\u201cYet, as Attanasio continues to clamp down on spending, his team\u2019s margin for error keeps shrinking. And if this is the season his frugality finally costs the Brewers, he will deserve some, if not most, of the blame.\u201d<\/p>\n
Somewhere, Attanasio is cackling hysterically. His frugality clearly is not costing the Brewers, who own the best record in the majors. And to any suggestion he should authorize a payroll increase at the trade deadline, he can rightly ask, \u201cWhy should I?\u201d<\/p>\n
The St. Louis Cardinals for much of this century were renowned for their \u201cdevil magic.\u201d No one has coined as catchy a phrase to describe Milwaukee\u2019s strange brew. But year after year, the Brewers rebound from any number of impediments \u2013 injuries, trades, free-agent departures, losses of managers, coaches and executives \u2013 to produce contending teams.<\/p>\n
This year\u2019s club, featuring the unheralded likes of Isaac Collins, Caleb Durbin and Andrew Vaughn, to name only a few, should have Attanasio particularly excited. The owner lives in the Los Angeles area. The Brewers went 6-0 against the defending World Series champion Dodgers, a sweep to stir small-market souls.<\/p>\n
Well, if the Brewers are preparing to make a play on Su\u00e1rez or some other unsuspecting trade candidate, they sure aren\u2019t acting like it. Ask club officials about upgrading the left side of the infield, and they respond as if Joey Ortiz and Durbin are Derek Jeter and Alex Rodr\u00edguez. Ask them about reinforcing the bullpen, and they sing the glories of Trevor Megill, Abner Uribe and company.<\/p>\n
Those officials are not necessarily wrong. Ortiz, acquired in the Corbin Burnes trade, might be batting only .217 with a .589 OPS, but is a gifted defender. Durbin, acquired in the Devin Williams trade, is batting .347 with an .899 OPS over the past six weeks. The bullpen, even with four relievers at 44 or more appearances \u2014 second only to the San Diego Padres, who have five \u2014 entered Wednesday ranked eighth in opponents\u2019 OPS.<\/p>\n
Still, as The Athletic\u2019s Eno Sarris wrote<\/a>, the Brewers\u2019 offense lacks the slug generally necessary to succeed in the postseason. Even with improvement in July, the Brewers entered Wednesday ranked 23rd in slugging percentage, 25th in hard-hit rate and 30th in barrel percentage.<\/p>\n Which is where Su\u00e1rez would enter the picture.<\/p>\n The Brewers, sitting on a surplus of starting pitchers, possess the kind of controllable arms that might entice the Arizona Diamondbacks. Granted, the Brewers likely will need some of those pitchers to replace potential free agents Jos\u00e9 Quintana, Nestor Cortes Jr. and Brandon Woodruff. They also would require more than Su\u00e1rez to part with a Logan Henderson or Chad Patrick. And, as if all that isn\u2019t enough, Attanasio might balk at adding Su\u00e1rez\u2019s remaining $4.8 million.<\/p>\n Attanasio surely is lamenting the Brewers\u2019 average home attendance is down almost 1,500 per game from last season, dropping from 31,323 to 29,882. But part of that might be due to an offseason in which the Brewers traded Williams, lost Willy Adames to free agency and then spent no more than $1 million on any free agent until signing Quintana to a one-year, $4.25 million deal in early March.<\/p>\n Adding Su\u00e1rez would electrify the fan base, amounting to a coup for a team that plays in the league\u2019s smallest TV market. As The Athletic\u2019s C. Trent Rosecrans reports<\/a>, another small-market club, the Cincinnati Reds, are interested in Su\u00e1rez. Yes, big-market teams like the New York Yankees and Chicago Cubs might be more motivated. And yes, the Brewers are doing just fine as is.<\/p>\n Attanasio, who did not respond to a request for comment, might think he already has gotten the last word. Fair enough. But wouldn\u2019t it be something if the owner matched the effort that the Brewers\u2019 players, on-field staff and front office are giving him? If the team that traded Burnes, Williams and Josh Hader finally said, \u201cOur turn?\u201d<\/p>\n Potential Dodgers trade chip: Dustin May<\/p>\n Left-hander Tanner Scott\u2019s stint on the injured list with elbow inflammation makes the Dodgers\u2019 need for bullpen help<\/a> even more acute. But how are they going to get it?<\/p>\n One way, according to sources briefed on the club\u2019s thinking, might be to trade right-hander Dustin May, a potential free agent who could lose his spot in the rotation once left-hander Blake Snell comes off the injured list.<\/p>\n May, though, would have only so much value as a rental with a 4.73 ERA. The Dodgers\u2019 difficulties keeping pitchers healthy also might make them reluctant to move a starter who is second on the team in innings pitched.<\/p>\n May could serve, as he did successfully on Monday, as a bulk pitcher behind Shohei Ohtani. Manager Dave Roberts called that pairing a \u201cone-off,\u201d but the idea of May providing length out of the bullpen is hardly an outrageous idea.<\/p>\n The Dodgers, if they prefer to keep May, can instead deal from their deep farm system, which The Athletic\u2019s Keith Law ranked before the season<\/a> as the third best in the game.\u00a0 The team, as The Athletic\u2019s Fabian Ardaya reported<\/a>, is reluctant to move catcher Dalton Rushing and shortstop Alex Freeland. Two of the club\u2019s other top prospects, High-A outfielders Josue De Paula and Zyhir Hope, also possess considerable upside.<\/p>\n The system, though, is stacked with other highly regarded position players. Among them: Shortstops Kellon Lindsey and Emil Morales, outfielders Eduardo Quintero, Ching-Hsien Ko and Mike Sirota, third baseman Chase Harlan.<\/p>\n The White Sox\u2019s surprising trade candidate<\/p>\n When right-hander Adrian Houser signed a one-year, $1.35 million contract with the Chicago White Sox on May 20, his goal wasn\u2019t to turn himself into a trade candidate. Houser, after exercising an opt-out in his minor-league deal with the Texas Rangers, was happy just to be back in the majors.<\/p>\n \u201cA trade was a possibility. Obviously everything has to fall in line for that to become a possibility,\u201d Houser said. \u201cMy thought process was to be up here and compete, prove I can pitch up here and try to stay up here as long as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n Houser, 32, has succeeded in that effort, producing a 1.89 ERA in 62 innings. His expected ERA is 3.76, but his low salary and seven quality starts in nine outings should make him attractive to teams looking for a back-end starter.<\/p>\n Prior to joining the White Sox, Houser had his last major-league start with the New York Mets on July 24, 2024. The Mets released him a week later. He signed a minor-league deal with the Cubs, who released him on Aug. 31, then finished the season in the Baltimore Orioles\u2019 organization.<\/p>\n During the offseason, Houser made a significant mechanical change to his backside at Pitching WRX in Oklahoma City, getting more into his hamstring and glutes rather than his quads. \u201cI was probably three pitches into an offseason bullpen and they noticed it immediately,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n He also made greater use of the cold tub and adjusted his eating habits, adopting what he called the \u201ccarnivorish\u201d diet \u2014 mostly red meat, but on occasion chicken or fish as well.<\/p>\n \u201cI was pretty much a carnivore all week, then Saturday and Sunday I would kind of cheat a little bit,\u201d Houser said. \u201cWe would do \u2018Pancake Saturdays\u2019 at our house. I\u2019d have some pancakes on the weekend, maybe some coffee and soda. But once the week rolled around and I started working out, it was back to meat, eggs and cheese, and that was about it.\u201d<\/p>\n His 5.03 ERA with the Rangers at Triple A was hardly exceptional. His 17.7 percent strikeout rate with the White Sox might deter clubs obsessed with swing and miss. But his recent success is undeniable, and Houser is well aware he might be on the move.<\/p>\n \u201cYou know how it is in the clubhouses. You see all this stuff on TV. MLB Network is everywhere. And the way social media is, you\u2019re going to see it,\u201d Houser said. \u201cAt the end of the day, I\u2019ve got to take care of my business and worry about today and what\u2019s in front of me vs. thinking about what the future holds.\u201d<\/p>\n Why Jays need another starter<\/p>\n As The Athletic\u2019s Mitch Bannon wrote<\/a>, a rash of injuries has made bullpen help perhaps the Toronto Blue Jays\u2019 biggest priority.<\/p>\n But, like virtually every other team in the majors, the Jays also are in the market for a starting pitcher under club control beyond 2025, according to sources briefed on the team\u2019s plans.<\/p>\n Both Chris Bassitt, 36, and Max Scherzer, 40, are potential free agents. The Jays could wait until the offseason to address the possibility of them leaving. Both enjoy playing for Toronto and would entertain coming back, a clubhouse source said.<\/p>\n The Jays\u2019 lack of rotation depth, however, makes it almost imperative they add a starter before the deadline. Scherzer has been on the injured list five times since September 2023. Eric Lauer\u2019s impression of an ace might last only so long. Alek Manoah cannot be expected to be a stalwart if he returns from Tommy John surgery in late August, and few options exist at Triple A.<\/p>\n The expected return of center fielder Daulton Varsho from a left hamstring strain next week should give the Jays\u2019 lineup a boost. The bullpen, minus Yimi Garcia and others, requires the most attention. But the Jays figure to address their rotation, too.<\/p>\n Braves\u2019 goal: Baseball trades, not salary dumps<\/p>\n One executive who spoke with the Atlanta Braves said he was told the team does not even intend to trade its potential free agents. The Braves conveyed they are under no pressure to reduce payroll, the exec said, and would like to win as many games as possible to build momentum going into 2026.<\/p>\n It remains to be seen whether Marcell Ozuna will be looking back on his time with the Braves after the July 31st deadline. (Brett Davis-Imagn Images)<\/p>\n A Braves source, however, said that was not a proper interpretation of the team\u2019s position. The team is willing to trade players on expiring contracts such as designated hitter Marcell Ozuna and closer Raisel Iglesias, the source said. But it has no interest in merely dumping salary. Its goal in any deal would be to receive some level of talent in return.<\/p>\n That would be easier said than done with Ozuna, who as a player with 10 years service, five consecutive with the same team, has the right to veto any deal. Ozuna has cratered since April 20, batting .219 with a .689 OPS. The Braves are now playing both their catchers, Sean Murphy and Drake Baldwin, rather than using Ozuna at DH.<\/p>\n Iglesias, 35, is a more interesting case. Prior to allowing four runs against the New York Yankees on Sunday, he had pitched 13 2\/3 consecutive scoreless innings. He then added another scoreless inning against the San Francisco Giants on Wednesday.<\/p>\n The bullpen market is crowded, and Iglesias will be owed more than $5 million at the deadline. But the cost for him in talent will be less than it is for multi-year relievers, and the Braves presumably could include cash for a better return.<\/p>\n And finally\u2026<\/p>\n After getting swept at home by the Houston Astros, the Arizona Diamondbacks are 5 1\/2 games back in the NL wild-card race, with three teams ahead of them. As I wrote Monday<\/a>, they need to trade at least some of their potential free agents. But some rival executives are still not convinced they will be aggressive sellers.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/USATSI_26670569-scaled.jpg\")
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