The Milwaukee Brewers may be sitting on the best record in baseball, but the rotation has been thinned out enough to make the trade deadline matter in a big way.
Jacob Misiorowski has been one of the best pitchers in baseball this season, and Milwaukee has gotten solid work from other arms in the rotation. Even so, the group has taken hits.
Brandon Woodruff’s injury created a real opening, Quinn Priester is hurt, and Kyle Harrison is also on the injured list, though his absence is not season-ending. With Misiorowski likely headed for an innings limit as the Brewers manage his workload, the need for another starter is hard to ignore.
That’s why a name like Robbie Ray has surfaced as a fit. Kerry Miller of Bleacher Report labeled the San Francisco Giants left-hander Milwaukee’s “perfect” trade target this summer.
"Milwaukee Brewers (99.8% postseason odds): LHP Robbie Ray," Miller writes. "The moral of the story is that while the Brewers presently have the best record in baseball, they need some starting pitching about as badly as anyone."
Ray would give Milwaukee exactly what it needs: another proven starter without the massive price tag that would come with chasing a bigger swing like Tarik Skubal. The Brewers could pursue a rotation upgrade without paying a fortune in prospect capital, and Ray looks like the kind of move that fits both the roster and the market.
The 34-year-old is in the final year of a five-year, $115 million deal, so the contract is not light. But his production has been strong enough to make him worth the cost.
In 19 starts, 20 outings total, he has posted a 3.33 ERA with an 8-6 record and 1.5 bWAR. His 120 ERA+ is also better than what he produced over the last four seasons of his career.
For Milwaukee, that profile makes sense: a lefty starter who can help right away and doesn’t require the kind of blockbuster trade package that would come with a top-of-the-market arm. According to Miller, Ray is the Brewers’ “perfect” trade target, and the reasoning is easy to see.
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Brewers Fans Wont Love Why This Offseason Trade Is Back Today
The Brewers offseason deal with Boston has already become one of those trades that looks better for both sides the longer it sits. Caleb Durbin was part of the package Milwaukee sent to the Red Sox, and Boston has ridden the players it got in return into a much better place in the American League East, with a wild-card spot in hand as the calendar moved through July.
Milwaukee, meanwhile, has had enough from its side of the exchange to feel good about the move, even if the reminder stings a little when Boston keeps stacking wins. Durbins latest contribution came in a game that helped extend the Red Soxs surge, and with the trade pieces on both sides producing, it is the kind of transaction that keeps showing up in the background every time either club makes noise. [Read more 🡒]
Brewers May Be One Deadline Move From Troubling The Dodgers
The Brewers have spent enough time proving they can hang around the top of the National League, but the postseason conversation still circles back to the same question: do they have the kind of frontline starter who can tilt a short series? Milwaukees current rotation has kept the club in position, yet the gap between a good regular-season staff and one built to bother the Dodgers is still pretty clear, which is why the trade deadline looms so large for this group.
A single move could change the tone of the whole race, and the Brewers have at least kicked around a range of possibilities as they weigh how aggressive to be. There are the obvious high-end names, the steadier veteran types and the more complicated fits, but the basic idea is simple enough: if Milwaukee lands one starter who can anchor a playoff rotation, it can start thinking less about surviving October and more about making life uncomfortable for the teams sitting at the top. [Read more 🡒]
Brewers Have A Real Chance To Raid Reds For Needed Pitching Help
With the Reds slipping behind in both the NL Central and the Wild Card chase, the trade deadline is starting to look more like a selling opportunity than a push for help. For the Brewers, that could open a familiar door with a division rival, especially if Cincinnati follows through on its plan to move short-term pieces rather than touch the young starters it sees as part of the future.
Milwaukee has been linked to the kind of pitching depth Cincinnati is expected to shop, which makes this a situation worth watching on both sides of the rivalry. The Brewers need arms, the Reds need to make sense of their deadline direction, and the fit could come down to how much value Milwaukee places on immediate help versus the cost of prying it loose. [Read more 🡒]