Three Power Bats to Improve the Brewers Offense

The Milwaukee Brewers are currently battling for first place in the NL Central. Adding a power hitter at the deadline could put them over the edge to clinch it.

Their starting pitching has been fantastic. Their bullpen is coming together and has a variety of weapons. Christian Yelich and Keston Hiura are starting to hit and produce. But, losing two of their big power bats hasn’t helped their offense or team batting average.

Daniel Vogelbach and Travis Shaw will be out for at least six weeks. It will most likely be longer than that. Jackie Bradley Jr. is not currently hitting well, and not producing his normal average of home runs and RBIs. Avisail Garcia is having a good year, but can run into cold streaks.

Willy Adames is doing well, which is also helping Luis Urias play better. Wong has been great when not on the injured list. Contributors throughout the season like Tyrone Taylor, Billy McKinney and Jace Peterson help, but aren’t a true power bat that they need off the bench or in the line-up. McKinney is also on the Mets now.

So which players could join the Brewers and drive in some runs? Here are three players that are already being talked about on the trade deadline market.

Mitch Haniger

The Milwaukee Brewers and Seattle Mariners exchanging players. It’s a tale as old as time. They shared custody of Jacob Nottingham this year, and the team’s current catcher and should-be All-Star Omar Narvaez came from Seattle.

Not too long ago, the Brewers traded Domingo Santana to the Mariners for Ben Gamel and Noah Zavolas. Gamel was a very serviceable and beloved outfielder for the Brewers and now on the Pittsburgh Pirates. Zavolas is still in the Brewers Double A system.

Aquiring Haniger would provide an additional solid outfielder for Milwaukee for at least a season and a half. He will enter his third arbitration year in 2022. So far this year, Haniger is batting .255, but has 17 home runs and 45 RBIs.

He currently splits time between right field and designated hitter, and would serve as an additional outfielder for the Brewers. He would rank in the Top 5 for batting average and be the team home run and RBI leader.

Tyrone Taylor is playing decent for the Brewers, but a player like Haniger would be an obvious upgrade. With Cain’s injury still a mystery on his exact return and Jackie Bradley Jr. not hitting well at all, Haniger would be a great additional outfielder and pitch hitter off the bench for Milwaukee. He would most likely place right field a lot and Garcia would shift to center until Cain can return again.

Trey Mancini

Mancini made headlines this season with his story and will probably make headlines again around the trade deadline. The 29-year-old survived Stage 3 colon cancer, was able to return to the Orioles and will now participate in this year’s Home Run Derby.

Baltimore’s first baseman also has a year-and-a-half of control left. He is playing almost identical to Haniger too. Batting average is .255, has 14 home runs and 52 RBIs. Again, he would be at the top of the team’s charts with those stats.

Keston Hiura seems to be hitting well again, but that doesn’t mean it should stop you from getting a player like Mancini. Hiura could split time or move to second. Wong is now possibly on his third injury of the year, and Hiura’s bat would be an upgrade at second over Jace Peterson and Daniel Robertson.

Boom Boom is heading to Denver.

Trey Mancini will participate in the 2021 Home Run Derby. pic.twitter.com/PboMS48HLr

— Orioles on MASN (@masnOrioles) June 26, 2021

The main issue with Mancini is that he is basically the face of the Orioles right now. His story is inspirational. And what if he wins the Home Run Derby? His stock would be at an all-time high, and you would need to make sure if he in the starting line-up almost every day with no DH option in the National League.

Joey Gallo

Yes, another outfielder option. He also has another year of arbitration like Haniger and Mancini. So none of these choices would be just half-season rentals. Gallo is just 27-years-old, and already said he would like a bigger extension from the Rangers. If Texas won’t do that, could the Brewers?

The Nevada native is currently only batting .224, but his OPS of the three players is the highest at .830. Mancini is at .789 and Haniger is at .790. If any of these players joined the Brewers, their OPS would be ranked fifth from active roster players just below Christian Yelich’s at .802.

TWO ABSOLUTE TANK JOBS TODAY FOR JOEY GALLO pic.twitter.com/ISU6x0xaK0

— Starting 9 (@Starting9) June 26, 2021

Gallo has 16 home runs on the season and 40 RBIs. Pretty similar to the other two, and again another offensive upgrade for the Brewers. Joey does have 96 strike outs for the year though, and would lead the team in them. Jackie Bradley Jr. is only at 81.

So for a team that is already striking out way to much, Gallo would add to that problem when not getting on base. But who knows, maybe someone like Andy Haines could help Gallo and some adjustments could be made to lower his strike out percentage. A change of scenery can be a good thing, especially in baseball. Just look at Willy Adames.

All Players Would Be Pricey

Obviously, all three players will be high demand and hard to tell who the Brewers would have to give up to get a high-named power bat. They would most likely have to give up a Top 25 prospect or two, and possibly even players on the current roster like Urias, JBJ, Eric Lauer or Brad Boxberger.

Honorable mentions:

Trevor Story, Jesus Aguilar, Eduardo Escobar, Starling Marte, Ketel Marte

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