With the trade deadline closing in, Trevor Megill isn’t spending much time gaming out who the Brewers might add. The Milwaukee closer sounds like a guy who already knows how this works: one day the bullpen has the same faces, and the next day there’s a new arm in the room.
“I’m going to walk into the clubhouse one day and see a new face. Honestly, that’s how it’s going to be.
That’s how it was with Lance [McCullers]," Megill said after the Brewers’ win over the New York Mets on Wednesday afternoon. He added that he didn’t even know about Milwaukee’s trade with the Houston Astros that brought Lance McCullers Jr. and Colton Gordon to Milwaukee until two days after it happened.
That kind of detachment fits the job. Megill’s focus is on the ninth inning, not the rumor mill. “My job is to go throw zeros, and Matt and friends go do their thing," he said, referring to Brewers President of Baseball Operations Matt Arnold and the front office group around him.
And there should be something for that front office to do. The Brewers entered play on July 24 with the second-best record in baseball, and Adam McCalvy of MLB.com reported that Milwaukee is “prepared to adopt a more aggressive approach” at this year’s deadline. The club has been relatively cautious under Arnold over the past three deadlines, but this one feels different.
The most obvious need is starting pitching. Milwaukee has depth, so a sideways move doesn’t make much sense. If the Brewers are going to spend, the target should be a starter who clearly upgrades the mix and can handle Game 3 of a postseason series behind Jacob Misiorowski and Kyle Harrison.
There’s also a case for offense. The Brewers opened July 24 with the fewest home runs in baseball, and while help could come at the left side of the infield or in the outfield, the market doesn’t offer many clean fits. That scarcity would only drive up the price.
Still, the bullpen feels like the safest bet for a deadline addition. Outside of the shortened 2020 season, Milwaukee has brought in at least one reliever at every trade deadline during its stretch of seven postseason appearances in eight years. That pattern points toward another move this time around.
If that happens, Megill doesn’t sound worried about his role. After some early-season inconsistency, Abner Uribe briefly handled closing duties, but Megill has settled in as the Brewers’ clear-cut closer. Outside of Mason Miller of the San Diego Padres, who Milwaukee is unlikely to land, and Aroldis Chapman of the Boston Red Sox, who is unlikely to be traded at all now, there isn’t an obvious deadline arm who would push Megill out of the ninth inning.
So while the Brewers may soon add another reliever, Megill’s assignment stays the same. He’ll keep chasing zeros at the back end, and let the front office sort out the rest.
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Brewers Make Early Roster Shakeup That Could Hint At Deadline Plans
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Shewmake, who arrived from the Houston Astros before the All-Star break, got a brief look with the Brewers and showed the sort of versatility teams value when injuries start to stack up. If he gets through waivers, Milwaukee could keep him in the organization by sending him to Triple-A, a possibility that would leave the front office with one more layer of depth as it weighs deadline moves and eventual returns from the injured list. [Read more 🡒]
Brewers Are Circling Detroits Ace And Tigers Fans Know What That Means
The Brewers are already being linked to a more aggressive posture for the 2026 trade deadline, and the early buzz says they are not waiting around to see how the market develops. Milwaukee has talked with Detroit and San Diego about pitching help, a sign the front office is at least exploring the kind of swing that can change a postseason race rather than just patch a hole.
Tarik Skubal sits at the center of the conversation because a pitcher of his caliber would instantly reshape a rotation that has been thinned by injuries. Detroit would not move an arm like that cheaply, and the asking price figures to start with controllable starting pitching plus more beyond it, which is why this feels less like a rumor mill item and more like the beginning of a real test for Milwaukees willingness to pay up. [Read more 🡒]