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.
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The biggest hole still looks familiar, though, and it sits in the bullpen. Relief pitching has emerged as the clearest need if the Twins want to stay in the postseason mix, and the sense around the team is that one or two additions could make a real difference. For a clubhouse trying to prove it belongs together, the deadline will say plenty about whether the organization is ready to back that up. [Read more 🡒]
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Seattles surplus on the mound only adds to the intrigue, since the Mariners are in position to deal from strength while looking for offense. For Minnesota, the appeal is obvious: a pitcher who can steady the staff in the stretch run and remain part of the long-term plan would be the kind of deadline addition that feels both aggressive and measured, even if the final price and timing are still very much in play. [Read more 🡒]
Twins Get Troubling David Festa Update No One Wanted To Hear
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Now the next step is surgery, with Festa set to have procedures on his shoulder and pectoral muscle. General manager Jeremy Zoll said Festa is likely to miss the entire season, a sobering development for a club that has already had to plan around his absence and now has to wait even longer to see what comes next. [Read more 🡒]