This Report Changes the Entire Narrative Around the Brewers...

This report changes the entire narrative around the Milwaukee Brewers and their offseason. Jeff Passan announced that Trevor McGill could possibly be traded away from the Milwaukee Brewers, and this would not be the first time we see the Brewers trade away a star closer when he is at his max potential. Not saying Trevor McGill won't get better than he is right now, but it's really hard to replicate the season that he just had with the Milwaukee Brewers, especially capping it off with a great playoff run and a World Series ring. We're going to be talking about all that and more on today's episode of Brewers Digest. I'm your host, Taylor Bruttle. I got you covered on everything you need to know about the Milwaukee Brewers. Came out a couple days ago, but it is still very much in the mix. Very much true that the Milwaukee Brewers could possibly be moving their closer, Trevor McGill. Now, there's a lot of questions that come with this. The main one is why? Well, the why is that, you know, McGill has one year left. We know the Brewers and how their organization runs. It's rare that they pay a veteran, especially in the bullpen, a big contract. The Brewers just don't really do that. And they've done trades in the past with star pitchers like Josh Hader. That's star closer for the Brewers, like Corbin Burns, the ace for the Brewers. When they have one year left on their contract, we have seen the Brewers trade these guys away, turn them into prospects, then these prospects end up being the top names for Milwaukee. But the big thing about McGill, why his value is so high, he is also in contention for the National League reliever of the year. Now, don't get me wrong. We're going to look at the stats right here. I believe that Mason Miller will be walking away with this award. But when you look at McGill, he is viewed as a top three closer in the National League. When you look at the stats, obviously Miller is the one. dominating. So you go to McGill compared to Duran and it gets a little bit closer there. Now I know the ERA is a two, six, three, but McGill had such a rough start to the 2026 season that it made it really hard to climb back and get that ERA lower. But his ERA was literally over seven at one point. He lost the closer role and he worked his way fully back. When you look at the whip though, it is the lowest on this entire comparison at a 0.89. So it really shows that McGill is one of Players in or one of the best closers in the National League. So it's going to be a interesting way to see how he's evaluated, what some maybe rumored trade packages will be. That'll be coming out a little bit later. But that is what the race looks like for the National League reliever of the year. Now, the big question for McGill is, you know, like, will he truly be traded? Well, we look at this right here for Trevor McGill. The Brewers are willing to listen on Trevor McGill trade offers. Jeff Passan was the one to report that. He really spoke on it saying, you know, they will at least listen on trade offers. It's not saying the Brewers want to trade them, but they will listen. They're not going to shut down everything because what if a team offers a very attractive package? It might be hard to say no. Trevor McGill only has one year left. His contract, $7.5 million. So looking at this, this will be the contract that I'll flash for you guys on the screen right here. It's just this one year left in 2027 before he becomes a free agent. The thing that the Brewers, you know, value the most is getting the most out of their players. If the Brewers kept McGill, they don't win a World Series, then he's just gone, and then they don't re-sign him. You basically got nothing for him. This is why the Brewers could possibly trade him. Like I said, the most recent example, you know, in the starting rotation, really being Corbin Burns. And what did he turn into? Joey Ortiz and D.L. Hall. You have to picture the bigger picture, you could say. And then Josh Hader, you know, one of the pieces you got back for him was Robert Gasser, who clearly was very effective in this playoff run. We look at the Hader trade right here, and there was a lot of pieces in return for him. The Padres got Hader, and the Brewers got Taylor Rodgers, who they used the rest of that season. Denilson Lemaitre, who that experience did not, that experiment did not work out. Robert Gasser, who is one of the key starters in the Brewers postseason run, with about a .6 ERA. And then Asturias Ruiz, who the Brewers would end up turning into William Contreras and all that jazz. So honestly, it would not be the worst thing if the Brewers trade McGill away. I don't want him to go away because I think that the closer options could be kind of thin around Major League Baseball, especially when this Brewers team is built. For a back-to-back World Series, they don't have to blow up any piece of their team. They are so young, and they can really keep a lot of this team. So the question that I ask for you guys, you know, what should the Brewers do with Trevor McGill? Should they keep him and chase another ring? Should they trade him now at peak value, or should they wait until the deadline? That is another option. You wait until the trade deadline. But then that's halfway through the season. If Trevor McGill isn't performing like he is now, his value will be lower and it's only for half the season. So you'll get less in return if he's performing even better, though, you know, I'm not going to say Mason Miller numbers, but we know the value that he could possibly bring if he is performing at those levels that you could get for him. But if but if McGill is performing that highly, then the Brewers probably won't trade him at the deadline. So there's so many ifs, ands and buts with this whole situation. I don't think that the Brewers, if they trade him, I don't think they should do it at the deadline. I think it would have to be giving him to a team for a full season. I obviously hope that that is not the case. Because Trevor McGill had such a strong 2026 season with the Milwaukee Brewers. He had 30 saves, his whip again, a .89. That ERA, a 2.6, is a little deceiving just because it was so high to start the year. It was really a sub-2 ERA for most of the back half of the... MLB season, but we go to the left side here and you like really look at his metrics. He's near the right side on so many of these showing how he is one of the best pitchers in Major League Baseball. He only gave up one home run this entire year. Let's talk about that. I mean, that's absolutely huge. Usually when you're a guy that has only a two pitch mix and one of them is a fastball, players are going to connect on that. There was only one that connected on it. I believe it was PCA and what ended up not mattering in this save as a whole, but you also see he does not walk guys much. It's just one of the best closers in the league and there's not much more. more to say. Is this K per nine the highest at a little bit over 10 in comparison to guys like Mason Miller? No, but when your whip is 0.89, you're not really allowing those guys to get on base if you're not striking them out. So Trevor McGill is definitely a more for contact out guy. And we saw that this year in Milwaukee, but we will swing that back to the comparison for what the reliever of the year could look like. Cause we can also make that a big point in this episode. I know McGill. Most likely will not win it if it included postseason. Maybe these numbers are a little bit different with what the Milwaukee Brewers and Jackson Cheerio did against Mason Miller. But all jokes aside, it really shows that Trevor McGill is one of the best closers in all of Major League Baseball. The big question that you also have to think of with McGill being that guy in the back end of the bullpen, what are the Brewers going to do if he's gone? Do the Brewers turn to Abner Uribe if he, you know, stays for this one more year on his $1 million in 2027? Do you view Abner Uribe really as a closer? I'm not so sure. That's nothing towards him, but he's just so good in that setup role or more that middle relief role that he kind of turned into in the playoffs. I don't know if he's a closer. Do you make Ashby a closer? I don't because Ashby can go more than one innings. Do you make a D.L. Hall a closer? I also don't because he can go more than one innings. So maybe if McGill is gone, the Brewers search for a new player to be the closer, which could be very tough. So in my opinion. I think, you know, to bring the question up one more time for you guys, I think the Brewers have to keep him. They either got to keep him or they got to trade him for a full year. I don't think you wait until the deadline. I think that's the last thing you do, especially when you have expectations to, you know, be at that level to repeat for a World Series. But you guys can let me know in the comments down below, what would you do with Trevor McGill? But for that, this episode of Brewers Digest, that's about all I got. The Trevor McGill news, it is pretty straightforward and simple. It's just a decision that the Brewers front office is going to make. Trevor McGill seems to absolutely love Milwaukee. You put a post out on social media. Comedia basically saying, I'm not leaving. I know if he gets traded, that's not fully his choice, but he wants to stay there. It's not like he wants out. He just won a ring. You can tell him how much he loves Milwaukee. You can tell him how much he loves that organization. And it would be really sad to see a guy like Trevor McGill go. It's the guy that was on the Chicago Cubs back in 2021, where he had a full beard, looked completely different, and was playing terrible, with all due respect. Then he goes to the Twins, and the Brewers get him for cash and turn him into one of the best closers. In all of Major League Baseball, I mean, if there's ever a way to emphasize the Brewers pitching lab, Trevor McGill is such a prime example. But again, that's all I got for this episode of Brewers Digest. Hoping that McGill stays on the Milwaukee Brewers, because that would be a sad name to see go. And I just also think, even though the bullpen is so good, I think McGill is really the only true closer that they have. But you guys can let me know in the comments down below, what would you do with Trevor McGill, especially seeing the type of packages that they got for Corbin Burns and for Josh Hader. But for now, that's all I got. We're going to be talking about all this. All this Brewers news all off season long. So make sure to follow the channel at Brewers Digest. It's one click away and it is free. I make sure to keep you guys posted on everything you need to know about your 2026 World Series champion Milwaukee Brewers.