The Milwaukee Brewers won their first World Series title in 2026 and the final play, which was a simple groundout to second baseman Brice Turang, will live in the minds of Brewers fans forever. While that moment will last forever, there’s a chance that the man who threw the final pitch for the Brewers in 2026, and the guy who caught the final out at first base, may not remain in Milwaukee much longer.
Jeff Passan of ESPN reports that the Brewers will at least listen to trade offers on right-handed closer Trevor Megill who pitched the final two innings of Game 5 to secure Milwaukee’s first title in franchise history. That might seem surprising given how strong the team’s bullpen was especially in the playoffs in 2026, but trading a pitcher entering the final year of his contract is very much in line with Milwaukee’s modus operandi.
They did the same thing with Corbin Burnes after the 2023 season and won a World Series title just a few years later so if they did that with arguably their best starter at the time, and then did it again after the 2025 season with Freddy Peralta, they probably wouldn’t blink when considering doing the same thing with their closer.
The truth of the matter is that with how good left-handed reliever Aaron Ashby looked in the playoffs, the Brewers would probably feel more than comfortable trading Megill, perhaps to some team like the New York Yankees as Heavy’s TJ French recently pitched, and making Ashby their new closer going forward.
Ashby pitched 18 scoreless innings in the 2026 playoffs and had three saves in nine appearances. Comparatively, Megill has a 2.00 ERA in nine innings of work and recorded five saves during the playoffs which is still really good but compared to what Ashby did it is pretty pedestrian.
Ashby has struggled as a closer during the regular season
The Brewers would be rolling the dice a bit if they made Ashby their full-time closer after trading Megill. While Ashby was dominant in the playoffs in 2026, he converted only four out of 10 save opportunities during the regular season in 2026 and has converted nine of his 16 save opportunities in his regular season career. Maybe now that he’s done it under the bright lights in October the regular season will seem like a piece of cake, but if they go with Ashby and get rid of Megill and Ashby ends up struggling as closer then the Brewers could end up with egg on their face.
The nice thing for the Brewers is that they have an embarrassment of riches when it comes to relievers. If Ashby struggles then they could turn to Abner Uribe or DL Hall to see if they can be reliable in the ninth inning. They have options which allows them to sell high on a guy like Megill.
Milwaukee may still end up holding onto Megill and go into 2027 with largely the same bullpen intact, but with how dominant Ashby was in the playoffs he might just give the Brewers the confidence to deal Megill even though he will always hold a special place in the hearts of Brewers fans.
Aaron Ashby Is The Reason Brewers Closer Trevor Megill Is Now Expendable