Milwaukee Brewers

They were after Jose Quintana before he was dealt to the Cubs, and they figure to remain in the mix for starting pitching help, given Chase Anderson’s injury and a lack of quality options behind staff ace Jimmy Nelson. ESPN’s Buster Olney reported that Milwaukee is doing its due diligence on veteran Tigers second baseman Ian Kinsler, since Jonathan Villar has gone from the man who singlehandedly won 10,000 fantasy leagues for his owners last year to a complete bust (in fantasy and real life) the next.

The larger question is how aggressive the Brew Crew should be. This is yet another team that’s vaulted into contention sooner than expected. So while they’ll still try to hold on in the NL Central, trading away top prospects now could still stunt a successful rebuilding process. Given those circumstances, you’d guess that the Brewers would pay up for a young, controllable, and very good player like Quintana, or give up a B-prospect or two for a rental—but not something in between. The last thing GM David Stearns would want is to see a top prospect like outfielder Lewis Brinson making All-Star games for another team, while the rent-a-vet they got is long gone after a short stay.