The Brewers Should Pursue A Trade For This Lefty Crushing Tampa Bay Rays Infielder

The Brewers and Rays have lined up on trades numerous times in the past, and lining up on another one may be a smart move for GM Matt Arnold.

The Rays, who have enviable roster depth, are facing yet another offseason roster crunch with too many players needing 40 man roster spots and not enough spots to go around. With the Rule 5 protection deadline on Tuesday and the non-tender deadline on Friday, Tampa Bay is in prime position to make some trades in the next few days. The Brewers should get involved in talks if they aren't already.

One of the players the Rays have that figures to be drawing the short stick in these roster moves is 1B/DH Harold Ramirez. The Rays would like to clear up some DH at-bats and Yandy Diaz has taken over the everyday job at first base, which leaves him somewhat out of a position. Ramirez can play outfield but isn't that great defensively and the Rays have some great corner outfielders as well in Randy Arozarena and Josh Lowe.

The Brewers will have plenty of playing time available at the first base and DH positions and they certainly could use a bat like Ramirez's in their lineup.

This season, Harold Ramirez hit .313/.353/.460 with 19 doubles, 12 homers, an .813 OPS and a 125 OPS+. While his power output isn't as much as you'd expect from a corner bat and DH type, his sheer contact and on base abilities make him an easy bat to pencil into the lineup and something the Brewers desperately need.

Ramirez crushes lefties, posting an incredible .387/.411/.555 slash line this year off southpaws. He doesn't strike out much, and he'd supply the Brewers with a right handed bat that makes consistent contact.

Ramirez is under team control for two more seasons and is projected to make $4.4MM in arbitration this year, which is quite doable for the payroll-conscious Brewers.

While acquiring Ramirez may require parting with some decent prospects, he won't require any of the top end talent in Milwaukee's system. A trade for Ramirez would most likely require someone from the Hendry Mendez or Jadher Areinamo tier of prospect from Milwaukee.

If a Ramirez trade were to come to fruition, it'd likely happen sometime this week as the Rays shuffle their roster. They don't have a good place to keep Ramirez anymore, but he'd be of great use and value to a team like the Milwaukee Brewers.