Brewers: 5 Current Players Who May Be Next On The Trade Block This Offseason

The Brewers are not rebuilding, or so they say, but they have been trading away established big league talent in exchange for young, unestablished players. It started with Josh Hader back in August, and the latest move was trading Hunter Renfroe.

Milwaukee is looking to get younger while decreasing it's payroll, hopefully in an effort to free up money for contract extensions for their remaining star players and remain competitive. That has led to rumors about further trades from the big league roster.

Who could be next to go? There have already been rumors about Kolten Wong garnering interest, but he's not the only one with a legit chance to be on the move. Other teams may be looking at Willy Adames, Corbin Burnes, and Brandon Woodruff, but the Brewers can't seriously entertain moving those players and have any expectation to compete in the next two years.

So if the big three aren't trade candidates, which Brewers players are? Here are five current Brewers who could be the next to be traded this offseason.

Brewers trade candidate #1: Kolten Wong

This is the most obvious candidate for the Brewers. Rumors are already percolating about Wong drawing interest and being available. Rival GMs are expecting Wong to be the next to go.

Wong was the Brewers second-best qualified hitter in terms of OPS+ in 2022, behind only Hunter Renfroe, who was just recently traded. He's set to make $10MM next season, which is a reasonable rate for his production but with the Brewers facing a payroll crunch, a large arbitration class, and a cost-effective replacement ready in Brice Turang, Wong could be on the move.

The Seattle Mariners have interest. Other teams that could be in the market for Wong are the White Sox, Phillies, and Red Sox, and potentially more.

Because Wong only has one year left before free agency, the return package may be lighter than most fans would believe.

Chances of being traded: 90%

Brewers trade candidate #3: Adrian Houser

The Brewers rotation took a step back in 2022, and a large part of that was because injuries plagued the group all season. Houser was one of those bit by the injury bug but even when healthy Houser had a down season. He finished with a 4.73 ERA in 102.2 IP.

Because his performance regressed, Houser was demoted to the bullpen at the end of the season, essentially cementing his place as the 6th starter on the depth chart heading into the offseason. Aaron Ashby has put himself firmly in the rotation and Houser is now in the swing role. But there's competition for that, too, with newly acquired Janson Junk set to compete for a rotation spot. Junk is also much cheaper than Houser, who is projected to earn $3.6MM in arbitration next season.

Houser could easily be a starting pitcher in another team's rotation, but the top 5 in Milwaukee are just too strong for Houser to earn a regular spot, which makes him a trade candidate. Houser would be worth more on the trade market as a starter than a reliever. By trading him now, the Brewers can still market him as a starting pitcher and thus receive a larger return. If he spends most of 2023 in the bullpen or in a swing role, his trade value will decrease.

That's all without mentioning that Houser has two years of team control left. They can get maximum return this winter, but if they wait until next offseason, he'll only have one year left and any trade return will be minimal.

However, the Brewers did say they wanted more pitching depth this offseason and trading away Houser would be removing some of that depth, unless they get big league ready pitching back in return for him.

Chances of being traded: 50%

Brewers trade candidate #4: Keston Hiura

The Brewers thought Keston Hiura would be the young hitter that would lead this team alongside Christian Yelich for years to come. Instead both players have regressed post-2019, but Hiura's situation is much different than Yelich's. Yelich was an established MVP with years of producing above-average numbers in the big leagues prior to earning his contract extension that has a full no-trade clause. While Hiura had one good half of one season in the bigs before his three year slump.

Hiura brings no defensive value and is practically useless against left handed pitchers. His numbers against righties haven't been good enough to compensate. He doesn't have a position and his strikeout numbers have only gotten worse. There are a variety of reasons why it makes sense for the Brewers to move on.

Hiura's trade value will never again reach the heights that it had in 2019. The Brewers held on to him, believing in that bat. With the bat no longer there, his value has plummeted faster than FTX.

A change of scenery is necessary for Hiura. The Brewers have done all they can to get him back to his old self. With Rowdy Tellez and Jon Singleton on the roster to cover first base, and no reason to give him regular playing time at second base or left field, Hiura should get a chance to play elsewhere with regular opportunities and a clean slate to get himself back on track.

If he can get back on track elsehwere, it'll be great for him to resurrect his career. But it would be tough for the Brewers to stomach, knowing they had him and that the talent was always in there. That leads me to drop his chances of being traded to below 50%, just because they may not have given up completely and won't want to see him succeed elsewhere.

But if they have tried everything, it's time to move on. And if they believe they haven't tried everything yet, then what's been taking them so long to try everything to fix him?

Chances of being traded: 40%

Brewers Trade Candidate #5: Eric Lauer

Ideally, the Brewers would not trade away Eric Lauer. However, we can't rule it out as a possibility. Lauer, like Houser, has two years of arbitration remaining before reaching free agency.

Lauer is coming off a solid season, posting a 3.69 ERA in 158.2 IP covering 29 starts. He has become a reliable #4 starter in the Brewers rotation behind the top trio of Burnes, Woodruff, and Peralta. Because of that, and because Lauer is left-handed, his value has increased. His arbitration projection is at $5.2MM for next year, well above what Houser is projected to earn.

That could make the payroll-cutting Brewers consider trading away Lauer this winter. He would bring back a pretty solid return if they were to move him, a much better return than what Houser would get.

There's also the fact that Lauer has been critical of the Brewers front office of late. He publicly criticized management after the Josh Hader trade. Even though a lot of people did the same, when a member of the team does it, it hits a little differently. The front office could simply want to trade Lauer because he was publicly critical of their decisions. Criticism in private is one thing, but doing it publicly could ruffle some feathers.

While it would be a mistake to trade Lauer because of his completely justified criticism of the team, we can't rule out that they could do it. Other teams will have interest because he's a quality left-handed starter with two years of control at a reasonable salary.

Chances of being traded: 25%