The Milwaukee Brewers and Philadelphia Phillies will finish up their "Battle of the MLB's Worst" series on Thursday night. The Brew Crew won the first three games in Philly, but that's not going to change their plans at the trade deadline.
Milwaukee (32-48) is the second-worst team in the MLB and they're more than likely to be sellers before July 31. There have been conflicting rumors regarding who they might trade because a number of their players have been underperforming, which is going to affect the value the Brewers will get in return.
It's still unknown who the team will shop, but pro scouting director Zack Minasian spoke with Adam McCalvy of MLB.com and provided some insight on the matter.
"You look at the standings and there aren't many teams where we are," Minasian said. "We'd be doing ourselves a disservice if we weren't honest with ourselves about where we're at ...
"Doug [Melvin, Milwaukee's veteran GM] has a very good reputation for being straightforward and I try to do the same thing. We are straightforward with clubs about what we can and can't do."
Between last year's collapse and this year's mighty underachieving, Melvin and Co. are aware deals need to be made to better prepare for the Brewers' future. Milwaukee is going to need some players to step up before the deadline if they want to shed salary and get decent value in return.
"The Brewers have had a disappointing season on the field and might be just as disappointing at the trade deadline, writes ESPN Insider Jim Bowden. "First of all, they'll need two of their top starters, Kyle Lohse and Matt Garza, to turn their seasons around over the next four to five starts for their trade value to return. Also, they'll continue to try to persuade teams that shortstop Jean Segura can return to his rookie form and that third baseman Aramis Ramirez has something left in the tank."
Lohse and Garza are having perhaps the worst seasons of their careers at this point while Segura and Ramirez are having down years at the plate. Segura will more than likely have good trade value because he's under club control through 2018 and the shortstop position is an area of need for most MLB teams, but the Brewers may not be willing to trade him right away, according to rumors.
It's unknown if Lohse and Garza are garnering interest, but the New York Mets have been taking a look at Ramirez and actually scouted him this week. Joel Sherman of the New York Post says the Mets were "unimpressed by Ramirez on both sides of the ball."
Others who are expected to have value at the deadline include outfielder Carlos Gomez, closer Francisco Rodriguez, first baseman Adam Lind, outfielder Gerardo Parra and reliever Will Smith.
Speaking of the man who's responsible for making such trades, general manager Doug Melvin is "contemplating a new role with the team," according to Jon Heyman of CBS Sports. He's "seriously considering retiring" from the GM post to take another position in the organization.
"We've had discussions about my future," Melvin told Heyman. "I don't want to say anything more."
Melvin, 62, has been the team's GM since 2003 and the club has made the playoffs only twice, won the NL Central once and notched five winning seasons.
If he's serious about retirement, this could be his last deadline hoorah as general manager. We'll provide an update on this when more is known.
