Minors

After two years at or near the bottom of most MLB prospect rankings, four years of better drafts and solid international signings have the Milwaukee Brewers’ prospect situation pointing in the right direction. MLB.com has moved the Brewers up to 25^th in the league, improving on the 28^th slot entering 2021 and dead last entering 2020.

Last night, we learned that the Brewers signed veteran right-hander José Ureña to a minor league deal with an invite to the final week of big-league camp.

Welcome back! Let's talk some more about the players in the Brewers' farm system who aren't getting the attention or the praise they deserve. 

Spring is a time for excitement about the best and brightest prospects in the game. It's also a time to put eyes and (gentle) expectations on some less-heralded young players, though--the ones who populate March's back fields and the late innings of overlong Cactus League games. This is a celebration of those guys.

Welcome back!

Today's write-up will conclude my brief series looking at some of my favorite overlooked Minor Leaguers as I round out the 16-to-20. Obviously, I can't cover all the players in the the system, though I'd love to recognize them all. I hope some of these names caught your attention. Better yet, I hope we see bigger and better things in their 2023 seasons and beyond.

Welcome back, yet again, as I delve into the 11-to-20 spots in my Overlooked Brewers Minor Leaguers. Today, I present you players 11 through 15 who aren't getting the praise they deserve.

An important part of the Josh Hader trade - and long may Josh Hader live joyously in the hearts of Brewers fans - were two highly-touted but possibly (probably likely) off-your-radar Padres prospects in OF Esteury Ruiz and LHP Robert Gasser. Ruiz will begin his Brewers career in Nashville (AAA) while Gasser will take the mound for Biloxi (AA). So, who are these prospects anyhow and what might we expect? And do you have any cool clips of them playing? Yes. Yes, I do. I am here to give you a brief overview and some general thoughts. So, let's get to it!

Currently ranked as the 13th best prospect in the Brewers’ organization by Brewer's Fanatic, it is safe to say that Mario Feliciano deserves a real shot at playing in the big leagues. Finding how is the problem.

Five days after the conclusion of the World Series, minor league players who have reached the end of their seven-year commitment on their initial professional contract finally get to test free agent waters. In some cases, this is an opportunity to net a contract in the low six-figure range, which is not significant compared to big-league money, yet certainly can compare favorably to career earnings to date. While some players signed for considerable up-front money (hello, Corey Ray), many others did not.

Some Brewers prospects performed very well in 2022. Jackson Chourio and Jace Avina, for instance, have excelled. Other well-known prospects, though, have something to prove this year, as some big decisions are coming down the pike. So, what might some well-known prospects have to prove in 2023?

Even throughout the down years, the Brewers always seemed to find excellent pitchers who could close out the rare games when they had a lead in the late innings. These days, while many Brewers fans celebrated the rotation and closer Josh Hader, the real unsung heroes were other bullpen pitchers who got the ball to Hader to slam the door.

The Brewers farm system has developed some fantastic talent in recent years. The trio of Corbin Burnes, Brandon Woodruff, and Freddy Peralta has topped the starting rotation since 2018. Josh Hader nailed down the ninth inning from 2019 until the July 2022 trade that may or may not have derailed the season. Brent Suter, Aaron Ashby, and Devin Williams made their way through the pitching pipeline.