Brewers urged to keep Freddy Peralta, trade for 185-strikeout lefty pitcher

Contributing Writer
Brewers urged to keep Freddy Peralta, trade for 185-strikeout lefty pitcher image

The Milwaukee Brewers just had a special season, even if it ended in a sweep by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NLCS.

ESPN's Jeff Passan, MLB's preeminent insider, believes that means they should add, not subtract.

Rumors this offseason have already begun suggesting that Milwaukee could trade away right-handed pitching ace Freddy Peralta.

Passan thinks the "perfect move" for this Brewers winter is to go the opposite direction, keep Peralta and trade for another arm.

His suggestion: Washington Nationals lefty MacKenzie Gore.

"The Brewers are notoriously frugal in the winter, rarely awarding multiyear pacts and even more infrequently giving out big-dollar deals," Passan writes. "Their budget doesn't allow them to operate in that market, so they need to be creative. "The reality is that their perfect transaction would probably be to trade Freddy Peralta, a free agent-to-be who's likely to be priced out of Milwaukee's range come next offseason. But the Brewers, after posting the best record in MLB, should add, not subtract. And with a loaded farm system that's redundant in certain areas, they can dangle prospects and target high-end players, particularly with teams whose systems need depth as much as they do top-100 types. Trade for Washington left-hander MacKenzie Gore."

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Gore is a one-time top prospect who is coming off a season with 185 strikeouts. His 5-15 record is misleading, because the Nationals were simply not good.

The lefty with a high leg kick has great stuff, and he's a logical piece to be traded away by the Nats.

The Brewers wouldn't be able to afford a guy like Gore in free agency. But in a trade, they give up prospect capital, not dollars, and that can work out nicely for Milwaukee.

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