Brewers: 4 Relievers the Brewers could target at the Trade Deadline

Matt Arnold has done a fantastic job acquiring two very important relief pitchers this past off-season in Joel Payamps and Elvis Peguero, in the William Contreras and Hunter Renfroe trades respectively. The Milwaukee Brewers however, have had a shaky bullpen at times.

To be fair to the guys currently in the Brewers bullpen, some of the shakiness has been due to being overworked. The Brewers finished 17 games in 17 days before the All-Star break. However, even before the long stretch of games, the Brewers have shuttled in countless relievers between Nashville and Milwaukee, designating some for assignment and outright releasing others.

That said, Matt Arnold could look to stick his foot in the revolving door to stop it and give the Milwaukee Brewers some stability in the bullpen. Here are four relief pitchers that could help the Brewers in their quest to win the NL Central ahead of this year's trade deadline, should the Brewers decide to be buyers.

Brewers Trade Deadline Reliever Target: Jason Foley, Detroit Tigers

The AL Central is an absolute mess, and even at 11 games under .500 the Detroit Tigers are third in the division. That said, nobody is thinking that the Tigers have a chance to win the division in 2023.

The Detroit Tigers coming into the 2023 season had the 25th ranked farm system by MLB.com and could use some prospects to move them up in the ranks heading to 2024, trading a reliever like Jason Foley could help them accomplish that.

Foley will be 28 in November and is arbitration eligible starting in 2025, so while the Tigers could wait to trade him until next season, they may fetch a better return if he is dealt in the summer of 2023 while he is putting up stellar numbers.

In the first half of the season Jason Foley has posted a 2.09 ERA, 1.009 WHIP and 4.86 strikeout to walk ratio. Foley averages 7.9 strikeouts per nine innings and just 1.6 walks per nine innings. Foley has allowed just a .225 batting average and has recorded three saves.

What may sell not only Matt Arnold but also Milwaukee Brewers fans on Jason Foley is the fact that he has given up only three home runs in 109.1 career innings of work. Foley could instantly step in and help Joel Payamps occupy the set up role that the Brewers have been trying to fill.

Brewers Trade Deadline Reliever Target: Zach Jackson, Oakland Athletics

There is not a single person who pays attention to Major League Baseball that doesn't know why the Oakland Athletics could possibly be sellers in 2023 at the trade deadline. The team has absolutely gutted any players worth trading heading into the season and is set to move to Las Vegas for the 2024 season.

The Oakland A's aren't mathematically eliminated from the playoffs yet but do sit 27.5 games behind the AL West leading Texas Rangers. Couple the fact that the Athletics are not a threat to make the playoffs with the fact that MLB.com had them ranked as having the 22nd best farm system heading into the season, the A's need help.

In step the Milwaukee Brewers who could grab Zach Jackson to help their bullpen. Jackson is 28 and is arbitration eligible starting in 2025.

Zach Jackson does have a relatively small sample size of just 19 appearances so far in 2023. However, over that span he has pitched to a 2.50 ERA. His WHIP is high, like Finnegan, at 1.556 and does average 5.0 BB/9 innings.

Going back to 2022, in 58 games, Jackson had a 3.00 ERA in 54 games, a 1.271 WHIP and 6.2 BB/9, so his WHIP is a little high but the numbers suggest he's doing better with not walking batters. Jackson has 23 strikeouts in 18.0 innings pitched so he could be a guy to bring in in relief say with runners in scoring position and first base open in a spot you don't want to intentionally walk a batter.

Outside of that specific example of possible use, Zach Jackson, like Kyle Finnegan, could be a potential stabilizer of the 5th through 7th innings for the Milwaukee Brewers.

Brewers Trade Deadline Reliever Target: Keynan Middleton, Chicago White Sox

Keynan Middleton is a member of the Chicago White Sox, a team in the same division as Jason Foley of the Detroit Tigers, the first target on this list and are even farther back than their rivals to the northeast. The White Sox currently sit 16 games below .500, Chicago is not likely to shock anyone at the deadline by being buyers, selling is much more likely.

The Chicago White Sox also came in at number 26 on MLB.com's farm system rankings, lowest of any team's who's players appear on this list, going into the 2023 season, so the White Sox may not just be sellers, they may be desperately trying to off-load every tradeable asset someone is willing to show interest in.

Keynan Middleton is one of the Chicago White Sox most tradeable assets as he is a free agent after the 2023 season, which could potentially drive the price down a bit.

Keynan Middleton has been a rare bright spot to a White Sox team full of salary but lacking substance. Middleton currently has a 3.19 ERA over 31.0 innings pitched. Middleton has also put up a respectable 1.161 WHIP.

Through the first half of the season Middleton has an 11.6 K/9 innings rate and 3.2 BB/9 innings rate, both very reasonable. The only thing that could potentially scare Matt Arnold, the Milwaukee Brewers front office and the fans away from Middleton is that he has given up five home runs this season, a far cry from the three home runs that Jason Foley has given up in 109.1 career innings of work.

By the time the Trade Deadline is over, it's likely the Brewers will have acquired at least one reliever to help out the bullpen. One of these four could very well find themselves in a Brewers uniform by the beginning of August.