Bleacher Report trade deadline prediction could make Brewers big deadline winners

MLB's Trade Deadline is July 30th this year and so far it's shaping up to potentially be a doozy. We've already seen some big trades go down in early May. The Milwaukee Brewers are once again in the thick of the NL Central race and will likely be buyers come July.

With two and a half months to go, Bleacher Report has made a series of predictions as to what might happen at the deadline this year. One of those predictions involves the Brewers making a big splash that would likely make them the big winners of the Trade Deadline.

Bleacher Report predicted that the Brewers will trade for Astros third baseman Alex Bregman, a two-time All Star.

Trading for Alex Bregman could make the Brewers big Trade Deadline winners, but doesn't address their biggest need.

The article noted that the Brewers are currently running a platoon of Joey Ortiz and Oliver Dunn at the hot corner, which hasn't delivered the greatest results. There's room for improvement, but both these players are in their first full season in the big leagues. Developing them is key to the long-term success of the franchise.

That doesn't mean that an upgrade should be ruled out. Bregman is an experienced veteran with loads of postseason experience and success. While he isn't having a great season in 2024, hitting just .218 with three homers and a .615 OPS, the Astros in general aren't playing well, which is puttingthem in the selling conversation.

Bregman is in the final year of his contract and will be a free agent at season's end. The Brewers would carry no long-term financial risk and can simply let him walk in free agency and go with the young kids moving forward at third. Bregman is making $30.5MM this year but by the time the deadline rolls around, any acquiring team would only be on the hook for about a third of that.

Bregman has never posted a below-average OPS+ in his career, with the lowest being a 113 OPS+ in 2021. He has a 79 OPS+ this year, but it's still early. He's a career .272 hitter and will likely get into a groove at some point.

Still, while adding Bregman to this Brewers lineup would be great, it doesn't address the Brewers biggest need, which is in the rotation. Injuries to Wade Miley, DL Hall, and Jakob Junis have cut into the depth of this group and if they're going to make a postseason run, they'll likely need more pitching. Perhaps they can outslug everyone else with Bregman in the lineup, but pitching is the biggest need.

If this comes to fruition, Bregman would provide a boost to an already strong Brewers lineup headlined by Christian Yelich, William Contreras, Willy Adames, and Brice Turang. The league would look at the Brewers as big winners of the deadline. Will Bleacher Report's prediction come true? We'll find out over the next two and a half months.