The Brewers may be known around MLB as a team that buys, but there’s a path here for Milwaukee to sell smart and still come out ahead. The trick is simple enough: find a contender that’s thin at catcher, then use the Brewers’ depth to turn that need into value. Gary Sánchez is the name that jumps out.
Two clubs fit the bill, and both could be staring at the same problem behind the plate. The Yankees have gotten almost nothing from their catching group.
Austin Wells has a .524 OPS, while J.C. Escarra and Ali Sánchez haven’t offered much relief.
As of Friday’s games, Sánchez actually has more home runs, with eight, and more RBIs, with 25, than the entire Yankees catching corps combined, which sits at six homers and 24 RBIs. That’s the kind of production gap that makes a trade conversation feel a lot less theoretical.
Seattle presents a different version of the same issue. Cal Raleigh was coming off a 60-homer season, but this year his OPS+ has fallen 103 points to 65.
Mitch Garver is 35 and has a 76 OPS+. By comparison, Joey Ortiz is at 79 after his hot streak.
That’s enough to make catcher a real deadline problem, and Sánchez would give the Mariners a veteran answer while Milwaukee could try to tap into another strong pitching pipeline.
Of course, moving a backup catcher is never as easy as it sounds. William Contreras has been durable, but past seasons showed he can wear down. If the Brewers dealt Sánchez, they’d need a replacement ready to handle the job when needed.
The obvious name is not Jeferson Quero. He’s dealt with injury trouble over the last three seasons, and while the bat has been there and the defense has long drawn praise, he hasn’t caught in over a month. That makes him a non-option for this kind of move right now.
Darrien Miller, though, is a different story. He has broken out offensively this season and kept it going in a small sample at Nashville after putting up big numbers in Biloxi.
Miller has long shown strong OBP skills, and he’s competent behind the plate, which gives him a useful floor as a lineup extender. His left-handed bat could also fit alongside Contreras and Quero later on.
If Milwaukee is comfortable betting on Miller, then moving Sánchez could help the Brewers keep adding to the farm without taking a major hit to the big-league roster.
In Other News...
Brewers Face Another Unsettling Roster Turn As Outfield Concern Grows
The Brewers kept winning last week, going 4-2 behind a big stretch from Jacob Misiorowski on the mound and a hot run from Cooper Pratt at the plate, but the roster churn around them kept moving just as quickly. David Hamilton is back after missing a little more than two weeks with a strained hamstring, while DL Hall and Brandon Lockridge have both started rehab assignments with Triple-A Nashville as Milwaukee continues to piece together its depth.
The more uneasy development is in the outfield, where Sal Frelick has been shut down for at least a week because of a shoulder strain. With his status now up in the air and the club already juggling multiple roster moves, the Brewers are once again in the spot of trying to protect their early momentum while waiting for health to catch up with the lineup. Joel Kuhnel and Kyle Harrison are also progressing, but Milwaukee still has a few moving parts to sort through before the picture settles. [Read more 🡒]
Brewers Linked To A Deadline Ace Fans Never Expected
Tarik Skubal is the kind of name that can stop a deadline conversation in its tracks, and for good reason. The Tigers left-hander has looked every bit like a front-line starter this season, and any club thinking bigger than a modest rotation tweak has to at least consider what it would take to pry him loose. For Milwaukee, the fit is obvious on paper, especially with Jacob Misiorowski already giving the Brewers another power arm to build around.
The catch is that this is still more idea than deal, with the buzz coming from The Athletics Jim Bowden rather than any sign the Brewers have actually pushed chips to the middle. Skubals contract situation adds another layer, since he is headed toward free agency and an in-season extension does not appear likely before the Aug. 3 deadline. His recent elbow procedure and quick return only add to the intrigue, because a pitcher that talented, healthy enough to keep rolling, and available in theory is exactly the sort of deadline swing that can reshape a contenders summer. [Read more 🡒]