Three top trade candidates for the Arizona Diamondbacks to consider
By Noah Wright
Hoby Milner
The Milwaukee Brewers may be listening to offers regarding their veteran players. If so, they have a handful of bullpen pieces that could be worthwhile and would definitely draw attention on the trade market. The Diamondbacks need another high-leverage pitcher and, preferably, a lefty. If the Brewers are willing to listen to trade offers on him, the Snakes should look into Hoby Milner.
The submarine lefty is coming off a season where he had a 1.82 ERA, 3.13 FIP, and 0.96 WHIP through 64.1 innings. Milner didn’t have a massive strikeout rate, although his 23.4% K-rate was slightly better than average. But he was excellent at limiting walks and home runs with a 5.4% BB% and 0.7 HR/9 rate. Milner is also a ground ball and soft contact specialist.
He had an 86.6 MPH exit velocity, a 6.2% barrel rate, and 35.4% hard-hit rate. Both his exit velo and hard hit rate were above the 90th percentile, while his barrel rate came in the 78th percentile. Milner also had a ground ball rate of 50.9%. This led to a low .254 batting average on balls in play. The Brewers led all National League teams in DRS and OAA, leading all MLB in the latter. But as we discussed earlier, the Diamondbacks are also a strong defensive team. Milner could even see his home run rate go down, as Chase Field is significantly less home run friendly than American Family Field.
Milner is 32 and is controlled for two more seasons. While he is older, Milner has proved to be a quality and durable bullpen arm for two years now. He’s pitched at least 60+ frames each of the last two seasons. He’s not reliant on velocity either, as his fastball averages 89 MPH. Milner fills two needs: another high-leverage reliever and another solid lefty to the bullpen.