What Do Brewers & Padres Having Cooking?
Rumors are abundant right now with the Milwaukee Brewers. As I noted on the podcast today, go listen! Brewers are one of the most unpredictable teams at the deadline. If Mets weren’t pulling a Maddy Perez from Euphoria, Milwaukee would definitely have the crown. But alas, they’re in second position. Apparently, they have started talking with the San Diego Padres about the deal. This is interesting considering how deep the Padres’ farm system is currently, and they aren’t interested in trading their young assets. The only one that could be available is lights out closer Kirby Yates.
Something to watch: #Padres and #Brewers have been talking, sources tell @dennistlin and @ByRobertMurray. SD needs a LHH and possibly a center fielder if it trades Margot. One name in discussions: MIL’s Trent Grisham, a former first-round pick who has an .875 OPS at Double A.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) July 29, 2019
We don’t really know who is involved on either side besides Trent Grisham, Milwaukee’s former first-round pick, who continues to mash the baseball. Yates would be the logical answer on San Diego’s side. Brewers need some bullpen help with the struggling Jeremy Jeffress and the goal of not overworking Josh Hader. A part of me would be concerned they might push for Mike Moustakas or Yasmani Grandal, they’re set at both positions with young, controllable talent or Manny Machado. It’s unlikely they would want a big gun from the Brewers. Although, Padres are the deepest farm system in the big leagues. How much deeper do they want to be?
Yates is an interesting one because the contract would indicate he is worth a big haul. He has two and a half years left on his deal before becoming a free agent. But He is a bit older. Yates is 32 years old and will be 34 at the end of his contract. Craig Kimbrel received a huge deal at age 31, but still, that has to factor in his potential value. But also, he has been dominant this year with a 1.02 ERA and 31 saves. He is currently carrying a WAR of 2.5. You combine that with Josh Hader, and they have a WAR of 3.6. That’s a nasty back end bullpen that can win championships.
We’ll see if anything comes to light with either of these moves.
Charlie.