Rastall Ramblings: Brewers Bet on Themselves
If the Milwaukee Brewers and Green Bay Packers love doing one thing at the trade deadline, it’s reportedly being “in conversations” for trade targets without actually pulling the trigger on any seismic deals.
Perhaps that’s a little too harsh on the Brewers since they are regularly active at the deadline in making moves, but they are usually trades at the margins or of the relatively low-risk, medium-ceiling variety rather than any big swings.
Much has been made among Brewers fans over the years about the organization’s “bites of the apple” approach — trying to make the playoffs as many years as possible with a prolonged contention window — and refusing to part with a loaded package of prospects in exchange for short-term rentals is a big part of that philosophy.
For the most part, I can totally understand the logic behind the Brewers’ team-building approach. It’s easy to take for granted at this point, but the fact that the smallest market in baseball is a postseason regular now is nothing to sneeze at. That said, being too rigidly committed to a particular philosophy has the potential to limit your ceiling, and it’s fair to ask if general manager Matt Arnold was too conservative in his approach at this year’s trade deadline.
Despite a multi-month surge that has vaulted the Brewers to the best record in all of the MLB, the front office did not make any major moves ahead of the July 31 trade deadline. The moves they did make were stereotypically Brewer deadline trades: acquiring depth outfielder Brandon Lockridge, backup catcher Danny Jansen and injured journeyman reliever Shelby Miller.
Not exactly striking while the iron is hot.
If ever there were a time for the Brewers to deviate from their usual approach a bit, this felt like the year. They have defied almost everyone’s preseason expectations to assert themselves as one of baseball’s best teams, and they also have one of the MLB’s best and deepest farm systems to boot. In theory, that provided them the opportunity to send a sizable prospect package for a splash trade while still maintaining the long-term trajectory of the franchise.
Despite boasting a balanced offense, there are obviously some holes. Joey Ortiz is nothing short of a defensive wizard at shortstop, but he brings very little to the table at the plate. A more established, reliable bat than Caleb Durbin at third base wouldn’t hurt either.
As it stands, the Brewers at full health look good enough to win a World Series. But any sort of injury issues (especially in the infield) combined with Milwaukee not having quite so much success in their batting average on balls in play (BABIP) come playoff time, and suddenly it’s easy to see the lineup being a weak point.
This is not all to say that I’ve completely soured on the way the Milwaukee front office goes about things. San Diego Padres general manager A.J. Preller made plenty of headlines at this trade deadline by once again taking big swings to add to their roster. And while Preller has done a stellar job in his decade-long tenure as Padres GM, his much more aggressive approach hasn’t gotten San Diego over the playoff hump and to the World Series yet either.
Plus, so far this year, unheralded trades have paid off handsomely for the Brewers. No one was popping champagne when they acquired Andrew Vaughn or Quinn Priester, yet both have played significant roles in Milwaukee’s ongoing success in 2025.
Still, you can’t help but wonder if Arnold and Co. should’ve done a bit more to shore up the roster. If the Brewers once again come up short of an NL pennant in the postseason, their quiet trade deadline will be one of the first topics of discussion that comes up.
