The Brewers’ deadline picture gets a lot clearer when you look at the kind of value they might be willing to move. If Milwaukee wants a pitcher with real October weight, the cost is going to be meaningful - and the area where the club can afford to pay up is its minor league relief depth.
That’s where a name like Josh Holub comes into play. He’s been one of the more underrated arms in the Brewers’ system over the last two seasons, and his stock has climbed every year since he arrived in the organization during the 2023-24 offseason. Holub posted a 4.17 ERA in 2024, trimmed that to 3.70 in 2025, and has pushed it down again to 2.35 this season.
The profile is pretty appealing. The 6-foot-5 right-hander misses bats at a rate of more than 10 strikeouts per nine innings out of the bullpen, has gotten better at keeping the ball on the ground, and has cut his walk rate in half from last season. That’s the kind of development clubs like to keep in-house.
But there are reasons Milwaukee could be tempted to deal him. Holub is Rule 5 eligible and is approaching 28 in Triple-A, which puts him in that awkward spot where the upside is real, but the timeline is tight. He could help the Brewers soon, maybe even immediately, yet the organization has also shown it can keep building bullpen depth behind the scenes.
That’s why a deal for a pitcher like Andrew Minter makes sense in the abstract. He would give Milwaukee another experienced postseason arm to add behind Trevor Megill, Abner Uribe, and Aaron Ashby. Minter has thrown 25 career postseason innings and owns a 2.88 ERA in those games, which is exactly the kind of October résumé teams chase in late July.
The bigger swing in this discussion is Freddy Peralta. To get a pitcher of that caliber - someone who could start Game 2 of a playoff series - the Brewers would have to give up real value. If they’re going to do that, the source of that value may be in the bullpen pipeline rather than the top of the system.
Jett Williams is another name that fits the broader deadline conversation. He’s the kind of player who could become a valuable major leaguer for a long time, but Milwaukee has a lot of middle infield talent near the top of its prospect rankings, which could make him movable at the right price. And the Brewers know him well - they selected him in the first round in 2022.
A return to New York would make sense on paper, but it would also ask Matt Arnold to revisit part of the trade he made this past winter. Whether he’d be willing to do that won’t be known until the deadline passes.
In Other News...
Brewers Face Another Unsettling Roster Turn As Outfield Concern Grows
The Brewers kept moving pieces around again this week, and there was at least some good news mixed in with the churn. Milwaukee went 4-2 behind a big stretch from Jacob Misiorowski, who piled up 18 strikeouts over nine innings, while Cooper Pratt stayed hot at the plate with a .500 average and two homers. On the roster front, David Hamilton is back after missing a little more than two weeks with a strained hamstring, and DL Hall and Brandon Lockridge both headed out on rehab assignments with Triple-A Nashville.
Still, the outfield picture is getting harder to ignore. Sal Frelick has been shut down from baseball activities for at least a week because of a right shoulder strain, leaving his timetable uncertain, while the pitching staff continues to inch forward with Joel Kuhnel and Kyle Harrison both making progress in their recoveries. For a club that has already been forced to shuffle infield and pitching depth, the next few days could tell the Brewers a lot about how much more patchwork they can tolerate before another move becomes unavoidable. [Read more 🡒]
Brewers Just Made Detroits Ace Dilemma Feel A Lot More Real
The Brewers have spent enough time building one of the stronger farm systems in the sport that they now have a different kind of trade chip to work with, and that matters if they decide the rotation needs a real jolt. Rather than simply hunting for the best arm available, Milwaukee could use prospects to help offset a hefty contract, making a pricey starter more realistic without blowing up the payroll picture.
That is why names like Tarik Skubal, Robbie Ray and Kevin Gausman keep surfacing in the conversation, with Detroit serving as the clearest example of how such a deal could be structured. If the Brewers decide the big swing is too steep, they still have lower-cost rental options to consider, but the broader question is whether this turns into a deadline push with real ambition or a quieter move that keeps the long-term plan intact. [Read more 🡒]
Brewers Linked To A Deadline Ace Fans Never Expected
Tarik Skubal has become one of the most intriguing names on the trade board as the deadline approaches, and the Brewers have been pulled into the conversation in a way few would have predicted. The buzz comes from The Athletics Jim Bowden, whose analysis pointed to the Detroit left-hander as a fit for Milwaukee, a club that could use another front-line arm to pair with Jacob Misiorowski and deepen a rotation that already has some real upside.
Skubals appeal is obvious: he has pitched well when healthy, and his contract situation makes him the kind of player contenders can dream on if they are willing to pay the price. He also comes with a medical history worth watching, having returned in six weeks after a procedure to remove loose bodies from his pitching elbow, and that only adds another layer to a deadline chase that feels more speculative than certain right now. [Read more 🡒]