Sawyer Strosnider, Julian Garcia Latest Brewers Draft Picks To Sign

[Steve Drumwright]

 

Having already saved cash on all of their other signings in the first 10 rounds of the MLB Draft, the Milwaukee Brewers used some of that surplus on their second- and fourth-round selections.

TCU center fielder Sawyer Strosnider signed with the Brewers for a bonus of $2.1 million, more than the slot value of $1,353,100, while California high school right-hander Julian Garcia received a bonus of $1.5 million, above the $585,700 slot vale.

Per Brewer Fanatic's Draft Tracker, the Brewers used up most of the savings they had achieved on deals with six of their other picks in the first 10 rounds. Those deals leave the Brewers with $560,400 to give to other draft picks. Only two of their picks in the top 10 rounds have yet to sign: Clemson right-hander Aidan Knaak and Alabama high school right-hander Grant Hill.

There were some questions about Strosnider's hitting ability caused him to fall from a probable first-round selection to the Brewers' pick at No. 66 overall.

After putting up a slash line of .350/.420/.650 with 11 homers and 51 RBIs en route to being named Big 12 Conference Freshman of the Year in 2025, Strosnider followed that up with a .273/.415/.590 mark with 13 homers and 47 RBIs this spring. He does have the skillset to remain a center fielder, but also possesses an arm that would be suitable in right field.

 

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[patrickgpe]

The Brewers played the draft perfectly. While national media rated the Brewers to have the worst draft because they reached on Ebel, they used that underslot deal to get some talent later like Sawyer and Garcia. Honestly, if the order was just reversed in rounds 1 and 2, nobody would have had a problem with what they did. You can't grade first round picks in MLB like you do in NBA or NFL because salaries are not slotted based on draft position. 

[Tedaldtada]

These were the two most important picks to sign. They’ll have to perform before they ever grace a top-10 list in this organization, but both have the goods to get there.

I think Sawyer Strosnider is going to thrive in this offensive development system. Fret about the batting average from his sophomore year if you want, but across his first two seasons he hit over .300 with gobs of extra-base hits. Add in the baserunning and defensive tools, and I’m not going to overthink this one. He may always struggle with chase, but if he’s going to play for this organization, he’ll be forced to maximize his swing decision capabilities. I’m thinking that’s exactly what he needs.

The fourth round is a little later than where Misiorowski, Knoth, and Meccage came off the board, but hopefully Julian Garcia’s talent is in that same neighborhood. His $1.5 million bonus suggests as much, although it still trails Meccage ($2.5M), Misiorowski ($2.35M), and Knoth ($2M on an under-slot deal) by a decent margin.

Whatever else we snag from here is gravy. Knaack, Hill, and the Minnesota kids would make this draft look even better.