Milwaukee Brewers: Orlando Arcia Potential Trade Candidate

As the Milwaukee Brewers continue to construct their 2020 roster, a trade is always a possibility and Orlando Arcia could very well be a part of it.

Since making his debut with the Milwaukee Brewers, we’ve seen flashes from Orlando Arcia which included hitting .277 during the 2017 season, as well as having a hot bat during their 2018 postseason run.

But by and large, Arcia’s time with the Brewers has been filled with inconsistency at the plate. Particularly over the last two seasons where he has slashed .228/.277/.333 with an OPS+ of 60 and a strikeout rate of nearly 22 percent.

However, Arcia has still predominantly been the Brewers’ shortstop because for one, they haven’t had many other options, but also because of his defense. Yet even that became an issue in 2019. Since his first full season in 2017, Arcia’s DRS have dropped each year, and although he finished 2019 at 3 runs above average in that category, that’s not good enough to negate his lack of production on offense.

And according to Statcast’s new defensive metric, Outs Above Average (OAA), Arcia wasn’t even as good as his DRS suggests as he finished with an OAA of -4 in 2019. For some context, the league leader at shortstop in OAA was Javy Baez of the Chicago Cubs at +19.

So while everyone knows that Arcia struggles at the plate, he now hasn’t been getting the job done defensively either. As a result, among the many moves that the Milwaukee Brewers have made this offseason, a trade with the San Diego Padres netted them a young shortstop by the name of Luis Urias.

At just 22-years-old, as expected, Urias doesn’t have a ton of big league experience but the potential is definitely there. In his 302 plate appearances, Urias has slashed .221/.318/.329 with an OPS+ of 76. Certainly not overly impressive by any means, but David Stearns and Company are very fond of him and obviously more experience will help him develop.

It’s also worth noting that according to Spotrac, Urias has a salary of $583,500 in 2020 and is under team control through the 2024 season. Meanwhile, Arcia just saw his salary jump to $2.2 million this season after becoming arbitration eligible.

And although the Milwaukee Brewers’ shortstop has been Arcia’s job the past three full seasons, Stearns and manager Craig Counsell have made it very clear that Urias will be competing for the starting position in 2020.

In addition to trading for Urias, one of the many other offseason moves made by the Brewers included bringing back an old friend in Eric Sogard. Who, not to mention, can also play some shortstop if needed, if you catch my drift.

So I’ve said all of that to say this, Stearns has constructed a roster with a lot of potential but also a lot of unknowns as well. While they made a number of additions up to this point, what they haven’t added that many fans had hoped for was a big bat or a front end of the rotation starter.

With the free agency pool fairly picked over by now, if the Milwaukee Brewers are going to add a higher-profile player to the mix, a trade is likely the best route, and Stearns alluded to that recently in a discussion with Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

With that said, in order to complete a trade, with very few top-tier minor league prospects available, the Brewers would likely have to part with a player or two from the big league roster. And while Josh Hader has been a popular name as of late, at this point don’t rule out Orlando Arcia either.

If the Milwaukee Brewers feel that they already have their full-time shortstop on the roster in Urias, along with some additional help when needed from Sogard, that coupled with Arcia’s issues at the plate and drop-off in defense could very well make him expendable.

On the flip side, an opposing team would land a 25-year-old Arcia who still has potential, brings a terrific energy to the clubhouse, and is under team control through the 2022 season. And who knows, maybe a change of scenery helps him out.

Now, by no means will Arcia likely headline a trade package that lands any player of significance but he could very well be a part of one that helps the Milwaukee Brewers bring in a player that could put them over the top this upcoming season.