Milwaukee Brewers trade rumors and what to know about the 2025 trade deadline

We're more than a month away from the 2025 Major League Baseball trade deadline, but the hot stove is already warming.

The Milwaukee Brewers have entered June in recent years looking like buyers, but a 4½-game deficit in the National League Central this time — albeit a perfectly surmountable disadvantage — creates some lack of clarity around their ultimate course of action.

Here's what to know, including trade rumors, about the Milwaukee Brewers and the 2025 deadline.

When is the 2025 MLB trade deadline?

It arrives 5 p.m. CT Thursday, July 31.

Who are some possible candidates for the Brewers to acquire?

MLB.com put together an ample list of possible names available at the deadline, mostly standout players on underperforming teams.

The Brewers have struggled on the left side of the infield this year, making Arizona Diamondbacks veteran third baseman Eugenio Suárez one of the more compelling names to follow, as well as Los Angeles Angels third baseman Yoán Moncada and Colorado's Ryan McMahon.

If the Brewers wind up selling, which players would they deal?

Todd Rosiak looked at the roster in May and offered up several possibilities. That list includes Freddy Peralta, who's scheduled to make only $8 million in 2026 before hitting free agency. That would make him a highly attractive option to a team looking for a front-line starter, even on a budget. But Peralta, of course, would be central to the Brewers' own push for a postseason if that still looked like the trajectory.

Freddy Peralta could be one of the aces that 'would change MLB trade deadline'

Jon Heyman of the New York Post wrote that Peralta has unsuccessfully tried for an extension with the Brewers that goes beyond his final season of club control in 2026, and Heyman said Peralta is "unlikely to go" to a new team before the deadline.

What trades did the Brewers make last year?

Milwaukee acquired right-hander Aaron Civale from Tampa Bay last year July 3, getting a rotation option in exchange for minor-league shortstop Gregory Barrios. On July 21, the Brewers acquired reliever Tyler Jay from the New York Mets in exchange for minor-league pitcher TJ Shook; Jay played sparingly for the Brewers last year and is with Class AAA Nashville, where he has a 0.44 ERA in 20 games.

Closer to the deadline, the Brewers acquired Cincinnati starter Frankie Montas in exchange for outfielder Joey Wiemer and relief pitcher Jakob Junis. None of those players are still with the Reds or Brewers, and Montas has been sidelined all year with the Mets, but he did start Game 2 of the National League Division Series for the Brewers against the Mets last year.

Brewers rumor: Acquisition of Andrew Vaughn adds intrigue to first-base picture; could Rhys Hoskins or Jake Bauers get traded?

Bob Nightengale of USA TODAY suggested the Brewers could trade Rhys Hoskins if Andrew Vaughn proves capable at Class AAA Nashville. Vaughn, a former No. 3 overall pick in the MLB Draft, came to the Brewers in the deal June 13 that sent Civale to the Chicago White Sox.

Common sense tells you that Hoskins, a right-handed-hitting first baseman like Vaughn, would have been a trade candidate anyway. He has a mutual option for the 2026 season, and the Brewers find themselves in an uncertain position as to whether they'll be a buyer or seller at the deadline.

He's making $18 million this season — the mutual option would likewise be for another $18 million — and, though he's been one of the team's best hitters this season, the more recent sample has been ugly. Hoskins has a .125 batting average and a .361 OPS in June (14 games), with only one extra-base hit.

Over the past 22 games coming into June 17, Hoskins has a .449 OPS with three homers but no other extra-base hits.

But Vaughn is much more of a wild card than a certainty to become a contributor for the big-league Brewers in 2025.

Meanwhile, baseball writer Francys Romero indicated that the Brewers would be open to trade offers for left-handed first baseman Jake Bauers.

That also makes sense. Bauers has been used in the outfield at points this season, but with the emergence of switch-hitting Isaac Collins as an excellent defensive option and the impending returns from injury of left-handed bats Garrett Mitchell and Blake Perkins, the Brewers aren't in dire need of extra outfielders or lefty swingers. That puts Bauers solely in a battle for at-bats at first base with Hoskins and, theoretically, Vaughn.

Don't forget about Class AAA Nashville's Ernesto Martinez, also a lefty swinger and perhaps just as likely to see the big-league roster this year as Vaughn, though he's not on the 40-man roster. Martinez has an .820 OPS this season with the Sounds.

Bauers, meanwhile, has produced all season in his part-time role, with a .768 OPS, five homers and four stolen bases. It's the best season of his career. They're numbers that might naturally make the Brewers hesitant to part ways, but they also elevate his trade value.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Milwaukee Brewers trade rumors and what to know about the deadline

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