Did The Brewers Mess Up By Trading Josiah Ragsdale?

[Cory Sparks]

Image courtesy of USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

The Milwaukee Brewers traded for a pair of St. Louis Cardinals arms, and in exchange, they gave up one of their brightest rising prospects. The team got Dustin May and reliever JoJo Romero in exchange for outfield prospects Alexander Frias and Josiah Ragsdale. Ragsdale has had one of the best months of anybody in minor league baseball. Let's dive into his journey and what the Crew is losing by dealing away Ragsdale. 

Josiah Ragsdale’s Background

Ragsdale is a 22-year-old outfield prospect, and the Brewers selected him in the seventh round of the 2025 MLB Draft. The left-handed hitting speedster played a pair of collegiate seasons at Iona before transferring to Boston College and posting a .318/.418/.498 slash line. He also swiped 30 bases across 56 contests before having his name called on the draft stage.

After spending 21 games in Low-A Carolina (now Wilson) last year, Ragsdale has shot out of a cannon this year. The Brewers’ 16th-ranked prospect (per Brewer Fanatic) has been surging all season, slashing .316/.441/.581 (1.022 OPS) over 86 games between time with the High-A Wisconsin Timber Rattlers and Double-A Biloxi Shuckers. 

Since the promotion to Double-A, the outfielder has taken his power to a whole new level. Ragsdale now has 12 home runs and 21 runs batted in over 26 contests, a pace good enough for a 1.127 OPS in his first month with the Shuckers. 

Ragsdale's Wicked Instincts

Ragsdale has a 70-grade run tool, per MLB Pipeline. The former Boston College prospect has put it on full display, snatching 31 bases in 86 games this year and logging 40 stolen bases over 107 career professional games. His speed is in the 56th percentile, per Prospect Savant, but the ability to get a great jump on opposing pitchers’ cadence is one of many reasons Ragsdale has been flying up MiLB rankings.

Promising Signs, But Room For Improvement

With Ragsdale being in his first full year of professional baseball while already playing in Double-A, there’s an expectation that his three years of college experience could help him rise up the ladder quicker than some others. One of his best attributes has been the ability to work counts. Ragsdale is currently sporting a 19.3 percent walk rate, good enough for the 97th percentile among all prospects. 

He isn’t venturing out of the zone or whiffing, as his numbers are both well above average in those categories. All of this comes with the fact that he has 42 extra-base hits in just 86 games. His swing motion, per MLB Pipeline, is relatively simple. He has a slight front heel lift, allowing him to be on time for pitches, but this year, he’s been able to load up and generate plenty of slug. His slender frame at 6 feet tall, 185 pounds allows Ragsdale to be shifty in the field, so it’ll be interesting to see if he prioritizes building more muscle onto a frame that’s already generated 19 round-trippers. 

He does classify on the passive side at times, so despite not chasing after many bad pitches, Ragsdale has a 29.4 percent strikeout rate (25th percentile). 

Was There Room For Ragsdale?

Milwaukee is loaded, and the fact that someone as gifted and polished as Ragsdale wasn't even on the team’s top 10 prospects list leads to that. Other outfielders above him included Luis Lara (already debuted) and Josh Adamczewski (Double-A). Ragsdale’s ETA is listed as 2028, and that seems pretty reasonable. One of the last steps will be getting him to choose when to attack early in a count instead of working into two-strike counts, but overall, there simply wasn't room for him.

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[Trail]

Maybe, but as the article says… They’re just isn’t room. He was going to get traded at some point and maybe this was the right time. If he moves to AAA next year and his batting average goes down 25 points his market value won’t be any higher.
Remember that Josh A will be a left field only (2028).  That pushes Chourio to center or right.We don’t know what their plans are regarding Mitchell. Remember also that Fralic is truly a centerfielder. This is all in addition to the long-term commitment they have made to Lara.  Nice to have these problems!