Brewers face tough trade deadline questions on three struggling veterans originally appeared on The Sporting News.
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The Milwaukee Brewers are sitting in first place in the NL Central, but not by a whole lot. Last place is only 4.5 games back of the Brewers, so things are still very much up in the air.
One way to stave off some of the competition will be to acquire some help at the MLB trade deadline. But, for a team like the Brewers that typically doesn’t spend big, this trade deadline question is a tricky one.
However, as Tim Kelly of Bleacher Report highlighted, this Brewers trade deadline question revolves around three key veterans, all of whom reside in the infield.
Brewers have three trade deadline questions with INF
“The biggest area of need for the Brew Crew would seem to be on the left side of their infield,” Kelly writes, “where they are getting minimal offensive production from Joey Ortiz and Luis Rengifo.”
Joey Ortiz, Luis Rengifo, and David Hamilton are the three veteran infielders that the Brewers should consider upgrading from at this year’s deadline.
The question they need to ask themselves is whether it’s worth it to spend prospect capital to upgrade at third base and shortstop.
Hamilton has a .235 average and a .598 OPS this season in 115 at-bats. Rengifo has a .208 average and a .536 OPS in 144 at-bats this season. Lastly, Ortiz has a .195 average and a .529 OPS in 113 at-bats in 2026.
Not one of these players is performing well enough to convince the Brewers front office to, at the very least, consider trading for an upgrade over them.
MORE: Ex-MLB GM projects White Sox to sell at trade deadline despite 2026 success
Second base and first base are fine, while the outfield and the catcher spots are likely set as well. So, the only realistic area worth upgrading this year is at third base or shortstop.
CJ Abrams would make perfect sense, but he would cost a lot to acquire from the Washington Nationals.
If the Brewers are trying to keep the spending to a minimum, someone like Royce Lewis of the Minnesota Twins would be a good option. Isaac Paredes of the Houston Astros would be a good middle-ground trade target for the Brewers.
The Brewers trade deadline question with Hamilton, Rengifo, and Ortiz is a tough one. They need better production at both third base and shortstop, and while there are some interesting names in the trade market, this won’t be an easy decision.
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