Which top prospects would you be willing to part with?

[BrewersRice]

Now for the position of catcher.  The Brewers usually draft a catcher and I see they picked one up in NDFA Hagerdorn. But what do they already have in the system? Is there any one they should/could trade? Anyone coming up on Rule 5 eligibility?  

I think the big question to ask is what the Brewers plans are going forward. While the Brewers often trade their stars with a year left on their contracts, I really dont see that happening with Contreras. They have one of the greats in the game who is currently excelling at both ends of the field but will only have one year left after this. Power numbers are down a bit this year, but he handles the pitching staff great and currently ranks 2nd in caught stealing percentage. My hopes are that they sign him to an extension, but my guess is that they would have done that already if that was their long term plans. 

Teams like the Brewers do often value having at least 3 good - adaquate catchers. (2 in the majors and one waiting in the wings in AAA in case of injury. I say that because some of these guys who we might think have zero trade value, actually could carry some to the right team as part of a package.

Sanchez - FA 27 - He is also having a good year behind the plate and catching guys. While the Brewers picked up a catcher at the deadline last year, I dont see that happening this year.

Quero (AAA) - Already on 40 man. Quero is still ranked just on the outskirts of most top100 lists after previously being in the upper half. After a shoulder surgery, he, as expected, lost a bit of the power arm he once possessed. Pop time and accuracy have improved since he first came back but they are still not elite. His actually (CS) caught stealing percentage is still virtually the same as his poor numbers last year. If you're the Brewers, I would say there is now a non-zero chance that he could get traded, but it is still very low. His bat and his framing/defense are now his carrying tools and they dont scream primary catcher, even though there is strong hope that after another off season he would hopefully be Contreras back-up next year and gain some arm strength along with tutilage from or catching development team in the majors which I would say is the most under-heralded part of the Brewers Player Development system.

Darrien Miller (AAA) - .263/.429/.522 Rule 5 Eligible. Has elite HBP tool. (that is a joke, but each level this will go down at and you will not expect near as much in the Majors. Even without the HBP, his OBP would still be slightly above .400. His numbers have even ticked up a bit in somewhat small sample size in Nashville. His defense has also improved this year 26% caught stealing and less passed balls at AAA, however earlier this year it was at closer to 11% in AA. This is hard to judge without knowing pop times, but he is not known for having an elite arm or elite pop times. His offensive stats do give him a high 154 WRC+. These however by some are taken with a grain of salt as his max exit velocity of 100 and avEV of 85 are in the lower then average tear. His barrel rate is also at 1%. These also should be taken with some precaution as sample size may have been small. With those numbers he still managed to hit 10 HR and I do like his swing. He did get the call up before Wood to AAA so it may say something about how the org views him.

Nava (AAA) Also having a blip year and a good year but basically a free agent and not going to be worth much.

Wood (AA) - .260/.402/.493 Rule 5 Eligible. He walks more than he strikes out. 12 HRs and I've heard some view his power to be a little more legit than Millers. 14% CS rate.
 

Dinges (AA) Freshly moved up so all stats are in A+. - .269/.393/.462  (already posted exit velocities near 110 and has a high 90th percentile exit velocity.) He is just getting going in the catcher position and has not spent much time behind the plate due to an earlier injury, college severe health issues and playing other positions in college. His CS rate had jumped this year from a week 18% in '25 to closer above average 30% in '26.  Is this jump real or just small sample size.  Dinges has been getting helium in the prospect rankings, and should continue to rise, however there is still a lot of uncertainties with his profile. 

Rylan Mills (A) - 261/403/487 19 yr old. He is said to have a strong arm, but hard to tell much of how his defense will develop at this stage in his career. 

I would say Quero, Dinges and Mills have the most value. The Brewers likely would desire to keep the others as well with the likelihood of Contreras leaving. In 28 they may need Quero and one of Wood/Miller/Dinges.  Both Miller and Wood are playing well enough where there is a small chance they get plucked in the Rule 5 and there likely wont be room for both on the 40 man. Teams that have room on their 40 man might see some trade value in these guys and I could see the Brewers sending 1 as part of a package.  I think it would be quite the risk to count for sure on Quero and his throwing arm and Dinges (Shoulder) as the set catchers of the future leaning me wanting to hold on to as many catchers as possible. Wood and Miller exceeded expectations so far at every level for outside evaluators. Could they keep on exceeding those expectations?
 

[Lloyd330]

Luis Pena would be the one to move and would be the headliner in any package. 

I wonder if you can get Joe Ryan for Pena/Letson/Adams

 

 

[StearnsFTW]

2 hours ago, Lloyd330 said:

Luis Pena would be the one to move and would be the headliner in any package. 

I wonder if you can get Joe Ryan for Pena/Letson/Adams

 

 

I think you definitely could.

 

I wouldn't do that personally.

[TURBO]

4 hours ago, Lloyd330 said:

 

I wonder if you can get Joe Ryan for Pena/Letson/Adams

 

 

UGH!

My bet is if you made that offer to the Twins, they'd accept so fast it would make your head spin...

That is soooooo much to give, too much, way too much.

[beekay414]

I am not moving any of Made, Pena, Adamczewski, Burke, Fischer, Letson, Hardin, Knoth, Dubanewicz, Ebel, Frias, Matos, Moneys or Jose Rodriguez. Everyone else is fair game. We have plenty of depth in the system to make legitimate trades without disrupting our core much, if at all. Just because someone is ranked in the 20s or outside the top 30 in our system doesn't mean they wouldn't fall squarely in the top 10-20 of another system. We have depth for days.

[JoeyWiemerTruther]

Jett is out 2-3 weeks with a sprained wrist and assuming you aren’t allowed to trade injured prospects that is NOT ideal. Hes the most expendable prospect they have imo.

still don’t want to part with any of Made, Pena, Adamczewski, Fischer or Frias personally

[BrewersRice]

With talks about the Brewers being in on Abrams it brings about a good question. Who might be blocked anyways when it comes to middle infield? 

Ortiz - FA 2030
Hamilton - FA 2030
Pratt - FA 2034
Turang - FA 2030

So when are the SS in our system expected to be in the show?

Williams (Rule 5 eligible) (SS, 3B, 2B, OF) - 2027
Made (SS, 3B, 2B) - end of 2027 or 2028
O'Rae (Rule 5 eligible after next season) (2B, OF) - 2028
Dickenson (2B, SS) 2029
Pena (SS, 2B, OF) end of 2028, or 2029
Brady Ebel (SS, 3B, 2B) 2030
Trey Ebel (SS, 3B, 2B) 2031
Juan Martinez (2B, 3B, SS) 2031
Frontado (SS, 3B, 2B) 2032
Osiris Ramirez ( 2B, SS, 3B) 2032
Ricki Moneys (SS, 3B) 2031

That is a lot of tradable parts and some with a lot of value.
If you trade for CJ Abrams - it would be a Huge Lefty Bat on the right side of the infield. 
Right now you have a lot of blocked guys if Pratt lives up to expectations. Is it possible Joey O gets traded after the current hot streak - A lot of teams looking for SS that might not be able to afford CJ Abrams.

I would say there is no need for Williams, and no need for O'Rae unless you trade Made in which case you would still want a quality backup in AAA. You may want to hold onto Williams if you believe his trade value will increase. They could even trade Made and it would not hurt them horribly. Turang would be getting expensive by 29 , but you typically dont trade someone who is a bit more proven. His timeline would match up with Pena. It could be Made-3B, Pratt SS, Pena 2B, if you dont think other 3B prospects will pan out.  If any of the 3B prospects prove themselves - there is clutter there too.  I would guess that the Brewers keep Made, in which case, basically everyone else is blocked and you're just waiting for them to be at their peak.  So please find a way to get CJ Abrams (FA 29). 






 

[PBTank]

Above is a post regarding the catching depth.

 

I was thinking Tait from the Twins would be a good player to go out and get.  The Twins just drafted two catchers at the top of their draft.  Pena and Tait are both in relative similar place in the top 100 rankings.  The Brewers could trade from their depth at SS for the Twins depth at C.

[BrewersRice]

The more I think about it, Adamczewski and Ragdale are blocked unless you plan on getting rid of Frelick. Both likely come with more power than Frelick, and if you go by baseball trade values, or prospect ranking, Adamczewski has the most trade value and probably for good reason with a little better projectable power and exit velocities and better plate discipline. However, Ragsdale is more Brewersy - with a lot more speed and a better fielder. I think Adamczewski has a good chance to be an All Star, but I'm also not going to cry about it if he is part of a trade that gets us a Skubal, CJ Abram, Mason Miller, Detmers, or Soriano. Soriano seems like a Brewersy type guy.

[JoeyWiemerTruther]

1 hour ago, BrewersRice said:

The more I think about it, Adamczewski and Ragdale are blocked unless you plan on getting rid of Frelick. Both likely come with more power than Frelick, and if you go by baseball trade values, or prospect ranking, Adamczewski has the most trade value and probably for good reason with a little better projectable power and exit velocities and better plate discipline. However, Ragsdale is more Brewersy - with a lot more speed and a better fielder. I think Adamczewski has a good chance to be an All Star, but I'm also not going to cry about it if he is part of a trade that gets us a Skubal, CJ Abram, Mason Miller, Detmers, or Soriano. Soriano seems like a Brewersy type guy.

I’m pretty confident Sal will be dealt sometime between now and offseason after 2027. Wouldn’t mind him returning as 4th OFer in 2027. But I don’t see him as blocking Adamczewski at all. Payne, Ragsdale, Encarnacion, Strosnider, Jones also intriguing OF but I think Adamczewski is the best guy there. Mitchell I think would be kept for 2027 as well but tbd after that. Free agent after 2028 so maybe they get one more year of value then trade him. I doubt they extend him with his injury history unless it’s for pennies.

starting 2028 then you can roll with the trio of Chourio/Lara/Adamczewski with the best of Payne/Ragsdale/Encarnacion/Strosnider/Jones that’s still around as 4th OF. With Frias then waiting in the wings assuming he’s not traded.

[JoeyWiemerTruther]

I’d be fine dealing Luis Pena in a Skubal deal. Would probably need one more top 100/150 guy like Payne or Ragsdale plus another 1-2 lower level guys. Jett now off the table unfortunately with his injury it seems. You’d need a top 25 guy like Pena to get Skubal, wouldn’t have to send Made. In order to get Miller, J. Wood and maybe even Abrams, you’d probably have to include Made in any of those deals.

between Pratt and Made long term, plus Turang probably the next 2 years before being traded after 2028 (if no extension) I think the infield is perfectly fine short and long term without Pena. You have those 3, have Ortiz who would be a solid depth IF for next year, and then long term you still have whoever ends up good among both Ebels, Ricki Moneys, Diego Frontado, Juan Martinez, Leanders Matos, and others for like 2029ish. Plus, you can get some return for Turang if you trade him after 2028, make a different trade to replenish infield prospects if needed, plus have the next few drafts, which is why I’d be fine dealing Pena.

[adambr2]

I think Jett is a guy the Brewers will look to move at some point. He just doesn’t have any obvious role on the team, his prospect pedigree makes him fairly valuable and they would need to add him to their 40 next season. 

Unfortunately, the timing sucks. We will probably have to let him get healthy, hope he rakes for a month or so and maybe move him in the offseason, 

Brock Wilken and Luke Adams may need to get traded for the same reasons. All potential roster crunch victims that have value. 

[JoeyWiemerTruther]

16 minutes ago, adambr2 said:

I think Jett is a guy the Brewers will look to move at some point. He just doesn’t have any obvious role on the team, his prospect pedigree makes him fairly valuable and they would need to add him to their 40 next season. 

Unfortunately, the timing sucks. We will probably have to let him get healthy, hope he rakes for a month or so and maybe move him in the offseason, 

Brock Wilken and Luke Adams may need to get traded for the same reasons. All potential roster crunch victims that have value. 

Yea the timing of Jett’s injury is not ideal as after this year he won’t be a top 100 prospect any longer it’s looking like. Adams has been great this year and not a bad long term MLB 1B option or even early-mid 2027 if Vaughn is traded. Otherwise if Vaughn returns for 2027 and/or is extended then yes Adams is very expendable. Especially as someone who is rule 5 draft eligible this winter and would need to be added to the 40 man if they don’t want him stolen for nothing, cause I think he’d actually get selected by a team. All depends on their plans for Vaughn after this year. Love Wilken but he has no value at this point and would just be a throw in. Is rule 5 eligible but wouldn’t be selected, so can just be kept off the 40 man and brought back to AAA as a depth option and resurgence candidate to then be called up/traded if he regains value. Burke and Fischer are pounding on AAA’s door and will be both be moved up within a month so one of Adams or Wilken would need to be dealt to open up 1B/3B ABs

[Dadbauer]

I think Made is almost certainly untouchable unless for guys (like Wood) who are also surely untouchable.

Pena I think is nearly there unless it gets you a great player with lots of control (Mason Miller? MAYBE Abrams if you think you can fix his defense and have him play 3B? Maybe Hunter  if they are dumb enough to move on from him and then trade Bill in the offseason?)

Adamczewski and Henderson are the ones that I think are possible for taking a swing at Skubal or a worse guy with control and it would be tough to swallow and even then perhaps the Dodgers can and will beat it.

Fischer is a wild card to me. I think the Brewers should sell high on him given his swing and miss tendencies and I think it would be to a team that isn't as great at evaluating talent. To the Angels for Detmers?

Quero is another guy I think you try and send somewhere if the return is good. I'm skeptical his defense ever gets there. Burke, Adams, Payne, Dinges, Gasser, Crow, maybe Drohan and Patrick are all guys I could move on from if a team desires them.

[danzig6767]

A big NO on trading Adamczewsk, that dude has to fabulous of a hit tool for him to be included in any short term player trade.

[JoeyWiemerTruther]

15 minutes ago, danzig6767 said:

A big NO on trading Adamczewsk, that dude has to fabulous of a hit tool for him to be included in any short term player trade.

Agreed. That swing is butter. He’s got average speed and average at best defense, probably below average arm but he screams future .285 avg, 25 HR, 90 RBI guy to me. Would rather have him over Payne personally despite Payne’s budding power, crazy speed and better defense than JA. Too many Ks is concerning. Payne seems kind of like a poor man’s Garrett Mitchell

maybe the Brewers value Payne’s speed and defense over JA’s skillset though due to Brewers recent trends

[jay87shot]

With Wood and Miller playing well I would think Quero or Dinges would be my guys to ship out after Jett. I am very confident we will keep William next year and getting a Sanchez/Haase style backup is cheap. With both Quero and Dinges having some defensive questions I would be ok sending either for a pitcher. I do think that Megill will be traded in the offseason, so maybe that would be a spot to target a higher upside catcher.

[Jopal78]

20 hours ago, adambr2 said:

I think Jett is a guy the Brewers will look to move at some point. He just doesn’t have any obvious role on the team, his prospect pedigree makes him fairly valuable and they would need to add him to their 40 next season. 

Unfortunately, the timing sucks. We will probably have to let him get healthy, hope he rakes for a month or so and maybe move him in the offseason, 

Brock Wilken and Luke Adams may need to get traded for the same reasons. All potential roster crunch victims that have value. 

It’s a fallacy that “prospect pedigree” cloaks a player in some sort of value that overcomes the stat sheet. 
 

Williams is certainly experienced against AAA pitching with 539 PAs (more than Frelick, Pratt, Mitchell, Chourio, and Lara received) and has a SLG% in AAA of .407. Not bad, but not evidence of a meaningful player. 
 

His OBP has fallen at every advancing level and is .336 in AAA; which isn’t disastrous but is certainly underwhelming for a player where OBP and speed are supposed to carry him. 
 

Is he tradeable? Sure. But probably for a 2nd tier reliever on an expiring contract and not the headliner in a deal for an impact veteran coming back to Milwaukee. 

[gregmag]

20 hours ago, JoeyWiemerTruther said:

Agreed. That swing is butter. He’s got average speed and average at best defense, probably below average arm but he screams future .285 avg, 25 HR, 90 RBI guy to me. Would rather have him over Payne personally despite Payne’s budding power, crazy speed and better defense than JA. Too many Ks is concerning. Payne seems kind of like a poor man’s Garrett Mitchell

maybe the Brewers value Payne’s speed and defense over JA’s skillset though due to Brewers recent trends

Returning to the hill I will die on: Payne is 19, in his second full pro season, and he's one of the best players in High A.  Adamczewski is 21, and he moved up to AA just over a month ago.  Those are seasonal ages; the age gap between the two is actually smaller, about 1.25 years.  So Payne is just about a year ahead of Adamczewski in terms of age for level.  That's a big deal in terms of development curves.

I'm normally not in the tank for tools, and I'm sure not coming here to bash Adamczewski, whom I love for the same reasons everyone else does.  But with Payne, everyone seems fixated on his one weakness while undervaluing his strengths in every other area.  Compared to a great prospect in Adamczewski, Payne is younger, faster, massively more valuable defensively, with more power.  His K rate at 30 percent is bad, but he has kept that rate constant from last year -- just a tiny bit lower -- while massively jacking up both his power (ISO doubled, from .142 to .284) and his batting average (up from .240 to .288), which bodes well for his ability to continue improving.

It's a fascinating contrast in profiles.  Adamczewski is closer to MLB, has a higher floor, and has an All-Star ceiling.  Payne has higher bust potential with the bat, but he also has more paths to being at least a useful player, and he has a superstar ceiling.  I put both of them in the near-untouchable category, but if I only get to keep one, I'm keeping Payne.

 

[gregmag]

2 hours ago, Jopal78 said:

It’s a fallacy that “prospect pedigree” cloaks a player in some sort of value that overcomes the stat sheet. 

No it isn't.  It's not some kind of magic cleanser, but it's nuanced.  The Brewers sure thought Priester's and Harrison's prospect pedigrees were worth giving up significant value.  Everyone in baseball knows that young players' development isn't linear or uniform.  Williams made top 100 lists for reasons.  This is looking like a lost season that sure isn't helping his value, but different teams are going to make different assessments of how valid the reasons evaluators have liked Williams still are.

[Jopal78]

28 minutes ago, gregmag said:

No it isn't.  It's not some kind of magic cleanser, but it's nuanced.  The Brewers sure thought Priester's and Harrison's prospect pedigrees were worth giving up significant value.  Everyone in baseball knows that young players' development isn't linear or uniform.  Williams made top 100 lists for reasons.  This is looking like a lost season that sure isn't helping his value, but different teams are going to make different assessments of how valid the reasons evaluators have liked Williams still are.

No, the Brewers traded for them because of tools, (Harrison wasn’t even a rookie player so I don’t know what his prospect pedigree would have to do with anything) and their belief they could extract additional upside from those tools.

Jett Williams made prospect lists because he was succeeding in spite of scouting concerns all the way back to when he was drafted that his small size would prevent him from generating enough power against major league pitching. Now, as he has gained significant experience against advanced minor league pitching in AAA, those scouting concerns are being borne out.
 

Further, for a player who always had an OBP/speed profile there is no realistic way to spin it  but as a disappointment that his AAA OBP has been average at best. 

No organization is going to value a player above what his stat sheet says, simply because he was a first round pick some years ago, or was on some writer’s prospect list. 

[JoeyWiemerTruther]

Jett is on the IL with his wrist injury with a timeline of 2-3 weeks. Can you trade prospects who are on the IL?

[Jopal78]

5 minutes ago, JoeyWiemerTruther said:

Jett is on the IL with his wrist injury with a timeline of 2-3 weeks. Can you trade prospects who are on the IL?

Of course they can, you can even trade for major league players who are currently  on the injured list

[Playing Catch]

9 minutes ago, Jopal78 said:

No, the Brewers traded for them because of tools, (Harrison wasn’t even a rookie player so I don’t know what his prospect pedigree would have to do with anything) and their belief they could extract additional upside from those tools.

Jett Williams made prospect lists because he was succeeding in spite of scouting concerns that his small size would prevent him from generating enough power against major league pitching. Now, as he has gained significant experience against advanced minor league pitching in AAA, those scouting concerns are being borne out.
 

Further, for a player who always had an OBP/speed profile there is no realistic way to cut but as a disappointment that his AAA OBP has been average at best. 

No organization is going to value a player above what his stat sheet says, simply because he was a first round pick some years ago, or was on some writer’s prospect list. 

Just pretend "prospect pedigree" and "tools" are synonyms (particularly when referencing the motives behind acquiring Priester/Harrison), and I think you are agreeing with gregmag.

[Jopal78]

18 minutes ago, Playing Catch said:

Just pretend "prospect pedigree" and "tools" are synonyms (particularly when referencing the motives behind acquiring Priester/Harrison), and I think you are agreeing with gregmag.

They’re not in the context you’re using them though. If you want to spin it as tools, Williams is even more at a cross roads. Little guys rarely hit with enough pop to be meaningful, and like Frelick, Jett Williams isn’t suddenly going to grow 4 inches and he probably isn’t going to pack on  20 additional pounds of muscle either. But more importantly his speed and eye haven’t helped him get on base at the same rate against advanced competition as they did when he was in the low minor leagues. 
 

Like I said, he’s trade-able but rebuilding clubs want players with impact upside and Jett Williams hasn’t shown any evidence of that in a significant amount of experience in AAA, and his small size gives him little margin for error. 
 

If the shoe is on the other foot, and the Brewers were rebuilding would you be excited about shipping out a veteran player for a minor leaguer who is probably close to major league ready but is small, and might be a defense first CFer or 2B with doubles power?