Which Brewers Farmhands are Minor League Free Agents at Season's End?

[Jim Goulart]

Every MLB organization's farm system is made up of several veteran minor leaguers, and for those players who have accumulated over six full seasons of experience, season's end brings minor league free agency. In actuality, a player needs to have been active in a 7th season, because the partial rookie season (post-draft or post-international signing) isn't considered a full-season. For this exercise, we look at players who became professionals in 2018 or earlier. Thus, the 2018-2024 stretch of seven seasons fills the experience qualification necessary.

Image courtesy of Biloxi Shuckers

For players on this list, their future continuing in the Brewers' system relies on one of two paths. Milwaukee could add the player to their 40-man roster before the late October deadline to finalize rosters pre Rule 5 draft. Last October 23rd, Nashville outfielder Chris Roller, coming off one hot month after being acquired in a cash deal with Cleveland, impressed enough to net a 40-man roster spot which he carried all offseason (Roller was designated for assignment on June 29th, cleared waivers and remains in the system today). Another prime example of this type of 40-man addition was Tyrone Taylor, added in October 2018 after his 7th season with the Crew, completing a roller coaster minor league portion of his journey.

The other way a player can remain in the system is if the Brewers, the player and his agent agree to a new minor league deal to extend the relationship. From last fall, RHP Harold Chirino, C Brian Navarreto and 1B Ernesto Martinez went this route. Players who sign such contracts before the actual Rule 5 draft are eligible to be plucked in Rule 5.

Here is the alphabetical list of the players who will reach minor league free agency in late October 2024. This article will be pinned to the top of the BrewerFanatic Minor League Forum for your future reference, and the list will be edited as circumstances warrant.

Below this alphabetical list will be a brief grouped breakdown that may help your own review.

An asterisk (*) indicates a player has been with Milwaukee the entirety of his career-to-date.

INF/OF Jose Acosta
INF Christian Arroyo
RHP Sam Carlson
*RHP Harold Chirino
*1B Jesus Chirinos
RHP Taylor Clarke - Elected free agency on 10/09
INF Patrick Dorrian
C David Garcia - - Reported by Baseball America to have agreed to a minor league deal in October
*1B Ernesto Martinez - Reported by our contributor ARobsBrewCrew to have agreed to a minor league deal in early October
C Francisco Mejia
*OF Reidy Mercado
INF Owen Miller
C Brian Navarreto
*OF Carlos D. Rodriguez
C Ramon Rodriguez - No formal announcement of a re-signing, but is now playing in the Arizona Fall League
OF Chris Roller
OF Connor Scott
OF Lamar Sparks
INF/OF Felix Valerio
RHP Mitch White - Elected free agency on 10/01
C Andrew Yerzy

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Perhaps the toughest consideration: OF Carlos D. Rodriguez was signed out of Venezuela in July 2017 at age 16. Now 23 years old (24 in December), the current Biloxi Shuckers CF has yet to reach AAA, but in nearly 200 games at the AA level, sports a line of .295/.371/.375 for a .746 OPS, including only three home runs at that level (two of them coming this past week). Rodriguez has 29 steals in 41 attempts while with Biloxi this season and last. Rodriguez has a solid but not elite glove. Despite the career-long lack of pop, Rodriguez has perhaps worked his way into the 40-man consideration conversation. Rodriguez was also absolutely fantastic in a 36-game sample in the Venezuelan Winter League this past winter, posting an .891 OPS while with players averaging six years older than he. It's more likely Milwaukee will approach Rodriguez about an 8th minor league contract year than go for the 40-man add.

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Done enough during the return engagement?

Ernesto Martinez turned 25 years old in May, and the outgoing 6'6", 250 pound native of Cuba is sporting a .264/.352/.432 line (.784 OPS) in 2024, with 29 of 72 hits being of the extra-base variety. His bombs are as prodigious as his splits:

 

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Have MLB Experience, Will Travel:

INF Christian Arroyo
RHP Taylor Clarke
INF Yonny Hernandez
C Francisco Mejia
INF Owen Miller
C Brian Navarreto
OF Chris Roller
RHP Mitch White

This is likely the end of the Brewers' relationship with these veterans of varying MLB experience.

 

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Hoping to extend the dream:

INF/OF Jose Acosta
RHP Nolan Blackwood
RHP Sam Carlson
*RHP Harold Chirino
INF Patrick Dorrian
C David Garcia
*OF Reidy Mercado
C Ramon Rodriguez
OF Connor Scott
OF Lamar Sparks
INF/OF Felix Valerio
C Andrew Yerzy

Two players to highlight here. Keep a sneaky eye on outfielder Connor Scott, because the recent signee (released by Pittsburgh) is off to a scorching start with Biloxi, won't turn 25 until October, and has a prospect pedigree (drafted 13th overall in 2018 out of a Florida high school).

Also wanted to give a shoutout to OF Reidy Mercado, the 23-year-old Dominican native who topped out with 22 games at Wisconsin in 2022, and is currently in a backup role at Carolina. Mercado's career OPS is only .610, though he has racked up 112 steals in 142 attempts. The young man is I'm guessing a respectful teammate and a willing contributor in any regard for the coaching staffs.

 

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Within the next week, I'll be posting BrewerFanatics' annual list and rundown of the players who need to be considered for protection from Rule 5 in October via addition to the 40-man roster. Those players are not minor league free agents at season's end.

 

View full article

 

[Joseph Zarr]

As always, huge thanks for doing this. 

[Joseph Zarr]

Boy, there are several players in this Mix I'd love to see come back and wear a Brewers affiliated uniform. Lottttta solid Minor League players above. 

[wiguy94]

1 minute ago, Joseph Zarr said:

Boy, there are several players in this Mix I'd love to see come back and wear a Brewers affiliated uniform. Lottttta solid Minor League players above. 

Funny how two people can see things do differently. I see 4.5 players I'd be upset about if they signed elsewhere.

[Joseph Zarr]

18 minutes ago, wiguy94 said:

Funny how two people can see things do differently. I see 4.5 players I'd be upset about if they signed elsewhere.

Well, I'm not going to be upset about any player doing what they want for their careers. However, I appreciate solid Minor League depth players and possible break outs across the affiliates. C Ramon Rodriguez and C David Garcia? Sign me up. RHP Sam Carlson? Sign me up. OF's Lamar Sparks and Connor Scott? Sign me up. Etc. etc. Heck, I'm all aboard the let's see what we have in RHP Mitch White grab bag if we start him as a starting pitcher. You're darn straight I want Carlos D. Rodriguez, Chris Roller, Owen Miller, RHP Taylor Clarke and Mejia and Navarreto back in Nasvhille.

The reality is, the majority of these players will likely go elsewhere. I don't have illusions about blue chip prospects but I've seen enough happen over the years where I know if we start with solid players and decent depth there will be unexpected breakouts and players helping at the MLB level.

[wiguy94]

10 minutes ago, Joseph Zarr said:

Well, I'm not going to be upset about any player doing what they want for their careers. However, I appreciate solid Minor League depth players and possible break outs across the affiliates. C Ramon Rodriguez and C David Garcia? Sign me up. RHP Sam Carlson? Sign me up. OF's Lamar Sparks and Connor Scott? Sign me up. Etc. etc. Heck, I'm all aboard the let's see what we have in RHP Mitch White grab bag if we start him as a starting pitcher. You're darn straight I want Carlos D. Rodriguez, Chris Roller, Owen Miller, RHP Taylor Clarke and Mejia and Navarreto back in Nasvhille.

The reality is, the majority of these players will likely go elsewhere. I don't have illusions about blue chip prospects but I've seen enough happen over the years where I know if we start with solid players and decent depth there will be unexpected breakouts and players helping at the MLB level.

Carlos Rodriguez, Ernesto Martinez Jr, Mitch White, and Lamar Sparks are the 4 I would like back for sure with Connor Scott as a 0.5 because it's still too small of a sample for me to really have a good feel about him. 

I think everyone else on that list is minor league depth/org filler so I think they are easily replaceable if they chose to leave.

[Joseph Zarr]

3 minutes ago, wiguy94 said:

Carlos Rodriguez, Ernesto Martinez Jr, Mitch White, and Lamar Sparks are the 4 I would like back for sure with Connor Scott as a 0.5 because it's still too small of a sample for me to really have a good feel about him. 

I think everyone else on that list is minor league depth/org filler so I think they are easily replaceable if they chose to leave.

[wiguy94]

3 minutes ago, Joseph Zarr said:

I do think I'd be most inclined to want to get some of the catchers back. Get Garcia, Rodriguez, and Navarreto back. Always nice to have veteran catcher depth in the minors and I think continuity is probably more important for catchers than other positions. 

[Joseph Zarr]

Just now, wiguy94 said:

I do think I'd be most inclined to want to get some of the catchers back. Get Garcia, Rodriguez, and Navarreto back. Always nice to have veteran catcher depth in the minors and I think continuity is probably more important for catchers than other positions. 

I couldn't agree more. Those are solid solid backstops. Garcia and Rodriguez are just really solid players. Both upgrades over my previous favorite low level vet in C Jose Sibrian (may he flourish!). You know how I feel about Navs. Such an underrated player. His peripherals never look intriguing but he is a clutch clutch hitter and his defense is second to none. I love me some Navarreto.

[Ro Mueller]

I’m surprised that we didn’t see the organization shed more free-agents-to-be in recent rounds of cuts. In fact, I think it was only INF Yonny Hernandez and RHP Nolan Blackwood who fit this category.

This suggests to me that the team puts a lot of effort into re-signing these kinds of players, happy to grab an 8th or 9th year on a AA/AAA player instead of having more ACL-level lottery tickets.

With that context, it’s too bad that we weren’t able to convince RHP Max Lazar to renew his contract last winter.

[Outlander]

It would be tough to lose Ernesto Martinez after playing his entire career in the Brewers organization. He has had a great second half, would be nice to see if he can continue to hit at AAA in 2026. Brewers lack hitting in the upper minors and 1B isn't exactly deep. The correct side of a platoon. Think he has better shot at success in the majors versus Clarke at AAA.

[jay87shot]

How do minor league free agent contracts for players with no major league experience and not likely to make the 40 man work? If we want Ernesto back do we offer like a signing bonus and then he makes a regular minor league salary or would he agree to just like a overall higher salary. 

[Jim Goulart]

2 hours ago, jay87shot said:

How do minor league free agent contracts for players with no major league experience and not likely to make the 40 man work? If we want Ernesto back do we offer like a signing bonus and then he makes a regular minor league salary or would he agree to just like a overall higher salary. 

He and his agent would play the field and listen to offers of yes, a higher-than-usual minor league salary. The Brewers could keep that decision out of the hands of Ernesto and his agent by adding him to the 40-man roster.

[Joseph Zarr]

Do the right thing, Brewers. This is not hard.