CheeseheadInQC

With Di Turi, I know I overreacted to his ACL stats, forgetting that the ACL can be wacky. I guess. I am trying to modulate that with my usual thought that A ball success at that age for me typically means more than A ball struggles. While guys like Francisca (Guardians), Tait (Phillies), and Arias (Red Sox) made the transition smoothly, Eduardo Quintero (Dodgers), Starlyn Caba (Marlins), Pablo Guerrero (Rangers) and pretty much a whole lineup’s worth of Braves prospects all struggled.

I generally pay attention to organizational signals like playing time, but there is something so easy to respect about players like Tyler Rodriguez who seem to always start the year buried a bit on the depth chart but simply play too well when they get an opportunity to stay that way. He is probably going to be facing the same situation in A ball with the infield depth, but I am with you. I think he finds a way to impress again. Also, I saw an absolute blowup outing from Yerlin when they were in the QC, and even then he had some pitches that made me say, “What was that?” in a good way. If he can cut down the number of times you have to say it negatively, he could be special.

I will say this for Di Turi, he is far from alone in struggling after the in-season Complex League to A ball promotion. After doing the teen prospect series, I would say a comfortable majority struggled, especially those like Di Turi, IFA prospects in their second pro season. I can’t say the reason for most, but it made me appreciate the fact that Yophery Rodriguez handled a full season at low A as well as he did even more.

Minor league deal? The triple-A depth isn’t great if Black is sticking in the infield, especially if moves force them to DFA one of the depth outfielders.

Fair. I was going off era and build and overlooked a key point.

So tough to judge height without a point of comparison. Greg Brock?

Every year, some lesser-known or truly unknown prospects put themselves on the map. Here are several Brewers prospects who could do so in 2025. Image courtesy of © Dave Kallmann / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images With spring training underway, it is time to take a look at some of the Brewers’ prospects who might not be getting top-30 love right now, but seem poised to improve their stock this year. As in past years, I’m dividing both the hitters and pitchers into tiers, with Tier 1 being guys who are either familiar names, close to the majors or close to the top-30 lists and Tier 3 generally being reserved for guys really off the radar. So let’s see if we can’t predict some of the minor-league players from each tier to pop this season. Hitters Tier 1: Hedbert Perez There are several interesting options for this spot (see Spencer Michaelis and Joseph Zarr’s minor-league podcast series if you want to get excited about Marco Dinges), but I’m going with a bounceback candidate. Perez’s prospect arc is pretty well-known. While Luis Medina got the bigger bonus and the higher spot on the rankings, Perez seemed to be the guy most prospect watchers liked most from the Brewers’ 2019 international free-agent signing class (now pretty much known as the Quero class). The hype only built when he spent some time at the Brewers’ alternate site during the COVID season and then proceeded to put up big numbers in Arizona in 2021. However, the red flags during his time in Arizona (higher K rate, lower walk rate) helped lead him to plateau in A ball. Late in 2023, though, it seemed he was finally turning a corner. Then he got hurt. Perez missed most of 2024, and was pretty mediocre in high-A upon his return. He fared far better, though, in 88 plate appearances in the Venezuelan Winter League, against players mostly much older than him, including big-leaguers and former big-leaguers (Junior Guerra led the league in wins). I think the ship might have sailed on the potential star power hitter we hoped for during his first couple of seasons in the system. I just can’t see the on-base skills developing to that extent. I could, however, see him becoming a power-centric fourth outfield type. And, as the saying goes, that’s not nothing. Tier 2: Pedro Ibarguen It was really tempting to go with Handelfry Encarnacion here, but this list is going to have enough 2024 DSLers as it is (once again, see the minor-league podcast series for more on Encarnacion). Instead, let’s turn to a second rebound candidate, one whose performance nose-dived in 2024 perhaps even more than Eric Brown Jr. It is easy to forget now that Yophery Rodriguez wasn’t the best DSL performer among the 2023 international free agent signing class. That honor fell to Pedro Ibarguen. Rodriguez was still seen as a better prospect (and his peripherals were better), but Ibarguen put up a really good year. And then 2024 happened. Ibarguen went from one of the best hitters in the DSL to one of the worst hitters in the ACL. He had fewer total extra-base hits in Arizona (2) than he had home runs in the DSL (3). It was, well, not good, to the point where it raised legitimate questions about whether he will even reach full-season ball. Looking back at the highest-performing 16- and 17-year-old prospects from the DSL in 2021 and 2022, there are several who have either stagnated or washed out in the Complex League, so this is not without precedent. In almost every case, though (and I think possibly every case that didn’t involve a catcher), there was an easily identifiable reason. The player got hurt or suspended or carried huge hit tool red flags even during his good DSL season. Unless nagging injuries he tried to play through account for some of the struggles, however, that just isn’t the case for Ibarguen. That leads the optimist in me to think that this might not be the end—that Ibarguen won’t become a one-season DSL wonder. Playing time will be more difficult to come by this season (the ACL squad might be the only Brewers Stateside minor-league team with good outfield depth), but I believe Ibarguen has a chance to regain some of his prospect luster. Tier 3: Juan Martinez When looking at short-season minor-leaguers, especially the lower-profile ones without a ton of scouting reports, I rely on two things: statistics and organizational signals. Last year, I split up this category with one player who had statistics I thought made him underrated and another whose playing time (and position) indicated the Brewers thought highly of him. I could have done that again with Moises Polanco and Frederi Montero. Instead, this year, I will choose one player who has both, Juan Martinez. Let’s start with the stats. His .700 OPS might have been among the lower totals for Brewers DSL regulars last season, but his statistical line has some definite bright spots. He had the second-lowest strikeout rate among Brewers DSLers, behind only Luis Pena. His walk rate wasn’t exceptional, but it was solid given his contact skills. He stole 15 bases in 16 tries and tallied five triples. He was one double away from hitting my 15% or less K rate, 10% or higher walk rate and .100 ISO benchmarks. He popped the ball up too much, but so did Tyler Rodriguez in 2023. That brings us to organizational signals. The following chart lists every player still with the organization who got at least 10 at-bats in the first three spots in the DSL batting order in 2024 #players td { border: 1px solid black; padding: 8px; } #players th { padding-top: 12px; padding-bottom: 12px; text-align: left; background-color: #1540C3; color: white; font-weight:bolder; border : 1px solid white; padding-left:8px; padding-right:8px; } Players Spot in Batting Order 1st 2nd 3rd Total Jorge Quintana 65 130 5 200 Jesus Made 154 21 0 175 Luis Pena 0 143 20 163 Jose Anderson 61 8 82 151 Juan Martinez 3 5 88 96 Handelfry Encarnacion 21 18 49 88 Frederi Montero 5 7 55 67 Moises Polanco 54 7 3 64 Kevin Ereu 7 38 17 62 What’s more, Martinez played on the same team as Made and Pena (and Encarnacion for that matter), so for much of the season, he was only hitting behind two of the four top prospects in the DSL. He didn’t play a ton of shortstop, but again, Made and Pena. Overall, his playing time and place in the order were those of a player the Brewers believed in. Pitchers Tier 1: Wande Torres More than half the hitters Wande Torres faced last season saw their at-bats end in a short walk back to the dugout, their faces filled with a mix of bewilderment and anger. OK, the bewilderment and anger parts are just in my imagination, but when a guy strikes out more than half the hitters he faces, chances are he has induced a bit of both. How good was Torres’ 53.2% K rate? It is the best in the DSL among pitchers with at least 10 innings since 2006. The one caveat is that Torres didn’t crack that 10 inning mark by much, throwing only 15 ⅔ innings as he worked his way back from an injury that cost him his entire 2023 season. It was a successful pseudo-rehab stint, though. Not only was Torres dominant strikeout-wise, but he almost halved his 2022 walk rate of 18% that weighed on the hard-throwing lefty’s peripherals. Torres was brought stateside practically as soon as the DSL season ended, erasing any remaining doubt he would be in the U.S. next season. The question is, will Torres start in the ACL or will he skip the Complex League entirely and start the season in Carolina. I wouldn’t be at all surprised by the latter. Tier 2: Melvin Hernandez On the surface, the 2024 ACL season was a disaster for Brewers pitchers. They had the worst ERA, the worst WHIP and gave up the most hits. If you dig a little deeper, however, there was a different story to be told. This was a team that had the ACL’s youngest pitching staff (all but three of the other teams’ were older than the Brewers’ low-A Carolina staff). And the youngsters out-performed their peers. Of the 10 teenage pitchers on the Brewers’ ACL roster, six had FIPs less than the league average for teenagers. Five of those six earned promotions to A ball, with only Hayden Robinson’s injury preventing it from being a clean sweep. And once there, they outperformed the league average for pitchers promoted from the Complex League to low-A. At the center of it was Melvin Hernandez, the third youngest pitcher in either Complex League (and one of the two younger than him logged all of two innings). Like many on the Brewers’ ACL pitching staff, his ERA was uninspiring, logging in at 5.09. Since 2021, however, only one pitcher has had a better Complex League FIP in 30+ innings than his 3.81, the Yankees’ Luis Serna in 2022. If you include 18-year-olds, the list only expands to 13, and only one of those was in the tougher on pitchers ACL. Part of the reason for the success was that unlike other pitchers who see their DSL K rate fall upon coming stateside, Hernandez’s rose first in the ACL and then again during a brief 6 inning cameo in A ball to close the season. And he did it all without much movement in his walk rate as well. In many ways, of all the recent ACL pitchers, the one whose season this was most reminiscent of statistically was Yujanyer Herrera’s age 18 season. At 5-11, Hernandez doesn’t have Herrera’s height or frame, but the Brewers have shown a lot of confidence in the teen pitcher thus far, aggressively promoting him at a young age. That and his performance thus far have me thinking that Hernandez could take another step in A ball in 2025 like Manuel Rodriguez and Daniel Corniel did this season. Tier 3: Enderson Mercado In 2022, the Brewers had a pitcher who had a decidedly above average FIP among the DSL’s youngest starters but with an ERA that lagged well behind. Despite an ERA of about 5, the Brewers pushed Daniel Corniel up to the ACL in 2023, then Carolina in 2024 and were rewarded by him holding his own against A-ball hitting in his age-19 season. Now in 2024, the Brewers had a player whose FIP was even better than Corniel and whose ERA was even worse. Like Corniel, he had the best FIP among the 17-and-under pitchers in the Brewers’ DSL complex. He also had the top K/9 of any Brewers DSL pitcher with at least 30 innings. Now Mercado was a bit on the erratic side, but the number of younger DSL rookie pitchers who put up the type of stats he did (10+K/9, 2.5+K/BB, a substantial number of starts and innings) is pretty limited. While I could see him, assuming he gets brought stateside, struggling a bit at times in the ACL (most pitchers do), I also think that he performs well enough to put himself on the list of lower-level names to watch heading into 2026. Now It Is Your Turn Who do you think are the top sleeper prospects? Do you have different DSL favorites? Think Jason Woodward or Ryan Birchard breaks into the top 20? Projecting Quinton Low to make big control strides coming back from injury? Let me know in the comments. View full article

For all the grousing about the World Series comment, it feels like getting ignored is the actual substance of the quote and the conflict it presents under the current system between what is good for the game and what is good for the teams' chances of winning, specifically the small market teams. It is good for baseball for teams to have those long-time, face of the franchise type players. The contracts that produce those, however, often end badly. For the big market teams, the payroll hit isn't onerous. They can really hamstring a small market team, however, and, yes, hurt their chances of winning. Creating franchise icons is good for teams (and baseball). Winning is good for teams. The league needs to come up with a system where this is not an either/or choice for all franchises, not just some of them.

I would love it if Martinez earned a spot eventually this year. I remember watching him when the Rattlers were in town a couple years ago and it sounded and almost felt different when he made contact than anyone else on the team.

Three things: 1. Thanks to the Canadian TV show “Shoresy” I exclusively associate the term “veteran presence” with hockey. 2. I ask this as a genuine question, is DeJong that guy? Not all veterans are necessarily guys who add a ton of leadership value. 3. There is a good chance Frelick adds more offensive value than DeJong, especially if you take base running into account.

These are just guys who were teens on Jan. 1. Pratt was already 20.

In the final part of the series, we look at the teenage prospects employed by the Brewers and the rest of the NL Central before seeing how they stack up, prospect by prospect, with the best systems in the league. Image courtesy of Milwaukee Journal Sentinel #old{display:none} @media (max-width:600px){.table-column{display:flex;flex-direction:column;width:50%;margin-right:0;margin-left:0;margin-bottom:10px;flex-wrap:wrap}} @media (max-width:1000px) and (min-width:601px){.table-column{display:flex;flex-direction:column;width:33%;margin-right:0;margin-left:0;margin-bottom:10px;flex-wrap:wrap}} @media (min-width:1001px){.table-column{display:flex;flex-direction:column;width:20%;margin-right:0;margin-left:0;margin-bottom:10px;flex-wrap:wrap}} .cell{border:1px solid black;margin:0;padding 15px;} So, we have finally come to the end of this three-part series in which I most definitely bit off more than I could chew. We only have five team reports left, but that is enough time for two more contenders to emerge, a couple of shots to be taken at the Cardinals, and for me to make my final pick for which team actually does have the best group of teenage prospects in baseball. First, though, a reminder of the ground rules. Because I am writing this over a period of time, “teenager” will be anyone who hadn’t turned 20 by the time the clock struck midnight on New Year’s. Also, except where noted, the Fangraphs and MLB prospect rankings are the post-draft updates from last year. It’s not ideal, but they are two of the bigger not-behind-paywall rankings, so I stuck with them, although I'll mention the publicly available Baseball America team chats occasionally. If you missed the previous parts, here are Part 1 and Part 2. Click to jump to a section: Cubs | Reds | Brewers | Pirates | Cardinals | Epic Conclusion Chicago Cubs: Attempting to Corner the Market on Mildly-to-Moderately Interesting Shortstops Ranked Prospects (FG 2025): Jefferson Rojas, SS (MLB 7, FG 4); Fernando Cruz, SS (MLB 8, FG 24); Derniche Valdez, SS (MLB 13, FG 36); Ronny Cruz, SS (MLB 15, FG 27); Ty Southisene, SS (MLB 18, FG 26); Angel Cepeda, 3B (MLB 24); Yahil Melendez, SS (MLB 28, FG 20); Eli Lovich, OF (MLB 29, FG 25) A 2022 IFA signing, Rojas has moved up at a similar pace to Luis Lara for the Brewers. Rojas has shown a bit more home run pop, but otherwise, their stat lines have been fairly similar, including below average stats in High-A in 2024. He was toward the bottom of the MLB top 100 list. Fernando Cruz was one of the highest bonus 2024 IFA signings, inking for a $4 million bonus. Things did not go as planned in his first season. A 27% K rate helped lead to just an 85 wRC+ in his first DSL season. Deniche Valdez, the Cubs’ top bonus signing from the 2023 IFA class, followed up a DSL season in which he showed a lot of pop and a lot of swing and miss with an ACL season in which he did the same, albeit in a smaller number of at-bats thanks to being on the restricted list for a month and a half. Cruz (3rd), Southisene (4th) and Lovich (11) were prep picks in the 2024 draft who signed for between $600,000 and $1 million. Yahil Melendez, a 2023 draft pick, had a concerning K-rate (28%) but otherwise turned in an above-average ACL season (114 wRC+). Cepeda had a fairly similar season to Melendez in the ACL, with a slightly lower K-rate but also slightly lower overall production. Others of Note: Not a ton stateside. In fact, only two other teens spent most of the season in the U.S. Catcher Adan Sanchez had pretty good underlying numbers in his second ACL season, but it still only added up to a 73 wRC+. Pitcher David Bracho, a ground ball specialist who didn’t miss a ton of bats in the DSL, struggled in his ACL debut, walking more than he struck out. He did at least induce a lot of grounders. In the DSL, outfielder Cesar Lugo had my favorite stat line, walking significantly more than he struck out and topping an .800 OPS. Edgardo De Leon and Robin Ortiz also had strong first seasons, although with more K’s (23-24%) than is ideal for the level. Darlyn De Leon had a good third DSL season and Daniel Campos and Grenyerbert Velasquez good second seasons. On the DSL mound, the best of the teen starters was Emannoel Madeira, who was solid statistically across the board. Emilio Ramos had a better ERA but a bit high of a walk rate. Overview: Rojas is definitely intriguing, although with his balanced profile and struggles while really young for a level, he feels more like a guy I’d normally be saying is underrated when he is ranked in the 10-12 range for an organization than someone you’d traditionally see on top 100 lists. After him, well, they have three prep picks, but they weren’t either first-two-rounds or way over slot guys. Their last two DSL classes haven’t been devoid of talent, but no one has really broken out yet, either. Plus, they have very little in the way of pitching (none of the ranked prospects). All in all, not the worst group in baseball (or, truly, in the division), but it feels kind of lower-middle overall. Cincinnati Reds: Some Decent DSL Sleepers at Least Ranked Prospects: Tyson Lewis, SS (MLB 6, FG 10); Alfredo Duno, C (MLB 7, FG 4); Sheng-En Lin, SS (MLB 16, FG 36); Adolfo Sanchez, OF (MLB 22, FG 9); Naibel Mariano, SS (MLB 25, FG 14); Carlos Sanchez, 3B (FG 28) Duno is a fringe top 100 prospect, a catcher with big time power potential who thus far just needs to stay healthy. He couldn’t catch in 2023 in the DSL because of injury and missed much of 2024 with a broken rib. He posted a 127 wRC+ in 32 Low-A games, skipping the Complex League much like Yophery Rodriguez. The strikeouts ticked up, but that is probably to be expected skipping a level. Lewis was the Reds’ second-round pick in the 2024 draft, getting the second-largest bonus among second rounders and larger than many first rounders (he was in the same vicinity as Slade Caldwell). Fangraphs prefers Lin on the mound, but thus far, he has only hit. He managed an above-average ACL season despite striking out 30+% of the time because he takes walks and posted a nearly .500 BABIP (I legitimately almost tried to find out how often he faced Anthony Flores). Sanchez ($2.7 million) and Mariano ($1.7 million) were the Reds’ top two 2024 IFA signings. Unlike Duno the previous year, their debuts didn’t go according to plan. Sanchez barely topped a .700 OPS, while striking out in more than a third of his plate appearances. Mariano didn’t strike out as much (26.9%), but was otherwise even less effective, posting a .571 OPS. Sanchez had great DSL success in 2022 and ACL success in 2023. Then last year happened. He struggled so much in Low-A he was sent back to the ACL, where he continued to struggle before returning to Low-A. He still took walks, but his K-rate soared and his extra-base power disappeared. Others of Note: As with several of these, not a ton stateside. Bernard Moon, a 2023 16th-round pick, had good results off mediocre peripherals (25+% K-rate, less than 10% walk rate) in the ACL. Drew Davies from Australia both walked and struck out a lot in his debut season in the ACL. Alfredo Alcantara showed home run pop but little else in his first stateside season. The only pitcher was Joneiker Arellano, who had five very good ACL outings, then ended up on the full season injured list. While the Reds’ biggest money IFA signings struggled in the DSL, they had several very strong showings from the rest of their 2024 IFA class. Primary among them is catcher Jirvin Morillo, who I believe will make his way onto top 30 lists once they are updated. One of the better hitters in the DSL, he had a 146 wRC+ with a bunch of walks, few strikeouts and 14 doubles. Jaset Martinez and Peson Revierre both had .800+ OPSs while walking more than they struck out. Diorland Zambrano and Pablo Nunez had strong DSL debuts as well while striking out at less than a 10% clip. Ichiro Cano, an older signing from Mexico, also had a very good season. Among returning DSL players, Yael Romero, Angel Mora and Anielson Buten had strong seasons. Among first year DSL starting pitchers, Sthlarin Torres was arguably the ace with a sub-2.00 ERA and a nearly 4 K/BB. Dony Aguilera and Moises Castillo also had very strong debuts. Christian Lopez’s second season in the system saw his walks drop, leading to a dominant 2.09 ERA, 12+ K/9 and 2.66 BB/9. Enmanuel Talavera and Jesus Colina also had strong DSL pitching seasons. They also had two other sub-$250,000 prep draft signings, catcher Yanuel Casiano and pitcher Edgar Colon. Overview: I had initially written the Reds off as having a good top two and not much else — effectively, the Cardinals but without the excuse of not really trying that hard. The success of some of their less-heralded DSL prospects, however, gives them enough depth to rise out of that tier, even if not that much further. Milwaukee Brewers: Depth. Lots and Lots of Depth Ranked Prospects: Jesus Made, SS (MLB 4, FG 38); Yophery Rodriguez, OF (MLB 7, FG 10); Braylon Payne, OF (MLB 10, FG 30); Josh Knoth, P (MLB 13, FG 6); Eric Bitonti, 3B (MLB 14, FG 14); Bryce Meccage, P (MLB 16, FG 19); Luis Pena, SS (MLB 23, FG 18); Filippo Di Turi, SS (MLB 24, FG 16); Jorge Quintana, SS (MLB 26, FG 11); Juan Baez, 3B (MLB 28, FG 26); Pedro Ibarguen, OF (FG 35); Luiyin Alastre, 3B (FG 37); Enniel Cortez, P (FG 39) Made has shot onto top 100 prospect lists both for what he did a lot (hit the ball hard) and didn’t do much (chase, swing and miss). He has become the near-consensus top prospect from last year’s DSL and is in the conversation with De Vries for the top spot in what looks like a pretty loaded group of IFA hitters from last year. While Rodriguez would have to be considered behind Walcott and Salas, from a performance perspective there weren’t many better from the 2023 IFA class last year. He had the best wRC+ of any of at least the younger signings from his class with at least 150 Low-A at-bats last season. If you extend it out to 100 at-bats, only three were better and two of those (Alfredo Duno, Welbyn Francisca) are fringe-100 types. He does have to watch the K-rate, though. Payne was a surprise first-rounder but racked up impressive notices both in the bridge league and a late-season A-ball cameo. Knoth was much like the Twins’ Charlie Soto, with both striking out more than 10 times per nine innings and walking more than four times per nine in Low-A. Bitonti showed both his greatest strength and greatest weakness, clubbing 16 homers, including eight in less than 150 Low-A at-bats, but striking out about 28% of the time. He still put up well above-average numbers at both stops, though. Meccage is a second-rounder who signed for $2.5 million. The speedy Pena had one of the best seasons in the DSL, hitting almost .400, striking out less than 10% of the time, showing off extra base – if not home run – power and stealing 39 bases. The only knock is that he didn’t hit a 10% walk rate in the easiest league to walk in. Di Turi was off to a great start in the ACL with a 152 wRC+ and being one of only four 18 year olds in the league with a 16% or better strikeout rate (we’ll get to two of the others in a minute). Then he got promoted to A-ball and pretty much everything fell apart (75 wRC+). Quintana, the Brewers’ top-ranked 2024 IFA signing, felt a bit disappointing given what Made and Pena did, but he finished strong and was above league average offensively, even if the K-rate of 21.4% was a bit higher than I’d prefer. Baez had an okay season (106 wRC+) at Low-A doing Juan Baez things (rarely walking or striking out) before impressing in the Arizona Fall League. Ibarguen went from being one of the Brewers’ best hitters in the DSL in 2023 to one of the worst hitters in the whole league in the ACL with his strikeout rate nearly hitting 30% and his power disappearing. Alastre led the ACL in strikeout rate for those with at least 100 plate appearances. Unfortunately for him and the Brewers, it didn’t translate to production as he posted an 80 wRC+. Enniel Cortez kept doing Enniel Cortez things in the ACL, posting a 9:1 strikeout-to-walk rate. His mark in Low-A wasn’t as good, but he still more than held his own, with peripherals that were better than his pedestrian ERAs at both levels. Others of Note: This is going to be lengthy. Between the last two prep-heavy draft classes and a couple of deep IFA groups (pitchers in 2022, hitters in 2024), the Brewers have a lot of teenage prospects. Starting out in A-ball, 2023 draft pick Josh Adamczewski was one of the better hitters in the ACL, posting a 152 wRC+ and walking as often as he struck out. His K-rate jumped a bit during a late season cameo in Low-A, but the rest of his numbers were actually better. On the pitching side, control artist Manuel Rodriguez was the star of the five unranked teens who reached Low-A for the Brewers. Rodriguez pitched the whole season in Carolina, tallying a 3.23 ERA while walking less than a batter per nine innings. Four others joined Cortez in making late-season jumps from the Complex League. In his age-17 season, ground ball specialist Melvin Hernandez upped his K-rate to more than one per inning and kept his walks to less than three per nine as a 17-year-old in an ACL season better than his 5.09 ERA might indicate. He didn’t give up a homer either in the ACL or in a late-season six-inning stint in Low-A. Walks were more of an issue for Bryan Rivera, who struggled a bit to a 5.79 ERA in the ACL before faring better ERA-wise in more than 25 innings in Carolina. Jesus Flores didn’t stay long at any level in 2024, starting out in the DSL before jumping to the ACL and finally A-ball. While his short stints in the first two leagues were successful, his A-ball time was a bit more of a struggle, especially with walks, and it wouldn’t shock me if he started 2025 back in Arizona. Eric Prado righted himself enough after an awful start in the ACL to pitch a few innings of A-ball, but will miss 2025 with an injury. Moving down a level, the Brewers had five other teens still with the team rack up at least 100 ACL plate appearances. Two, Tyler Rodriguez and Johan Barrios, posted above average offensive production, tallying wRC+s of 130 and 111, respectively. Rodriguez was the third Brewer member of the less than 16% K rate club, and while his final stats were augmented by a knack for getting hit by pitches, he did walk more than he struck out. Barrios cut his strikeout rate considerably in his second ACL go-around, restoring at least a little bit of prospect luster to the former high dollar IFA signing. The star among the ACL teen pitchers not mentioned yet was Hayden Robinson, who was perhaps the best pitcher on the staff until he was shut down with an arm injury. Robinson’s fellow 2023 Day 3 over-slot signing Bjorn Johnson improved as the season went on but is likely ticketed back to the ACL after walking more than he struck out. Sticking on the mound to start in the DSL, Wande Torres was the star of the Brewers’ DSL staffs, striking out more than two per inning in his return from injury. Wenderlyn King posted a better than 7:1 strikeout-to-walk rate, and Enderson Mercado, Lonell Downs, Manuel Moreno, Ayendy Bravo and Argenis Aparicio also had FIPs of 4.50 or better. Things were even better on the hitting side, with Jose Anderson and Juan Ortuno leading the way. Anderson, who has started getting some top-30 attention, led the team in homers and ISO, posting a 143 wRC+. Ortuno did even better, posting a 159 wRC+ while just being good across the board. Catcher Luis Corobo’s arm was as good as advertised and while he ended up slightly below-average offensively, his peripherals were more promising. Other first year players who topped 100 wRC+ include Frandy Lafond (134), Moises Polanco (125), Handelfry Encarnacion (106), Jonathan Rangel (104) and Engel Paulino (103). Roderick Flores (132), Kevin Ereu (115) and (Pedro Tovar) were above-average offensively in their second DSL season. Beyond the players who have played, the Brewers also went prep pitching heavy in the 2024 draft, signing Joey Broughton, Jayden Dubanewicz and Tyler Renz to above-slot deals on Day 3 after taking Griffin Tobias and Ethan Dorchies in rounds nine and ten. Overview: The Brewers are not only a testament to their player acquisition and development infrastructure, but also to their willingness to invest in and push young talent. At a time when some teams are shying away from young pitching, the Brewers doubled down, signing five prep arms in 2023 and six in 2024. They had the most teens pitch at low-A (seven) as part of the youngest pitching staff across A-ball. They also had the second-youngest Complex League pitching staff and two of the seven youngest DSL staffs. They might not have a clear-cut No. 2 behind Made, but they have a ton of depth. Pittsburgh Pirates: Lots of Power, Lots of K’s Ranked Prospects: Konnor Griffin, SS (MLB 2, FG 3); Wyatt Sanford, SS (MLB 10, FG 12); Levi Sterling, P (MLB 11, FG 20); Zander Mueth, P (MLB 12, FG 14); Yordany De Los Santos, SS (MLB 13, FG 11); Tony Blanco, 1B (18, FG 16); Estuar Suero, OF (MLB 26, FG 13); Edward Florentino, OF (MLB 27, FG 23); Axiel Plaz, C (MLB 30); David Matoma, P (FG 15); Abdiel Feliz, SS (FG 22); Carlos Castillo, P (FG 28); Bralyn Brazoban, RF (FG 31); Eddie Rynders, SS (FG 36); Carlos Mateo, P (FG 38); Richard Ramirez, C (FG 27) I know other teams signed more 2024 prep draft picks, but I’m not sure anyone spent as much doing so as the Pirates. They got Griffin, the first prep player drafted, for more than $6 million, competitive balance pick Sterling and second rounder Sanford for $2.5 million apiece, and Rynders in the fourth round for about $600,000. It was a group with a ton of upside. Toss in 2023 competitive balance B pick Zander Mueth, who posted a sub-2.00 ERA in the FCL before walks got the better of him in seven A-ball starts, and you’ve got an intriguing top four (apologies to Rynders). Finishing off the pitchers, Matoma looked really good in 15 FCL relief outings, posting a 0.82 ERA and an 11.5 K/9. Castillo posted a sub-3.00 ERA as a starter in the FCL. His results took a step back after a promotion to Low-A, but his peripherals, including strikeout and walk rates, actually improved. The hard-throwing Mateo, on the other hand, made some control strides in his move stateside, but not enough, as his walks per nine and ERA were both in double digits. On the hitting side, De Los Santos for the second straight year had a really strong showing in the FCL only to crater upon moving to low-A. This year wasn’t as ugly (the almost 40% K-rate was nearly halved), but the end results were basically the same. Blanco is a 6-7 first baseman, who managed to cut down his DSL K-rate to a somewhat more manageable 28.4% and slugged four homers in his first above average season after struggling in two DSL seasons. The 6-6 Suero missed a sizable chunk of the season with a wrist injury and never got going, striking out 35% of the time and not hitting a homer in his second Complex League season. Florentino, another tall Pirates prospect (6-4), had a stellar DSL season, walking more than he struck out and hitting five home runs. Plaz put together a slightly above-average A-ball season in which 15 homers balanced out a barely .200 batting average and a nearly 30% K-rate. Ramirez was able to put up a BABIP-fueled 127 wRC+ in the FCL, but struck out in almost a third of his plate appearances. Brazoban and Feliz were two high-dollar IFA signings in 2024 who struggled in the DSL. How bad? They combined for a 100 wRC+ and neither topped a .230 slugging percentage. Others of Note: As you can probably guess by that extensive list, there isn’t much left stateside, where Roinny Aguiar’s 80 wRC+ and 26% K-rate in the FCL were the pinnacle. There were a few more in the DSL. Michell Ojeda and Kendrick Herrera both had across the board good debut seasons, and Frankeli Mesta was mostly solid as well. Cristian Jauregui and Yosmar Gimenez both put themselves in position for a stateside move in their second DSL season. On the pitching side, control artist Cesar Aquino, who was 19 in his debut season, was the ace with a sub-1.00 ERA and 1.37 BB/9. Dariel Francia had 11+ K/9 for the second straight DSL season, and cut his BB/9 from the mid-5s to the low-4s. Marlon Quintana had solid peripherals but a mediocre ERA in his DSL debut. Overview: Do you like tall prospects with power potential? Have I got a system for you. In all seriousness, this is a really good group. The 2024 picks give it a good core, and it has both hitting and pitching. I can understand why some might group this in with top three groups in the National League. There are just too many strikeouts here among the hitting prospects for my taste, so I am not willing to go that far. St. Louis Cardinals: Two Really Good DSL Prospects and … Not Much Else Ranked Prospects: Branneli Franco, P (MLB 21, FG 30); Rainiel Rodriguez, C (MLB 23); Jonathan Mejia, 2B (MLB 26); Yairo Padilla, SS (MLB 29); Reiner Lopez, P (FG 31) According to Baseball America, scouts in the Dominican Republic had Padilla as the second best prospect in the DSL this year, besting the Dodgers’ Emil Morales and the Brewers’ Luis Pena (I'd list who No. 1 was, but at this point it should be assumed). He was just good across the board statistically. Rodriguez, however, was superlative, putting up one of the best stat lines in recent DSL history. Since 2021, only Morales put up a better wRC+ in his first DSL season. The one caveat with Rodriguez, however, is that he is an offense-first catcher who some are skeptical will be able to stick behind the plate. Mejia was the Cardinals’ top 2022 IFA signing and, after a pretty disastrous first season stateside, bounced back in the Complex League in 2024. He hasn’t shown the same power as in the DSL and he still is struggling to get his K-rate below 25%, but things are at least moving in the right direction again. Franco and Lopez were touted members of the Cardinals’ 2024 IFA group. Franco was the top-ranked pitcher among 2024 IFA signings, but struggled in his DSL debut to a 6.16 ERA and a nearly identical FIP. The K-rate was OK, but the walks were a bit high and he gave up a hit an inning. Lopez was worse, albeit in less than 12 innings. He walked as many as he struck out and gave up roughly 8.5 earned runs per nine. A bad first season means less to me for DSL pitchers than hitters, but still this was not an ideal start results-wise. Others of Note: Not much hitting wise. The only other teen hitters on any of the stateside rosters were two catchers, Heriberto Caraballo and Chris Lopez. Neither hit a ton in the DSL in 2023, and they fared even worse in the Complex League. Andru Arthur had the most promising statistical season of the DSL returners. Facundo Velasquez and Bracewell Taveras also had promising second seasons, but each had red flags: strikeouts for Velasquez (34.7%) and walks for Taveras (4.4%). Things are at least a little better on the pitching side. Nelfy Ynfante and Leonel Sequera both had strong seasons split between the Complex League and A-ball. Keiverson Ramirez had a really good second DSL season, striking out four times as many as he walked and posting a 1.62 ERA. Andrew Bolivar walked a few too many, but he posted a good K rate in his DSL debut. Overview: The Cardinals might legitimately have the third best one-two punch from the 2024 DSL signing class behind the Brewers and the Padres, so it says something that they are probably one of the bottom teams in these rankings. The weird thing is, it feels vaguely intentional. The Cardinals have signed only one high school draft pick since taking Walker, Winn and Hence with their first three picks in 2020, and none in the last three drafts. They are the only team in the NL Central that has only one DSL team. We’ll see if they keep going down this road, but it feels vaguely like they don’t trust the lower levels of their player development system right now. NL Central Summary OK, if you hadn’t already guessed, the Brewers are the top in the division. Only the Pirates are in the same zip code. And, despite the pair of really impressive DSLers, the Cardinals are in last almost seemingly out of disinterest. I’d put Cincinnati three and Chicago at four. It is close enough where if you want to flip them, I’m not going to argue with you, but both are eliminated before we move onto our next step. So, Who Does Have the Best Teen Prospect Group? Now we have come to the part where we figure out which team comes out on top, and we are going to do it systematically. I’m going to start with the top five in both leagues and compare the top prospects — top-three, top-five, and so on — doing occasional eliminations. Note: These shouldn’t be taken as professional rankings. After ten, these are mostly guys I’m ranking based upon how much I like their stats and/or draft status. There are exceptions for a few of the deeper systems, but as I’ve said before, I’m much more of a data compiler than a scout. Second, in the top ten, I have shuffled some of the rankings (after No. 1) in order to get more like-on-like matchups among teams that I expect to be there until the end. With that said, let’s begin. Top Prospects Cleveland Guardians Jaison Chourio Minnesota Twins Walker Jenkins Seattle Mariners Colt Emerson Tampa Bay Rays Trevor Harrison Texas Rangers Sebastien Walcott Los Angeles Dodgers Josue De Paula Miami Marlins Starlyn Caba Milwaukee Brewers Jesus Made Pittsburgh Pirates Konnor Griffin San Diego Padres Leodalis DeVries The Twins have two advantages in this exercise. One is actually having a few intriguing teenage pitchers (not all teams do). The second is having the top prospect here and one of the top in the game in Walker Jenkins. After Jenkins, things flatten out a little bit. If you want to put Emerson and Walcott in a tier of their own, I won’t argue too much, but I’d put them in a larger group with Chourio, Made, De Paula and De Vries. After that, Griffin is kind of by himself, with a couple of fringe-top-100 prospects in Caba and Harrison bringing up the rear for the two Florida teams. Nos. 2 and 3 Cleveland Guardians Jaison Chourio Ralphy Velazquez Braylon Doughty Minnesota Twins Walker Jenkins Charlee Soto Dasan Hill Seattle Mariners Colt Emerson Felnin Celesten Ryan Sloan Tampa Bay Rays Trevor Harrison Santiago Suarez Theo Gillen Texas Rangers Sebastien Walcott Yolfran Castillo Paulino Santana Los Angeles Dodgers Josue De Paula Zyhir Hope Kellon Lindsey Miami Marlins Starlyn Caba Noble Meyer PJ Morlando Milwaukee Brewers Jesus Made Eric Bitonti Braylon Payne Pittsburgh Pirates Konnor Griffin Wyatt Sanford Levi Sterling San Diego Padres Leodalis DeVries Ethan Salas Kash Mayfield Here come the first of the adjustments. Notice all of the first round or high-bonus second-round 2024 draft picks ranked third in their systems? That isn’t by accident. Also, while some places do have Bitonti as the Brewers’ second-best teen prospect, I do not. That whole “high strikeout rates in short-season ball make me nervous” thing is applied equally. However, he made the easiest grouping with Velazquez and Hope (sluggers who don’t figure to play high on the defensive spectrum). As far as the second best prospects go, Salas would be at the top for me, followed by Hope. Celesten, Suarez, and Velazquez. Outside of maybe Castillo, I’d have the rest on the next tier. For the No. 3 prospects, it is easy in that all except the Rangers have 2024 draft picks. For these, I’m going to go mostly by bonus with a little draft position thrown in. So, Gillen is on a tier of his own. After that, I’m throwing the $3.5 million-$3 million group together (Mayfield, Payne, Morlando, Lindsey and Sloan. Doughty and Sterling are on the next tier, followed by Hill). After all of that, through three prospects, I’d rate the top five as 1. Padres, 2. Dodgers, 3. Mariners, 4. Rays, 5. Guardians Nos. 4 & 5 Cleveland Guardians Jaison Chourio Ralphy Velazquez Braylon Doughty Welbyn Francisca Joey Oakie Minnesota Twins Walker Jenkins Charlee Soto Dasan Hill Eduardo Beltre Adrian Bohorquez Seattle Mariners Colt Emerson Felnin Celesten Ryan Sloan Tai Peete Jeter Martinez Tampa Bay Rays Trevor Harrison Santiago Suarez Theo Gillen Brailer Guerrero Jose Urbina Texas Rangers Sebastien Walcott Yolfran Castillo Paulino Santana Yeremi Cabrera Braylin Morel Los Angeles Dodgers Josue De Paula Zyhir Hope Kellon Lindsey Yoendry Vargas Eduardo Quintero Miami Marlins Starlyn Caba Noble Meyer PJ Morlando Carter Johnson Keyner Benitez Milwaukee Brewers Jesus Made Eric Bitonti Braylon Payne Yophery Rodriguez Josh Knoth Pittsburgh Pirates Konnor Griffin Wyatt Sanford Levi Sterling Zander Mueth Edward Florentino San Diego Padres Leodalis DeVries Ethan Salas Kash Mayfield Boston Bateman Humberto Cruz This is where the teams with depth in their top tier start coming to the forefront. With all due respect to the Rays’ Guerrero, I might lean Francisca as the best prospect remaining, with Rodriguez, Vargas and the two remaining high draft picks close behind. For the No. 5 spot, I’d have Quintero, with Knoth and Benitez close behind. Oakie and Bohorquez (for a non-top ten prospect on a team I don’t follow, I’m bizarrely high on him) would be next. The Dodgers, Brewers and Guardians feel like the top three here in whatever order you want to put them. The Marlins made up some ground as well. After these, I’d rank the groups 1a. Padres 1b. Dodgers 3. Guardians. 4. Rays 5a. Brewers 5b. Mariners. Nos. 6-10 Cleveland Guardians Jaison Chourio Ralphy Velazquez Braylon Doughty Welbyn Francisca Joey Oakie Robert Arias Chase Mobley Cameron Sullivan Luis Merejo Gabriel Rodriguez Minnesota Twins Walker Jenkins Charlee Soto Dasan Hill Eduardo Beltre Adrian Bohorquez Dameury Pena Daiber De Los Santos Byron Chourio Hendry Chivilli Ariel Castro Seattle Mariners Colt Emerson Felnin Celesten Ryan Sloan Tai Peete Jeter Martinez Dylan Wilson Ruddy Navarro Kelvin Alcantara Dawel Joseph Eduardo Ponce Tampa Bay Rays Trevor Harrison Santiago Suarez Theo Gillen Brailer Guerrero Jose Urbina Adrian Santana Jeremy Pilon Leonardo Pineda Nathan Flewelling Jose Monzon Texas Rangers Sebastien Walcott Yolfran Castillo Paulino Santana Yeremi Cabrera Braylin Morel Curley Martha Pablo Guerrero Caden Scarborough Jesus Lopez Sebastian Baquera Los Angeles Dodgers Josue De Paula Zyhir Hope Kellon Lindsey Yoendry Vargas Eduardo Quintero Emil Morales Chase Harlan Samuel Sanchez Ching Hsien Ko Oliver Gonzalez Miami Marlins Starlyn Caba Noble Meyer PJ Morlando Carter Johnson Keyner Benitez Echedry Vargas Andres Valor Luis Cova Grant Shepardson Julio Mendez Milwaukee Brewers Jesus Made Eric Bitonti Braylon Payne Yophery Rodriguez Josh Knoth Luis Pena Bryce Meccage Juan Baez Jose Anderson Manuel Rodriguez Pittsburgh Pirates Konnor Griffin Wyatt Sanford Levi Sterling Zander Mueth Edward Florentino Yordany De Los Santos David Matoma Tony Blanco Axiel Plaz Estuar Suero San Diego Padres Leodalis DeVries Ethan Salas Kash Mayfield Boston Bateman Humberto Cruz Kale Fountain Cobb Hightower Rosman Verdugo Luis Maracara Braian Salazar We’re going to start losing some teams after this round. For instance the Mariners, who, let's face it, made the top 10 on the strength of their top 5, fall off big time. I don’t know if any of their quintet here would have made the Brewers’ top 20. The two best prospects remaining were two of the best prospects in the DSL, Pena and Morales. Meccage is the top of the remaining 2024 draft picks, helping give the Brewers a leg up here. Outside of the Brewers, the Pirates and Marlins make up some ground, as their top-30 types go to ten instead of seven or eight like most of the other teams. After these I’d rank them 1. Dodgers 2a. Brewers 2b. Padres 4. Guardians 5. Rays. At this point, for simplicity’s sake, I’m going to drop all but the top four teams. The Rangers actually would have made up ground (enough to pass the Mariners at least) and the Pirates still had a few decent prospects left and might leap-frog the Florida teams to get into fifth (the NL is seeming much stronger than the AL). There are only four real contenders at this point, though. Nos. 11-15 Cleveland Guardians Jaison Chourio Ralphy Velazquez Braylon Doughty Welbyn Francisca Joey Oakie Robert Arias Chase Mobley Cameron Sullivan Luis Merejo Gabriel Rodriguez Juneiker Caceres Yeiferth Castillo Johan Rodriguez Alexander Garcia Melkis Hernandez Los Angeles Dodgers Josue De Paula Zyhir Hope Kellon Lindsey Yoendry Vargas Eduardo Quintero Emil Morales Chase Harlan Samuel Sanchez Ching Hsien Ko Oliver Gonzalez Jesus Tillero Oswaldo Osorio Brady Smith Brendan Tunink Eduardo Guerrero Milwaukee Brewers Jesus Made Eric Bitonti Braylon Payne Yophery Rodriguez Josh Knoth Luis Pena Bryce Meccage Juan Baez Jose Anderson Manuel Rodriguez Josh Adamczewski Filippo Di Turi Wande Torres Jorge Ortuno Jorge Quintana San Diego Padres Leodalis DeVries Ethan Salas Kash Mayfield Boston Bateman Humberto Cruz Kale Fountain Cobb Hightower Rosman Verdugo Luis Maracara Braian Salazar Manuel Davila Zack Qin Darian Castillo Yimy Tovar Jesus Lopez It is at this point that you start seeing which teams had deep, young DSL rosters and which didn’t. There is a clear 1-4 here with the Brewers at the top, then the Guardians, then the Dodgers, then the Padres. The gap from 1-3 is clear enough that it, for me, at minimum makes up the difference between the Brewers and the Dodgers (much of which stemmed from the difference between Hope and Bitonti). The rankings are now: 1a. Brewers 1b. Dodgers 3. Guardians. 4. Padres. The Padres are dropping off. Their lack of depth is becoming apparent. Nos. 16-25 Cleveland Guardians Jaison Chourio Ralphy Velazquez Braylon Doughty Welbyn Francisca Joey Oakie Robert Arias Chase Mobley Cameron Sullivan Luis Merejo Gabriel Rodriguez Juneiker Caceres Yeiferth Castillo Johan Rodriguez Alexander Garcia Melkis Hernandez Keegan Zinn Alejandro Rivera Reiner Herrera Dauri Fernandez Estivel Morillo Pablo Arosema Carlos Garces Santiago Peraza Manuel Osorio Renil Ramos Los Angeles Dodgers Josue De Paula Zyhir Hope Kellon Lindsey Yoendry Vargas Eduardo Quintero Emil Morales Chase Harlan Samuel Sanchez Ching Hsien Ko Oliver Gonzalez Jesus Tillero Oswaldo Osorio Brady Smith Brendan Tunink Eduardo Guerrero Sterling Patick Easton Shelton Javier Herrera Jose Gonzalez Javier Bartolozzi Justin Chambers Eduardo Rojas Yojackson Laya Reyli Mariano Harold Gonzalez Milwaukee Brewers Jesus Made Eric Bitonti Braylon Payne Yophery Rodriguez Josh Knoth Luis Pena Bryce Meccage Juan Baez Jose Anderson Manuel Rodriguez Josh Adamczewski Filippo Di Turi Wande Torres Jorge Ortuno Jorge Quintana Hayden Robinson Joey Broughton Luis Corobo Enniel Cortez Tyler Renz Frandy Lafond Handelfry Encarnacion Tyler Rodriguez Jayden Dubanewicz Melvin Hernandez This is where the Brewers pull away. The Guardians still have a few interesting prospects left because of their strong DSL squads, but I would still rank the Brewers No. 1 in this group. You’ve got three $500K+ 2024 prep picks, long after the other teams’ similar players have been ranked. You’ve got multiple pitchers who reached Low-A and acquitted themselves well. Their depth doesn’t really have an equal. Summing It All Up: Yep, I've got Milwaukee No. 1 When I started this exercise, I really thought there was a good chance that I would have to say, “Unfortunately, no, the Brewers don’t. It is the Dodgers.” And it is entirely possible that the Dodgers, who are far less reliant on their farm system to provide depth, would take their more top-heavy group over the Brewers’ superior depth. For me, though, I have to go with the Brewers’ group. Their top tier remains within shouting distance of the Dodgers, and there is so much variance in outcome for teenage prospects, even highly ranked ones, that quantity does have distinct advantages. The Guardians, who I have as a very close third, are in many ways reminiscent of the Brewers’ system. They are just a half-step behind at this moment. There were fewer than 120 16- or 17-year-old players across the DSL with 100 plate appearances, a strikeout rate of less than 25%, and an OPS of .700. The Brewers had 13. They had more than double every team except the Red Sox, Guardians and Rangers. They have the most teenage pitchers with A-ball experience. They draft and sign the most prep players. They have found ways to turn quantity into quality. So, what do you think? Was I looking at things through Brewers-colored glasses or does Milwaukee actually have the best group of teenage prospects in baseball? If not, is it the Dodgers, the Guardians or someone off the board? 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This is genuinely shocking, even given the number of pitchers they have.

Honestly, I would rather give the youngsters first crack at the starting 3rd base job. Now in the Monasterio role, sure, but at this point last season probably is his upside.

It is in editing. I made some html tables that change dimensions depending on mobile or desktop view, and the coding for it took a bit of time.

I know this is only a subset, but doing the teen prospect series, you could at least make the case that the Brewers rank first at every spot from 7 until they run out of teenagers. It is astounding.

C- I like that they felt confident enough to trade Williams for MLB pieces. I wish they would have done something to increase the floor of the infield. I would probably be at a D if the options weren’t limited. If Kim didn’t fit in the budget, they ranged from meh to yikes. And more the latter than the former when it comes to the Bauers spot.

Fangraphs wrote about him when the Rays claimed him. My favorite line was how it seemed like he started every pitch in the same spot and each pitch’s movement dictated where it ended up.

I hate to repeat myself from the previous thread, but the height of the Big 3 era for the pitching staff coincided with the low ebb of the Brewers’ system. They simply didn’t have the prospects to make a Yelich type trade. Also, by the fairly stringent standards you have used, those trades are rare enough where the Brewers have been average overall and above average for their market size.

Be careful what you wish for. You might dream of some version of Cohen buying the club but you are far more likely to end up becoming the Pirates.

I read the thread title and expected something about the Astros scandal.

True, I was more just going off of the fast slap hitter scouting reports.

Honestly, not a Brewers prospect, but the scouting reports initially gave me more of a less refined (because of age) Enrique Bradfield vibe than Ray. The post-draft reports have me hoping he could tap into more power than Bradfield has thus far.