Report: Brewers have begun background work on Quintana, Gray
The Milwaukee Brewers made a statement on Thursday when they handed the defending World Series champions, the Chicago Cubs, an 11-2 loss, pushing them ahead of the Windy City champs by 4 1/2 games in the National League Central.
Milwaukee may be looking to spread that gap even further by adding an impact starter at the July 31 trade deadline, as sources tell Jon Morosi of FOX Sports the Brewers are prepared to be buyers and have begun background work on pitchers Jose Quintana and Sonny Gray, among others.
"At this time of year we do work on a number of different players and explore all potential opportunities," Brewers general manager David Stearns told MLB.com's Adam McCalvy. "This year is no different - and I suspect all 29 other teams are doing the same. I don't see a need this year - or ever frankly - to declare as a buyer or seller. We're constantly working to better our organization for near and long term."
The Brewers' rotation owns the fourth-best team ERA (4.10) in the NL, thanks to great years thus far from Chase Anderson and Jimmy Nelson, but it appears Milwaukee thinks it still needs an upgrade.
| PITCHER | GS | IP | W-L | ERA | WHIP | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jimmy Nelson | 17 | 104 | 7-4 | 3.20 | 1.22 | 112 |
| Matt Garza | 13 | 72.1 | 4-4 | 3.98 | 1.27 | 51 |
| Zach Davies | 18 | 97.1 | 10-4 | 4.90 | 1.46 | 63 |
| Junior Guerra | 9 | 45.2 | 1-3 | 4.93 | 1.60 | 36 |
| Chase Anderson* | 16 | 90.1 | 6-2 | 2.89 | 1.11 | 85 |
* on disabled list
Quintana and Gray have been popular names on the trading block, but this is the first time the Brewers have been linked to the pair.
After getting off to a rough start to begin the season, Quintana, the 28-year-old Chicago White Sox ace, had a solid June in which he lowered his ERA from 5.30 to 4.37, while striking out 30 in 30.1 innings.
He's under team control until 2020 and is set to earn $8.85 million in 2018, with team options of $10.5 million and $11.5 million in 2019 and 2020, respectively.
Gray, who becomes arbitration eligible for the first time in 2018, has looked like the pitcher who finished third in Cy Young voting in 2015 as of late, allowing just four earned runs and nine hits over his last three starts (21 innings).
He's earning the remainder of a modest $3.575-million salary this season.