The Milwaukee Brewers suffered through a rough season on the field, but their rebuilding efforts took a big step forward. What can they expect from those prospects in 2017?
An Introduction
Our minor league top 10 series is coordinated by Benjamin Chase, one of our contributors at Call To The Pen.
He has poured over thousands of minor league games over the course of the year via milb.tv along with speaking with a number of team and independent scouts. These lists are based out of those conversations.
Each system will have prospects from 10 to 1, and then finish with one newcomer to the system that is worth keeping an eye on that is not in the top 10 at this time.
Conversations are certainly encouraged in the comments section on each system as we go along!
It’s hard not to like the multi-faceted way the Brewers have approached their rebuild
Brewers System Review
It isn’t all that long ago that the Brewers were coming off of their best run in franchise history. The team had averaged 82 wins per season between 2005 and 2014, and for an organization that suffered for a long time as perennial cellar dwellers in their division, outside of a period in the early- to mid-1980s, that was fun for the team and for fans.
However, when the team fell from leading the division late in the season in 2014 to 3rd place and out of the playoffs, it became clear that the financial structure of the team wasn’t going to allow them to keep that team together, and the Brewers entered a time of rebuilding.
It’s hard not to like the multi-faceted way the Brewers have approached their rebuild. They have scanned over the DFA lists, snapping up players like Garin Cecchini and Rymer Liriano as flyers, trading for guys with nowhere to play like Jonathan Villar, and then drafting and trading for a mix of high-floor players and high-ceiling players to bring a breadth of talent into their minor league system throughout.
While the Cecchini and Liriano gambles show that not all of those risks work out, Villar is a great example of how fun it can be when they do. They’ve also seen typical progression from unforeseen sources, like Keon Broxton and Hernan Perez to provide plenty of value to the big league club as the reinforcements work their way up the system.
All in all, this is a drastically improved system, and right now, it’s a system I’m considering as a top 3-5 system in the game, along with the Braves, Dodgers, Phillies, and Yankees. That’s an incredible turn around for a system that was considered on of the 3-5 worst in the league when they started their rebuild just two years ago!
Let’s take a look at the top ten!
Next: #10