Brewers Rumors: 4 External Third Base Additions For Brewers To Consider

Third base is the biggest remaining positional need for the Brewers to address this offseason. While they've added some depth options in Abraham Toro and Owen Miller, neither are true competitors to Luis Urias for the starting job at present.

With Urias taking a step back offensively in 2022 and the team ready to win now and improve the offense, they could stand to upgrade the position by bringing in someone externally. But who could that be?

There are a couple of options on both the free agent and trade markets for the Brewers to consider.

Here are four external third basemen for the Milwaukee Brewers to consider acquiring this offseason.

Brewers third base target #1: Free agent Brandon Drury

Brandon Drury is the best free agent option at the hot corner on the market this offseason. He had a big breakout season in 2022 with the Reds and Padres, finishing his walk year with 28 homers, an .813 OPS, and a 122 OPS+ with a 2.6 bWAR.

Drury, 30, can play third base everyday, presenting a solid upgrade over Luis Urias, but he also has the versatility to play second base and even the outfield if needed.

Drury has dealt with injuries in his career, playing in 130+ games just three times in eight seasons in MLB. Because of that, teams likely aren't looking to go anything beyond a two year commitment and even if other teams are, the Brewers shouldn't be.

It was believed that Drury would have a robust market because he was really the only viable everyday starting option at third base out there this year, but he's remained unsigned to this point.

It looks like Drury is just now hitting his stride with his health in order and has blossomed into the hitter he always showed promise of being back with Arizona in 2016 and 2017. The Brewers can ride that momentum for the next couple of years and perhaps get the best years of his career.

Based on his history and incredible walk year, I'd expect Drury to be available for the Brewers on a two year deal in the $20-25MM range. If his market pushes any higher than that, then there are a couple other options to choose from...

Brewers third base target #3: Yandy Diaz, Tampa Bay Rays

Tampa Bay is even more afraid of paying players than the Brewers are. They also have a roster crunch, lots of prospects ready to come up and get playing time, and a history of trading away good players because they get too costly, and their threshold is lower than Milwaukee's.

Yandy Diaz is a high quality hitter, and although his defensive metrics at third base leave a little to be desired, he'd be an immense upgrade to the lineup that would be worth any defensive liability he brings.

Last season, Diaz hit a whopping .296/.401/.423 with 33 doubles, 78 walks, and just 60 strikeouts. Yes, please! He's entering his first season of arbitration and is projected to earn $5MM, which is the highest among all Rays arbitration eligible players. The Brewers certainly have room to add that to the payroll considering what he brings. He hits for a high average, he gets on base, he draws walks, and he doesn't strikeout. It's everything the Brewers offense needs and he'd be an ideal leadoff hitter.

The best Brewers OBP last year among qualified hitters was Christian Yelich at .355. Diaz's was nearly 50 points higher than that. The Brewers need to get on base more and there are few better at getting on base than Diaz, and certainly not many like him available on the market. The free agents who hit like that, the Brewers can't afford. But Diaz, they can afford him.

If Tampa is willing to move him, and they very well might be given their roster construction, the Brewers absolutely need to jump on board and see what it'll take to make a deal.

Again, he may not be a great defender at third and may need to move to first base, which impacts Rowdy Tellez, but with the bat he brings, Diaz is an upgrade no matter where you put him. This should be Plan A for Milwaukee ideally.

Brewers third base target #4: Rafael Devers, Boston Red Sox

This one is probably the most "pipe dream-y" of the four, but rumors are that Boston trading Rafael Devers is possible.

The Red Sox have been having a brutal offseason thus far, losing Xander Bogaerts and JD Martinez, and they look to be heading towards a bit of a rebuild. They failed to extend Bogaerts previously and their remaining superstar, Rafael Devers, is a year away from free agency himself.

Devers, 26, had a .295/.358/.521 slash line with 27 homers, a 141 OPS+, and a 4.9 fWAR in 2022. He's a career .283/.342/.512 hitter in six seasons. Devers can hit for both average and power and doesn't strike out a lot. He's the type of hitter that completely changes a lineup and would be a perfect fit on every team.

Devers is projected to earn $16.9MM in his final year of arbitration in 2023. He's going to hit the open market after that and command a contract in excess of $300MM. He's only 26 and is a stud on offense. He's going to get paid big time by someone. If the Red Sox aren't able to complete an extension with him, they could very well look to trade him this winter to get at least something back for him.

Whichever team trades for Devers, if it happens, is likely doing so and paying what will likely be a high prospect cost because they plan to sign Devers to a contract extension. The Brewers will not have the capability to sign Devers to the extension he desires. It'll be hard to justify trading away the prospects necessary to get Devers when you know he would only be in Milwaukee for one season.

That said, the Red Sox traded one year of Mookie Betts to the Dodgers for a package of prospects that haven't really panned out at all. They also traded away the final year of Andrew Benintendi for not much at all in return. Because Devers is in his final year, the prospect cost would not be as exorbitant as the trade for, say, Juan Soto was.

Devers wouldn't cost the Brewers Jackson Chourio or Sal Frelick, I'd imagine. If the Brewers can hold on to both of those guys and acquire Devers, even if only for one year, that would be worth it in my opinion. It would signal that this team is looking to win now and pushing their chips in for 2023.

It's not typically how the Brewers operate and knowing he'd leave in free agency may scare them away. But even so, they'd be able to give him the qualifying offer and recoup a high draft pick at the very least if they did this.

If Matt Arnold wants to signal that he's not just looking for a bite at the apple but he's looking to eat the whole apple and win it all, trading for Devers would be the move.