The beauty of having pitching depth is that when someone goes down, you have more to back it up. However, the Brewers lost both Yovani Gallardo and Chris Capuano, limiting their options. It is unfortunate because their offense is such a force in the league, but teams win on pitching. According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinal, the Brewers have room in their payroll to add another pitcher, opening up speculation to who that could be.Ben Sheets is going to be a free agent at the end of this season and I think they would be smart to lock him up. Unless they are going to open the bank on CC Sabathia, there really aren't too many other pitchers that could step up and be their ace. Here are a couple options for the Brewers to look at this trade deadline:
- Joe Blanton, Athletics: Blanton is 2-6 with a 3.69 ERA, but really has not been pitching bad. A move to the NL and playing on a run scoring team would definitely help his numbers. Although, it would probably cost the Brewers several low level prospects.
- Greg Maddux, Padres: Maddux has been mentioned recently about possibly going to the Braves or Cubs, but don't rule out reunion in Milwaukee. Maddux's brother, Mike, is the pitching coach for the Brewers.
- Mark Hendrickson, Marlins: If Hendrickson continues to pitch well, the Marlins could trade him while his stock is high for a couple of prospects. The Orioles did it last year with Steve Trachsel, and got two pretty good prospects. Because Hendrickson is younger and pitching better, he could net the Marlins a pretty good prospect or two.