2 Players Dodgers Should Target From Brewers Following Corbin Burnes Trade
Thursday, in a stunning move, the Milwaukee Brewers traded ace right-handed pitcher to the Baltimore Orioles. Reports early in the offseason indicated a Dodgers interest in Burnes. Later reports suggested the Brewers would hold onto Burnes heading into February.
When a team trades one of their best overall players, it can signal that they might be trading other players. The Brewers have a couple of players that the Dodgers should, at the very least, check on — shortstop Willy Adames and right-handed reliever Devin Williams.
Adames has been linked to the Dodgers several times over the past few years. After Gavin Lux went down with an ACL injury last year, Adames was a prominent name as a replacement.
Adames, 28, might be the best combination of offense and defense for a shortstop in MLB. He slugged the fifth most home runs (25) and ranks in the 99th percentile in defensive “outs above average.”
With only one year left of arbitration before free agency, the asking price for Adames might not be as high as it once was.
The Dodgers have reportedly been looking for another high-leverage relief pitcher. While, historically, they don’t like paying a premium for relief pitchers, they should make an exception for Williams.
Williams’ trademark changeup has so much movement on it that it’s been coined “the airbender.” His Baseball Savant page would make a raging bull go insane it has so much red on it. He ranks in the 99th percentile in expected batting average, whiff percentage, strikeout percentage, and just the 98th percentile in expected ERA.
He throws two pitches, his changeup and fastball. They’re so effective though that he does not need anything else. In 2023, the 29-year-old struck out 87 batters and allowed just 10 earned runs in 58.2 innings pitched.
Unlike Adames, the right-handed reliever has two years left of arbitration before hitting free agency. Two years of an elite closer would require a hefty package from the Dodgers.
Both of these players would upgrade an already-loaded Dodgers roster. If they are available, president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman should give Milwaukee a call.
Photo Credit: Wendell Cruz-USA TODAY Sports
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Lux needs to be given the opportunity to play SS on a daily basis.
Losers like the Brewers or Red Sox for that matter have no need for a closer. For the a closer is as useless as tits on a hog
Williams would be a good addition
Not sure I want Willie A Dumb Ass. I’d like to see our homegrown GL succeed
Lux will be the starting SS. If Dodgers do any more dealing, it will be for another reliever. Adames is out of the picture for now.
The disrespect for Lux is shameful.
agree- When Lux took over for an injured seager 2 plus yrs ago, he was very solid at short. also, for much of 2022 he was the dodgers most consistent hitter. It’s his time!!
Why weren’t the Dodgers able to acquire Burnes? They could have offered the Brewers a much better package than the Orioles did. This is disappointing.
Lux should be given this year to play Shortstop.
Williams would be a nice addition as closer. He would be worth a package of minor leaguers and some combination of Rojas, Margot and Barnes.
I agree with RSM. As much as Barnes has been rumored to be traded to the Dodgers, it’s mind-boggling that they couldn’t have put together a package far better than what the Orioles offered.
Perhaps this is an omen. No disrespect to Lux, who still has a lot to prove, but Adames and Williams would make the Dodgers the clear favorite to win it all.
Before you all reply, I meant Burnes, not Barnes.
Adames had a 3.4 WAR in 2023. Lux had a 3.0 WAR in 2022 with far less ABs. Lux is under team control for 3 more years. Adames will be a free agent after this year. Lux has just scratched the surface of his potential. The best is yet to come, and I am betting this to be his break out year. As long as Lux is healthy, which apparently he is, switching these two guys makes zero sense. For those who are perturbed they didn’t trade for Burnes, give me a break. Some people will just never be happy, what Ohtani, Yamamoto, Paxton, Glasnow is not enough? Burnes would be for one year only, next year you have Ohtani, May, and Gonsolin coming back, Yakamoto, Glasnow signed, Miller and a whole stable of high ceiling kids waiting for an opportunity. For the one year, he would cost a steep price in prospects. Williams would be nice, and his cost in prospects would make some sense.
I think the only thing most of us are not satisfied with is that the team can’t keep a healthy rotation. It always seems we have, or sign, crippled pitchers. Kershaw, Buehler, Gonsolin, Ohtani, May, Urias, Syndergaard,, Kelly ,……. I could go on, but you probably get the picture. Perhaps it’s how the game is played these days or a different stamina training regimen but pitchers seem to be a lot more prone to injuries than in decades past. Whatever happened to the days when a starter making 120+ pitches was the norm? We barely get 90 any longer.
Richard H makes some very good points. As much as the Dodgers have the reputation of getting the most from pitchers they obtain from trades or free agency, it seems that they have more pitchers with arm trouble that other teams do. It’s not only the veterans but the young arms that includes those in the farm system. After awhile, this could be more than a coincidence.
not Addams