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White Sox Acquire Tyler Naquin

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The White Sox acquired veteran outfielder Tyler Naquin from the Brewers in exchange for cash, the teams announced. Naquin will head to the White Sox’ Triple-A affiliate in Charlotte and is expected to be in the Knights’ lineup tomorrow, tweets Daryl Van Schouwen of the Chicago Sun-Times.

[Related: How to acquire players after the trade deadline]

Naquin, 32, was eligible to be traded by virtue of the fact that he hasn’t been on a 40-man roster or major league injured list at any point this season. He signed a minor league pact with Milwaukee back in March and has spent the entire season to date with their Triple-A affiliate in Nashville. The seven-year big league veteran has slashed .284/.333/.432 with six homers in 160 plate appearances this season. He’s been on and off the active roster a few times due to injury — most recently some minor shoulder troubles.

A first-round pick back in 2012, Naquin made his big league debut in 2016 with Cleveland. He’s logged Major League time each season since, also making stops in Cincinnati and Queens, hitting at a .264/.318/.444 clip in 1811 MLB plate appearances. Naquin has experience in center field but is better suited to play a corner. He’s a left-handed hitter who’s been held to a meager .210/.272/.339 slash against lefties but has tagged righties for a much heartier .274/.326/.468 slash in his career.

While Naquin won’t immediately jump onto Chicago’s big league roster, the uncertain state of the South Siders’ outfield could get him a look at some point. Top prospect Oscar Colas struggled considerably in right field early in the season before being optioned to Triple-A, and he hasn’t improved in a month since his recall. Dating back to July 4, Colas has hit .229/.253/.289 with a 29.9% strikeout rate and 3.4% walk rate in 87 plate appearances. The White Sox do have some outfield alternatives in Triple-A who are already on the 40-man roster — Clint Frazier, Adam Haseley — but both have been in the minors for more than a month now.

If the Sox ultimately feel there’s no spot on the big league roster for Naquin, they could still trade him a second time this month. They’d likely only pick up cash in return, as is common in post-deadline swaps of this nature.

Brewers Reinstate Bennett Sousa

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The Brewers reinstated reliever Bennett Sousa from the 60-day injured list and optioned him to Triple-A Nashville, per the transaction log at MLB.com. Milwaukee transferred Justin Wilson from the 15-day to the 60-day IL to clear the necessary 40-man roster spot.

Sousa missed a couple months with a nerve issue in his throwing shoulder. Acquired from the division-rival Reds in April, the 28-year-old southpaw has made a pair of appearances for the Brew Crew this season. He’s logged 16 innings with Nashville, allowing 10 runs (nine earned). He’s fanned 22 hitters at the top minor league level. Milwaukee acquired Andrew Chafin at the trade deadline to pair with Hoby Milner as left-handed options for Craig Counsell. Now that he’s healthy, Sousa is in the mix behind them.

Wilson’s brutally-timed injury could well have increased Milwaukee’s urgency to trade for Chafin. The veteran lefty strained a lat while warming up for what would’ve been his first appearance after a Tommy John rehab. He’ll miss the remainder of the season and seems quite likely to be bought out next winter, meaning he might never make an appearance as a Brewer.

Justin Wilson Won’t Pitch Again In 2023

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When the Brewers placed Justin Wilson on the 15-day injured list on July 29, it was expected that the southpaw was in for another lengthy absence.  Manager Craig Counsell described Wilson’s left lat strain as “pretty significant” at the time, and Counsell updated reporters (including Todd Rosiak of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel) on Friday that Wilson will indeed miss the rest of the 2023 season.

Wilson’s year will end without a single MLB appearance, as his time on the Brewers’ active roster was short-lived.  Milwaukee only activated Wilson from the 60-day IL on July 28, as the left-hander was returning from Tommy John surgery rehab.  Unfortunately, Wilson was warming up in the bullpen for his first appearance of the season when he suffered his lat strain, thus ending his Brewers debut before it officially happened.  Between this injury and the TJ surgery, Wilson has only pitched in five games (for 3 2/3 innings) since the start of the 2022 season.

The Brew Crew signed Wilson to a one-year free agent deal last offseason worth $1MM in guaranteed money — $850K in salary for 2023, and a $150K buyout of a $2.5MM club option for 2024.  The contract was designed to give Milwaukee some flexibility if Wilson ended up missing most or all of the season due to Tommy John rehab, so in theory, the lat strain shouldn’t much change the original equation for the team.  On the other hand, $2.5MM is a decent amount of money for a medium-payroll team to spend on a veteran (Wilson turns 36 this month) reliever who hasn’t pitched in almost two full seasons.  This isn’t a decision the Brewers will have to make until after the World Series is over, so there’s plenty of time for the club to monitor Wilson’s recovery from the lat injury.

In better injury news for the Brewers, Counsell said that Rowdy Tellez is slated to begin a Triple-A rehab assignment on Tuesday.  Tellez hasn’t played since July 4, as a 10-day IL stint that started due to forearm inflammation was then extended when Tellez broke the fingertip on his left ring finger in a fluke accident while shagging fly balls before a game.

Rays Acquire Alex Jackson

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The Rays and Brewers agreed to terms on a minor swap earlier today that sent catcher Alex Jackson to Tampa Bay in exchange for right-hander Evan McKendry. The Rays have announced the swap.

Jackson, 27, was the sixth selection overall in the 2014 draft by the Mariners and made his big league debut with the Braves in 2019. Though he’s appeared in the majors every season since then, he’s never managed to stick on a big league roster or hit in the majors, with a career slash line of just .141/.243/.227 in 185 major league plate appearances. He’s hit better in the minor leagues, with a career slash line of .244/.327/.523 in 905 trips to the plate at the Triple-A level. Between those minor league results, his previous draft pedigree, and his relative youth, Jackson is an interesting depth addition for a Rays club that needed additional catching depth after Francisco Mejia went on the injured list with a sprained knee two weeks ago.

To acquire Jackson, they’ll part with McKendry, a 25-year-old pitching prospect the club selected in the ninth round of the 2019 draft. With a career 4.00 ERA in 110 1/3 innings at the Triple-A level and a 23.6% strikeout rate during that time, McKendry figures to provide the Brewers with upper-level pitching depth going forward, a particularly valuable commodity given right-hander Julio Teheran’s recent placement on the injured list. While the Rays have dealt with plenty of pitching injuries of their own, McKendry’s loss is made up for by today’s acquisition of right-hander Adrian Sampson, to say nothing of yesterday’s blockbuster that brought back Aaron Civale.

Red Sox Acquire Luis Urías

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The Red Sox announced that they have acquired infielder Luis Urías from the Brewers for minor league right-hander Bradley Blalock. Robert Murray of FanSided first had Urías going to the Red Sox while Adam McCalvy of MLB.com first reported on Blalock’s involvement.

Urías, 26, seemed to be establishing himself as a solid part of the Milwaukee roster in the previous two seasons. Over 2021 and 2022, he launched 39 home runs and hit a combined .244/.340/.426 for a wRC+ of 111. This year, however, has been an entirely different story.

He was placed on the injured list with a hamstring strain after the first game of the season and wasn’t able to return until June 5. In the next three-plus weeks, he hit just .145/.299/.236 for a wRC+ of 60. A .179 batting average on balls in play wasn’t doing him any favors, but his exit velocity, hard hit rate and barrel rate were all down a few points. That cold spell was pronounced enough for the Brewers to send him to the minors, his first time being optioned since he was a Padre back in 2019. Things haven’t gone much better in Triple-A, as he’s hitting .233/.345/.379 at that level this year for a wRC+ of 84.

Right after acquiring Urías, the Sox assigned him to Triple-A, so he’ll serve as infield depth for the time being. Infield depth has been an ongoing concern in Boston this year ever since Trevor Story required elbow surgery in the offseason. He’s still yet to make his season debut, currently out on a rehab assignment. Enrique Hernández came in from the outfield to take over shortstop but that experiment didn’t work and he’s since been traded to the Dodgers.

For now, the club has a mixture of Yu Chang, Pablo Reyes, Christian Arroyo and Justin Turner up the middle. Urías will join Bobby Dalbec among the depth options that are on the 40-man roster but currently stashed at Triple-A. Urías has another option year beyond this one but could wind up non-tendered as he’ll be due a raise on this year’s $4.7MM salary.

In exchange for a player that had fallen out of their plans, the Brewers will get Blalock. The 22-year-old was a 32nd-round selection of the Red Sox in 2019. He was able to get some professional experience in 2019 and 2021, with the pandemic canceling the minor leagues in 2020. Then his 2022 was wiped out by Tommy John surgery, costing him another year of development.

Here in 2023, he’s been putting himself back on the prospect map. He’s made 11 starts, split between Single-A and High-A, posting a 2.19 ERA in 53 1/3 innings. He’s struck out 27.6% of opponents against a 6.2% walk rate. Back in June, FanGraphs ranked him the #17 prospect in Boston’s system. They note that the Sox were set to have a difficult decision to make, as Blalock will be Rule 5 eligible this winter and could be an attractive pick, despite not yet reaching Double-A.

Brewers, Diamondbacks Swap Andrew Chafin For Peter Strzelecki

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The Brewers have picked up left-hander Andrew Chafin in a trade with the Diamondbacks, according to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic (Twitter link).  John Gambadoro of 98.7 FM Phoenix reports that right-hander Peter Strzelecki is headed back to the D’Backs in return.  Rosenthal linked Milwaukee to Chafin’s market earlier today.

Give how Arizona also just landed Paul Sewald from the Mariners yesterday, it makes for an interesting buy/sell dynamic with the Diamondbacks’ front office.  Obviously the D’Backs have designs on reaching the postseason, yet still opted to pull the trigger on dealing a reliever who is technically a rental player, since Chafin only signed a one-year, $6.25MM deal last winter.  However, he is controllable through next season via a $7.25MM club option ($750K buyout), so the Brew Crew could potentially be viewing Chafin as a member of their 2024 bullpen.  Incidentally, Chafin also receives a $250K bonus now that he has been traded.

That said, the D’Backs are also getting back a controllable reliever in Strzelecki, who has posted some good results over his two MLB seasons.  Since Strzelecki isn’t a free agent until after the 2028 season and naturally comes at a much lower price tag than Chafin, the Diamondbacks saved some money while perhaps not taking much of a hit to the overall quality of their relief corps.

Chafin has a 4.19 ERA over 34 1/3 innings this season, with that number only just inflated by a disastrous outing (five runs in two-thirds of an inning) against the Braves on July 24.  The southpaw’s SIERA is a more solid 3.38, and his 32.7% strikeout rate put him the 94th percentile of all pitchers.  Chafin’s control has fluctuated throughout his career, and the pendulum has swung down this season, as he has an ungainly 12.0% walk rate.

Now in his 10th MLB season, Chafin has been a generally reliable relief arm over his career, and he’ll now change uniforms once again to join a Brewers team in severe need of left-handed depth.  While Hoby Milner is having a strong season, he has been the only left-hander in Milwaukee’s bullpen for most of the season.  The Brewers were hoping to have Justin Wilson back from Tommy John surgery, yet Wilson unfortunately suffered a lat strain while warming up in his return outing, and was placed back onto the 15-day injured list.

With no timeline yet on Wilson’s return, it is easy to see why the Brewers were so aggressive in seeking out another left-hander, and in dealing a controllable pitcher from their right-handed relief depth.  Strzelecki was an undrafted free agent for the Brewers in 2018, but he made his way to the majors to toss 70 2/3 innings for Milwaukee over the last two seasons.  Despite near-identical SIERAs (3.47 and 3.66) and pretty similar secondary metrics over his two years of work, Strzelecki had a 2.83 ERA over 35 frames in 2022, but a 4.54 ERA in 35 2/3 innings this season.

One of a few hidden pitching gems uncovered by the Brewers front office and pitching development staff, Strzelecki has a 25.3% strikeout rate and 8.2% walk rate over his career, both above the league average.  A slightly loss of control (though not in the walk category) could be one reason for Strzelecki’s relative dropoff in performance this year, as he has hit eight batters.  The Brewers only just called Strzelecki back up from the minors after a month-long stint at Triple-A, and he didn’t make another appearance prior to the trade.

Diamondbacks Listening To Trade Offers On Andrew Chafin, Joe Mantiply

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11:40am: Jon Heyman of the New York Post adds the Cubs and Twins as fits for Chafin. The Cubs have Anthony Kay as their only traditional lefty reliever right now. The Twins have Jovani Moran and Caleb Thielbar, the latter of whom just returned from the injured list.

11:06am: The Diamondbacks made a big addition to their bullpen yesterday when they acquired Paul Sewald from the Mariners. It seems they have at least some openness to now subtracting from their relief corps, as Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reports they have fielded offers for lefties Andrew Chafin and Joe Mantiply, with the Brewers listed as a team with interest in Chafin.

On the surface, it’s a little bit curious to see the Diamondbacks considering this path, as they just parted with infielder Josh Rojas, rookie outfielder Dominic Canzone and infield prospect Ryan Bliss in order to upgrade their bullpen with Sewald. They are currently tied with two other clubs for the final Wild Card spot in the National League. To now turn and remove pieces from the group would be a bit of an odd move, though listening on offers doesn’t necessarily mean the club will indeed make a move, as front offices are generally open to listening on all offers in order to gauge the market.

Chafin, 33, has long been one of the better lefty relievers in the league, with a 3.31 career earned run average over 519 appearances. Over 2021 and 2022, he made 135 of those appearances, posting a 2.29 ERA with a 25.7% strikeout rate, 7.5% walk rate and 47.9% ground ball rate. The Diamondbacks were able to bring him aboard on a one-year deal this offseason, guaranteeing him $6.25MM in the form of a $5.5MM salary plus a $750K buyout on a $7.25MM club option. There’s also $1MM in bonuses available, with Chafin getting $250K at 55, 60, 65 and 70 appearances, then another $250K bonus if he’s traded.

He has already made 43 appearances on the year, putting him close to triggering those bonuses. His 4.19 ERA in that time is obviously a drop-off from his recent work, though there’s still some decent numbers under the hood. His 35.4% grounder rate and 12% walk rate are less than ideal, but his 32.7% strikeout rate is easily a career best. A .350 batting average on balls in play has probably helped some extra runs across the board, leading to a 3.13 FIP and 3.38 SIERA.

Left-handed relief is always in demand and there would likely be plenty of clubs willing to look past Chafin’s ERA, especially given his long track record of success and intriguing strikeout bump. Rosenthal says the Diamondbacks are still looking for starting pitching, something that general manager Mike Hazen has long been open about. They might not be able to flip a reliever like Chafin for meaningful help in the rotation but it makes sense that they would at least listen to see what’s possible. They would still have Kyle Nelson and Tyler Gilbert as lefties in their bullpen even without Chafin.

Arizona listening on Mantiply is far easier to understand. He had a really solid showing in the previous two seasons, posting a combined 3.07 ERA in 2021 and 2022, getting selected to the All-Star game in the latter season. He struck out 23.6% of opponents in that time while walking just 5.5% and kept the ball on the ground at a 50.5% pace.

Unfortunately, he wasn’t able to carry that into 2023, as he has a 5.74 ERA in 15 2/3 innings. He’s been on the injured list twice, once due to left shoulder inflammation and then a right hamstring strain. He’s been sent to Triple-A Reno on optional assignment twice, the second of which is currently ongoing. He has a 7.30 ERA down at that level. But his rate stats are still decent this year, with poor strand rates and some extra fly balls leaving the yard perhaps making things look worse than they actually are. If any club is willing to bank on Mantiply’s past results and hope for a bounceback, it would make sense for the Diamdondbacks to hear that out since he’s not even on their active roster at the moment.

The Brewers have operated with one lefty, Hoby Milner, for most of the year. They had Justin Wilson come off the injured list this week after over a year rehabbing from Tommy John surgery, but he quickly landed right back on the IL due to a lat strain. They’re a fairly sensible landing spot for a southpaw reliever as they battle with for the Central division title or a Wild Card spot in the National League.

Brewers Acquire Mark Canha From Mets

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The Brewers have acquired first baseman/outfielder Mark Canha from the Mets, with pitching prospect Justin Jarvis going the other way, per announcements from both clubs. The Brewers opened a 40-man roster spot earlier when Jake Cousins was lost to the Astros off waivers. The Mets are paying Canha’s salary this year, with the Brewers only responsible for the prorated league minimum portion, though Milwaukee will be on the hook for the option or buyout when they make their decision on that.

This is the second offensive upgrade of the deadline for the Brewers, who already acquired Carlos Santana from the Pirates last week. It was reported earlier today that the club was still looking to upgrade its lineup and has done so here.

Canha, 34, spent many years as a solid outfielder for the Athletics before reaching free agency after 2021. He was able to secure himself a two-year, $26.5MM deal going into 2022, with an $11.5MM club option for 2024 that comes with a $2MM buyout. He hit .266/.367/.403 for the Mets last year, a line that translated to a wRC+ of 128, indicating he was 28% above league average.

This year, Canha’s production has slipped a bit, though he still an above-average hitter. His .245/.343/.381 line thus far on the season amounts to a 107 wRC+, seven percent better than par but a dip from a year ago. It’s possible there’s some bad luck in there, as his .279 batting average on balls in play is well below last year’s .309 mark, despite the fact that his barrel rate, hard hit rate and exit velocity have all gone up in 2023 relative to 2022. Perhaps he’s due for some positive regression, though he’s a solid hitter even without it.

Defensively, Canha is primarily an outfielder, though he has some versatility. He’s played more left field than anywhere else but he’s capable of playing all three outfield slots, in addition brief spells at the infield corners. Milwaukee has been using an outfield of Christian Yelich, Joey Wiemer and Sal Frelick in recent days. Yelich is having a terrific season whereas Wiemer’s contributions have been mixed. His defense has been highly rated and he has 11 steals on the year, but he’s hitting just .209/.289/.381 for a wRC+ of 82. Frelick was called up just over a week ago but has started his major league career with a .304/.438/.478 showing. Tyrone Taylor and Blake Perkins haven’t hit much in reserve roles.

Frelick played plenty of center field in the minors so perhaps he could move there with Canha taking right and Yelich in left. Frelick also hits left-handed and Wiemer right-handed, so perhaps they could platoon up the middle. Wiemer is hitting .282/.315/.576 against lefties but just .180/.280/.304 without the platoon advantage. The club also doesn’t have a regular designated hitter and could perhaps get all of these players in the lineup if that seems like the best option at the time. Though Santana figures to be the regular at first base, Canha’s ability to play there gives them some extra flexibility. Brian Anderson could also be in the mix at some point with Andruw Monasterio playing well at third, though the latter could also move over to second and bump out the struggling Brice Turang.

The Brewers are generally a fairly low-spending club, so the Mets’ willingness to pay down the deal surely appealed to them. They will have to decide on that option versus that buyout, which could depend on Canha’s performance to finish the year. The Brewers will still have Yelich, Frelick and Wiemer next year, along with hopefully getting Garrett Mitchell back after he’s missing most of this year due to shoulder surgery. There’s also the looming presence of Jackson Chourio, one of the top prospects in the league, who is currently in Double-A.

Next year’s outfield seems a bit more crowded, though perhaps first base is different. The Brewers are set to lose Santana to free agency, which could make their Rowdy Tellez situation significant. He can be retained for one more season via arbitration but has been terrible here in 2023, hitting .213/.285/.388 and is currently on the injured list, making him a non-tender candidate this winter. If Canha proves to be a good fit, perhaps they pick up that option and keep him around at first.

However it plays out down the road, it should help the Brewers now. They are currently 57-49, just half a game back of the Reds in the National League Central and currently in possession of a Wild Card slot. That’s largely come on the backs of their pitching, as the team as a whole has hit .232/.312/.377 for a wRC+ of 88, leading to their additions of Santana and Canha.

For the Mets, this is the latest in their deadline selloff, something that would have seemed shocking a few months ago. This winter, they ran up the biggest payroll in MLB history to try to build upon their 101-win season last year. But they disappointed badly enough that they have been aggressively selling. They’ve already flipped out Eduardo Escobar to the Angels, David Robertson to the Marlins, Max Scherzer to the Rangers and now this deal. In most cases, they have eaten significant money in order to effectively buy prospects. Canha is making a salary of $10.5MM this year, with about $3.5MM left to be paid out, the majority of which will be swallowed by the Mets.

Their return for surrendering Canha and eating that money will be Jarvis. The 23-year-old right-hander was selected by the Brewers in the fifth round of the 2018 draft and has shown some signs of progress recently. Last year, he split his time between High-A and Double-A, throwing 141 innings with a 3.83 ERA, 25% strikeout rate and 11% walk rate. He returned to Double-A to start this year and posted a 3.33 ERA through 14 starts, striking out 28.6% of opponents while walking just 8.2%. He recently got bumped to Triple-A and has been shelled, but in a small sample of just three outings.

Based on those strong Double-A results, he was recently ranked the #12 prospect in the Brewers’ system by Baseball America, who highlighted his four-pitch mix as giving him a chance to stick in a big league rotation. He’ll give the Mets some upper level rotation depth, though he’ll need to be added to the 40-man roster this winter or else he’ll be available to be selected in the upcoming Rule 5 draft.

Before tomorrow’s deadline, the Mets figure to continue adding to their farm system with similar deals. Tommy Pham, Brooks Raley, Adam Ottavino, Carlos Carrasco, José Quintana and Omar Narváez all seem like possibilities. Justin Verlander has been speculated upon, though his large contract complicates things. The Brewers could also look to make further additions before tomorrow’s deadline, which is at 5pm Central.

 Will Sammon of The Athletic first reported the Brewers were acquiring Canha. Andy Martino of SNY first reported that Jarvis was going the other way. Martino relayed that the Mets were paying down Canha’s salary and Sammon added that the Brewers would be on the hook for the buyout/option.

Astros Claim Jake Cousins From Brewers, Designate Blake Taylor

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The Astros have claimed right-hander Jake Cousins off waivers from the Brewers, reports Adam McCalvy of MLB.com. There had been no prior indication Cousins had been removed from Milwaukee’s 40-man roster, so this will drop their count to 39. The Astros have now announced the claim, with left-hander Blake Taylor designated for assignment in a corresponding move and Cousins optioned to Triple-A.

Cousins, 29, was first added to Milwaukee’s roster in June of 2021. He made 30 appearances for them the rest of the way, allowing 2.70 earned runs per nine innings. He struck out 35.2% of batters faced and kept 47.4% of balls in play on the ground, but also issued walks at a 15.2% clip. In 2022, he missed most of the year with a right elbow effusion, or a build up of fluid in the area. He was only able to make 12 appearances with the big league club.

Here in 2023, Cousins was frequently optioned to Triple-A and recalled for the first few months of the season. He made nine appearances with the big league club, posting a 4.82 ERA. He’s also made 13 Triple-A appearances with a 7.30 ERA, though a .533 batting average in balls in play and 58.3% strand rate are clearly inflating that number in the small sample.

The Brewers evidently tried to quietly sneak Cousins through waivers to open a roster spot, though the Astros swooped in to stop that from happening. He’s struck out 31.4% of major league hitters he’s faced in his career but has also walked 16.2% of them. They will surely try to help him better harness his stuff as he provides them with some bullpen depth. He has a pair of option years remaining, one of which he’s burning here in 2023, but can be sent to the minors for one more season in the future.

In order to take a shot on Cousins, the Astros are risking losing Taylor, who originally came to Houston in the 2019 trade that sent Jake Marisnick to the Mets. Taylor spent most of 2020 to 2022 with the big league club in Houston, making 92 appearances with a 3.06 ERA, 19.1% strikeout rate, 12.6% walk rate and 44.3% ground ball rate. Here in 2023, he began the season on the injured list due to a left elbow strain. He was activated in mid-April and immediately optioned to Triple-A. He’s made 35 appearances at that level with a 5.15 ERA. His 43.7% ground ball rate there has been solid but his 14.9% strikeout rate and 13.1% walk rate are both well worse than average.

The Astros will now have a week to trade Taylor or pass him through waivers, though the timeline on the trade option is much tighter with tomorrow’s deadline. Left-handed relief tends to always be in demand and Taylor still has an option year beyond this one, though time will tell if his poor results this year dampen the interest from rival clubs.

Brewers Interested In Further Offensive Additions

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The Brewers are hoping to add another bat to their lineup ahead of the deadline even after landing first baseman Carlos Santana in a deal with the Pirates last week, according to The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal. That Milwaukee is looking to add to their offense is hardly a surprise. The club’s collective wRC+ this season stands at just 88, bottom five in the sport and ahead of only the Rockies in the NL. While Santana addresses their lack of production from first base, they nonetheless have plenty of offensive holes to fill around their roster.

The club has gotten below average offensive production from every position around the diamond except for left field this season, though that certainly doesn’t mean they’ll be looking to upgrade their entire offense. Shortstop Willy Adames figures to be secure in his role, for example, and newly-promoted outfielder Sal Frelick figures to handle right field on a regular basis going forward. Given Joey Wiemer’s quality defense in center field, it seems reasonable to expect him to remain a fixture in the lineup as well despite a lackluster wRC+ of 82.

The club could look to add offense to its infield by swinging a deal for third baseman Jeimer Candelario of the Nationals or second baseman Gleyber Torres of the Yankees, but the market for Candelario appears to be quite crowded and the Yankees currently appear more likely to buy than sell. That being said, either player would inject a well above-average bat into the club’s infield alongside Adames and Andruw Monasterio, the latter of whom can play anywhere on the infield as needed to accommodate a potential acquisition.

While an infield addition would make sense, the most straightforward way for the Brewers to improve their offensive production would be targeting an addition at DH. The club has gotten a pathetic 55 wRC+ from their DH slot to this point in the season, dead last in the majors. Adding a surefire, above-average bat who can be slotted in at DH on a daily basis would transform the look of the club’s lineup, and Matt Arnold’s front office seems to know that given their reported interest in White Sox slugger Eloy Jimenez.

Jimenez, a former top prospect with a career 123 wRC+ and a contract that allows his club to control him through the end of the 2026 campaign, would be an excellent pickup for the Brewers, though he would likely come at a fairly hefty acquisition cost considering those positive attributes. There are a handful of rental options that could also be available to impact the club’s offensive profile at what would likely be a much more affordable prospect cost. Tommy Pham of the Mets, in particular, is a free agent after this season but has delivered a .268/.348/.472 slash line in 264 trips to the plate this season. Other possible options include Pham’s teammate Mark Canha or Red Sox slugger Adam Duvall.

While the Brewers are focused on adding to their offense, they appear to feel comfortable with their pitching staff as is with Rosenthal noting that Milwaukee does not expect to jump into the starting pitching market even after the loss of right-hander Julio Teheran to the injured list. Left-hander Wade Miley is expected to be activated from the 15-day injured list on Wednesday, while Rosenthal notes that righty Brandon Woodruff is set to make a rehab start tomorrow and could also rejoin the rotation in the near future.

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