Could The Brewers Fill Their Hot Corner Hole In Today's Rule 5 Draft?

The Brewers currently have 37 players on the 40-man roster. This means that if they wanted to, they could snag a pick or two from the Rule 5 draft to audition for the opening at third base, with the likely move of Joey Ortiz to shortstop as competition for one of their internal options at the hot corner.

One Who Got Away
One name, in particular, could be intriguing for Milwaukee – Gage Workman, who the Tigers left unprotected. He’s on their Triple-A roster, so the Brewers would have to keep him on the 26-man roster all season, or they would have to offer him back to Detroit. Still, there’s a lot to like about Workman.

Workman is familiar to Brewers fans as one of those draft picks that “got away.” He was a 14th-round pick by the Brewers in 2017 but chose to go to the University of Arizona instead, where he became a 4th-round pick for the Tigers in 2021. He primarily played third base in 2024 but had extensive experience at shortstop in the minors, playing both positions quite well on the defensive side.

Offensively, Workman has displayed excellent OBP skills, power, and speed throughout his career. The big question was hitting for contact, which improved dramatically in 2024 with a career-high .280 batting average after he started hitting left-handed exclusively that season after switch-hitting throughout his career.

Workman still has more strikeouts than one would be comfortable with (153 in 483 at-bats in 2024), but his on-base ability (65 walks), power (53 extra-base hits), and speed (30 steals in 43 attempts) make him very intriguing and worth an audition.

The best utilization of Workman in 2024 would likely be in a platoon situation with current Brewer Andruw Monasterio.

Filching From The Athletics
Logan Davidson was Oakland’s first-round pick in 2019. Since then, he’s played all four infield positions and all three outfield positions, embarrassing himself at none of them. Davidson missed substantial time with an injury in 2024, and the A’s decided to chance leaving him off the 40-man.

The Brewers could capitalize on that big time. Davidson’s offensive profile shows he can hit for contact (.303 in 2024, .280 over two stops in 2023), power (77 extra-base hits, including 25 homers, in 707 at-bats in 2023 and 2024), and on-base ability (73 walks in those 707 at-bats). The one area of concern is 217 strikeouts in that timeframe, but Davidson provides an intriguing, versatile profile.

Davidson could get an audition for third base since he spent 2024 in Triple-A Las Vegas. But his versatility and switch-hitting make him an excellent option for a spot on the bench alongside Blake Perkins and Isaac Collins, especially if the Brewers trade Tyler Black.

Davidson would give the Brewers options. If he wins the job in spring training, the team could put him at third base. He could also be in a soft platoon with Monasterio at the hot corner, getting at-bats at other positions. The other option would be for Davidson to be a bench player, using his versatility to get him playing time.

Robbing The Rangers
One last option could be Rangers prospect Cody Freeman. Freeman, a right-handed hitter, has power and speed, but the OBP skills are a question (only 37 walks in 470 at-bats in Double-A in 2024).

Freeman is intriguing because he spent some significant time behind the plate prior to 2024, where he threw out 23% of would-be base stealers. He’s also flashed excellent defense at the hot corner.

That said, he would need to win the third base job to really have a hope to stay in Milwaukee, or at least emerge as a better platoon option for Black than Andruw Monasterio or as a semi-reliable backup to William Contreras – but he’s not caught above the Advanced-A level.

Overview
The Rule 5 draft has some intriguing options for the hot corner – or at least players the Brewers could give a chance to. With three open spaces on the 40-man, it might be time for the Crew to roll with a Rule 5 pick or two and see if they can fill the hot corner hole that way,