Nestor Cortes Could Be a Hot Name at the Trade Deadline

Thursday’s 6 p.m. ET MLB trade deadline is rapidly approaching. While much of the focus is going to be on the headline-grabbing names, there are plenty of under-the-radar options that could be worthy of stealing some of the spotlight.

Looking at the pitching side of things, the aces in Sandy Alcantara, Joe Ryan, MacKenzie Gore, Dylan Cease and Zac Gallen will surely be the hot names over the next few days, and rightfully so.

Names like Ryan and Gore are carving out top-tier performances this season, while the likes Alcantara, Cease and Gallen may be struggling this year, but all have had their time in the limelight of Cy Young conversations in recent years.

That being said, not everyone on the market can be the type of pitcher those five names are. And better yet, not every team can afford, or are necessarily looking to acquire, a marquee arm like that at the deadline.

This is where those under-the-radar type names come into play, and one of the top ones could be Nestor Cortes of the Milwaukee Brewers.

He’s had a nightmare of a 2025 season so far, bogged down once again by injury following his infamous Brewers debut on Opening Weekend.

However, he finds himself on the path to a come back this season at the best possible time. With his prior track record of success, he could be a hotter name on the trade market than one might think in the coming days.

Nestor Cortes Could Be a Desirable Low-Cost Starting Pitching Option

Now, it’s easy to simply look at Cortes’ stat line this season and wonder why exactly he would be desirable to anyone in need of starting staff help this summer.

Before hitting the injured list, Cortes only made a pair of starts, and it was a the dreadful opening outing to his 2025 campaign that likely sits in the memories of most baseball fans.

In that March 29 outing, he surrendered eight runs off six hits (five of which were home runs) and five walks in just two innings of work in Milwaukee’s embarrassing 20-9 loss to the New York Yankees.

Less than two weeks later, Cortes would find himself on the 15-day injured list, and then subsequently the 60-day IL, with a left elbow flexor strain.

I’m no medical professional, nor have I ever claimed to be. However, I’ve watched enough baseball to read between the lines that when a pitcher gets rocked the way Cortes did in his season opener. In all likelihood, there was some overlap there where that nagging elbow played a role in the struggles.

Let’s put that season-opening shelling and elbow ailment aside though and look at why Cortes still holds value on the trade market.

What seems to be overlooked about Cortes in 2025 is the fact that he actually rebounded quite nicely in his second start before hitting the shelf. In 6.0 innings of work against the Cincinnati Reds on April 3, the southpaw didn’t surrender an earned run an gave up just one hit and two walks in the process while striking out six.

Then there’s the solid track record with the Yankees before they dealt him to Milwaukee in the Devin Williams trade this winter.

Just last season, he crafted a serviceable 3.77 ERA season to go with a 3.84 FIP, 1.15 WHIP and .243 BAA. Those aren’t groundbreaking numbers by any means, but that production was useful in a Yankees rotation that went on to win their division and post the American League’s best record in the regular season.

Then looking beyond that, after an injury-filled 2023 campaign, Cortes really broke through in the Bronx in both 2021 and 2022 with sub-3.00 ERA seasons, including a 2.44 ERA season in ’22 that saw him reach his first All-Star Game.

From and underlying metrics perspective, there’s only so much that can be taken from his two-start sample size this season. But looking at 2024, a perfect season to analyze given it was neither great nor horrible, there’s plenty of positive takeaways that can be drawn for prospective trade suitors in the coming days.

While his 49th percentile strikeout rate in 2024 was nothing to write home about, it was at least near average and a bit more palatable when paired with an exceptional 87th percentile walk rate of 5.5%.

His xERA of 3.62 and xBA of .235 both slightly outperformed his aforementioned 3.77 ERA and .243 BAA last season, meaning at the very least, because they were so similar, you could say that Cortes is exactly what you’d expect: a serviceable, middle-of-the-rotation type arm.

More recently, Cortes has also been dealing in the Brewers’ minor-league ranks during his current rehab assignment.

In four outings split between High-A Wisconsin and Triple-A Nashville, Cortes has thrown to a 1.00 ERA, 2.88 FIP, 0.72 WHIP and .154 BAA in 18.0 innings of work. This includes an excellent potential final rehab outing in Nashville last Thursday, where he threw 5.2 innings surrendering just one earned run on four hits, one walk and nine strikeouts.

So, why might the Brewers be looking deal Cortes as opposed to re-inserting him into the rotation when he returns from his current rehab assignment?

Well, as Joel Sherman of the New York Post pointed out last week, the Brewers rotation has been thriving in his absence and is a big reason as to why Milwaukee holds the league’s best record.

Their 3.34 starter ERA sits second in all of baseball only to the Texas Rangers, and they also sit comfortably within the top half of rotations in FIP (12th at 3.99), WHIP (T-12th at 1.22) and BAA (3rd at .229).

Freddy Peralta is having a lights out campaign leading this staff with a 2.81 ERA, while the likes of Quinn Priester (3.28 ERA), Brandon Woodruff (2.01 ERA), Jose Quintana (3.50 ERA) and super-rookie Jacob Misiorowski (2.70 ERA) are all complementing their ace to a high-degree.

Then with depth like Chad Patrick, Logan Henderson and Tobias Myers to call upon from Triple-A if need be, Cortes really doesn’t fit in the rotation plans whatsoever anymore, and he could be a piece the Brewers look to capitalize on given their incredible pitching depth.

While not sellers by any stretch, Cortes provides the means for the Brewers to acquire some re-enforcements in a unique way, perhaps similar to the Aaron Civale-for-Andrew Vaughn trade that occurred earlier this year. And we’ve all seen how well that’s worked out for Milwaukee so far.

Moreover, given his solid track record and encouraging rehab assignment, Cortes could be a worthwhile veteran rental for another team in desperate need of pitching help.