Brewers Rumors: Interest in breakout White Sox starting pitcher

We are just over a week away from the MLB Trade Deadline. Things have been slow moving with rumors and transactions so far, but they figure to heat up very soon. Some teams are on the fence of being buyers or sellers and will have to make decisions soon.

However, the Brewers are clearly buyers and the Chicago White Sox are clearly sellers. There's a potential match there in trade talks.

According to ESPN's Jesse Rogers, the Milwaukee Brewers could have interest in White Sox starter Erick Fedde.

Brewers connected to White Sox starter Erick Fedde in Trade Deadline rumors

The report from Rogers didn't specify that the two sides have had discussions about Fedde, but that they are a speculative fit. He comes with a modest contract that the Brewers could easily take on despite their small market status, signed for just $7.5MM next season. Also listed a potential fit was the Cleveland Guardians.

It has been previously reported that the Brewers are looking for "all pitching" at the Trade Deadline, which is no surprise. Rogers saying that the Brewers might not be done adding starting pitching is further confirmation of that. Fedde is a logical trade target given his 2.99 ERA this year in 19 starts.

In his previous six years with Washington, Fedde had a career 5.41 ERA. He went to Korea in 2023, had a good season, then came back on a two year deal with the White Sox. In his first year, he's shown tremendous improvement over what he had accomplished with the Nationals.

The Brewers have already added Aaron Civale to help supplement the rotation. Through three starts with Milwaukee, Civale has a 5.74 ERA after getting roughed up by the Minnesota Twins this weekend. Civale may improve as time goes along, but the Brewers may still need to add another starter since his first few outings haven't gone well.

At some point, the market for Erick Fedde is going to heat up, as Rogers suggests. He's a controllable starter having a great year on a bad team. Since there's a dearth of starters available and few clear sellers, Fedde will be in demand and the White Sox will be very open to moving him.

Because Fedde is having a good season and a better one than Civale, the cost to acquire him is likely going to be higher than it was to acquire Civale.