When the Brewers acquired outfielder Gerardo Parra at last year's trade deadline, part of his appeal came in that he wasn't just a rental and was under control through 2015. The Brewers officially made the decision to keep him around by tendering him a contract last week, meaning the two sides will enter arbitration negotiations.

Still, Parra returning to the Brewers is no guarantee. According to Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports, the Brewers are open to trading the defensive standout. Rosenthal notes that teams who miss out on free agent Melky Cabrera could be especially eager to make a deal.

Parra, 27, suffered through the worst-hitting year of his career in 2014, finishing with a .261/.308/.369 batting line. Over his career, he has a .274/.326/.395 line. He doesn't have a tone of power or speed, but should be a decent bat moving forward, if not a stand out one. That said, his defense makes him a possible starter for teams. Parra has won two Gold Glove awards and was a finalist in 2014 as well. He was worth 4.6 fWAR in 2013 despite just a .318 wOBA.

That value is exactly why the Brewers won't likely give him up easily. With Ryan Braun still an enigma due to his injured thumb, Carlos Gomez suffering a few injuries in 2014 and Khris Davis prone to cold streaks, having a strong fourth outfielder may prove crucial to Milwaukee. Of 52 Brewers games after he was acquired, Parra started 29 and appeared in another 10. He projects to have a key role next year to provide relief to the three starters.

The one possible issue with Parra is his price tag. After earning $4.85 million last year, MLB Trade Rumors projects him to receive $6.4 million in arbitration for next season. For a team like Milwaukee, that's a fairly large price tag for a bench player.

The Brewers wouldn't be looking to trade him solely for salary relief, though. If he were to be dealt, best guess is it would be for a solid reliever who could set up for Jonathan Broxton. The team could also involve him in a swap of bench players, though Doug Melvin and company seem to prefer having strong defenders like Parra on the bench.

As with the rumor that the Brewers 'are listening' on Yovani Gallardo and Kyle Lohse, the team being open to trading Parra certainly doesn't mean anything is imminent. It's a case of the Brewers having an asset and, for the right deal, would move him. There's nobody in the league who that wouldn't also apply to; every player can be had for the right price.

The most likely thing to happen is Parra stays with the Brewers and plays a key role off the bench in 2015. But we're now in the middle of the Winter Meetings and we can never rule out the possibility of interesting deals happening in the coming days.