Brewers: 3 Prospects That Are Untouchable In Trade Talks This Offseason

Untouchable No. 2

LHP Ethan Small

To make it a trend, the Brewers 2019 first round pick joins the Crew’s 2020 first round pick on this list of untouchable prospects.

Ethan Small was another polished college player coming into the Draft and is on the fast-track to the big leagues.

A 6’4″ left-hander, Small was the first of a heavy dose of left handed pitchers in that 2019 Brewers Draft class. It was a long overdue infusion of southpaws into this farm system and he’s the been the best of the bunch so far.

Small had a sub-1.00 ERA across Rookie ball and Low-A last year immediately after getting drafted. In 2020, he was likely to be in High-A and might have even been able to make Double-A before the year was out. Instead, he simply pitched at the Alternate Training Site and was able to work on refining his arsenal.

He came into spring training in 2020 with a new pitch, a slider, that gave him a four pitch mix to work with. Through his reps up in Appleton, Small has reportedly refined and improved his slider and the other pitches in his arsenal.

When the 2021 minor league season begins, Small is likely going to be in Double-A and he could be pushing his way to the big league roster sooner rather than later. Small can be a solid mid-rotation starter for several years in the big leagues with his stuff, deception, and pitching IQ.

For the Brewers starting pitching depth to remain strong, they need to keep Small in the system. Small would carry a lot of value in a trade, but he’s more valuable to the Brewers as a member of the team than as a trade chip.

Untouchable No. 3

OF Hedbert Perez

If you haven’t heard much about Hedbert Perez, you will soon. A July 2nd signing out of Venezuela back in 2019, Perez is the son of 2001 Milwaukee Brewers outfielder Robert Perez.

Perez is a five-tool talent. Offensively, he has a beautiful swing with plenty of bat speed, plenty of power, and is a pure hitter. He doesn’t chase very much and barrels balls up constantly.

Perez also has great speed, a strong throwing arm, and plays the outfield extremely well.

If everything comes together, and so far things are looking good, then Perez’s potential is incredibly high. He can be a perennial All-Star out in centerfield, and even if he doesn’t stick in center, he has the power and the throwing arm to go into either corner outfield spot.

At just 17 years old, Perez is still a long ways away from the big leagues. He still hasn’t played in any official minor leagues to this point in his career. He was due to make his debut in 2020 before the minor league season was cancelled. Perez ended up getting the call to the Alternate Training Site in Appleton and got a lot reps up there.

He was also sent to Instructional League down in Arizona to get more reps. While there are no official stats from either of these places, all reports have indicated Perez performed extremely well and he is as advertised.

Perez is completely untouchable at this point. It would make absolutely zero sense to trade him right now. His ceiling is incredibly high, but he’s so far away from the big leagues that any team wanting to trade for him would not be willing to pay full price.

His trade value right now is probably the lowest it’s going to be over the next several years. Trading him now would be selling low on Perez and that’s something the Brewers would have no intention of doing.

This kid has the chance to be special. He’s staying put.

The Brewers generally have anyone available for the right price. But for these three players, the right price is going to cost a lot more than anyone would be willing to pay.