some names who could be traded away to get that pitching.

1. OF Carlos D. Rodriguez

The Brewers have no shortage of outfielders at the big league level. They're quite set at that position group for the next several years. One of those outfield prospects that played with all those outfield prospects up in Milwaukee is Carlos D. Rodriguez.

Rodriguez has always had great bat-to-ball skills. The 23 year old is currently repeating Double-A and is hitting .302/.382/.367 with 10 doubles, zero homers, and 13 stolen bases.

In his six minor league seasons, Rodriguez is a career .295 hitter. The man can hit, though he doesn't do much for damage. He has just 10 home runs in his entire minors career. The lack of power in his profile has slowed his ascent up the minors, but Rodriguez is still young enough to entice another team into acquiring him.

It's clear Rodriguez isn't going to have a future in Milwaukee's outfield with the bevy of options they already have and he's Rule 5 eligible this offseason. Given his strong season, another team could very well take a chance on Rodriguez's hit tool being good enough to carry over to the big league level.

Rather than potentially lose Rodriguez for nothing in the Rule 5, the Brewers could maximize his great performance this year and get some pitching help for him. Milwaukee has done that a lot in past trade deadlines, trading away prospects that were soon to be Rule 5 eligible that weren't going to make the cut for the 40 man roster.

2. SS Eric Brown Jr

The Brewers drafted Eric Brown Jr out of Coastal Carolina in the first round of the 2022 Draft. A talented, speedy shortstop with a solid glove, Brown could be a sparkplug at the big league level. He's currently ranked as the Brewers 10th best prospect.

What's hampered Brown since being drafted has largely been injuries. Last year, in his first full season in the minors, Brown played well for High-A Wisconsin, hitting .265/.362/.347 with eight doubles, four homers, and a whopping 37 stolen bases. But his season was cut short by several weeks due to an injury.

This year, Brown has also missed some time on the IL, but not as much. The larger concern is the lack of production. For Double-A Biloxi, Brown is hitting just .173/.266/.234 with two homers, 14 stolen bases, and just a .500 OPS.

Still, the first round pedigree carries weight and perhaps injuries are still hampering him even though he's active. Another team could view this as an opportunity to bring in a former first round talent to their organization. The Brewers generally aren't willing to part with their first round picks as most of them have become big contributors for them in recent years (after a long stretch without that). Brown may be the rare case where he could be available for some sorely needed pitching help.

Brice Turang and Joey Ortiz are expected to be battling for that starting shortstop of the future job, which will likely leave Brown on the outside looking in and a logical trade candidate.

3. RHP Alexander Cornielle

The Brewers pitching lab has a reputation for churning out talented pitchers seemingly out of nowhere and Alexander Cornielle is one of these pop up pitching prospects having a great season that the Brewers front office could sell high on.

Cornielle is pitching in High-A Wisconsin and has a 3.10 ERA in 12 starts. In 61 IP, he's struck out 50 batters while walking 23. His walk rate has steadily improved the last few years and while his strikeout rate has dropped, the overall results have gotten better.

The 22 year old righty is going to be Rule 5 eligible this winter as well.

He's missed a little bit of time this year on the injured list, but Cornielle is back healthy and is out on the mound. He has stayed as a starter, which is important. He started 18 of 20 games last year and 22 of 25 games back in 2022.

It shouldn't be long until Cornielle earns a promotion to Double-A based on his performance this year. The Brewers though may opt to keep Cornielle in High-A and performing well to keep boosting his prospect stock in the eyes of other teams while trade talks are ongoing.

Most teams would prefer to get a pitcher back in return when they're trading away a pitcher. Cornielle could very well be one of those pitchers another team covets as trade talks unfold.

4. RHP Shane Smith

Another pop up, seemingly out of nowhere pitching prospect success story for the Brewers in 2024 is Shane Smith. Smith started the year in the bullpen for Double-A Biloxi but has transitioned seamlessly to the starting rotation.

Smith made 38 appearances out of the bullpen last year with no starts, tallying 10 saves with a stellar 1.96 ERA, making it all the way up to Double-A. He appeared to be on the fast track to the majors as a reliever based on his performance.

Back in Double-A, Smith still has had great results with a 3.06 ERA in 53 IP with 68 Ks and just 15 walks. He's made 17 appearances, the last eight of which have been starts.

In those eight starts, Smith has a 2.75 ERA with 40 Ks in 36 IP. He's rapidly rising up the prospect ranks because of this success in his transition to the rotation. The Brewers may be willing to look to sell high on Smith, an undrafted free agent signed back in 2021.

Like many of the other trade chips on this list, Smith is going to be Rule 5 eligible this winter and given his breakout success this season, Smith could warrant a selection or perhaps even 40 man roster protection.

Smith could help bring back a pretty solid pitcher to help out Milwaukee's beleaguered staff. The track record in the rotation may be short, and Smith may ultimately be a reliever at the big league level, but he's looking more and more like a surefire big leaguer and that's going to be highly valuable to teams at the trade deadline.