Brewers Might Trade For Surging $15 Million Diamondbacks All-Star, Per Insiders

So much of the trade deadline discourse around the Milwaukee Brewers has centered on the big names that could be leaving.

What if, instead of trading away Freddy Peralta or Rhys Hoskins, all the veterans stay and there's a new slugger in the middle of the Brewers order at the start of August?

The left side of the Brewers' infield has been a mess all season. Their third basemen rank 28th in fWAR at -0.3 and shortstop Joey Ortiz, who has started 74 of Milwaukee's 79 games, has 0.0 fWAR of his own.

There probably won't be any shortstops available at the deadline who can make a serious impact. But perhaps Milwaukee could make a rare move for a rental slugger in the middle of a career year.

On Tuesday, ESPN's Jeff Passan and Kiley McDaniel named the Brewers as potential trade deadline suitors for Arizona Diamondbacks third baseman Eugenio Suárez, who just won National League Player of the Week and is on track to be an All-Star for the second time in his career.

"Suárez is in a contract year and, despite turning 34 years old before the trade deadline, is sitting near career highs in isolated power and wRC+ (which measures overall performance). His fielding metrics have declined in recent years, but he's still an acceptable defender at third base," the authors wrote.

"Even if the Diamondbacks don't offload their free agents-to-be, Suárez could move because they have Jordan Lawlar raking in Triple-A and primed to take over at third."

McDaniel and Passan assigned Suárez a 50 percent chance of getting traded, and also included the Detroit Tigers, Chicago Cubs, New York Yankees, Kansas City Royals, Seattle Mariners, and San Francisco Giants as "best fits."

Suárez currently has an .892 OPS and 25 home runs in 78 games this season. He left Monday's game with a right hand contusion suffered on a hit-by-pitch, but according to Casey Drottar of MLB.com, he's expected to avoid a trip to injured list.

Whether it's a big chance or a small one that they can actually get him, the Brewers would be wise to stay up to date on the circumstances surrounding Suárez at the deadline.