Brewers Rumors: Crew "Actively Shopping" Kolten Wong, Several Teams Interested

The Milwaukee Brewers have been somewhat active so far this offseason, although their moves have been more about subtractions than additions to this point. That may not necessarily end in the immediate future, either.

After trading away Hunter Renfroe to the Angels, rumors began percolating that Kolten Wong would be next. The Brewers had just recently picked up Wong's club option for 2023 and GM Matt Arnold called Wong a "championship caliber player who can be part of a really good team here." Perhaps being a part of a really good team here means whoever they trade him for will be on a really good team here.

According to Fansided's MLB Insider Robert Murray's latest notes column, the Brewers are actively shopping Kolten Wong on the trade market.

The Brewers are shopping a Kolten Wong trade and there are a number of interested teams.

Murray goes on to list the Mariners as one specific team with interest, although that had been previously reported as well. But he also said the Brewers have been in discussions with "several teams" onthe Gold Glove second baseman.

Ken Rosenthal has also reported that the Dodgers and Giants are two teams with interest in Kolten Wong as well.

Some other teams that make sense are the White Sox and Phillies, who both have holes at second base at the moment. The Boston Red Sox could also seek an upgrade at second base if Xander Bogaerts does indeed sign elsewhere in free agency.

An interesting wrinkle that Murray added as well was the hurdles to a potential trade, which centered around his salary. Wong is set to make $10MM in 2023, which overall seems to be a pretty reasonable salary for his production, even though his defense did slip last season. But other teams seem to be balking a little at the price tag, which could push them out of the market for Wong.

If other teams view Wong's salary as perhaps slightly over his market value, that may make striking a deal much tougher on the Brewers. Not only could it take teams out of the market, but whatever return the Brewers might get would be lower as well. Perhaps they would even have to kick some money in to a deal to get a better return. Now, Murray did not say that's what the Brewers were thinking of doing, but it is something to think about.

in all likelihood, the Brewers aren't going to be desperate enough to move on from Wong to kick in some money to pay for another team to take him on or to get a better return. Wong is still a good player that can help this team win. If the Brewers didn't feel he would be worth a $10MM salary, they wouldn't have picked up his option.

As the offseason goes on, teams who miss out on free agent second basemen and see their options on the market dwindle or see those targets they have demanding salaries higher than $10MM, they may come back to the Brewers on Wong.

The Brewers are ready to make a deal on Wong it seems, and they have a number of teams interested. Perhaps with the Winter Meetings coming up, we'll see some more action on this market.