Should the Brewers try to trade for Giants Third Baseman J.D. Davis?

Third base is a positon of need for the Brewers going into 2024. Andruw Monasterio was a welcome surprise, but his offensive output was not enough for the Brewers to make him the primary third baseman for 2024.

Josh Donaldson is a free agent as well, and the soon-to-be 38 year old's best days are behind him. It might make sense for Matt Arnold explore a trade for San Francisco's third baseman J.D. Davis.

The Brewers need to upgrade at third base for 2024. A trade with the San Francisco Giants for J.D. Davis makes sense to explore.

J.D. Davis seems like a very Brewers-esque pick up. The 30-year old has spent time with Houston, New York, and San Francisco and has experience at first base, third base, left field, and as a designated hitter. The positional versatility of Davis would make him very attractive for the Brewers who have a need to upgrade at first base, third base, and always seem to have a need for an outfielder or two.

Davis has a career OPS+ of 113, and is coming off of a solid but unspectaclar season in San Francisco where he slashed .248/.325/.413 with 18 home runs and an OPS+ of 103 and a wRC+ of 104 in 546 PA.

While not an awe-inspiring OPS+ or wRC+, the Brewers third basemen in 2023 had a 91 wRC+ over a collective 648 PA. Adding a bat like Davis would provide the Brewers with a solid upgrade over their previous production.

Davis profiles as a plus defensive third baseman and in 2023 tied with Nolan Arenado for the 9th most Outs Above Average (OAA) among third basemen with 5. As a team the Brewers had 0 OAA among all their third basemen though that number was dragged down by Abraham Toro and Mike Brosseau.

Davis is arbitration eligible for 2024 and estimated to earn $6.8 million. Following their trade of Mark Canha, which cleared $11.5 million off of the payroll, or $2 million in a buyout, the Brewers have a little more payroll flexibility that they could take Davis' arbitration salary on.

Adding Davis would not be enough alone to fix the offense. Especially without Brandon Woodruff and Wade Miley, the Brewers will need to supplement their offense as well as their pitching staff but it would be a start and address a serious position of need for the Crew.