if the brewers make any trades it should be for long term assets or short term cheap assets.
maybe they make it this year, but while they are looking decent they have to know they aren't a great team.
that and the cubs likely will make a few more trades and are likely going to get hot. The cubs have a couple year window here and it makes sense for them to trade for pieces that fit that couple year window.
........ say what? the plan all along has been to build this for the long run and get as many chances as possible at the postseason for the better part of a decade. with the amount of young controlled talent they, the increasingly large payroll (that has tons of dead weight coming off the books this offseason), and the front office they have, there's no reason to think this is some kind of short-term window. i know some of their younger bats had a rought first half, but you're the first person i've seen suggest something like this. obviously there are no guarantees, but there's no reason to think the cubs aren't going to be around for a while.
if i'm the brewers, i'm seizing this opportunity to win. i'm not saying to go all-in on high priced rentals, but they should absolutely be looking to improve the team at the deadline. if they were their production from young organizational guys that might be different, but they're doing it this year mostly based on veterans performing way above projections. i'm not saying they don't have a good system and an interesting future, but with the likelihood of the cubs winning a good amount of games in the coming years and the cardinals inevitably becoming good again at some point, they should be valuing this individual postseason very highly.