4 trade targets from the Milwaukee Brewers for the Colorado Rockies

The Milwaukee Brewers are in a completely different area in the baseball world than the Colorado Rockies. From their inception in 1969 as the Seattle Pilots, before future MLB Commissioner Bud Selig bought the Pilots and moved them to Milwaukee to become the Brewers in 1970, they had only been to the playoffs four times.

However, since 2018, they have made it to the playoffs four times alone, including getting to Game 7 of the NLCS in 2018. The Rockies, on the other hand, haven’t made it to the NLCS since 2007, which is their only time in the NLCS or World Series. They also last made the playoffs in 2018.

The Brewers, even with the Cardinals and Cubs trying to be competitive in the NL Central, still are the favorites for the division or, at least, a Wild Card spot.

The Rockies finished the 2021 season with a 74-87 record but they believe that they just “need more pieces” to be a playoff-contending team.

The Milwaukee Brewers and Colorado Rockies are unlikely trade partners because of their circumstances.

With the differences, the Colorado Rockies and Milwaukee Brewers are not a match made in heaven for the Rockies being a buyer.

After the lockout ends, the Colorado Rockies need at least one power bat, an infielder (preferably a shortstop), at least one outfielder, and some bullpen help. Arguably, they also need some help in the starting rotation, another outfielder, and they need to make some trades or signings to help their depth as it is very thin nearly everywhere.

After all, there’s a reason why their Triple-A team finished with a .446 winning percentage and their Double-A team finished with a .331 winning percentage.

However, there are still four Milwaukee Brewers players that the Colorado Rockies should examine further as trade targets.

Milwaukee Brewers second baseman Kolten Wong could help the Colorado Rockies

Milwaukee Brewers second baseman Kolten Wong could help the Colorado Rockies, especially because they need an infielder.

Wong, 31, did suffer from a nagging calf issue in his his first season with the Brewers last year, as he missed nearly 50 games due to three separate stints due to the calf strain. However, in 116 games, Wong had 32 doubles, 14 homers, and 50 RBI with a slash line of .272/.335/.447 and an OPS+ of 108. He had an rWAR of 3.3.

In 2020, he played with the Cardinals and his power numbers plummeted but he still had a good season. He hit .265/.350/.326 with only seven extra-base hits among his 48 hits. That’s why his OPS+ was only 90. However, he still had an rWAR of 1.3.

In 2019, he hit .285/.361/.423 with 25 doubles, 11 homers, and 59 RBI in 148 games. He had an OPS+ of 108, an rWAR of 5.1, and he came in 20th in NL MVP votes.

In each of the last three seasons, part of the reason why his rWAR has been so high is because of his defense. He has had 28 Defensive Runs Saved (DRS) at second base and he also had 13 more DRS in 2018. He also won a Gold Glove in both 2019 and 2020.

The Brewers could look to trade Wong since he is entering the final guaranteed year of his contract. He is owed $8.5 million in 2022 and there’s a $10 million team option for him for 2023.

Milwaukee Brewers closer Josh Hader could be a great fit for the Colorado Rockies

For the last 4+ years, Milwaukee Brewers closer Josh Hader has been one of the best relievers in baseball and he could be a great fit for the Colorado Rockies.

Hader, who turns 28 just after Opening Day, has been an All-Star in each that he could be (2018-2019, 2021) and he has won the Trevor Hoffman NL Reliever of the Year Award three times as well so he has quite a track record already in his young career. However, because of Milwaukee’s small market size and Hader being, arguably, the best reliever in baseball, he has been involved in plenty of trade rumors for years now.

In 2021, Hader appeared in 60 games and had 34 saves in 35 opportunities. He had a remarkable ERA of 1.23 and an ERA+ of 348. He also had a FIP of 1.69, a WHIP of 0.835, and he averaged 3.7 walks and 15.6 strikeouts per nine innings.

His worst season was in 2020 but he still had a 3.79 ERA with 13 saves (led the NL) with a WHIP of 0.947, and nearly 15 strikeouts per nine innings. That is the only season of his career with an ERA higher than 2.62.

One thing that may be troubling for the Rockies, on the surface is his low groundball rate, since groundball pitchers tend to succeed more at Coors Field. His groundball rate is only 28.3 percent but when you have a reliever that strikes out more than 15 batters per nine innings in his career (15.4 K/9, to be precise).

When the lockout ends, more trade rumors could arise for Hader since he has two years left until he becomes a free agent, if the current CBA stays as is with free agency. Rumors could be even more rampant if free agency is changed from six years of service time to five.

Milwaukee Brewers reliever Brent Suter could also be a fit for the Colorado Rockies

Milwaukee Brewers reliever Brent Suter has had some health issues in his career but for the last two years, he has been healthier after he missed the last two months of 2018 and nearly all of 2019 due to Tommy John surgery. He could provide the Colorado Rockies with a muchn-needed veteran left-handed reliever.

Suter, 31, was one of Milwaukee’s best relievers in 2021 as he appeared in 61 games (one start) and he had a 3.07 ERA (139 ERA+). In addition, he had a FIP of 3.91, a WHIP of 1.309, and he averaged 2.9 walks and 8.5 strikeouts per nine innings.

In 2020, he made 16 appearances (four starts) and he had a 3.13 ERA (146 ERA+) with a 3.00 FIP, a WHIP of 1.105, and an average of just 1.4 walks and 10.8 strikeouts per nine innings.

Suter could be an asset for the Rockies bullpen as since 2020, Suter’s groundball rate is around 52 percent. In 2021, his 51.9 percent groundball rate was 28th-highest among the 138 relievers with at least 50 innings pitched. That would be, by far, the highest rate in the Rockies bullpen.

Suter, who is the longest-tenured MLB player to come out of Harvard University in more than a century, is entering his second season of arbitration so, depending on how the new CBA unfolds, the Rockies could have one or two years of control with Suter.