Off season Brewers news

MILWAUKEE -- The Brewers sent two Minor League affiliates to the postseason (the rookie-level Arizona Complex League club and Low-A Carolina), had three league pitchers of the year (Gerson Calzadilla in the ACL, Carlos Rodríguez in the Southern League and Robert Gasser in the International League) and moved up to No. 3 in MLB Pipeline’s farm system rankings, with top prospect Jackson Chourio ranked second in the Top 100.

In other words, it was a good year down on the farm.

Here are six players who stood out.

3 players who forced their way onto the radar this year

3B Luke Adams: The 2022 Draft netted six of MLB Pipeline’s current Top 30 Brewers prospects: First-round pick Eric Brown Jr. (No. 10), second-rounders Jacob Misiorowski (No. 3) and Robert Moore (No. 15), third-rounder Dylan O’Rae (No. 19), fourth-rounder Matthew Wood (No. 23) and 12th-round pick Adams (No. 22), who signed for $282,500 out of Hinsdale Central High School in suburban Chicago. Adams broke out in ‘23 after an aggressive assignment to Single-A Carolina, where he reached base at a .400 clip while hitting 11 home runs and stealing 30 bases in 99 games. He also impressed at third base.

“For a high school draft pick to do what he did at a full-season club was impressive,” Brewers farm director Tom Flanagan said.

RHP Logan Henderson: Five years after the Brewers drafted Corbin Burnes in the fourth round out of St. Mary’s College in California, they drafted Henderson in the fourth round in 2021 out of McLennan Community College in Waco, Tex. Henderson (Brewers No. 18) was a breakout candidate going into ‘22, but an elbow injury that required surgery -- though not Tommy John surgery -- delayed his ascent until 2023, when he spent the full season at Carolina, posted a league-leading 2.75 ERA and 106 strikeouts in 78 2/3 innings. Henderson’s 35.2 percent strikeout rate was fourth-highest across Minor League Baseball for pitchers who logged at least 70 innings (Misiorowski was fifth at 35 percent).

“He’s set up in a really good spot heading into 2024,” Flanagan said in September. “Do you start him at Appleton, maybe [Double-A] Biloxi? Who knows. We’ll see in Spring Training. But he’s in a really good spot the way he’s throwing the ball -- and he’s 100 percent healthy.”

CF Luis Lara: The Brewers’ handling of Chourio shows they aren’t afraid to challenge a top prospect if the player shows he can handle it. That’s been the case with Lara (Brewers No. 8), who signed for $1.1 million in 2002 from Venezuela and made it all the way to High-A Wisconsin as an 18-year-old in 2023. Lara rose to the challenge by posting similar numbers at the higher level, and he finished the year with a .286 average, a .373 on-base percentage and 30 stolen bases in 87 games. He won’t turn 19 until next month.

2 possible breakout players to watch in 2022

CF Yophery Rodríguez: Hailing from the Dominican Republic and regarded for an advanced hitting approach, Rodríguez (Brewers No. 13) earned a $1.5 million bonus last January -- the largest for any player in Milwaukee’s 2023 international signing class. The 17-year-old flashed all the tools in the Dominican Summer League, with an .842 OPS and 12 steals in 52 games. The Brewers plan to bring Rodríguez stateside in 2024 and could push him to Carolina at some point.

INF Juan Baez: “High energy, exciting player that can play some defense and has some pop in the bat,” is how Flanagan described Baez (Brewers No. 24), who reached Carolina as an 18-year-old at the end of this season. Baez has played second base, third and shortstop and it appears he fits best on the middle of the infield.

1 big question for next season

When will Chourio make it to Milwaukee?

It does seem like a matter of “when” instead of “if” at this point, after Chourio followed his breakthrough age-18 season in 2022 with an impressive showing as a 19-year-old at Double-A Biloxi in ‘23, with a late-season cameo at Triple-A Nashville. The benefit of that final week at Milwaukee’s top affiliate was to allow Chourio to learn his way around in advance of a season-opening assignment there in 2024, but he made it worth the time by going 7-for-21 with a trio of hard-hit doubles.

Chourio will need to log at-bats in Nashville next year, and then it will require an opportunity. The Brewers have a crowded outfield picture with Christian Yelich in left on most days -- the Brewers like to spread around DH at-bats among multiple players -- and former top prospects Sal Frelick, Garrett Mitchell and Joey Wiemer now squarely in the Major League mix with Blake Perkins and Tyrone Taylor.

Who are the Brewers' free agents?

C Victor Caratini, 3B Josh Donaldson, 1B Darin Ruf, 1B Carlos Santana, OF Jesse Winker, LHP Eric Lauer and RHP Colin Rea

Will any of them get a qualifying offer?

No. This year’s figure reportedly is $20.5 million, the average of the top 125 salaries in MLB. It’s the first time the qualifying offer has topped $20 million.

What about contract options?

OF Mark Canha ($11.5 million club option, $2 million buyout)

LHP Wade Miley ($10 million mutual option, $1 million buyout)

LHP Andrew Chafin ($7.25 million club option, $750,000 buyout

LHP Justin Wilson ($2.5 million club option, $150,000 buyout)

Canha and Miley are interesting calls -- both productive veterans who brought something important to Milwaukee on and off the field. The Brewers do have an abundance of other outfielders, including their crop of just-graduated prospects like Garrett Mitchell, Sal Frelick and Joey Wiemer. All deserve big league at-bats next year, but Canha could still fit if the Brewers see him as an option at first base.

As for Miley, mutual options are rarely picked up by both sides. But it does happen sometimes -- Aramis Ramirez and the Brewers agreed on a reunion in 2014, for example -- and Miley loves pitching in Milwaukee. The Brewers have a need, with so many question marks in their starting rotation.

Who is arbitration eligible?

Milwaukee’s arbitration-eligible players are pitchers Corbin Burnes, Adrian Houser, Hoby Milner, Joel Payamps, Devin Williams, Bryse Wilson and Brandon Woodruff; infielders Willy Adames, Rowdy Tellez and Abraham Toro and outfielder Tyrone Taylor.

Are any of those players non-tender candidates?

Yes, including some notable names. Woodruff is coming off a $10.8 million salary in 2023 and will miss most or all of ‘24 with a shoulder injury. Because he has only one arbitration year remaining before free agency, that makes him a likely non-tender unless the Brewers and agent Bo McKinnis can work out a multi-year deal that makes sense for both sides.

Burnes ($10.01 million salary last season), Adames ($8.7 million), Tellez ($4.95 million) and Houser ($3.6 million) are all entering their final year of arbitration, making Burnes and Adames potential trade candidates, and Houser and Tellez non-tender candidates if the club thinks it can put those payroll dollars to use elsewhere. Toro won’t cost as much, but he will be out of Minor League options next year.

What's the payroll situation?

Like always, it depends on your accounting method. FanGraphs and Spotrac pegged the Brewers’ end-of-season payroll at $125-$126 million, including deferments and other hidden costs. Both sites had Milwaukee ranked 19th of MLB’s 30 teams in end-of-season payroll. Those calculations reflected a rise from an Opening Day payroll somewhere in the neighborhood of $109 million (Spotrac) to $119 million (USA Today), depending on your source of choice.

That’s probably the range in which the club wants to stay for 2024. At the moment, only three players have set salaries: Christian Yelich ($26 million), Freddy Peralta ($5,734,960) and Aaron Ashby ($1.45 million), but that group will grow as arbitration decisions come down and the Brewers eventually sign their pre-arbitration players. At the moment, FanGraphs estimates Milwaukee’s 2024 payroll at about $109 million, a figure that will change as players come and go.

The bottom line is that the Brewers have left themselves some flexibility to make offseason additions. At the moment, the primary needs appear to be first and third base and perhaps starting pitching, depending on decisions with Miley and Houser and the health of Ashby’s shoulder.

Who needs to be added to the 40-man roster this offseason?

Generally speaking, players who signed with their current club at age 18 or younger and have five years of experience or signed with their current club at age 19 or older and have four years of experience, and are not protected on 40-man rosters, are eligible to be plucked away in December’s Rule 5 Draft. The catch is that the claiming team must keep the player on its Major League roster for the entirety of next year.

With my annual tip of the cap to Jim Goulart of the indispensable Brewer Fanatic forum, there are only three members of MLB Pipeline’s Brewers Top 30 prospects list who would be Rule 5 Draft-eligible if not added to the 40-man (with their Pipeline rank in parentheses):

C Jeferson Quero (No. 2)

RHP Bradley Blalock (No. 17)

INF Freddy Zamora (No. 26)

Quero is one of Milwaukee’s most exciting prospects, a catcher who commands the field and is coming off a season in which he slashed .262/.339/.441 as a 20-year-old at Double-A. He’s a lock to be added to the 40-man roster. The Brewers will have to decide on Blalock, who was acquired from the Red Sox for Luis Urías, since he’s 22 and has yet to pitch north of the High-A level. Likewise with Zamora, Milwaukee’s second-round Draft pick in 2020 who had a nice bounce-back season at Double-A Biloxi in 2023 after missing much of ‘22 with a shoulder injury.

Other notable players who would be Rule 5 eligible include left-hander Adam Seminaris and right-handers Justin Yeager and Joseph Hernandez (three of Milwaukee’s prospects in this year’s Arizona Fall League), plus right-hander Evan McKendry, who was acquired at the Trade Deadline from the Rays. McKendry, 25, was 12-6 with a 4.55 ERA in 142 1/3 innings at the Triple-A level between Tampa Bay and Milwaukee in 2023.