After the NBA cucked the MLB today with a major trade overnight, baseball will have its own by sometime today as Manny Machado will be a member of the Los Angeles Dodgers. At the time of writing this blog post, nothing is official as of now. Brewers made a strong offer, but the Dodgers added a top prospect which the Brewers were not willing to do. I don’t blame Milwaukee at all. Now, it’s time to look at other potential pieces that could help this team in the second half of the season. Good news is there are plenty of options.

Shortstop – After Machado, there isn’t much left at shortstop besides Eduardo Escobar of the Minnesota Twins. He’s a free agent at the end of this season, and the Minnesota Twins have a former first rounder in Triple A ready to roll. Escobar will be the focus of likely Philadelphia, New York, Milwaukee and Arizona who all missed out on the Baltimore shortstop.

Second Base – Another need for the Brewers, and the options are plentiful here. The first one that’s intriguing is Brian Dozier of Minnesota. Again, he’s a rental, but he’s awesome against lefties with some big power plus contact. He’s struggled this season, so, the Brewers may not have to give back as much as they would have last season. Asdrubal Cabrera is another name out there, but he’s a rental with poor defense. Whit Merrifield got brought up earlier this month, but with his contract, the Brewers would likely need to give up more than the others in this category. If Colorado or Oakland slips in the next 10 days, that could open up D.J. LeMahieu and Jed Lowrie.

Catcher – With Manny Pina struggling behind the dish, catcher is a position the Brewers would love to upgrade. No chance they’re getting J.T. Realmuto as the price will be too high. But a guy like Wilson Ramos is definitely a possibility and would help them versus left-handed pitching without question. Someone mentioned Francisco Cervelli, and he would add offense yet the guy cannot throw anyone out plus trading inside the division is always risky.

Starting pitcher – Remember what David Stearns said about getting a guy who could ‘lead the rotation.’ This would make you think a J.A. Happ, Tyson Ross and a few others are not part of the conversation. Michael Fulmer, Chris Archer, Jacob deGrom are all pitchers with controllable contracts and the ability to be ‘aces’ of a rotation. Marcus Stroman is another name worth considering even though he’s been less than stellar this season. If the Brewers change course here, they could get a rental like Nathan Eovaldi whose been great for Tampa Bay, or a young promising pitching talent like Kevin Gausman or Dylan Bundy. The Orioles pitchers have a ton of talent but haven’t lived up to it in the big leagues.

There are other options we likely didn’t mention here, but it’s a marathon, not a sprint, for the trade deadline. Brewers fans need to remember that in these next 13 days. Rumors are going to fly around, some will be legit, others will not. Just take it as it goes and when a deal is done, we can react about it.

Charlie.