It probably won’t happen, but imagine a world where the Milwaukee Brewers pull off a heist that wins them the NL Central.
There’s still a lot of season left, but the postseason races in baseball are starting to heat up. We’re still in limbo between the All-Star Break and the trade deadline, but teams starting to gear up for second half pushes that could make or break them.
One team looking to get over the hump is the Milwaukee Brewers, as was evident in their winter trades. Adding Christian Yelich and Lorenzo Cain was a sign that Milwaukee wasn’t going to toil in the NL Central this season, and there might be more moves to come.
According to Ken Rosenthal, a team recently called the Twins about acquiring both Eduardo Escobar and Brian Dozier and that team is probably the Brewers.
So imagine a world where one of the bubble teams in the National League goes nuclear.
Milwaukee has had their finger on the Twins pulse as of late, waiting to see if the heartbeat slows to a point where they sink their fangs in. Minnesota doesn’t seem to be in contention, and the idea of trading Dozier has been out there since last year. Escobar has been a solid infielder all season and is drawing trade interest from teams that view him as a Manny Machado consolation prize.
If the Brewers were to land both players, who are All-Stars when they’re firing on all cylinders, it could be a game changer that rocks the entire National League.
Right now the races are tight but there’s no one team running away with things. The Dodgers made a deal for Machado to help solidify their chances of winning the West but nothing is guaranteed. Chicago is looking to add relief help but it wouldn’t make them runaway favorites. Milwaukee adding two of the best middle-to-upper tier infielders in baseball might be enough to make them favorites.
It’ll be a hefty price to pay, and there’s no saying the Twins would refuse to wave the white flag by trading away two pieces of its core. But if Milwaukee can make this deal happen, it would give them one of the best lineups in baseball and might finally give the National League a sure-fire team to beat.