Brewers: Ranking the Crew's Biggest Positions of Need at the 2023 MLB Trade Deadline

With just eight days left in the month of July, this year's MLB trade deadline is rapidly approaching. And if this weekend's series against the Braves was any indication, the Milwaukee Brewers should highly consider making some moves.

The Brewers remain a half game ahead of the Cincinnati Reds for the NL Central lead with a 55-45 record. But although they played a competitive series against Atlanta over the last three days, they got outslugged at home on their way to dropping two of three games in the series.

Milwaukee has done a good job so far at fending off challengers to the NL Central lead, even if they've briefly lost it for a few days. But, if they want to ensure they're on top of the mountain by season's end, and if they want to be able to contend with the big boys like Atlanta, there are some positions they should prioritize more than others when the trade deadline rolls around next week.

Here is a ranking of the Brewers' biggest positions of need at this year's trade deadline.

1. Designated Hitter

It goes without saying that the Brewers need to focus most of their trade deadline on improving an offense that sits in the bottom third of the league. That needs to start with the DH position, which we've already lamented doesn't stand for "designated hitter" when it comes to Milwaukee, but "doesn't hit."

Brewers designated hitters have by far accounted for the worst offensive production on the team and are arguably the worst in the entire league. Per FanGraphs, Brewers DH's have compiled a -1.7 fWAR, 56 wRC+, and a .539 OPS, all the worst marks at that position in MLB and it's not particularly close.

The Brewers have afforded offseason acquisition Jesse Winker every opportunity to grab hold of that position with mostly little success. DH should be a source of easy offense, though, so it's either time to trade for one of the many available offensive players and plug them in, or possibly even bring in a catcher and give William Contreras, one of the most consistent offensive players on the team, some additional time at the position.