Milwaukee Brewers should explore trading starting pitching to improve offense

When the MLB settles their lockout and resumes their offseason, the Milwaukee Brewers have a number of internal and external roster moves they need to make. One of them should be to explore all trades that include a member of their starting pitching.

The Brewers are rich in starters once again heading into 2022. They’re obviously headlined by the National League Cy Young winner in Corbin Burnes as well as his other big-name running mates in Freddy Peralta and Brandon Woodruff. Together, they make the most deadly trio of starting pitchers in the entire MLB and something Milwaukee can hang their hat on for the foreseeable future.

However, the Brewers’ depth even goes beyond that All-Star trio and also includes Eric Lauer, Adrian Houser and Aaron Ashby.

With the Milwaukee Brewers rich in starting pitching, they should explore the trade market to see if they can improve their offense.

In 26 starts last season, Houser had a 3.22 ERA in 142.1 innings to go along with a WHIP of 1.279, Meanwhile, Lauer posted a 3.19 ERA in 118.2 innings with a 1.138 WHIP and 8.9 strikeouts per nine innings.

Both guys are overqualified for the fourth and fifth starter roles they fill in Milwaukee (although the Brewers won’t complain). They are great at their jobs and are not pushovers by any stretch of the imagination when their turn in the rotation comes around.

At 23-years-old, Ashby is one of the Brewers’ prospects who is ready to make the full-time leap to the majors. He made his MLB debut in 2021 by pitching 31.2 innings (including three starts) and posted a 4.55 ERA and a 1.168 WHIP. He should be ready to make a push for a regular start in the rotation.

With injuries being unavoidable, the Brewers could decide to keep six starters and just plug them in as the season goes along. Or they could use one of them to complete a trade with another team and upgrade their porous offense.

Milwaukee’s offense struggled big-time last season and was a major reason why they were quickly eliminated against the Atlanta Braves in the playoffs. And now they’ve lost Avisail Garcia–their best power hitter last season–in their lineup as well.

Although they’ve acquired Hunter Renfroe to replace Garcia, Milwaukee could still use an offensive upgrade in a number of areas. The Big Three of Burnes, Woodruff and Peralta are likely off-limits, but could David Stearns trade one of his other three starters to acquire offense? You can bet your bottom dollar he’s searching every scenario. We are just here to provide ideas!