Seth Stohs

Relievers never get the credit they deserve, especially in the minor leagues... Even in the big leagues, if it's not the closer, the only time you hear their names is if they mess up.

Since Jackson Chourio arrived on the scene a couple of years ago, he's not only been the Brewers top prospect but also been a top three prospect globally. However, the outfielder has graduated from "prospect" status. So who is the new #1 prospect for the Brewers? Image courtesy of Lin Marijnissen Over the past couple of weeks, we have had open prospect voting for Brewer Fanatic writers and for the community. The results of the rankings have now been updated on the site. Here is a brief summary. There are certainly some quality candidates to take over at #1. Would the very young, very talented catcher at Triple-A who is out for the year move up a spot? Would the flamethrower that no one can hit at Double-A jump into that top spot? Could the Canadian hitter who made his debut this year, or the southpaw who debuted just last week with a fantastic outing jump into the spot? The Brewers have a strong system even after the graduations. The last time that we had a vote for Brewer Fanatics Top 20 Prospect rankings was in February. In many cases, there was minimal change from the end of the 2023 season. Players acquired or lost in a trade can create change. Maybe a solid prospect does something remarkable in the Winter Leagues. Or maybe a report comes out about a pitcher at Instructional League suddenly hitting 99 mph rather than 95. Or an injured player works his way back. With the mid-May voting, we now have six or seven weeks of 2024 performances by hitters and pitchers. Some players get off to fast starts. Others start out slow. There are injuries and promotions. In other words, we all have more data points for helping us better rank those players. You can find all kinds of stats online, which is great. But you can also watch games online and see the players or attend games at minor-league parks. With that, we did have the Brewer Fanatic writers rank their top 20 prospects first, and then we opened it up to the community rankings. We truly thank you for taking time to rank prospects. Because there was such a huge community turnout, the community rankings take on a higher weight. Those rankings were used in conjunction with the writers vote in a formula to give us the updated rankings you can see today. Let’s get to some of the interesting things we find within the updated rankings. GRADUATIONS: Jackson Chourio, DL Hall, Joey Ortiz. All three of these guys have easily surpassed the limits to still be called a “prospect.” I think it’s fair to say that there is reason to be excited about each of them. Chourio has had his struggles, but he’s also had some great moments. Hall has spent time on the IL, but the southpaw has potential to stick as a starter. Ortiz has played a lot more of late and come up with some big hits and even shown some power. BIGGEST RISERS: Mike Boeve, Brett Wichrowski Mike Boeve had a nice pro debut last summer after he was the Brewers second-round pick in the draft out of Nebraska-Omaha. He began this season with the Timber Rattlers, but when he was hitting .553 with a 1.273 OPS after 13 games, he forced his way up to Double-A. He is hitting .311 with an OPS of .818 in 26 games with the Shuckers. He jumped from #15 to #8. Of players who entered the season Not Ranked, right-hander Brett Wichrowski. One year ago, he was finishing up his time at Bryant University in Rhode Island. The Brewers took him in the 13th round and he didn’t pitch in 2023. He started at High-A Wisconsin and posted a 2.45 ERA in four starts. He has now made three starts at Biloxi. In 27 2/3 combined innings, he has 32 strikeouts to go with nine walks. He also has a fastball that touches 98 mph and a really good slider. BIGGEST DROPS: Maybe it’s because of the three players who graduated, but this prospect ranking shows only two players who rank lower than they did in the preseason rankings, Jeferson Quero and Eric Bitonti. Quero dropped from #2 to #3 after getting hurt on Opening Day. He had shoulder surgery and will miss the full season. Bitonti was the Brewers third round pick in 2023 out of high school. He has not yet debuted in Carolina. However, in 12 games, he is hitting .300/.407/.620 (1.027) with two doubles, a triple and four home runs. A promotion should be coming soon. THE NEXT FIVE: Gregory Barrios (#21), Tyler Woessner (#22), Bishop Letson (#23), Dylan O’Rae (#24), Ryan Birchard (#25). As you would expect, the group that just missed the top 20 is a very young but very talented group of players. Tyler Woessner is the “old” guy of the group, and he’s just 24, and he’s already at Triple-A after being drafted less than two years ago. Barrios is just 20 years old. Not only is he already in High-A Wisconsin, but he’s hitting over .300 and showing improved doubles power while playing strong defense at shortstop. O’Rae is also 20. He was the team’s third-round pick in 2022 out of secondary school in Canada. A spark plug in the lineup, he is getting on base at about 40% in Wisconsin. And, he’s got 20 stolen bases in 40 games. 19-year-old Letson was the Brewers 11th round pick a year ago out of high school in Indiana. At 6-4 and just 180 pounds, he looks the part of a future starting pitcher. Long, and lanky, already a good fastball with potentially more to come as he matures and gains strength. He has pitched 16 innings this season for Low-A Carolina over five games. He has 23 strikeouts but also 10 walks. Another 2023 draft pick, Birchard made one appearance this year for Carolina. He has been on the IL since with an oblique injury. Will some of these players jump into the Top 20 when we re-rank the players around the draft? Updated Brewer Fanatic Top 20 Brewers Prospects Here is the list with links to their prospect page which includes links to Brewer Fanatic articles or videos that they have been tagged in. #1 - RHP Jacob Misiorowski (Biloxi) #2 - 1B/3B Tyler Black (Nashville) #3 - C Jeferson Quero (Nashville) #4 - LHP Robert Gasser (Milwaukee) #5 - 3B Brock Wilken (Biloxi) #6 - RHP Carlos F. Rodriguez (Nashville) #7 - OF Luis Lara (Wisconsin) #8 - 3B Mike Boeve (Biloxi) #9 - SS Cooper Pratt (Carolina) #10 - OF Yophery Rodriguez (Carolina) #11 - RHP Josh Knoth (Carolina) #12 - SS Eric Brown Jr (Biloxi) #13 - RHP Brett Wichrowski (Biloxi) #14 - RHP Logan Henderson (Carolina) #15 - 3B Luke Adams (Wisconsin) #16 - RHP Bradley Blalock (Milwaukee) #17 - IF Juan Baez (Carolina) #18 - SS Eric Bitonti (ACL Brewers) #19 - 1B Wes Clarke (Nashville) #20 - SS Daniel Guilarte (Carolina) BIG QUESTIONS: Three players graduated from this ranking in the season’s first six or seven weeks. Tyler Black and Robert Gasser have spent some time in the big leagues as well. Black is back at Nashville, and Gasser has been quite solid in his two big-league starts and earned more. Do you think that Black or Gasser, or both, will graduate during the 2024 season? Just as important, which other prospects in the Top 20 do you think will be called up at some point during the season and hopefully get some opportunities to help a winning club in a pennant race? Bradley Blalock was called up recently and is yet to get into a game. What kind of role could he have? Can Misiorowski gain enough command to move up as a starter, or could they have him spend September in the big-league bullpen? Is this the season that Carlos F. Rodriguez makes his MLB debut? Could “The Other” Carlos Rodriguez move up from Biloxi and get an opportunity? Could Mike Boeve play at four levels this season, including the big leagues? Wes Clarke continues to rake. Could he get plate appearances down the stretch? 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Thank you so much to all of you who voted. Incredibly impressed by the tremendous turnout this round. We'll be taking this information and applying it to the prospect list in the coming days. Keep an eye out for it! The ranking you see below is from the Community. It will be consolidated with the votes of the Brewer Fanatic minor league writers that voted for the official rankings that you'll see on the Prospect List. Ranked Prospects Jacob Misiorowski Jeferson Quero Tyler Black Brock Wilken Robert Gasser Carlos F Rodriguez Mike Boeve Cooper Pratt Luis Lara Yophery Rodriguez Josh Knoth Eric Brown Jr Logan Henderson Bradley Blalock Luke Adams Eric Bitonti Juan Baez Brett Wichrowski Tyler Woessner Daniel Guilarte

I assume that Blalock's time in the big leagues will be short, maybe just the Marlins series, or a spot start, but then I assume he'll go to Nashville (instead of back to Biloxi).

It was just announced that Bradley Blalock was being called up to the Brewers... Maybe a quick stay.

We wanted to know more about the Brewers prospects in Double-A Biloxi, so we went to the guy who follows then and talks about them every day. Image courtesy of © Allan Henry-USA TODAY Sports Javik Blake is really young, but he’s already had some great experiences in his brief sports broadcasting career. This is his second season as the voice of the Biloxi Shuckers, the Brewers Double-A affiliate. A quick note before you get started. This interview was conducted on Friday early afternoon, before the final four games of the series. We would love it if you could watch the entire interview, but if you have to split it up, the below will help you find out more about specific players. 1:44: What does his day-to-day look like, but also how does a rain-out and doubleheaders work? 5:00: What is your background? College, previous positions? 7:45: What would you tell 14-year-old you, or a teenager who reached out to you with interest in working in sports, or specifically? 10:40: The Shuckers have back-to-back six-game home series. We discuss what some of the promotions they have at the ballpark and a few players who will be coming to town. 1:00: Wes Clarke came back and mashed briefly before moving up. 14:10: Brock Wilken returns after being hit by a pitch in mid-April. 16:00: Mike Boeve was promoted to Double-A and continued to absolutely rake. 19:00: Eric Brown’s numbers don’t look great, but he’s been hitting the ball really hard and he’s playing great defense at shortstop. ‘ 22:00: Which Double-A hitter should be talked about more? 24:20: Bradley Blalock has been really good. 26:00: We talk about Jacob Misiorowski. What does he do really well? Incredible numbers to back the fact that opponents just don’t get hits off of him. 29:10: Left-hander Nate Peterson. 31:00: TJ Shook was signed by the Brewers as a non-drafted free agent after the Covid-shortened 2020 draft. See how his changeup has become a serious weapon for him. 32:30: Tyler Woessner was great in Biloxi and quickly moved up to Nashville and continued to pitch well. “80 grade mustache and a lot of strikeouts.” 33:40: Brett Wichrowski has flown up the organization since being drafted last year on Day 3. A fastball at 98 certainly helps. However, his seventh pro start was on Friday, at Double-A. 35:45: The Shane Smith story is great. He took a chance on himself, and he’s been fantastic. Now, he’s getting a chance in a new opportunity. Sam Carlson was drafted out of high school in Minnesota in 2017. He’s been hurt, but he’s been incredible this year, and he throws hard. Please feel free to discuss the players mentioned in the interview. Hopefully you will be able to watch the full interview at some point, or at least most of it. There really are a lot of discussion topics. Along with talking about View full article

Recently, Seth chatted with the voice of the Biloxi Shuckers. Javik Blake is in his second year in that role and has a very interesting team to cover this year. We talked about his background and what he done to prepare himself for this job. The Shuckers will be home the next two weeks. Wes Clarke returned from the IL, raked and has continued to do so in Triple-A. Brock Wilken returned to the Shuckers about a month after being hit by a pitch in the face. Fellow 2023 pick Mike Boeve has continued to crush the ball since joining the Double-A squad. Eric Brown's numbers don't really reflect the type of contact he is making. On the pitching side, you'll want to hear his thoughts on Jacob Misiorowski and his nearly unhittable stuff. There are other intriguing starters in the Shuckers rotation. Bradley Blalock has been very good to start this season. Nate Peterson has been very good and gives them a left-hander. TJ Shook continues to do well. Tyler Woessner was really good and quickly moved up to Nashville. And Brett Wichrowski has been nothing short of remarkable. The Day 3 draft pick in 2023 has flown through the system to Double-A with a huge fastball. A new role for Shane Smith? And minor-league free agent signing Sam Carlson has been tremendous! View full video

Chris Mehring has been the radio voice of the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers since 2000. We caught up with him recently to discuss his job, but also to discuss the Midwest League West Division's leading team and some of its players. Image courtesy of Dan Powers/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin / USA TODAY NETWORK If you live anywhere in Wisconsin and have the chance to get to the Appleton/Grand Chute area, be sure to schedule a few days to watch a few Wisconsin Timber Rattlers games this year. The team is currently in first place, but more important, some really exciting and intriguing prospects are being developed on this roster. They have some very exciting pitching prospects, capable of missing bats and they have some young hitters who are capable of putting up some numbers and filling out a stat sheet. Today, we discuss several of those prospects with someone who has watched a lot of Timber Rattler baseball games over the past 24-25 years. Chris Mehring is the long-time radio voice and media relations director of the Rattlers. It's a lot of fun to pick his brain on this exciting team. Be sure to watch the entire video, but if you need to break it up, below is a checklist of sorts of the various topics that we covered. 1:00: Chris Mehring's background with the Timber Rattlers 2:30: Recommendations from Chris on going into a career in sports broadcastings. 4:45: What is a typical day for him as Director of Media Relations and Radio Voice? (and some unique situations!) 7:27: How things have changed since 2021 when MLB took over the minor leagues and re-aligned teams. 8:50: Were you expecting this year's team to be pretty good? 11:00: Success of the Timber Rattlers starting rotation. Good information on Alexander Cornielle, Edwin Jimenez, Patricio Aquino, Mark Manfredi, and Will Rudy. 14:00: What does Craig Yoho need to do to be promoted? 16:15: There are some young, very talented hitters on the roster including Dylan O'Rae, Gregory Barrios, Luke Adams, Luis Lara and more. data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAPABAP///wAAACH5BAEKAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAICRAEAOw== 18:15: What is it like, getting to know all of these players and then watching them climb the organizational ladder, sometimes all the way to the big leagues? Mehring specifically mentioned Brice Turang, Joey Wiemer, Freddy Peralta, and Luke Barker. 22:00: Get out to the ballpark. A lot has been done to the stadium to make it a great place for fans of all ages. This week, they host Beloit, so get to a game or two if you are able. The hope is that we will be able to catch up with Chris Mehring every couple of weeks, and maybe sprinkle in some player interviews as well. Please discuss this interview in the comments below, but also let us know what you think and who else you might want to hear from. View full article

Chris Mehring is the Media Relations Director and Radio Voice of the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers. Wisconsin finds themselves two games in front of the rest of the Midwest League West Division. We spent a little time getting to know Chris and the typical day in his in-season life. Then we talked about the team, especially some of the pitchers who have done a nice job so far this season. How have youngsters like Alexander Cornielle, Edwin Jimenez and Patricio Aquino done, and which starter has been most impressive to him. What does Craig Yoho need to do to move up? How have the really young hitters been performing? Gregory Barrios and Dylan O'Rae have both been very good. View full video

Long-time Brewers prospect Monte Harrison has hung up his baseball spikes and is heading back to school. Harrison has reportedly committed to playing football for the University of Arkansas. Image courtesy of Jason Getz, USA Today Richard Davenport (ARRecruitingGuy on X/Twitter) of Whole Hog Sports is reporting that former Brewers draft pick Monte Harrison has committed to playing football for the Arkansas Razorbacks starting this fall. Harrison was a tremendous athlete at Lee's Summit West High School in Lee's Summit, Missouri. On the gridiron, he has all kinds of options. He was deemed a four-star wide receiver recruit and committed to playing at the University of Nebraska starting in the fall of 2014. He also intended to play baseball for Darin Erstad and the Huskers. Did you know that former big-leaguer Carl Crawford had signed to play quarterback at Nebraska out of high school, but he became a first-round pick and had a fairly long and lucrative career in the big leagues for the Tampa Bay Rays and Los Angeles Dodgers. However, in June of 2014, the Milwaukee Brewers used their second-round draft pick to select the talented outfielder. The Brewers offered Harrison $1.8 million dollars (about $700,000 over slot value) to sign and turn to baseball full time. Instead of heading to summer school, the Brewers brought Harrison to Arizona where he spent his first pro season. For the Arizona League Brewers, he hit .261/.402/.339 (.741) with seven doubles, two triples, a homer and 20 RBI. A speedster, he had 32 steals in 34 attempts. The Brewers challenged him in 2015, sending him to Low-A Wisconsin to start the season. In 46 games, he hit .148/.246/.247 (.493) with six doubles, two triples and two homers. When the rookie leagues started, Harrison was sent to Helena to play in the Advanced Rookie Pioneer League. In 28 games there, he hit .299/.410/.474 (.885) with four doubles, two triples and three home runs. He also had 14 stolen bases in 16 attempts. It was back to Wisconsin in 2016. In 75 games, he hit .221/.294/.337 (.631) with 11 doubles and six home runs. He was 8-for-11 in stolen base opportunities. In 323 plate appearances, he had just 24 walks and struck out 101 times. So, in 2017, it was back to Appleton where he started showing more of his talent and promise. In 63 games, he hit .265/.359/.475 (.834) with 12 doubles and 11 triples. He also was 11-for-14 in steal attempts. He was promoted to Carolina. He ended the season with 59 games for the Mudcats. he hit .278/.341/.487/.828) with 16 doubles and 10 homers. He was also 16-for-17 on the bases. Combined, that's an .832 OPS with 28 doubles, 21 homers and 27 stolen bases. He ended that season with 13 games in the Arizona Fall league where he hit .283 with two doubles and five home runs. He had certainly become a prospect to watch. However, that offseason, the Brewers were able to acquire Christian Yelich from the Marlins. Harrison was included in a package with OF Lewis Brinson, IF Isan Diaz and RHP Jordan Yamamoto sent to the Marlins. After continuing to rise through the Marlins system, Harrison was promoted to the big-league club and made his debut in August of 2020, during the Covid-shortened season. He was just five days shy of his 25th birthday. In 32 games, he received just 51 plate appearances. He hit .170/.235/.255 (.491) with a double and a homer. he was six-for-six in stolen base attempts. The issue was his plate discipline. In those 51 plate appearances, he had just four walks and 26 strikeouts. In 2021, he went 2-for-10 with a double over nine games. Before the 2022 season, he was released by the Marlins. He signed with the Angels in April. He played in nine games in 2022 and went 2-for-11 with a home run. He was released at the end of the season. The Brewers brought him back in 2023. He played in 88 games in Nashville where he hit .208/.277/.316 (.593) with 12 doubles, a triple, and five home runs. He also had 18 steals. However, he had 123 strikeouts in 296 plate appearances (41.5%). With no job offers in baseball in 2024, Harrison made the decision to commit to the Razorbacks. He never used any college eligibility, so he cold play four years if he wants to. As a senior in high school - a decade ago - he had 60 catches for 1,007 yards and 13 touchdowns. He also has 12 rushing touchdowns and threw a touchdown pass as well. Congratulations to Mr. Harrison and best wishes in his football career. View full article

I'm always in awe of @Smichaelis9's minor league reports and knowledge. Obviously his pitching knowledge is beyond like 99% of us, but he's able to transfer those thoughts into words to make it understandable. GREAT JOB, Spencer!

Uggh! I hate injuries to prospects. Have they given any timelines for return on Wilken or Pratt? We know Quero's out for the year.

I'd keep Mitchell over Megill... and Turang too, unless they plan for him to be the SS after Adames leaves.

Gradually, we have been discussing and ranking the Top 20 Brewers player assets in the organization heading into 2024. Today, the players chosen as the Top 5 Most Valuable Assets are discussed. With Thursday night's trades, we may need to adjust the list when we summarize, but it's been fun digging into these players numbers, contracts, years of team control, etc. Hopefully you have enjoyed the series and can discuss our rankings in the Comments. And, what would be great is for you to come up with your Top 20 (or even Top 10) rankings. Image courtesy of © Michael McLoone-USA TODAY Sports For a more thorough explanation on these rankings and how they are developed, check out Sunday's Part 1 introduction post. The short version: Which players currently in the Brewers organization are most crucial toward developing a championship-caliber team? To rank the Brewers players and prospects, we consider things like age, contract status, years of control, ceiling/potential, and more. To catch you up, here are the first three installment of this year's top 20 player assets lists. If you missed either of the first two parts, you can click into Part 1 (16-20), Part 2 (11-15), and Part 3 (6-10): 20. Brice Turang, 2B 19. Luis Lara, OF 18. Wade Miley, LHP 17. Garrett Mitchell, OF 16. Brock Wilken, 3B 15. Joey Wiemer, OF 14. Jeferson Quero , C 13. Carlos F. Rodriguez, RHP 12. Robert Gasser, LHP 11. Abner Uribe, RH RP 10. Jacob Misiorowski, RHP 9. Christian Yelich, OF 8. Tyler Black, IF 7. Willy Adames, SS 6. Devin Williams, RH RP With that reminder, let’s see who we have ranked as the Top 5 Most Valuable Player Assets in Milwaukee Brewers history: 5. RHP Corbin Burnes (30) I guess I should have posted this a couple of days sooner, but we knew all along that it was highly likely that the Brewers would trade the former All-Star. And the reason that I had him ranked this far down really came to fruition. Burnes had just one more year left before he can become a free agent. In the arbitration process, he was set to make over $15 million. So, we found that his value to the organization was two prospects at the backend of many Top 100 lists, and potentially a Competitive Balance pick. Initially when creating this ranking, I thought I should have Corbin Burnes ranked lower, but now it appears this was about right. The front office was able to turn Burnes into two prospects with six years of team control each. The other option, of course, was to play out the season with Burnes and then offer him the Qualifying Offer at season’s end. He would turn that down and the Brewers would get a draft pick after the first round. That is, if Burnes stayed healthy. 4. OF Sal Frelick (23) Sal Frelick was the first-round pick of the Brewers in 2021 out of Boston College. He was the 15th overall pick. In his first full season of pro ball (2022), he started at High-A Wisconsin and ended the year at Triple-A Nashville. That’s where he began the 2023 season, but a thumb injury cost him a couple of months early. He returned to the Nashville lineup and in mid-July, he was called up to the Brewers. If first impressions are important, Frelick’s debut was one of the best MLB debuts by any player in Brewers history. Overall, he hit .246/.341/.351 (.692) with nine doubles and three homers. Certainly not the difference-making level of play that many hoped, but there’s no reason to believe that he can’t be a solid all-around player for the Brewers for years to come. A consensus Top 50 global prospect coming into the season, he got his feet wet in 2023. Frelick will be under team control for six more seasons, at least. 3. RHP Freddy Peralta (27) No Burnes. No Brandon Woodruff. The remaining of the Brewers’ Big Three starters is Freddy Peralta. It seems as though he has been around forever, and I guess 2018 is a long time ago. In parts of six seasons in the big leagues, he is 42-27 with a 3.83 ERA. He also has 749 strikeouts in 580 2/3 innings (11.6 K/9). Peralta was an All Star in 2021. That season, he went 10-5 with a 2.81 ERA. He had 195 strikeouts in 144 1/3 innings (12.2 K/9). He was limited to 17 starts and 78 innings after some arm issues early that season. Those concerns should be alleviated because he made 30 starts in 2023. He posted a 3.86 ERA, and in 165 2/3 innings, he had 210 strikeouts (11.4 K/9). Before the 2020 season, Peralta signed a five-year, $15.5 million that included two option seasons which keep him under team control through the 2026 season. He is owed $5.5 million for the 2024 season. After the season, the front office will need to decide whether to pay Peralta $8 million in 2025 or pay him a $1.5 million buyout. Seems like an incredibly easy decision as long as Peralta stays healthy. Then after the 2026 season, the Brewers will have the option of paying Peralta $8 million. There is no buyout. But again, the Brewers essentially have Peralta signed for three years and $21.5 million. For how well he has pitched, those decisions would seem easy. And, frankly, if the Brewers want to be competitive the next couple of seasons, Peralta will be a big part of that. 2. C William Contreras (26) The Brewers were the beneficiary of one of the strangest trades in recent history. The Brewers received Contreras and minor-league reliever Justin Yeager from Atlanta, and reliever Joel Payamps came to Milwaukee from the A’s. What did it cost the Brewers? They sent outfielder Esteury Ruiz to the A’s. Sure, Ruiz led the American League in Stolen Bases. Contreras had been an All Star in 2022 with the Braves. He had posted an OPS of .860 and drilled 20 home runs in 97 games. In 2023, Craig Counsell put him in the lineup as the catcher 108 times and 33 times as the DH. He responded by hitting .289/.367/.457 (.825) with 38 doubles and 17 home runs. He will spend the entire 2024 season at age 26. It will be his final pre-arbitration season. He will then have three years of arbitration. It can be so difficult to find catchers that can hit. While Contreras isn’t a great defensive backstop, he is adequate. However, if in the relatively near future, Jeferson Quero is deemed ready, he can cover more of the innings behind the plate with Contreras getting more at bats as the DH. While that might drop him a few spots down this list as his salary increases, he still will provide the team with value. The big question is, at what point will Willson Contreras be known as William’s older brother instead of vice versa. 1. OF Jackson Chourio (19) Jackson Holliday is currently the consensus top prospect in baseball, but Jackson Chourio typically ranks second. The 19-year-old from Venezuela signed on January 15, 2021, for $1.9 million. He spent that summer in the Dominican Summer League. In 2022, he came to the States and just a week into the season, he was promoted to Low-A Carolina. He crushed the ball for 62 games and earned a promotion to High-A Wisconsin. In 31 games, he posted an .805 OPS. He ended the season with six games at Double-A. That’s where he began the 2023 season. After a slow start, he hit .280/.336/.467 (.805) with 23 doubles, 22 home runs and 89 RBI. In addition, he went 43-for-52 in stolen base attempts. He ended the season with six games at Triple-A Nashville. After the season, he played in 17 games in the Venezuelan Winter League. He hit .379/.453/.530 (.984) with five doubles, a triple, and a home run. Chourio has all of the tools. He should hit and get on base. He has immense power. Signed as a shortstop, Chourio has primarily played center field as a professional. He has great range due to great speed, and he’s got a very strong arm. And, I think that we can assume that Chourio is blessed with several of the intangibles that made the organization comfortable enough to hand out an eight-year, $82 million contract to someone who won’t turn 20 until mid-March. The contract includes a $2 million signing bonus and runs through the 2031 season. It also includes a club option for 2032 for $25 million with a $2 million buyout. If that is accepted, then the club will have a $25 million option for the 2033 season with a $2 million buyout. With a couple of awards and escalators and incentives, the deal could be worth as much as $142.5 million over 10 years. Unfortunately, the contract puts a lot of extra pressure on Chourio to succeed. It is a long-term commitment to a young player. But he is the kind of player who has the potential to be a Hall of Famer, and to bring championships to the city. And that’s what this series and these player rankings are all about. Which players provide the most value toward achieving a championship. Is there any question that the player is Jackson Chourio? Thank you for taking time to read all four parts of this series. Here are the full rankings. They do still include Corbin Burnes, so discuss how this list is altered with news of Thursday night’s trade. Do either Joey Ortiz or DL Hall fit into the Top 20? Do they have to produce because they were the players acquired for the All-Star starter. Please discuss in the Comments. To recap, here is the complete list of this year's top 20 Brewers player assets lists. (Click the links to find more Brewer Fanatic content on each of these players.) 20. Brice Turang, 2B 19. Luis Lara, OF 18. Wade Miley, LHP 17. Garrett Mitchell, OF 16. Brock Wilken, 3B 15. Joey Wiemer, OF 14. Jeferson Quero, C 13. Carlos F. Rodriguez, RHP 12. Robert Gasser, LHP 11. Abner Uribe, RH RP 10. Jacob Misiorowski, RHP 9. Christian Yelich, OF 8. Tyler Black, 3B/2B 7. Willy Adames, SS 6. Devin Williams, RH RP 5. Corbin Burnes, RHP 4. Sal Frelick, OF 3. Freddy Peralta, RHP 2. William Contreras, C 1. Jackson Chourio, OF View full article

The Milwaukee Brewers and their minor league affiliates announced their 2024 coaching and player development staff on Thursday. There are some new names, but the managers at the four levels will remain the same. Player Development is so important to any and all organizations, but it’s especially strong for a mid-market team like the Brewers. We have seen that with the Brewers. A quick look around the diamond and you can see how many homegrown players are important pieces of the roster. It's important to hire well, but then work with and train your employees in a way that helps them become the best version of themselves, whatever that might mean. The Brewers minor league affiliates announced their coaching staff Thursday and later the Brewers announced their entire player development staff in a press release. Here are the 2024 Twins Minor League Coaching Staffs. Nashville Sounds Manager Rick Sweet returns for his fifth season at the helm of the Sounds. The 71-year-old became the all-time winningest manager in Sounds history. This will be his 11th season in the Brewers organization and his 34th season as a coach in minor league baseball. That came after a nine-year playing career that included a little big-league time with the Padres, Mets, and Mariners. Sweet’s bench coach will be David Tufo, and Ned Yost IV will serve as a coach. Tufo is 37 and joined the Brewers organization in 2020. He managed the Arizona Complex League team for a couple of seasons. Last year, he was the bench coach at Wisconsin. Yost is 41 and this will be his fourth season with the Sounds and 17th season in the Brewers organization. Sweet will be joined in the dugout by two hitting coaches, Al LeBoeuf and Eric Theisen. The 63-year-old LeBoeuf is back for his fourth straight season in this role. This marks his 37th season as a coach in professional baseball. Theisen is a youngster at just 39 years old. He is in his fourth season with the Brewers organization but his first as a hitting coach in Nashville. In addition, he is also the assistant hitting coordinator, a role he’s held the past two years. Jeremy Accardo will serve as the team’s pitching coach. The 42-year-old is back for his third straight season with the Sounds. You may remember him as a big-league pitcher. He spent parts of eight seasons in the big leagues, spending time with the Giants, Blue Jays, Orioles, Cleveland team that currently goes by Guardians, and the Oakland A’s. Patrick McGuff is the youngster of the coaching staff. The 29-year-old returns for his second season in this role for Nashville and third in the organization. He was the Twins 36th round pick in the 2016 draft. Biloxi Shuckers The Shuckers will be managed by Joe Ayrault. He has been a coach in the organization for 16 seasons including 13 at High-A. He was the Wisconsin manager the past two seasons. He played in seven games for the Braves in 1996. He went 1-for-5, a single off of lefty Chris Hammond. Ayrault’s bench coach will be Fidel Pena. He has been the manager in the Dominican Summer League the past four seasons. It’s his eighth season in the organization and first at Double-A. Will Schierholz will be the Shuckers’ pitching coach with Paul Moeller working as the bullpen coach. This is Schierholz’s second season with the Shuckers and third year in the organization. Moeller joined the Shuckers coaching staff midway through the 2023 season. Before that, he had been in the Arizona Complex League. He’s also coached in the Dominican. JJ Reimer is the team’s hitting coach. He was coaching in Carolina a year ago and then had the opportunity to coach in the Arizona Fall League. Finally, Danny Larson will be the team’s Development Coach. This is Larson’s first season in the Brewers organization but also his first season in professional baseball. He was the hitting coach at Iowa Central Community College last spring. Wisconsin Timber Rattlers Victor Estevez will take over as the manager of the Rattlers after leading the Carolina Mudcats last year. He will likely work with many of the same players. He has held a number of roles with the organization over his dozen seasons. Ken Joyce returns for his second season as the team’s hitting coach. It is his third season in the Brewers organization, but he is a baseball lifer. He has been coaching for a variety of organizations since 1994. Josh Spence took over as the Rattlers’ pitching coach last June. The Australian spent a little time with the Padres as a player. He pitched for Brewers manager Pat Murphy at Arizona State. He started his coaching career in 2016 and joined the Brewers in 2022. Andre Ruche and Eric Bunnell are new to the Brewers organization. They have both been assigned the role of “development coach” for Wisconsin. Bunnell joins the Brewers organization from the college ranks where he had coached for 19 seasons. He came directly from Youngstown State. Ruche joins the Brewers organization from Driveline. Carolina Mudcats 36-year-old Nick Stanley is in his seventh season in the Brewers organization, but 2024 will be his first season as a manager. He was the bench coach at Biloxi in 2023 and a hitting coach for two years with Wisconsin. The pitching coach will be Michael O’Neal. He held the same role in 2023. This is his fifth season in the organization, but he had been coaching for several years before that in multiple independent leagues. The hitting coach will be Austin Turner. The 28-year-old is in his first season with the Mudcats. For two years before that, he coached in the Dominican Summer League. He came to the Brewers after a year in the indy leagues. Before that, he had some roles in small colleges after his own playing days. Liu Rodriguez and Marcelo Alfonsin are also coaches for the Mudcats. Rodriguez is 47 and had several roles in the organization including coaching at Nashville and for Wisconsin. He had a long playing career that included 39 games in the big leagues with the White Sox. He continued to play in Mexico and Venezuela and in independent leagues. Alfonsin’s background is in pitching. He joins the Brewers organization this year from the Astros where he coached in the DSL the past couple of seasons. Arizona Complex The Brewers will have one team in the Arizona Complex League (ACL) this year Rafael Neda will be the Manager. Blake Nation and Jesus Hernandez will be the team’s pitching coaches. Luisa Gauci and Evan Berliner are the two hitting coaches. (Read more about Gauci here) Ricky Carvajal will be the development coach. DSL/Dominican Complex The Brewers will again have two teams in the Dominican Summer League. Brewers 1 will be managed by Victor Rey. Jorge Ortega is the pitching coach with Joan Abreu as the hitting coach. Robinzon Diaz is listed as just a “Coach,,” but the former catcher will work with the backstops and hitters. Aritz Garcia Goni is the Development Coach. Natanael Mejia will be the manager of Brewers 2. The hitting coach is Jose Garcia. Carlos Pimentel is the team’s pitching coach. The “coach” for the team is Jose Pena. Player Development Staff Tom Flanagan: VP of Player Operations and Baseball Administration Cam Castro: VP, Player Development Carlos Villanueva: Special Assistant to GM/Baseball Ops/Player Development Spencer Allen: Director - Player Development Mark Mueller: Sr. Manager - Baseball Administration Adela Marquez: Manager - Education Manuel Vargas: Director - Latin America Operations Juan De Leon: Coordinator - Latin America Operations August Fagerstrom: Director - Player Information Ben Harris: Sr. Coordinator - Player Information Zack Sorensen: Sr. Coordinator - Player Personnel Matt Ducondi: Coordinator - Player Information Pedro Alvarez: Special Assistant - Mental Performance Coordinators Victor Rey: Dominican Republic Field Coordinator Rafael Neda: Assistant Field Coordinator Nick Childs: Pitching Coordinator Bryan Leslie: Lead Strategist - Pitching Development Juan Sandoval: Assistant Pitching Coordinator Brenton Del Chiaro: Hitting Coordinator Eric Theisen: Assistant Hitting Coordinator Dallas Correa: Catching Coordinator Matt Erickson: Infield Coordinator Mike Guerrero: Roving Infield Instructor Josh Lindblom: Assistant - Player Development View full article

Today, we jump into the Top 10 of our Brewers Player Assets rankings heading into the 2024 season. Today's group might be called Dollars and Sense. There are some more veteran players under interesting contracts that may or may not affect their value to the organization in your opinion. And there are a couple of really exciting prospects as well. Click into the article to see which players are among the most vital to the team's future fortunes. Image courtesy of Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports (Yelich), Jovanny Hernandez / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK (Adames), Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports (Williams) For a more thorough explanation on these rankings and how they are developed, check out Sunday's Part 1 introduction post. The short version: Which players currently in the Brewers organization are most crucial toward developing a championship-caliber team? To rank the Brewers players and prospects, we consider things like age, contract status, years of control, ceiling/potential, and more. To catch you up, here are the first two installment of this year's top 20 player assets lists. If you missed either of the first two parts, you can click into Part 1 (16-20) and Part 2 (11-15): 20. Brice Turang, 2B 19. Luis Lara, OF 18. Wade Miley, LHP 17. Garrett Mitchell, OF 16. Brock Wilken, 3B 15. Joey Wiemer, OF 14. Jeferson Quero , C 13. Carlos F. Rodriguez, RHP 12. Robert Gasser, LHP 11. Abner Uribe, RH RP With that reminder, let’s see who we have in the sixth through tenth spots: 10. RHP Jacob Misiorowski, RHP Jacob Misiorowski grew up in Blue Springs, Missouri, a small city just east of Kansas City on Highway 70. He became a star at Grain Valley High School. He wanted to mature and grow somewhere close to home, so he headed south down highway 49 to Neosho, Missouri, where he went to Crowder College. He was immediately being recruited by most of the top college baseball programs, hoping to have him join their team for the next two years. Ultimately, Misiorowski committed to LSU. However, plans change. With their second-round pick in the 2022 draft, the Brewers selected the 6-7, lanky righty from the junior college. That summer, he pitched in just two games for Carolina. The Brewers were remarkably patient with Misiorowski early in the season. Obviously they want to protect such a huge arm, but he also has a big-time history of issuing a lot of walks. He made nine starts for Carolina to start the 2023 season and managed just 26 2/3 innings. He gave up just 10 hits, walked 12 and struck out 46 batters. He moved up to High-A Wisconsin where he made six starts and posted a 1.90 ERA. In 23 2/3 innings, he gave up 15 hits, walked 14 and struck out 28 batters. He was then pushed up to Double-A Biloxi for five more starts. In 21 innings, he gave up 17 hits, walked 16 (hit 11!) and struck out 36. Overall, he had a remarkable 110 strikeouts in 71 1/3 innings (13.9%), but he also walked 42 batters (5.3 BB/9). However, from level-to-level, his walk rate jumped from 4.1 to 5.3 to 6.9. Based solely on his arm and his youth and those strikeout numbers, Misiorowski should be much higher on this list. But there remain several questions. First and foremost, can he gain enough control and command of the strike zone to be effective? Can he gain enough strength and stamina to consistently provide five or six innings most times out? That doesn’t have to happen right away, not even in 2024, but probably by 2025. Misiorowski throws gas, frequently hitting triple digits. He’s got a slider and a curveball that can be wipe out pitches with more consistency. If he’s able to develop those things, and a more consistent changeup too, he could eventually be a top-of-rotation starter. If not, he can still be a very valuable and potentially dominant bullpen arm, but even those guys can’t issue a ton of walks. One year from now, there is a chance that Misiorowski sits in the top three on this list, or he could fall 10 or more spots. 9. OF Christian Yelich (32) Christian Yelich joined the Brewers after a massive trade six years ago in a trade that sent four minor-leaguers to the Marlins. In 2018, Yelich hit .326/.402/.598 (1.000) with 35 doubles, seven triples, 36 home runs, 110 RBI, and 22 stolen bases. He made his first All-Star team, won a Silver Slugger, and was named the National League MVP. The next season, he was even better. He hit .329/.429/.671 (1.100) with 29 doubles, three triples, 44 homers, 97 RBI, and 30 stolen bases. He was an All Star, won his third total Silver Slugger and finished second (to Cody Bellinger) in MVP voting. He signed a nine-year, $215 million contract with an option for 2029. Since then, things just have not gone well for Yelich. He had somewhat of a comeback season in 2023. He hit .278/.370/.447 (.818) with 34 doubles, 19 homers, 76 RBI and 28 stolen bases. It was the first time his OPS was over .790 for the first time since 2019. That’s not to say that he’s not valuable. He plays solid defense in left field. He takes a ton of walks. He really no longer is a middle-of-the-lineup hitter, but he can be a good guy at the top of the lineup, setting up those thumpers. He won’t turn 33 until December. And he had some extended stretches of really strong play in 2023. Yelich has five years and $136.5 million remaining on the contract. Yes, there is a no-trade clause, but it’s hard to imagine that the Brewers could get a team to take on that contract, much less get any prospect capital for him. 8. IF Tyler Black (23) Is it just me, or does it seem that there are more and more Canadians in the upper levels of the minor leagues and reaching the big leagues. In 2024, Tyler Black is likely to make his debut with the Brewers, maybe as early as Opening Day. Black grew up in Aurora, Ontario, a city about 49 km north of Toronto. After high school, Black went to Wright State University in Ohio, a small Division I school. In his two non-Covid seasons there, he posted OPS over 1.070. In 2021, the Brewers had the 15th overall pick and selected Sal Frelick out of Boston College. With a Competitive Balance A selection, Milwaukee drafted Tyler Black. He finished that season with 23 games in Low-A Carolina. In 2022, he played 64 games for Wisconsin and hit .281/.406/.424 (.831) with 13 doubles, four triples, and four home runs. He missed half the season with injury, so he was sent to the Arizona Fall League where he got 76 more plate appearances. That brings us to 2023. He began the year with 84 games at Double-A Biloxi. He hit .273/.412/.513 (.925) with 16 doubles, eight triples, and 14 home runs. He ended the season with 39 games at Triple-A Nashville where he hit .310/.428/.514 (.942) with nine doubles, four triples, and four home runs. He filled the stat line! 25 doubles, 12 triples. 18 home runs. He had started to show some power, and many believe there is more potential. Sure, he struck out 100 times (17.9%), but he also walked 88 times (15.8%). A new skill? He had 55 stolen bases in 67 attempts. There are varying reports on his defense. In 2023, he made 97 starts at third base with just 16 at first base. He had a .938 fielding percentage, which isn’t great, but he isn’t a butcher. Black is a Top 5 third base prospect, easily in all Top 100 prospect rankings. He’s got patience and power and speed, so if the defense can be just adequate, he could become a star. He is not on the team’s 40-man roster yet, but he will head to spring training with an opportunity to win a starting job. 7. SS Willy Adames (28) After spending three-plus seasons with the Tampa Bay Rays, Willy Adames was traded to the Brewers in 2021 and then put up the best stretch of his career. Over the final 99 games of that season, he hit .285/.366/.521 (.886) with 26 doubles and 20 home runs and was instrumental in leading the Brewers to the playoffs. His numbers have declined the last two seasons. Still, in 2022, he hit .238/.298/.458 (.756) with 31 doubles, 31 home runs and 98 RBI. 2023 was rough. In 149 games, he hit .217/.310/.407 (.717) with 29 doubles and 24 homers. Adames remains valuable for several reasons. First, even with his disappointing numbers, he provided good power numbers and drove in a lot of runs. Second, he is also a very good defensive shortstop, and he is a leader in the infield and in the clubhouse. His 2024 contract is reasonable enough that most teams would be willing to trade for him before the deadline. That said, earlier in the offseason, there were a lot of Corbin Burnes trade rumors. Have we heard any rumors about the Brewers looking to move Adames? If not, is it because the Brewers hope he gets off to a great start so they can deal him, or is it because they just really want to keep him around and potentially sign him to a long term deal? 6. RH RP Devin Williams (29) Devin Williams, aka The Airbender, has been as dominant as any late-inning reliever going back to 2020 when he won the NL Rookie of the Year award. Looking back at his numbers, he was 4-1 with a 0.33 ERA and a 0.63 WHIP. He also had 53 strikeouts in 27 innings! However, it took a long journey for Williams to become an overnight success. He was the Brewers second-round pick in 2013 out of high school in Hazelwood, Missouri, a northwest suburb of St. Louis. Williams made his first All Star game in 2022, and soon after, Josh Hader was traded. Williams became the team’s closer and kept getting better. He ended the season with a 1.93 ERA. He was an All Star again in 2023 and went 8-3 with 36 saves and a 1.53 ERA. I am sorry for so many numbers, but what Williams has done in parts of five seasons is astonishing. In 219 games, he is 26-10 with 54 saves, an ERA of 1.89 and a WHIP of 1.03. He keeps the ball in the ballpark. Now, how long will he be with the organization? There was some concern earlier in the offseason that maybe he could be traded. He is in his second arbitration and recently signed a one year, $7.25 million contract with an option for 2025. He will make $7 million in 2024. After the season, he has an option for 2025 worth $10.5 million with just a $250,000 buyout. For one of the best relievers in all of baseball, those are very reasonable numbers, and could actually increase his trade value. That’s all for today’s installment of five players. In the coming days, I will return and continue the countdown with our picks for the top five Brewers player assets heading into the 2024 season. For now, let me know what you think of the choices for 6-20. Would you rearrange any of them? Do any of them jump out to you? To recap, here is the first installment of this year's top 20 player assets lists: 20. Brice Turang, 2B 19. Luis Lara, OF 18. Wade Miley, LHP 17. Garrett Mitchell, OF 16. Brock Wilken, 3B 15. Joey Wiemer, OF 14. Jeferson Quero, C 13. Carlos F. Rodriguez, RHP 12. Robert Gasser, LHP 11. Abner Uribe, RH RP 10. Jacob Misiorowski, RHP 9. Christian Yelich, OF 8. Tyler Black, 3B/1B 7. Willy Adames, SS 6. Devin Williams, RH RP View full article