The Milwaukee Brewers are still in last place in the NL Central and there hasn't been a drastic turnaround since they changed managers. The club is likely to be a seller at the trade deadline, but is management willing to part ways with shortstop Jean Segura?
It's clear there is interest in the 25-year-old. A number of clubs are in need of a shortstop especially since there is a dearth of such middle infield talent throughout the MLB. However, two clubs particularly stand out in terms of lacking a productive player at the position.
"The Mets and Padres both could use an upgrade at shortstop, and Segura, who is under team control through 2018, has the potential to be just that," writes ESPN Insider Jim Bowden.
Brewers general manager Doug Melvin indicated the club may not be willing to deal Segura as well as catcher Jonathan Lucroy because "those are two tough positions to fill," but he said he's "open to everything."
Previous rumors suggested the Padres would be interested in Segura if he was made available, but there's another potential issue at hand.
"The problem, however, is he's not hitting and his defense has been subpar (like it was last year)," adds Bowden. "For one of those teams to have interest, he'll have to return to the form he showed in 2013, when he hit .294, hit 12 homers and stole 44 bases."
As for New York, they haven't been getting the production they expected out of Wilmer Flores, who is batting just .240/.279/.419 with 18 runs scored, 6 home runs and 15 RBIs in 37 games this season. The Mets have been linked to Colorado Rockies shortstop Troy Tulowitzki in a number of scenarios, but given his excessive contract as well as the return he will cost in a trade, it's unlikely general manager Sandy Alderson seriously pursue such a move.
Segura would probably cost more in a deal because he's under club control through the 2018 season at a bargain price, and that could be something of interest to owner Fred Wilpon.
Bowden believes Segura's best fit is with the Mets and there's a solid chance he gets traded before July 31. If Flores continues to struggle and New York is willing to perhaps surrender some pitching prospects, this could come to fruition in the coming weeks/months.
But don't forget about San Diego because general manager A.J. Preller has continued to surprise the MLB since taking over last August.
