The Milwaukee Brewers are having a great 2021 season.
The club has a massive lead in the National League Central, and barring something unforeseen, Milwaukee is going to be present in the playoffs this year.
Despite the successful campaign, not everyone on the roster has had the best of times.
It has been a rocky season for superstar Christian Yelich, and it got even rockier this week when the he tested positive for COVID-19.
He will be sidelined for at least 10 days.
If all goes well, he will be able to return right when that period of time ends.
Yelich was struggling even before testing positive, batting .235 with a 748 OPS on the year.
Those numbers aren’t bad by any stretch, but the Brewers are used to getting MVP-caliber production from Yelich, and he hasn’t been able to provide that this season.
Regardless, he will be missed while he’s out.
It’s not an ideal situation for the Brewers, as the team is rather thin in the outfield.
Jackie Bradley Jr. is having a really tough campaign in his first year with Milwaukee (he is batting .177 with a .547 OPS), and it remains to be seen how much longer he will last in the everyday lineup.
When you compound the Yelich situation with the Bradley situation, the idea of the Brewers adding some depth in the outfield before the trade deadline seems like a pretty good suggestion.
Let’s toss a couple of names out there who would make sense as trade targets for Milwaukee.
2. David Peralta
Trading for David Peralta would mean investing in more than just the 2021 season, as the 33-year-old is under contract for the 2022 campaign, too.
Peralta isn’t hitting for power like he did a few years ago, but he is still producing at a solid clip.
This season, he has a slash line of .252/.325/.392.
Those numbers don’t blow you away, but he’d be a big offensive upgrade over Bradley, and he’d certainly be able to help out in the absence of Yelich.
Plus, Peralta could potentially bounce back next season and look like his best self again.
As recently as 2018, he won a Silver Slugger Award by batting .293 with an OPS of .868 and 30 home runs.
Have yourself a day, David Peralta 🚂🔥
5 H, 1 3B, 1 HR, 7 RBI
(via @Dbacks)pic.twitter.com/1KSUNtgPsj
— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) April 22, 2021
1. Kris Bryant
Of course, the biggest name on the market for outfielders is Chicago Cubs superstar Kris Bryant.
The Cubs are expected to unload several star players between now and Friday’s deadline, and Bryant figures to be one of them.
The former MVP is having another great season.
He is slashing .269/.359/.508 with 18 homers, 19 doubles, and two triples in 92 games.
Kris Bryant hits his 86th career home run at Wrigley Field, tying him with Alfonso Soriano.#KBoom pic.twitter.com/blqhHYOTzA
— Marquee Sports Network (@WatchMarquee) July 28, 2021
He has an OPS+ of 135 and a WRC+ of 133.
The Cubs will definitely try to get the best return possible for their homegrown star, but as a rental, he will likely be available for far less today than he would have been, say, a year ago.
The Cubs looked like contenders for a few months this season, but they have since fallen off, and that’s why they’re selling.
Perhaps Chicago’s falloff could result in a massive outfield addition for the Brewers.
Bradley would likely lose his starting job if a trade of this nature went down.
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