Milwaukee Brewers: Only 1 Prospect in the MLB Pipeline Top 100?

MLB Pipeline released the pre-Spring Training edition of their Top 100 prospects for 2019. The Milwaukee Brewers only had one name on the list. Is the Brewers’ system really that bad?

Keston Hiura came in at #20 overall in the MLB Pipeline Top 100 prospects list that was just released. He was the top second baseman on the list, but the only representative from the Milwaukee Brewers. Should there be more concern over the Brewers’ farm system?

Were they the worst on the list?

Not really. The Baltimore Orioles, Kansas City Royals, and Miami Marlins also had only one player on the list. The Chicago Cubs had Miguel Amaya come in at #94 and Nico Hoerner come in at #100 as their only two top prospects listed from what’s seen as a thin farm system.

Who’s graduated?

Brandon Woodruff, Corbin Burnes, and Josh Hader have all recently graduated from ‘prospect’ status, but they all cracked a Top-100 list recently.

What about the guys they’ve traded?

Believe it or not, but none made the Top 100. Not even Monte Harrison who several pundits pegged to break out.

Corey Ray really didn’t make it?

Corey Ray is rated as the second best prospect in the Milwaukee Brewers system by most experts. He missed the Top 100 list despite his awesome 2018 season. Ray slashed .239/.323/.477 with 27 homers and 37 steals in 135 games at Double-A Biloxi. He flashed the power / speed combo that was expected when he was drafted in the first round a few years ago, and also showed development in pitch recognition and patience.

Ray is likely to start 2019 in Triple-A, and he’s only an injury away from getting the call. He’ll either be up when someone needs a DL stint or as a September call up.

Where is the strength of the Brewers system?

Looking at the Top-32 Prospects list created by FanGraphs, the Milwaukee Brewers have a ton of 17-, 18-, and 19-year olds taking up space on the list. Most of these guys haven’t progressed past Rookie ball, and need to prove what they can do away from Arizona or the Dominican Summer League.

Eduardo Garcia is only 16 years old, and just signed out of Venezuela. FanGraphs has him rated as the eight best prospect in the Milwaukee Brewers’ system.

Joe Gray, Brice Turang, Pablo Abreu, and Carlos Rodriguez are all still under 20, and are rated in the Top-20.

The Milwaukee Brewers have talent, but a lot of it is several years away from reaching the Majors. They don’t have a bad farm system, but they do have a ‘bottom heavy’ farm system. A full year of trades and graduations have thinned their top tier prospects, but they’ve been adding projectable athletes and arms to the lower levels for the past two seasons. The talent needs to develop before it shows up on any Top-100 or Top-10 positional lists, but this is far from a barren system.