The Brewers' ideal post-Trade Deadline infield configuration

As the MLB Trade Deadline looms, the market for impact bats continues to heat up. One name drawing more attention than the rest: Eugenio Suárez. The slugging third baseman for the Arizona Diamondbacks is leading the National League in home runs and could represent the biggest offensive upgrade on the infield for any contender. For the Milwaukee Brewers, he should be the target.

And they aren’t alone. Milwaukee’s top competition in the NL Central, the Chicago Cubs and Cincinnati Reds, are also in desperate need of a boost at third base (as are a few AL contenders). The Cubs, astonishingly, rank dead last in all of baseball in wRC+ at the position, while the Reds sit just ahead of them at 28th. All three teams are essentially fishing in the same shallow pond. Suárez is the big catch. The question is who reels him in?

Brewers’ dream infield starts with stealing Eugenio Suárez from NL Central rivals

The Brewers' front office has shown time and again that they’re not afraid to think creatively. Whether it’s leveraging high-minors depth, buying low on underappreciated bats, or striking when other teams hesitate, Milwaukee has become a master of opportunistic roster building. However, what they do far less often is "go for it," meaning make the big deal, win the bidding war, overpay with prospect capital to land the best bat on the market. But maybe, with the team sitting atop the MLB standings, this is the year they break from their mold.

So let’s say Milwaukee does what it needs to do and lands Suárez. What does the infield look like moving forward?

The addition of Suárez solves a power problem, but questions arise as to the Brewers' defensive alignment moving forward. Here’s how it could look:

• 1B – Rhys Hoskins/Andrew Vaughn
• 2B – Brice Turang
• SS – Caleb Durbin
• 3B – Eugenio Suárez

The major point of contention in this lineup would be shifting Caleb Durbin over to shortstop. Durbin is by no means a stranger to the position — he played short throughout his college career and in roughly 15% of his minor league games. Even still, the Brewers would certainly be sacrificing some defense by swapping out Ortiz for Durbin, but that, in addition to the trade package that they send to Arizona for Suárez, might be the price they have to pay in order to add some much-needed pop to their lineup.

Meanwhile, Brice Turang remains at second base, where he won a Platinum Glove last season. After the Brewers tried to move him to shortstop in spring training and Turang subsequently suffered a shoulder injury, it's highly unlikely that Milwaukee moves him to short halfway through the season.

Ortiz becomes a solid utility player for the rest of the season. He would mainly serve as a defensive replacement late in games, but would also likely make some starts at shortstop in Durbin’s stead. If Ortiz's bat heats up and Durbin's goes cold, then the Brewers could lean on the former for more starts at shortstop. With Suárez in the mix, Pat Murphy would have the luxury of playing the hot bat.

The result of the defensive re-configuration is an offense with a bit more upside and certainly more power than the Brewers' current everyday lineup.

Yes, Suárez’s glove isn’t quite what it once was, but he’s more than serviceable at third. More importantly, his power plays anywhere. With 36 home runs already, he’s the type of lineup anchor the Brewers have been missing. And in a tight divisional race where every run matters, adding a bat like Suárez could be the difference between a division title and a tightly contested Wild Card race.