The Brewers are in prime playoff position. They lead the National League Central by seven games, and they’re just a half game behind the Dodgers for the best record in baseball. But they are not a team without weakness, and recent failures in the postseason have the Milwaukee fanbase anxious to field a team that can truly compete with the Dodgers in the playoffs, after Los Angeles embarrassed them in a four-game sweep in last year’s National League Championship Series.
Milwaukee has three basic areas of need. At this point, the Brewers’ most pressing need is probably a starting pitcher. Kyle Harrison is due back soon-ish, but Brandon Woodruff is out for the season, and Jacob Misiorowski, Logan Henderson, Robert Gasser, and Brandon Sproat are probably all on pitch limits; the Brewers could really use one more player that they could count on to start a game in the postseason. The next need, almost as important, is a left-handed, high-leverage reliever — Aaron Ashby hasn’t been particularly reliable, and most fans would feel far more comfortable with one more guy they could count on after Trevor Megill and Abner Uribe. The last area of need is a little more general: they could use a little more thump in their offense, though finding a player who fits is a bit of a challenge.
Let’s look at three players who would address those needs.
José Soriano, starting pitcher, Angels
No one seems to know if John Mozeliak, who is working as the Angels’ interim general manager, is even allowed to trade anyone who is under contract beyond this season, and Soriano — like another potential target in the Angels’ rotation, Reid Detmers — has two more years of control after this one. But if Soriano and Detmers are on the table, the Brewers should investigate.
Soriano fits what the Brewers do a little better. He’s an extreme ground ball pitcher who throws hard and has a lot of what Statcast calls “extension,” traits that the Brewers value. While he has scuffled a bit since an incredible start to the season (Soriano had a 0.24 ERA through his first six starts, but just a 4.93 ERA in 15 starts since), he’s still someone who intrigues me as a potential Brewers target.
Some might prefer Detmers, whose surface-level stats aren’t as good as Soriano’s this season but who has some underlying indicators that suggest he’s been pitching quite a bit better than his 4.05 ERA. Either target would be a good get, but Soriano looks more like a player the Brewers front office would target than Detmers does.
Soriano is not, of course, Tarik Skubal, and Brewers beat reporter Adam McCalvy noted on Wednesday that Milwaukee has “touched base” with the Tigers about Skubal. But “touched base” is not the same as “made an offer,” and I just think that Milwaukee’s front office is cautious enough — even in a season when they claim to be aggressively looking to improve — that they won’t be the team to trade for Skubal, if he is even traded (not remotely close to being a given, as the Tigers are only 4.5 games out of a playoff spot).
If not Soriano, Detmers, or Skubal, keep an eye on another Tiger who will be a free agent after the season, Casey Mize.
Adrián Morejón, relief pitcher, Padres
Morejón’s surface-level numbers (a 3.40 ERA in 53 innings pitched, translating to just a 122 ERA+) aren’t as good in 2026 as they have been the last couple years. But don’t let that fool you — his peripherals are right in line with 2024 and 2025, if not better. Morejón’s FIP is 2.46, almost a full run lower than his ERA. He’s striking out 10 batters per nine innings, tied with 2024 for the best mark of his career in a full season, and he’s walking fewer batters (2.2 per nine) than he did that season.
There’s no reason to think that Morejón, who is 27 but in his eighth season after debuting at just 20 years old, is anything other than one of the league’s top relievers. He’s also left-handed, which would fill a big hole in the Brewers’ bullpen. But left-handed relievers are a hot commodity at the deadline, and quite literally every team in the playoff hunt would love to add a player like Morejón.
That list of teams in the playoff hunt very well may include the Padres, by the way. They’re only a handful of games back of the third Wild Card in the National League, and may not be motivated to sell. If they do, Morejón, who is a free agent after the season, should certainly be available. There are also rumors that a bigger prize could be available from the Padres — closer Mason Miller — but the cost there is too high for me to stomach, given that the Trevor Megill has been incredible for the Brewers since mid-April. (It also looks like Aroldis Chapman, Boston’s star closer, won’t be on the market after the Red Sox’ recent 15-game winning streak.)
Morejón would be a huge get for Milwaukee, and while there will certainly be a lot of competition for his services if he’s made available, the cost shouldn’t be too bad for a non-closing reliever who is also a rental.
Jo Adell, outfielder, Angels
The Brewers have a good offense—they’re fifth in the league in runs scored, ninth in OPS, and sixth in stolen bases. They do have a glaring weakness, though: they’re dead last in the league in homers. Joey Ortiz’s recent offensive revival—he has an OPS of .984 in July, and his underlying numbers were trending up since long before that—has somewhat lessened Milwaukee’s need. But Ortiz won’t stay hot forever, and the Brewers could definitely still use another home-run hitter.
Adell isn’t a superstar, but he’s a right-handed power hitter, and that’s something that the Brewers could certainly use. Of the four players on the team with double-digit homers, only Jackson Chourio (13) and William Contreras (10) are right-handed.
Adell is a bit of a liability in the field (despite this crazy game earlier this season), and the Brewers value defense, so that’s something they’d need to work around. But in addition to getting some time in right field, Adell could also work as a transition point to moving designated hitter Christian Yelich into more of a platoon role.
Though he has struggled to replicate last season’s big breakout (when he hit 37 homers), Adell can still raise the ceiling on Milwaukee’s offense. He’s only hitting .243 and has an OBP of just .289, but Adell has hit 15 homers in 102 games, more than everyone on the Brewers except Jake Bauers. He’s also been way better against left-handed pitching this season (he has a .917 OPS and nine homers in 119 plate appearances against lefties and a .601 OPS and six homers in 300 plate appearances against righties), and the Brewers can minimize his platoon disadvantage better than the Angels can.
The questions about Mozeliak and the Angels apply here, but not as much as they do to Soriano and Detmers — Adell has just one more year of team control after this season, not two.
If Adell isn’t the move, the other good options are probably contingent on their teams scuffling a bit between now and the deadline. Another somewhat similar player to Adell is his old teammate, Baltimore’s Taylor Ward, though his power numbers are down a bit this season. If the Astros decide to sell, Isaac Paredes is another right-handed power hitter who would be a good fit, though there are questions about how much Daikin Park is aiding his power numbers. Detroit’s Gleyber Torres is another impending free agent who could raise the Brewers’ offensive ceiling, though they’d have to figure out where he’d play. I don’t see a fit for San Francisco’s Luis Arraez, who wants to stay at second base if he is traded — the Brewers are set there with Brice Turang, and even if he were willing, I’m not sure if Arraez could play third. The rest of the options that make some sense for the Brewers are down a tier, guys like Eugenio Suárez, Spencer Steer, or Lane Thomas.
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