The Milwaukee Brewers are still in first place despite being swept for the first time this season. At 36-36, they remain five-and-a-half games ahead of the Chicago Cubs, six-and-a-half games ahead of the Cincinnati Reds and St. Louis Cardinals, and seven-and-a-half games ahead of the Pittsburgh Pirates.
If their pitching continues to perform well despite five different starting pitchers currently being on the injured list, there is no reason why the Brewers cannot make a serious push for the division title. After all, they are currently the only National League Central Division team with a record over .500, and one of just four National League teams with a winning record.
These are important facts to keep in mind, especially if they remain anywhere close to true when the MLB trade deadline approaches. As things currently stand, Milwaukee will be in a place to add players instead of trading them away, and this includes fan-favorite shortstop Willy Adames.
Why Would the Milwaukee Brewers Trade Willy Adames?
Adames, along with catcher William Contreras, has appeared in every single one of Milwaukee’s 62 games so far this season. He is currently hitting .248/.427/.430 with nine home runs and 42 RBI. His nine home runs are the fifth-highest total among MLB shortstops, and his 42 RBI rank second.
The Brewers’ clubhouse leader is in his final year of arbitration, which means he will be a free agent when the season ends. Considering the types of numbers he is putting up, he very well could be the most coveted free agent shortstop on the market, and he will be paid as such.
Unfortunately, that is a price that the Brewers likely will not be able to pay. Chicago Cubs shortstop Dansby Swanson, who is not as good as Adames, signed a seven-year $177 million deal when he became a free agent. This averages out to an annual salary of a little over $25 million.
Adames will likely get that, or more, on the open market.
Since Milwaukee is unlikely to sign him for that amount of money, many believed that the Brewers would trade him this offseason or during this current campaign in order to get some prospects back for him.
Milwaukee Brewers Insider Reveals Willy Adames Is Unlikely to Be Traded
Earlier this week, Brewers owner Mark Attanasio confirmed that Milwaukee had received some significant trade offers that would have made sense, at least analytically, for the team. However, he referenced Adames’ clubhouse presence and leadership as reasons why they chose not to pursue any of these trade offers.
Brewers insider Curt Hogg also wrote today that the chances of seeing Milwaukee’s shortstop traded at the deadline is extremely slim:
“My early read on the situation is no. One of the most enlightening revelations from our chat with Mark Attanasio last week was that the team received trade offers for Adames that, according to Attanasio, ‘if you put (them) into an analytic model there may have been some merit to build for the future.’
“General manager Matt Arnold is always going to do his due diligence on fielding offers for all players, so the fact the Brewers were taking offers on Adames is not in the least bit surprising. But hearing ownership make it a point to mention they turned down competitive offers for their shortstop while touting him as the heartbeat of the team sure makes me think Adames is going to play out the year in Milwaukee.”
Hogg goes on to say that if the Brewers were to trade Adames, Joey Ortiz would slide over from third base to play shortstop. However, such a trade would have to land Milwaukee a haul of prospects that any team would be crazy to part with.
It is also worth noting that an early goodbye to Adames would be disastrous for the clubhouse. After Josh Hader was traded, morale was extremely low among the rest of the team. Imagine would getting rid of Willy would do…
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