Brewers Could Act On Insider's World Series Buzz, Trade For Braves Star

The Milwaukee Brewers might be closer to World Series contention than you think.

Milwaukee is exceeding expectations (again) in 2025 under reigning National League Manager of the Year Pat Murphy. The Brewers entered Monday with a 50-40 record, good for the second spot in the NL Wild Card race. Moreover, Milwaukee is still within range (four games) of the Chicago Cubs for the NL Central pennant.

Murphy and Co. have overcome an early season defined by a decimated pitching staff to emerge as a playoff team, and according to ESPN’s Jeff Passan, the Brewers are one piece away from being even more powerful.

Appearing as a guest on the Wilde & Tausch podcast, Passan made a head-turning comment about Milwaukee.

“I think the Brewers are one big bat away from being a legitimate World Series contender,” Passan said.

“I think that's what the ceiling of this team is … they keep getting better.”

With Passan’s evaluation in mind, should the Brewers go after a big-name slugger before July 31?

Milwaukee’s front office is historically frugal, but that shouldn’t stand in the way of a rental situation like Atlanta Braves All-Star Marcell Ozuna, whose four-year, $65 million deal is expiring ($16 million this year).

With the Braves floundering at 39-50, trading an expiring player like Ozuna makes a lot of sense for Atlanta, especially since the Braves won’t be able to tender Ozuna a qualifying offer this offseason. MLB Trade Rumors’ Steve Adams and Anthony Franco recently discussed this situation:

“It doesn’t seem as though the Braves will be all that keen on trading players controlled beyond the season, but Ozuna is a free agent who can’t be tendered a qualifying offer because he already received one earlier in his career. The 34-year-old slugger’s power output is down this year, but he’s still ripped 11 homers en route to a .242/.370/.389 batting line (116 wRC+). This year’s 16.7% walk rate is a career best, and Ozuna’s batted-ball metrics on Statcast remain excellent.”

MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand also identified Ozuna as a trade chip in mid-June, an assessment that hasn’t become any less accurate a few weeks later.

“The Braves don’t have much of a history of being sellers, but given their current place in the standings …it wouldn’t be a shock if Atlanta began looking toward 2026,” Feinsand wrote. 

“The Braves have a handful of expiring contracts, but given the lack of power hitters expected to be available between now and July 31, Ozuna could bring back the best return as a rental.”

So, is Ozuna the “big bat” that could launch the Brewers into World Series contender status, as alluded to by Passan?

A player of Ozuna’s fiscal footprint normally wouldn’t interest Milwaukee, but his expiring status makes this situation different.