Brewers Next Move After Corbin Burnes Trade Could Be Equally Painful

The Milwaukee Brewers recently pulled off a stunning trade that sent Corbin Burnes to the Baltimore Orioles. In exchange the Brew Crew received LHP DL Hall, INF Joey Ortiz, and the 34th overall selection in the 2024 MLB draft.

In short the Orioles will get one year of Corbin Burnes whereas the Brewers could have team control of Hall and Ortiz until 2030. Hall has found more success as a reliever recently and is coming off a great post season showing. Ortiz just got his feet wet in the big leagues last year, he is an elite defender with the ability to play shortstop, and he has upside offensively in contact, on-base ability, and power.

Why did the Milwaukee Brewers trade Corbin Burnes?

For Milwaukee it was always expected that they would trade Burnes if the right deal came along. 2024 is his final season of control and rather than just receiving a compensation pick from a qualifying offer in free agency the Brewers ended up getting multiple players and an additional draft pick in return.

Timing wise this deal likely came together quickly. Despite Milwaukee recently signing free agent Rhys Hoskins and all indications pointing towards GM Matt Arnold assembling an elite team, an offer just one day after Baltimore announced a group of new owners came along that apparently met the criteria as to what he was looking for.

Could the Corbin Burnes trade spell doom for Willy Adames?

Entering this off-season Milwaukee had three players entering their final year of team control. Those players were Corbin Burnes, Brandon Woodruff, and Willy Adames. As highlighted Burnes was traded. Woodruff was non-tendered in November after undergoing shoulder surgery that is expected to sideline him for most or all of the 2024 season.

This leaves Adames as the last man standing of the trio. The cost of shortstop in free agency rose during the 2022-2023 offseason when Trea Turner, Xander Bogaerts, and Dansby Swanson all signed massive contracts. Adames could be the next big player to sign and with his cost likely out of the range that Milwaukee wants to pay, it's likely that he gets dealt prior to this year's trade deadline.

Additionally the Brewers now have a few MLB ready shortstops in Brice Turang and Joey Ortiz. Turang is home grown and played second base last year whereas Ortiz was just acquired from the Orioles. Both are excellent defensively but have to prove themselves at the plate yet.

At this time all signs point towards a Willy Adames trade happening, it's just a matter of when.