Ever since the Corbin Burnes trade returned a middle infielder who appears to be a Milwaukee Brewers staple going forward, there has been a great deal of conjecture around Willy Adames’s future there. What would make exchanging Adames worthwhile is the question.
The Los Angeles Dodgers, who are attempting to assemble the greatest baseball team, would be the most logical team to acquire Willy Adames in a trade. Gavin Lux’s name always comes up in trade talks involving Adames and the Dodgers. Lux is from Wisconsin, so it feels somewhat lethargic, yet it also fits in well there. Lux is a promising left-handed hitter with some big-league credentials who still has three years of team control left despite missing the entire previous season due to injury.
Subsequent to trading Corbin Burnes for Joey Ortiz, the Brewers no longer require that kind of player—at least not as much as they did a month prior. They have Tyler Black, who like Lux bats left-handed, on the doorstep in addition to Ortiz. If you pencil those two in for long-term roles, that leaves just one of the three throwing infield positions open to be filled by a combination of Vinny Capra, Andruw Monasterio, Oliver Dunn, and Brice Turang.
While there isn’t a player in that foursome who is secure enough to be a first-division regular to warrant the Brewers completely ruling out the prospect of bringing in another shortstop, they have enough together with Ortiz to make the hunt for an infielder less pressing. In addition, should Lux have a successful season in 2024, the Crew would have to pay him a large amount in arbitration in 2025 and 2026; after that, he would be a free agent. He doesn’t actually widen their window in the manner that you would expect an Adames trade to.
What if Matt Arnold and Andrew Friedman enlisted the help of a third team in order to close a deal that met that criterion? The Miami Marlins need a shortstop, but they don’t want to settle for a one-year answer, nor are they willing to pay Adames’ price. But, if the appropriate deal is made, they have controllable starting pitchers who they are ready to trade for a bat who could join the group of players they are trying to develop around, like Jazz Chisholm Jr., Luis Arráez, Jake Burger, and others.
There are even current rumours that the Fish would transfer Edward Cabrera to the Pirates in order to acquire a position player who possesses both established producing ability and team control. April 26-year-old Cabrera still has five years left under team control, but as a Super Two player next winter, he will be eligible for arbitration. The fact that Cabrera’s electrifying stuff has not been sufficiently controlled by Miami to elevate him above the status of a back-end starter and that his earning potential is out of line with his major league performance thus far will not sit well with a franchise going through a transition.
Resigning Wade The Brewers appear to be set thanks to Miley, the addition of Jakob Junis and Joe Ross, and the trade for DL Hall; yet, their current rotation is a touch short on upside. Cabrera would quickly change that. His changeup is really effective, and his fastball has a velocity of about 96 mph. Because he walked 15.2 percent of opposing batters last season, he only managed a 4.24 ERA. However, there are some low-hanging fruit in front of him—the kinds of tweaks that might easily turn him into a co-ace with Freddy Peralta under Chris Hook’s coaching.
