Surprise trade candidate could be perfect Brewers lineup replacement for Willy Adames

In the movie 'Moneyball', the low-revenue A's are tasked with replacing the lineup loss of Jason Giambi. The scouts tell GM Billy Beane they have replace 38 home runs and 120 RBIs in their lineup and Beane tells them they can't replace Giambi, but they can re-create him in the aggregate. The Milwaukee Brewers face a similar situation with shortstop Willy Adames.

Ask anyone about the pending departure of Adames and they'll tell you the Brewers somehow have to replace his 32 home runs and 112 RBIs in the lineup. There's no other free agent out there the Brewers can sign that can single-handedly replace that kind of production in the heart of Milwaukee's order. They will need improvement in performance from internal options like Garrett Mitchell, Joey Ortiz, and Rhys Hoskins to make up a lot of that difference.

Still, the Brewers will need a new starting infielder. When they faced a similar infield hole last offseason, they filled it with a former Phillies star in Hoskins. Perhaps they could bring in another Phillies infielder this offseason to help re-create Willy Adames' production in the Brewers lineup.

The Brewers should look to get involved in the Alec Bohm trade market

Reports surfaced on Tuesday from Jeff Passan that the Phillies are willing to trade third baseman Alec Bohm this offseason to "shake up their team" following their postseason exit in the NLDS at the hands of the Mets in 2024.

Alec Bohm is coming off a career season and adding his bat to the middle of Milwaukee's lineup would go a very long way toward re-creating Adames' production. Let's compare the 2024 numbers:

Bohm: .280/.332/.448, 44 doubles, 15 homers, 97 RBIs, 5 stolen bases, 86 Ks, .779 OPS, 117 OPS+

Adames: .251/.331/.462, 33 doubles, 32 homers, 112 RBIs, 21 stolen bases, 173 Ks, .794 OPS, 118 OPS+

As you can see, the numbers are quite similar. Bohm hits for a higher average with fewer strikeouts and home runs, but the OBP, OPS, and OPS+ numbers are nearly identical.

Entering his second season of arbitration, MLB Trade Rumors projects Bohm to earn an $8.1MM salary for 2025 and then he has another year of team control after that. So any acquiring team would get two years of team control over Bohm.

For two years of such a productive player, that's going to be somewhat costly for any acquiring team, would it not? Most likely. Bohm will not come cheap but the Phillies appear ready to deal and the Brewers have a need.

Who could the Brewers put in a trade for Bohm? The most obvious candidate is closer Devin Williams. The Phillies are looking for bullpen help and are seeking a lockdown closer. Williams has a ton of trade value, so it's not surprising to see his name as a speculative fit in a Brewers trade for Bohm. Also, Williams is projected for a similar arbitration salary in 2025, so the money would be a wash in this hypothetical deal. However, because Bohm has two years of control and Williams has just one, it may not be a simple as a straight one-for-one swap of Bohm and Williams.

The easiest solution for the Brewers is to slide Joey Ortiz over to shortstop to replace Adames defensively. That would clear third base for Bohm, who is a much cleaner fit at the hot corner.

Bohm's trade market will be one to monitor this offseason. The Brewers and Phillies could line up well as trade partners and Bohm would be a big improvement over any of the free agent options Milwaukee has available to consider.