Mets have a phone call to make with the Brewers about pitching

The 95-67 Milwaukee Brewers won the NL Central then ran into the Atlanta Braves in the first round of the playoffs. Unfortunately for them, the Braves were a team of destiny and would win it all. Meanwhile, the New York Mets went home early and watched from afar as the MLB playoffs unfolded.

The Brewers were an interesting team in 2021. Inept on offense in many ways, they did still manage to finish in the top 12 in runs scored despite having the 27th best batting average. I’m not quite sure how they accomplished this. Having already lost Eduardo Escobar and Avisail Garcia this winter, they have some holes to fill on offense.

Less of a question than how they managed to score runs with so little offense is why they were so good. The Brewers starting pitching (and bullpen, too) carried them. They surrendered the third-fewest number of runs, making them one of baseball’s best teams from the mound. Five pitchers made 20 starts or more and finished with ERAs ranging from 2.43 to 3.22. This surplus of quality starting pitching and some holes on the offense could make them a phone call away from helping the Mets out big time.

The Mets and Brewers can help each other out with a trade

Even better than just having five quality starting pitchers, the Brewers have five quality starting pitchers under 30.

As logical as it may seem on the surface for these two clubs to do each other a favor, there comes some risk with any deal between the two. The most likely Mets to get traded are guys coming off of bad or injured seasons or even both. The trio of J.D. Davis, Jeff McNeil, and Dominic Smith are all on the block. Each a possible fit for the Brewers in a swap, the Mets can’t expect to get back one of the big three from Milwaukee.

Last year’s Cy Young Award winner, Corbin Burnes, is certainly off the table. Brandon Woodruff, a guy now five years into his major league career and steadily getting better, is probably also put for the time being. There’s also Freddy Peralta. The youngest of the bunch, Milwaukee has no urgency to trade him away outside of some fantastic offer.

But those are only three options to explore. The other two successful starting pitchers from the 2021 Brewers may be a little more available and realistic.