Upcoming Rule 5 Eligibles

[Jim Goulart]

Here are the players the Brewers could lose in the 2023 Rule 5 draft. The team will put together a list of players protected at the "AAA" level (a maximum of 38), regardless of the last level played seen below. Players not included on that list could be taken in the Minor League phase of Rule 5, and the selecting team simply then owns that player, they won't be returned under any circumstances.

There are 48 names listed below. In determining who they may wish to expose to that minor league phase, it may not necessarily be the furthest away from the higher levels. Organizations have exposed players to the minor league phase at times as a de-facto favor, perhaps giving them a new opportunity, while still retaining them as depth pieces if not selected.

Currently at:

Nashville

• INF/OF Noah Campbell
• RHP Harold Chirino
• INF Cam Devanney
• INF Patrick Dorrian
• INF Yonny Hernandez
• OF Brewer Hicklen
• LHP Jared Koenig
• RHP Easton McGee
• RHP Evan McKendry
• RHP Tobias Myers
• C Brian Navarreto
• RHP Enoli Paredes
• LHP Adam Seminaris

Biloxi

• LHP Nick Bennett
• INF/OF Isaac Collins
• C Nick Kahle
• LHP Brandon Knarr
• 1B Ernesto Martinez
• RHP Christian Mejias
• OF Carlos D. Rodriguez
• RHP TJ Shook
• OF Lamar Sparks
• INF Felix Valerio
• INF Zavier Warren
• RHP Justin Yeager
• SS Freddy Zamora

Wisconsin

• INF Jose Acosta
• RHP Sam Carlson
• RHP Alexander Cornielle
• RHP Stiven Cruz
• OF Terence Doston
• OF Eduarqui Fernandez
• INF Eduardo Garcia
• OF Joe Gray, Jr.
• RHP Joseph Hernandez
• RHP Edwin Jimenez
• C Darrien Miller
• INF Jheremy Vargas

Carolina

• 1B Jesus Chirinos
• C Blayberg Diaz
• RHP Jeferson Figueroa
• RHP Rafael Garcia
• RHP Yujanyer Herrera
• OF Reidy Mercado
• RHP Fray Morelo
• OF Hedbert Perez
• RHP Brailin Rodriguez

Maryvale

• INF/OF/RHP Miguel Briceno

[BrewerFan]

Carlos Rodriguez would be another option. I think he's the 2nd most likely option.

I like Isaac Collins as well. Not as guy you put on the 40, but...just feel like he could be a better version of Jace Peterson potentially. Though Peterson was an outstanding defensive 3B and he's not playing 3B.

I wonder if he gets the bump to AAA now? Let him see some more advanced pitching and get an idea if he can be part of this team in the future. We seem to have a wealth of good utility players, but the dude walks a ton without striking out much. 

 

[wiguy94]

1 minute ago, BrewerFan said:

Carlos Rodriguez would be another option. I think he's the 2nd most likely option.

I like Isaac Collins as well. Not as guy you put on the 40, but...just feel like he could be a better version of Jace Peterson potentially. Though Peterson was an outstanding defensive 3B and he's not playing 3B.

I wonder if he gets the bump to AAA now? Let him see some more advanced pitching and get an idea if he can be part of this team in the future. We seem to have a wealth of good utility players, but the dude walks a ton without striking out much. 

Don't think Carlos Rodriguez has any chance of being protected. He has an 88 wRC+ with a .060 ISO in AA this year.

[Outlander]

Blalock probably close to a lock since they gave up major league talent for him. Quero the only other one to add at this point. Maybe Devanney.

[sveumrules]

Put me down for the Isaac Collins bandwagon.

Not sure he needs to be forty manned or if would get plucked in the Rule 5, but there is a lot to like in the profile between the plate discipline, speed and switch hitting. 

Only real knocks would appear to be that he’s limited to LF/2B and a lil old for AA.

[ClosetBrewerFan]

Here are my choices on who to protect:

Lock: J. Quero.  Absolute no brainer

Maybe (AAA) - Devanney, N. Campbell - 2nd year I have been pushing Cam.  He's deserving, as well as Campbell,  The Brewers have not shown to protect utility type guys like this so its probably unlikely, but I'll keep listing Cam every year.

Maybe (AA) - Zamora - Has had a great bounceback from last year.  I think he is next likely to be protected, especially if promoted to AAA this year (and performs well).

Maybe (A+) - Bradley Blalock, Edwin Jimenez, Alexander Cornielle - All three are long shots but if they got promoted to AA this year, the likelihood goes up.  Cornielle is really a long shot, but I'm a big fan.  He had a bad May, but has pitched much better the last two months.  Both Jimenez and Cornielle are young for the league and are holding their own.  Would hate to lose either.  Blalock is a year older but is likely to see AA soon.  His numbers are better and is more likely to be protected of the three.

I'm considering McKendry just because he is new, but I think he is unlikely.  Not listed as a ranked prospect in any TB lists I could find, he is probably safe from being drafted.  Isaac Collins certainly has the numbers to justify being protected.  I'll reserve judgment until I see how he does in AAA.  He's a bit old for AA, so want to see him perform at the next level first.

In summary, its quite likely Quero is the only one they protect.  However, they have plenty of 40 man roster space so you may see a couple of these guys may get protected.  We have a couple of months yet to evaluate so things are still likely to change.

[CheeseheadInQC]

I think Blalock immediately moves into 2nd most likely to be protected. It sounds like he is more refined than Cornielle and has a collection of pitches more likely to play up in a relief role than Jimenez.

Devanney, Campbell and Collins seem to fall into the category of someone might give them a 40-man spot if they were a minor league free agent like the Brewers did with Perkins. Part of the appeal, however would be having optionable depth, which obviously doesn’t work with Rule 5. Devanney is probably the most likely to get protected or picked because he can, you know, play shortstop.

Too much of Zamora’s value is tied into an at this point theoretical possibility of gaining consistency and becoming a plus defender at short. Until that happens, I can’t see the Brewers protecting him or anyone picking him.

[Ro Mueller]

Re-thinking this 18 hours later, I'm guessing that we fully expect to protect McKendry. He's younger than Janson Junk and has better numbers than him.

Knowing how much we value catching depth, I'm not sure we'd have made that trade unless we think highly of McKendry. This feels somewhat similar to the Mark Mathias and Owen Miller acquisitions in the past.

Is McKendry likely to be selected by another organization? Perhaps not, as his K numbers don't jump off the charts and he's sporting a 4.00 ERA. However, we're really lacking young AAA starting pitching at the moment, so we may not risk the 10% chance of him being selected.

[sveumrules]

26 minutes ago, damuelle said:

Re-thinking this 18 hours later, I'm guessing that we fully expect to protect McKendry. He's younger than Janson Junk and has better numbers than him.

Knowing how much we value catching depth, I'm not sure we'd have made that trade unless we think highly of McKendry. This feels somewhat similar to the Mark Mathias and Owen Miller acquisitions in the past.

Is McKendry likely to be selected by another organization? Perhaps not, as his K numbers don't jump off the charts and he's sporting a 4.00 ERA. However, we're really lacking young AAA starting pitching at the moment, so we may not risk the 10% chance of him being selected.

Yeah, think the profile lands closer to Rea than Junk on the depth starter spectrum.

[Joseph Zarr]

What's interesting about McKendry is I have seen him pitch on three occasions in the International League in 2023. Once versus the Sounds. After that shutdown performance, I watched him at Memphis and then vs Charlotte.

Each time I watched him, I couldn't help but think: if RHP Joseph Hernandez can simplify his arm slot and release inconsistencies this feels like a possible pitching trajectory. Their balls tend to move the same way - McKendry is just quite a bit more advanced (one might put a 'duh' here). Regardless, Hernandez has quite a bit of work to do to harness his toolkit. It's a shame he's lost so much of his season 😔. 

I do not like those injuries. No I don't. I will not like them no I won't. Not on a hill nor on the dirt. Not in the grass not when they hurt! Guess who read his daughter ye' ol Doctor Seuss this am? Hint: not Hernandez.

[Harold Hutchison]

Quero, Campbell, Devanney, and Blaylock for sure.

McKendry and Zamora are maybes.

[StearnsFTW]

Quero and Blalock.

 

That's it for me.

[Oxy]

Kinda sad to see...a lot of former top 30 guys on this list, although 3 years ago the top 30 was kind of something to sneeze at, so whatever.

[Jim Goulart]

RHP's Evan McKendry and Bradley Blalock added to this list.

INF Jesus Parra removed.

[BrewerFan]

On 8/1/2023 at 7:48 PM, wiguy94 said:

Don't think Carlos Rodriguez has any chance of being protected. He has an 88 wRC+ with a .060 ISO in AA this year.

Yeah, probably not...but I'm a fan. I think he'll be an excellent match with the young OFers we have. Good plate discipline, good hit tool...but not particularly young and very little power.

Also, not really a priority given we've got an abundance of OFers capable of playing CF.

I'd say Cam Devanney given his ability to play an elite SS or 3B and despite about as bad of a pro start as you could have had, he's just getting better at AAA. I thought they should have protected him last year, but not sure he was all that close to being drafted give the number of players left unprotected. 

[Jim Goulart]

Removed from the Rule 5 eligible initial post here - released players RHP Pedro Fernandez, C Jesus Garcia, OF's Luis Medina and Diego Larez, INF Alexander Perez

[Harold Hutchison]

Protecting Cam Devanney, Jeferson Quero, Noah Campbell, Bradley Blaylock, and Evan McKendry make sense to me.

[jay87shot]

1 hour ago, clancyphile said:

Protecting Cam Devanney, Jeferson Quero, Noah Campbell, Bradley Blaylock, and Evan McKendry make sense to me.

That seems like too many 40 man spots in my opinion. Noah Campbell and Devanney are nice player but guys like him are a dime a dozen when you get to the offseason, We can pick up similar players like Eddy Alvarez for free on minor league deals. Devanney has been really good as of late and if it doesn't mean cutting anyone else I would probably keep him. I can't see anyone taking Blalock or at least keeping him on a big league roster since he isn't going to pitch in AA this year and hasn't been great in Appleton. McKendry seems like a Jason Alexander/Colin Rea option going foward, probably worth protecting.

Lock: Quero   Maybe/Probably: McKendry, Devanney    

[Jim Goulart]

Brewers have released LHP's Josh Shapiro and Fraudy Maldonado, as per MiLB's Transactions Page.

Each name has been removed from the initial post in this thread.

Before the weekend is out, we'll write up some backstory info on each and wish them well (within our Transaction Thread).

[Jim Goulart]

Removed from the Rule 5 eligible initial post here - released RHP Zach Vennaro,

[Jim Goulart]

OF Arbert Cipion removed from the initial post in this thread after his release this week.

[Jim Goulart]

C Jhonnys Cabrera, 21, removed from the initial post in this thread after his release this week.

[Jim Goulart]

C/1B/LF Alex Hall, 24, removed from the initial post in this thread after his release this week. Hall would have been eligible for minor league free agency after the 2024 season.

[ClosetBrewerFan]

With the season ending, time to look forward to the offseason.  Two key dates:

November 14 (6pm Est) - Reserve lists for all Major league and Minor leagues levels are filed (in prep for Rule 5 draft)

December 6th - Rule 5 draft is held in Nashville, TN

With Quero the only obvious guy that needs to be protected, let the speculation fly.  The Brewers have plenty of open 40 man roster spots open, so the only question is how many borderline guys they will protect.

[Jim Goulart]

With his new 2024 minor league deal in place, 1B Ernesto Martinez has been added to the initial post in this thread.