Spencer Michaelis

I’d be pretty surprised. I’d assume Hart is over the $150k, and if Knaak doesn’t sign they’re really not going to have much to work with, and even if he does sign they’re probably not getting the discount they originally agreed on.

While Brick has a lot of qualities the Brewers look for, right-handed hitting HS catchers have probably the lowest success rate of any position in the draft historically. Add in the fact that he would demand slot or higher, I think the risk is greater than the reward. I completely agree with you about needing some fresh blood behind the dish, but guys like Brick and Sean Dunlap, who I was high on earlier, are just too risky IMHO. There are still several HS catchers I feel the Brewers could be looking at, like Dylan Kassab, Kendall Hagedorn, or Maddux Lessard, that fit our profile and would be cheaper and therefore less of a risk. Lots of good college catchers that are possibilities too. Garrett Wright, Robbie Lavey, and Cashel Dugger will all be 21.0 or younger on draft day and are really solid prospects. Even Brady Neal, Alabama's catcher, will only be 21.9 as a SR, so could be a great bargain. I mentioned Hagedorn in a post about a month before the draft. Awesome to see they were able to convince him to join the org! They liked Kassab a lot too. I thought they might take him in the 20th.

Either I’m losing my mind, or the Shuckers have not updated the probables in a while. Didn’t Letson go on the IL with an oblique like… 4 days ago?

FWIW, I had a very good source tell me that the Brewers were only going to need to negotiate with 4 players after the draft. That the rest had all agreed to deals before being picked or immediately after. Considering the 13-16 round picks are still unsigned and Knaak is as well, that math isn’t mathing unless someone backed out of (or is considering backing out of) an agreed upon deal. Would seem to be a pretty risky move for a lot of reasons for Knaak, if that’s the case.

Havard's mom followed me on Twitter, so perhaps that's a good sign lol

Martinez is definitely one I should have included. I came away super impressed with his stuff in the game I watched, and the results were legit too. Definitely hoping he can avoid surgery.

Ah yeah, Handelfry is the one I missed, I knew I was missing someone. He'd be in that 3rd round-ish grade for me too. There's legit power and solid bat-to-ball and swing decisions. Likely a corner OF with a fine, but not great arm and not overly fast. Bat is pretty legit though.

If I'm reading this right, you're basically asking "where would these recent DSL guys likely get drafted if they were eligible?" I'll answer it that way either way lol Alexander Frias: 1st round grade (Potential for plus hit and plus power, with a cannon in RF and good athleticism for his height, only turned 18 in March) Ricki Moneys: 2nd round grade (Potential for plus power, EVs up to 111 MPH with wood already, really good athlete, contact concerns keep him off of a 1st round grade) Diego Frontado: 2-3 round grade (Reminds me a bit of Trey Ebel honestly, just very solid in a lot of respects, but will need to add a standout tool at some point as he develops, EVs are better than average for his age, but nothing crazy special) Brailyn Antunez: 2-3 round grade (huge raw power from a simple swing, very athletic, playing solid defense, a lot of whiff, but players of his talent are still day 1 grades as HS players) Leanders Matos: 3rd round grade (The data is solid but unspectacular, will need to add pop still, but it's further along than Luis Pena was in the DSL, very good contact skills, solid athlete, decent defense) Moises Salazar: 3-4 round grade (defense at catcher is really strong, it's hard to catch DSL pitching but he looks the part and could have a legit plus-plus arm, still 16 and a switch-hitter with a 119 wRC+, think he's the most underrated DSL guy this year) José Rodríguez: 3-4 round grade (defense at short is supposed to be quite good, none of the offensive data stands out in a major way, but he has hit much better than I expected, solid athlete but nothing crazy, probably depends how good the defense actually is, which is hard for me to say based on what I have and haven't seen) Kenny Fenelon: 4-5 round grade (pretty big power himself, I'd say a half grade worse across the board compared to Antunez, other than maybe defensively) Juan Martinez: Mid-Day 2 grade (lack of power hurts him, and though he's a good defensive 2B, I think that's probably the one spot he can handle with his arm strength) Other draftable grades: Osiris Ramirez (big power, more swing-and-miss than the others in his game, and doesn't have the speed the others have) Alexander Mercedes (lefty who has touched 95 MPH already and has a nice-looking curve to go with it. Mostly a 2-pitch guy with command concerns, which would hurt his draft grade.) Angeni Fernandez (really undersized, likely would be a "let's see how he looks after college" type player in a real class, but the talent is real and he packs more punch than you'd guess)

He's absolutely still a name to know. He's touched 98 a bunch of times this year, and is sitting mid-90s, with two good-looking breaking balls and a new cutter, as well as a useable changeup. The command hasn't returned to pre-TJS form, but the stuff is actually better IMO. Might end up a relief prospect, but it's a very talented arm.

I am not sure in this scenario, but my guess would be he did at some point.

Got about 4 hours left to get your questions in!

Not a huge surprise, given he's a prep NDFA, but I hear Hagedorn will be receiving the full $150k to sign.

As much info as I can find for now.

If you've got questions for this week's episode, drop them below! (The minor league sandbox will be back for the first time since pre-draft as well)

I was told not to talk about Ruby's bonus until it became official, but I think this is a steal to not have to use any slot money to sign him.

We've got our first number in!

Late notice again, sorry about that! We will be discussing the sweep at the hands of the Pirates, the trade this week and the Brewers' draft class. If you've got questions, we'd love to take them!

Yoho's changeup is a much bigger shape than Knaak's is. Knaak's shape is definitely more in line with Logan Henderson's than the "airbender" types, so it should tunnel much easier, which is a big part of why they seem to have hesitations with Yoho.

Awesome write-up on Frank Cairone from Jason Pennini on his new Complex League site (great follow on Twitter/X as well, highly recommend). Pennini was an OG prospect guy on socials and with Prospects Live, got a job as a scout and now is back in this world. He's also helping Baseball America with some stuff. Seems like a great guy too. https://www.complex-baseball.com/notes/ef1ad098-09dd-43c0-8f03-87604d85c35d

Definitely is yeah, nice find! Can certainly see the athleticism and he reportedly hit 98 MPH in his one inning on the mound this season.

Well we know one player who is signing. 18th rounder Brady Smith is coming for Miz lol

The Brewers continued to go with prep players for round 16-18, then they took a Division II player, and then they finished the draft off with the son of a Brewers legend. All in all, a pretty exciting final five rounds. Round 16, Pick 491: RHP Bradyn Havard -- George County HS (MS) -- Pearl River CC Commit This is an interesting selection, as the Brewers take a player committed to a community college for next season. Havard had a very strong season in Mississippi this year, striking out 134 batters in 75 1/3 innings and posting a 1.30 ERA. He sits in the 88-90 MPH range and gets up to 93 at times, with armside run. He also mixes in a curveball, a slider, and a changeup. The slider is the pitch he seems to have the best feel for at this moment, and seems to be his go-to secondary when he's looking to put someone away. A community college commitment is not a common one for a high school pick, but it certainly would seem like he'd be someone willing to sign into pro ball if the offer is right. Round 17, Pick 521: INF Chance Ruby -- Wilmot HS (WI) -- Illinois-Chicago Commit This marks the third Ginger Poulson pick in rounds 11-20. Ruby was an under-the-radar name in the state of Wisconsin. He's got extremely quick hands at the plate, with some Joey Wiemer mannerisms (at times) to the hand movement during his load, though never quite as exaggerated. He runs a sub-6.6 60-yard dash and has numerous 100+ MPH batted balls in games already. He's also shown the ability to catch up to upper-90s fastballs in live AB settings. There are some right-handed Josh Adamczewski parallels to this profile. The glove might wind up moving him off of shortstop eventually, but the arm is strong enough to handle it if he can improve upon some of the infield actions. He is very instinctual and has a lot of baseball IQ as well. Ruby is a UIC commit, like Adamczewski was a Ball State commit, which gives the impression he could be a signable player, even at this point in the draft. Round 18, Pick 551: RHP Brady Smith --East Carter HS (MO) -- Wichita St Commit Smith is another lanky pitcher with room to fill out and add some more velocity. He seems to sit in the low-90s with decent regularity and has touched 94 MPH in a showcase setting. The fastball shape seems to blend into a sinker type of shape, so he may wind up embracing that as his primary fastball, if he hasn't already. The slider is a solid secondary offering with average spin rates in the 2300 RPM range, and a pretty stock slider shape. The changeup seems to be the secondary with the most potential, as he will get up to 22 inches of run on it at times, with close to 0 inches of induced vertical break as well. It has the potential to be a plus offering down the line. His Wichita State commitment is another tough one to gauge. The odds are the Brewers won't be able to sign all of these prep players in this range, but Smith is another who feels attainable. Round 19, Pick 581: LHP Sam George -- Minnesota State Mankato (D2) -- Iowa Transfer Commit George is another Poulson area pick, and another interesting one. This is a left-handed arm that has seen a lot of success at the Division II level for Mankato. This most recent season, he posted a 3.80 ERA in 64 innings, and that was coming off a sophomore season in which he posted a 2.97 ERA in 60 2/3 innings. George starts in a very closed stance and falls off to the third base side a bit on his finish. He threw a ton of strikes at Mankato, only walking 48 in 165 innings. He mixes both a four-seam and a sinker in the low-90s, touching 94 MPH. His best secondary is his slider, which he spins well and can command to both sides of the plate. He will also mix a changeup in, which he lacks the same feel for, but shows some interesting signs at times. He is committed to transferring to Iowa, but feels like another name that could very well wind up signing. Round 20, Pick 611: 1B Carsten Sabathia III -- Houston Yes, this is CC's son. No, he is not a pitcher. Yes, this is a very cool pick. The Brewers will now have the sons of CC Sabathia and Prince Fielder in their organization. Carsten is a first baseman who started his career at Georgia Tech and finished it at Houston. He possesses quite a bit of raw power, with the hit tool lagging behind. He was not a regular for Houston this season, but in 107 plate appearances, he posted a slash line of .283/.374/.511 for an .885 OPS, and also hit six home runs. He also participated in the MLB Draft League, where he didn't perform great in 43 plate appearances, but he did pop close to a 111 MPH exit velocity in a game this year. Whether it works out or not, the Sabathia family will be back in the organization for the first time since that magical 2008, and that is very cool for Brewers fans. That concludes the 2026 MLB Draft. Thanks for following along all day or catching up later on. Non-drafted Free Agents are next over the next few weeks, because the fun never really stops! View full article