Milwaukee Brewers Latest Trade Rumors

The Texas Rangers could use another quality starting pitcher. They could also use another solid option in the outfield. The Milwaukee Brewers could be the solution to both equations.

Jon Morosi of FOXSports.com tweeted early Thursday that the Rangers have expressed interest in outfielder Norichika Aoki during discussions with the Brewers about right-hander Yovani Gallardo. Perhaps they can get both?

It's not going to be cheap, but the Rangers have a lot of young talent, particularly on the mound and in terms of middle infielders down on the farm. Top prospect Jurickson Profar isn't likely to be part of such talks, at least one would presume.

Other arms that the Rangers have been linked to by common sense include Cubs righty Matt Garza.

Courtesy of Jason A. Churchill and EPSN 

Who Will the Brewers Deal at the Deadline?

With the MLB Non-waiver Trade Deadline less than a month away, the Milwaukee Brewers expect to be one of the most active teams, trading away multiple veteran players in order to rebuild their weak farm system.  While everyone, with the exception of Jean Segura and Carlos Gomez, will be available, it is unrealistic to expect the Brewers to be able to completely clean house.  Here is who the Brewers will deal by July 31st:

Yovani Gallardo, RHP

Even though Yovani Gallardo is having the worst season of his big league career, he is young, experienced, and has two-years remaining at an affordable total of $24.5 million on his deal.  Not only are all three of things a plus, but Gallardo has playoff experience and success throughout his career making him even more of an attractive option for teams looking to add a frontline starter at the deadline.  It is not a question if Yovani Gallardo will be traded, but when will he be traded.  The Diamondbacks appear to be the favorite to land the righty, but do not be surprised if the Dodgers and Rangers make a strong push for him as well.

Francisco Rodriguez, RHP

Francisco Rodriguez has had an excellent season so far for the Brewers as their closer and set-up man, making him a likely trade piece.  Many teams are looking for bullpen help, and K-Rod would be a great option for any team in contention, due to the fact that he has experience and success pitching late in ball games.  While many teams will be vying for his services, the Brewers should not expect to receive an overwhelming offer for him because he will only be a two-month rental.  The Brewers will trade K-Rod by the deadline, and the Diamondbacks, Tigers, and Red Sox are the three favorites to acquire the experienced veteran.

Kyle Lohse, RHP

Although Kyle Lohse only has a record of 4-6, his ERA (3.46) and WHIP (1.16) still suggests that he could be a solid pitcher on a team looking to make a late season playoff run.  The Brewers signed Kyle Lohse days before Opening Day, surrendering a first-round pick, in hopes of making another playoff appearance, but the Brewers have struggled as a whole, making it time to recoup their losses.  It will not be easy to trade the 34-year old pitcher with two-years and $22 million remaining on his contract, but multiple teams (Dodgers, Giants, Rangers) are in search of a quality pitcher, who has playoff experience, making Lohse a player who will be dealt by the Brewers before the deadline.

The Brewers will be one of the most active teams around the deadline, with numerous teams interested in their players, but only three of them will be traded - Gallardo, Rodriguez, and Lohse.  

Milwaukee Brewers: Time to Look Towards the Future

The Milwaukee Brewers currently sit near the basement of the National League Central, and it is hard to imagine any significant improvement over the remaining part of the season.  The Brewers have struggled to be consistent this season due to injures and the lack of quality pitching depth.

Depth in the minor leagues is a major issue with the Brewers.  The Brewers have the worst farm system in the MLB, and they lack prospects that can make a significant impact at the major league level.  Being a small market team, the Brewers need to build through their farm system in order to sustain success year after year.

In order to build up their farm system, the Brewers need to rebuild.  Rebuilding is not fun, but it will help the Brewers become a successful franchise over a longer period of time.  The Brewers have numerous major league players who other clubs would be interested in.  Some of these players include Aramis Ramirez, Corey Hart, Yovani Gallardo, Kyle Lohse and Ryan Braun, all of whom could bring a solid package of prospects back in return.  

The Brewers have struggled mightily this season, and it is time for them to enter rebuilding mode.  The Brewers need to start unloading some of their major league talent in order to build up their farm system, to insure sustainable success year after year.

Don't Blame Roenicke for the Brewers Struggles

The Milwaukee Brewers have struggled mightily this season with a disappointing 19-30 record, but you cannot blame Ron Roenicke for the teams poor performance.  Doug Melvin is the one to blame.  He assembled this team and Roenicke can only do so much with the little amount of talent he has.  Here are three reasons why all of the blame should be placed on Melvin:

1st -- Pitching wins championships and the Brewers lack the pitching to be competitive.  Their starting five is filled with average pitchers who are at best middle to back end of the rotation pitchers and they have all been dreadful this season.  The Brewers pitching staff holds a 4.48 ERA overall and that is mainly because Yovani Gallardo, Marco Estrada, Mike Fiers, Wily Peralta and Hiram Burgos all hold an ERA close to or well over five.  The only exception is Kyle Lohse who has had a solid season as the ace of the Brewers staff.  The Brewers have struggled to find any consistency from their starting rotation and it has really hurt them this season.

2nd -- Doug Melvin made the decision to bring back John Axford this offseason and made him the closer before Spring Training even began.  Axford has been dreadful this season posting a 6.64 ERA with ZERO saves and three blown saves in 20 1/3 innings, and has already been removed from the closer role.  With the Brewers now having to use different options in the ninth inning, it has hurt the entire bullpen.

3rd -- As a small market ball club, you need to have a strong farm system to be competitive year in and year out.  The Brewers have a weak farm system that was ranked 29th by Keith Law of ESPN entering the season.  With no pitching or hitting prospects projected to have huge upside, the present and future is not bright for the Milwaukee Brewers.

The blame has to be put completely on Doug Melvin's shoulders for this disappointing season and he should be fired for this.  He has not been able to build a consistent playoff contending team over the course of his tenure because he does not know how to build a team through the draft and develop prospects and it is finally starting to show.

Trade Yovani Gallardo?!

In the current issue of ESPN The Magazine, they predicted the Milwaukee Brewers to finish fourth in the NL Central.  If the Brewers do struggle this season, should they trade Yovani Gallardo?  The earliest Gallardo can become a free agent is in 2015, so he would have some value on the trade market.  If the Brewers are able to acquire two talented pitching prospects to added to their solid young core, this would be a smart trade for the Brewers to make.

2013 Milwaukee Brewers: 3 Bold Predictions

1. Yovani Gallardo Will Win 20 Games

Ever since Yovani Gallardo became the Brewers' ace in 2009, he has been the most underrated pitcher in baseball.  Since 2009 he has averaged almost 32 starts a season with 15 wins, 203 strike-outs, and an ERA ranging from 3.52-3.84.  He has also been able to remain healthy throughout his young six year career besides a freak ACL injury in 2008.  Yovani Gallardo is just entering the prime of his career and in order for the Brewers to be successful this season, he has to be a consistent pitcher a top the Brewers rotation.  This will finally be Gallardo's break out season, and expect him to win 20 games for the very competitive Milwaukee Brewers.  

2. Ryan Braun Will Win the N.L. MVP Award

Ryan Braun has been the best player in baseball over the last two seasons, and this season he will continue to produce at a high level.  Over the past two seasons he has destroyed the ball, averaging 37 home runs, 112 RBIs, and an average well over .300.  If it was not for all of the off the field drama, that happened before last season, Ryan Braun would have been the MVP for the second consecutive season.  Ryan Braun will have another outstanding season for the Brewers, and if he is able to repeat the success he has had over the past two seasons, he will be the National League MVP.

3. Milwaukee Brewers Will Make the Playoffs

Throughout the last decade the Brewers have struggled to develop young pitching besides, Ben Sheets and Yovani Gallardo.  This season the Brewers have decided to go with a younger and inexperience pitching rotation behind Gallardo, and this decision by Doug Melvin, has led to a lot of criticism from baseball fans.  This is one of the smartest decisions Melvin has made in his tenure as Brewers GM because instead of over paying for veteran hurlers, they are allowing their highly touted pitching prospects to develop.

Instead of over paying for starting pitching, the Brewers have used the money to revamp their awful bullpen from last season, with the acquisitions of Burke Badenhop, Michael Gonzalez, and Tom Gorzelanny.  Their bullpen was so bad last season, that they had 29 blown saves in 73 opportunities, with a 4.66 ERA, which was the worst in the majors.  If the Brewers bullpen would have converted half of those blown saves, they would have made the playoffs for a second consecutive season.

With a young, but talented starting rotation, a revamped bullpen, and the best offense in the National League expect the Brewers to surprise everyone and win one of the National League Wild Cards.

Chris Narveson vs. Mark Rogers for the 5th Spot in the Brewers Starting Rotation

With the Milwaukee Brewers' pitchers and catchers reporting to Spring Training in less than a week, the most compelling position battle will be for the fifth spot in the Brewers starting rotation.  Yovani Gallardo, Marco Estrada, and Mike Fiers are already penciled in the Brewers pitching rotation, with highly regarded pitching prospect Wily Peralta expected to be the number four starter.  This leaves Mark Rogers and Chris Narveson left to battle for the number five spot.  Both of these pitchers have many things to like about them, with only a few things that could hurt their chances at winning the fifth spot in the Brewers rotation.

First, Chris Narveson has more experience than Mark Rogers at pitching in the majors.  He has not been overly impressive in his career with a 4.67 ERA in 394 2/3 innings.  He does struggle with his command at times, but even with his struggles, he has a respectable strikeouts per nine innings ratio of 7.4 in his career.  Narveson is also coming off of a season where he only made two starts due to shoulder injury to his pitching arm, and when he did pitch, he struggled mightily having a 7.00 ERA in nine innings.  Chris Narveson isn't a bad option for the Brewers as their number five starter because of his experience, but he is coming off of an injury that could hurt his chances of winning the fifth spot in the rotation.

Mark Rogers, once the highly touted pitching prospect who the Brewers drafted fifth overall out of high school in 2004, is finally trying to become a fixture in the Brewers starting rotation this spring training.  Mark Rogers has had a taste of the major leagues in 2010 and 2012 when the Brewers called him up in September, but due to multiple injures over his career, he hasn't developed into the ace the Brewers always envisioned him being.  In his limited time in the major leagues, Rogers has shown glimpses of being an excellent pitcher, with a 3.49 ERA in 49 innings.  He has also shown great control with only walking 17 batters, while striking out 52 batters in those 49 innings.  Mark Rogers definitely has more potential and talent than Narveson, but his lack of experience could cost Rogers a spot in the starting rotation.

One of these pitchers will make the starting rotation while the other pitcher will either be sent to the bullpen, or will be pitching for a different team on Opening Day because both of these players are out of minor league options.  Mark Rogers will be the number five starter for the Brewers because he is overall a better pitcher with more potential than Narveson, and the Brewers can not afford to let a talented arm like Rogers sit in the bullpen or on another team.