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

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.