The 2027 Brewers Infield is Up in the Air, and That’s Actually Very Good News

[Harold Hutchison]

Image courtesy of © Benny Sieu-Imagn Images

Every development over the last month or so has pushed the Brewers further toward infield chaos. Come 2027, Milwaukee will have a lot of very hard decisions to make around the horn—mostly because they have a stockpile of talent, including four prospects in the MLB Pipeline Top 100 among their infield prospects. It’s daunting in a good way, because it seems almost impossible for the Brewers to go wrong.

Let’s look over all four infield spots and see how they break down.

First Base
Blake Burke is the team’s best prospect at first base. Selected with the 2024 Competitive Balance A acquired in the Corbin Burnes trade, Burke has a powerful bat. In the pitching-friendly Southern League, he cranked out 11 homers in 140 at-bats, a marked improvement from what he did at High-A Wisconsin. Lefty power hitters have put up eye-popping numbers at Uecker Field, so Burke’s potential is exciting on that front.

Luke Adams has been pushed to first base from across the diamond, even though he was not an untenable third baseman. While he lacks the raw power of Burke and bats right-handed, he’s been a clear threat on the basepaths and he has proven to be an OBP machine. Andrew Fischer is a natural first baseman performing pretty well at third, while Brock Wilken could find himself at first to make way for other prospects. Tyler Black is also an option, and is hitting the ball harder this spring. Of course, these players are all crowding into the top two levels of the minors, with Andrew Vaughn and Jake Bauers in place in the majors.

Second Base
Ethan Murray and Josh Adamczewski are two of the top organizational prospects at second base, but neither is likely to be a starter there. The big reason? Milwaukee’s shortstop surplus, which could include one of Jesus Made or Luis Pena taking a lot of playing time at second—a move similar to the one Brice Turang made in the majors. Turang is slated to be a free agent after the 2029 season, unless the Brewers can work out an extension. With Made, Peña, Jett Williams and Cooper Pratt in the pipeline, trading Turang feels more probable.

Third Base
Will it be Wilken or Fischer? It may end up being neither, with Made, Peña, and Pratt all in the mix. Wilken and Fischer, though, are potential offensive monsters, with Wilken channeling Brewers three-true-outcome legend Gorman Thomas, while Fischer flashed signs of being a left-handed Ryan Braun with his performance during the World Baseball Classic. Adams is also no slouch at the hot corner, even if his destiny appears to be closer to a Bauers-like role.

Shortstop
As with first and second base, the incumbents will have their say. Joey Ortiz and David Hamilton carry promise of their own. The upward pressure applied by Pratt (newly extended, and thus guaranteed some kind of role), Made and Peña seems like it will be irresistible, but which player will claim the spot—or will they all scatter to other positions, amid a resurgent offensive season by one of the more experienced, sterling defenders already in the majors? It's impossible to predict.

Overview
The depth around the infield for Milwaukee might be the best any team has had in the last 15 years. At every position, they have multiple players with a chance to be above-average, and not in four or five years. By this time next spring, there will be a somewhat confused Battle Royale going on, or a couple of these players will have been traded—but either way, the Brewers should be sitting pretty all the way around the dirt.

View full article

[Snoebird]

The surge of prospects post-lockout will indeed be mind-boggling. We're getting a hint of that this year with the pitching staff going deep into Nashville. Which raises an important sidebar:

Mark Attanasio is trying to show his appreciation for the state funding he'll receive for stadium upkeep by adopting a city connect jersey that bears the dreaded "Wisco." How about doing something great by reaching out to Madison Mayor Satya-Rhodes Conway and the American Family Insurance board to express interest in building a Triple-A stadium for the soon-to-be-moved Sounds? 

Madison is increasing its density by the day with apartments and would make a great International League market as a rival for the Des Moines Cubs, St. Paul Saints and Omaha Storm Chasers. The city could use the summer entertainment option as well as a stadium of that size for all sorts of events. Attanasio wouldn't have to buy the Sounds; I'm sure Diamond Properties would love to be in that market. But given how much the Brewers lean on players with options, we would all become very familiar with the makeup of the Madison Blue Crew. He would want to be in on that success story. 

[wiguy94]

38 minutes ago, Snoebird said:

The surge of prospects post-lockout will indeed be mind-boggling. We're getting a hint of that this year with the pitching staff going deep into Nashville. Which raises an important sidebar:

Mark Attanasio is trying to show his appreciation for the state funding he'll receive for stadium upkeep by adopting a city connect jersey that bears the dreaded "Wisco." How about doing something great by reaching out to Madison Mayor Satya-Rhodes Conway and the American Family Insurance board to express interest in building a Triple-A stadium for the soon-to-be-moved Sounds? 

Madison is increasing its density by the day with apartments and would make a great International League market as a rival for the Des Moines Cubs, St. Paul Saints and Omaha Storm Chasers. The city could use the summer entertainment option as well as a stadium of that size for all sorts of events. Attanasio wouldn't have to buy the Sounds; I'm sure Diamond Properties would love to be in that market. But given how much the Brewers lean on players with options, we would all become very familiar with the makeup of the Madison Blue Crew. He would want to be in on that success story. 

You're speaking my language. I've been advocating for this for a while now though I could see a AAA team in Madison cutting into some Brewers attendance so not sure the Brewers would be totally on board.

[Snoebird]

9 minutes ago, wiguy94 said:

You're speaking my language. I've been advocating for this for a while now though I could see a AAA team in Madison cutting into some Brewers attendance so not sure the Brewers would be totally on board.

That's old-time thinking. You would be creating an echo chamber for Brewer baseball in Madison, which is at an ideal size and distance from Milwaukee. The boomers who moved out to lakes country would love to have the option of going east or west to see the Brewers. I live in the Twin Cities and can take a light rail train to Target Field or CHS Field. Rob Manfred was the impetus for the Twins placing their Triple-A team in St. Paul and the Astros' affiliate in suburban Sugarland. 

[ghostdrew]

4 hours ago, Snoebird said:

That's old-time thinking. You would be creating an echo chamber for Brewer baseball in Madison, which is at an ideal size and distance from Milwaukee. The boomers who moved out to lakes country would love to have the option of going east or west to see the Brewers. I live in the Twin Cities and can take a light rail train to Target Field or CHS Field. Rob Manfred was the impetus for the Twins placing their Triple-A team in St. Paul and the Astros' affiliate in suburban Sugarland. 

As someone who lives in Madison no way that it can support a AAA baseball team .No space and cost would be way to much .

[Snoebird]

2 hours ago, ghostdrew said:

As someone who lives in Madison no way that it can support a AAA baseball team .No space and cost would be way to much .

Madison has become the tech hub of the Midwest, which is powering its population growth. It's a city that is constantly reinventing itself. What "cost" are you referring to? A Triple-A ballpark could run $75 million and be a shared cost. And a ballpark could be part of the remake of South Park Street. 

[long ball]

The 2027 infield outlook is definitely a bit murkier than I see the 2028 infield. 

First: If you asked me at the start of the off season I would have guessed Vaughn would be playing elsewhere in 2027. He still might be, but i'm finding hard to believe we would trade Vaughn and Contreras in the same off season. I do expect us to trade contreras, so if Vaughn is worth tendering a contract to, he could be our primary first baseman in 2027. Maybe Black gets a crack at the Bauers role, he'll be out of options after all. 

Second: Turang. not much discussion needed for 2027.

SS: with the Pratt extension, I expect he'll be the primary SS in 2027. Not sure what to make of the Ortiz situation, if he rebounds to a league average bat it's a tougher decision. 

Third: I think at some point, even if it isn't opening day, Made will be the primary third baseman in 2027. I hope we're able to sign him to an extension and the Emerson deal is a pretty reasonable comp. 

2028 I think the picture is much clearer. I expect Turang, Pratt and Made to entrenched as starters and I think Fischer winds up slotting in at first base.