Brewers' Success Owes Majorly to Minor-League Signings

Wednesday night was Blake Perkins Night at the ballpark. Fans didn't get a bobblehead or a t-shirt featuring Perkins on the way in, but everywhere they looked, they got to see Perkins doing something remarkable. He hit a home run. He robbed a home run. Then, he made a rally-thwarting catch on the warning track in the deepest part of the park that was even better than the home-run robbery. It was an incredible game, but not an altogether surprising one.

Despite a profound recent slump, Perkins is hitting a respectable .232/.318/.361, with five home runs and five stolen bases in regular but not quite everyday playing time. He's hitting the ball hard much more consistently than in his spotty first season with the Crew, though still putting a lot of that hard contact on the ground. He's still striking out a lot, but he's also still walking a lot, and that general offensive profile--average on-base skills, slightly below-average power but a bit of danger near the bottom of the order--is more than enough to carry him, because he's also one of the half-dozen best defensive outfielders in baseball.

A year and a half ago, though, Perkins had never played in the big leagues, and he couldn't crack the Yankees' 40-man roster. That undersells just how under-the-radar he was, too. He was only with the Yankees after signing a minor-league deal the previous winter, in the wake of being released by the Nationals, whose roster he also couldn't crack. Now, he looks like a potential second-division starter, or (as the Brewers use him) more of an excellent fourth outfielder, with the ability to step in nearly that often for long stretches without hurting the team one iota.

He's a huge success story for the team's pro scouting department, but also for the front office executives themselves: Perkins was an in-demand minor-league free agent two autumns ago, and the Crew won the battle for his services by being willing to give him a 40-man roster spot for the first time. Then, the team also did fine player development to finish turning him into a no-doubt big-leaguer and valuable contributor. The thing is, Perkins is far from alone.

Just on the active roster at the moment, the Brewers have two other players whom they signed as minor-league free agents, in Tobias Myers and Andruw Monasterio. In each of those cases, it took a full year and change for their investment to return big-league value, but in each case, what they've ultimately gotten has been eye-opening. Monasterio has no chance to be any kind of star in the league, but he's an infield version of Perkins, with a better contact rate. His ability to come off the bench after several days of inactivity and handle left-handed pitching is immensely valuable, and every time the team suffers an injury on their infield, we see the value of his versatility and superb glove, too.

Meanwhile, Myers has posted an almost-forgettable 4.43 ERA over his first six career appearances. He's accumulated some strikeouts, but he gives up too much power and hasn't shown good enough control to get deep into games. And yet? He's also given the team a solid chance to win in four of his five starts, and had a stellar inning of relief just after being called up last week in Miami, en route to a comeback Brewers win. What Myers has given them is beyond the wildest hopes any team dares to hold for the 10th starting pitcher on their depth chart to begin the season, even if part of the credit must go to Pat Murphy for getting him out of games right on time.

Those are just the guys the team has found in the bargain bin at the very end of the clearance aisle. As we know, they also do great work in minor trades and with low-level big-leaguers. They signed Hoby Milner to a minor-league deal after he elected free agency, even though he'd already spent a couple of seasons in the big leagues. They got Elvis Peguero, Janson Junk, and minor leaguer Adam Seminaris for one year of Hunter Renfroe, whom they couldn't afford anyway and who has done nothing since then. The Brewers find wins, and players who help create them across a number of seasons, in places where other teams find nothing but grist for the 40-man roster mill.

It's easy to take role players for granted, but the roles Perkins, Monasterio and Myers are filling are important, and the admirable work each of them have done within them is a huge reason why the team looks poised to make its sixth playoff appearance in seven seasons. Wednesday night was just the latest forceful reminder of the fact that this front office is running circles around the rest of the NL Central.