MILWAUKEE -- Monday's 3 p.m. CT non-waiver Trade Deadline was about 48 hours away when Stearns visited the field during batting practice Saturday and said the Brewers were still in talks with teams, but had no deals imminent.
"There's still plenty of conversation," Stearns said. "Where it goes from here, I don't know. It goes in spurts, where sometimes there's a lot of conversation and you're making progress, and then at times it slows down. The last 48 hours before a Trade Deadline are usually pretty action-packed."
Stearns declined to comment on the record about reports that the Brewers had pulled back in their pursuit of A's right-hander Sonny Gray, but did say again that the Brewers' recent slide -- they lost nine of 11 games before beating the Cubs on Friday night -- was not going to impact a Trade Deadline strategy.
"I think we've been pretty consistent with our approach throughout the entire Trade Deadline season, that we're open to adding Major League talent, but it has to really be one of two criteria," Stearns said. "It has to be either a player or players who can be here for multiple years, or it has to be an acquisition cost on a player who's only under contract for two months that we think is tolerable and very reasonable.
"That approach hasn't changed. That's what we came into the Trade Deadline season discussing and gearing toward, and that's where we remain."
The Brewers already made one move in the latter category when they acquired reliever Anthony Swarzak from the White Sox for outfield prospect Ryan Cordell. They reportedly have shown interest in another free agent-to-be, Mets outfielder Curtis Granderson, who would probably fit as a fourth outfielder.
Stearns also raised another possibility.
"We've seen that August is also a viable trading season," Stearns said. "There are players being discussed through the industry who I could very easily see being moved in August rather than prior to [Monday]."