Milwaukee Brewers: 3 trades to make and 1 to avoid this offseason

The Milwaukee Brewers need to make a deal or two this offseason to get themselves back in contention in 2021.

Keep your eyes on the Milwaukee Brewers this offseason.

In 2020 the team grossly underperformed at the plate, coming in below league average in hits, runs and batting average, according to Baseball Reference. Not what you’d expect from a team led by former MVP Christian Yelich.

For the past decade the knock on the Brewers has been their lack of dominant starting pitching. But as we head into 2021, the team’s main focus for the first time in years should be offense,  with the pitching rotation solidified behind starters Brandon Woodruff and Corbin Burnes.

Both of the corner infield positions need to be addressed after being filled by stop gaps in 2020. Outside of Christian Yelich and Avisail Garcia, the outfield depth may need to be addressed as well.

Let’s dive into three trades the Brewers should make and one they should avoid.

The Brewers Dramatically need something at the plate from their third baseman. Believe it or not, stop gap Eric Sogard was not the long term answer at the position and utility man Luis Urias lacks the home run power the team needs out of an every day starter at the position.

Moran is rather affordable with a base salary of $2.5 million a year, according to Spotrac, a price tag even the Brewers ownership group can get behind. Moran has double digit home runs in each of the past three years and hit .277, .277 and .247 respectively in those seasons.

In the field Moran is pretty flexible, which the Brewers have shown they like from their third basemen in the past (remember Mike Moustakas playing second base?). In 2019 Moran played both corner outfield positions, some first base and third base.

With top Pirates third base prospect Ke’Bryan Hayes now at the MLB level, the Pirates may be willing to let Moran go for the right price. A reasonable trade package from the Brewers for Moran could be starting pitcher Josh Lindblom and a low level prospect, or they could potentially offer a young intriguing outfielder like Tyrone Taylor along with other prospects and cash considerations.