Brewers: 3 Untouchable Prospects At The 2021 Trade Deadline

With the 2021 MLB Trade Deadline rapidly approaching, the Milwaukee Brewers will soon be in a spot where they will be trading prospects from their farm system to improve the big league club.

Throughout David Stearns’ tenure leading the Brewers baseball operations department, very few, if any players have been officially deemed “untouchable”. That doesn’t mean there haven’t been players who essentially were in practice.

Instead of declaring players “untouchable”, Stearns just puts an obscenely high price tag on them for the return package, one that other teams would have to be insane to actually pay. That way, if the Brewers do give up the player they like, they’re getting something far better in return.

However, there are a few prospects the Brewers should put that absurdly high price tag on and not be willing to include them in any trade unless for a massive overpay on the other team’s end, in essence making them untouchable.

These 3 Milwaukee Brewers prospects should be considered untouchable in upcoming 2021 Trade Deadline discussions.

Brewers Untouchable Prospect #1: OF Garrett Mitchell

This one should almost be obvious. Garrett Mitchell was the Brewers first round selection in 2020, a Top 5 or 6 talent that fell into their laps with the 20th overall pick. Since joining the Brewers organization, Mitchell has raked, dominating in his first big league spring training and earning a placement in High-A.

In High-A, Mitchell dominated once again, hitting .359/.504/.620 with five home runs, 12 stolen bases, and 20 RBIs. After just 28 games with the Timber Rattlers, he was promoted to Double-A Biloxi.

Mitchell is on the fast track to the big leagues and is already a key piece of the Brewers future plans. With current centerfielders Lorenzo Cain and Jackie Bradley having their contracts expire in 2022, Milwaukee will need strong defense and and an offensive threat in centerfield, and that’s exactly what Mitchell provides.

Although the timeline for Mitchell grabbing a starting job in the big leagues should have him taking over in 2023, there’s a strong chance he could force his way to a promotion in 2022 with the way he’s been playing.

Mitchell is rising up prospect lists as he continues to prove the doubters wrong about his draft position, his power ability, and his diabetes. The Brewers believe in Mitchell and having Mitchell in the Brewers organization is a mutually beneficial partnership. He loves being with the Brewers, and there’s no reason to entertain the idea of trading him for anybody at the Trade Deadline.

Brewers Untouchable Prospect #2: OF Hedbert Perez

One of the most exciting international prospects the Brewers have signed in a long time, Hedbert Perez has been making noise ever since the Brewers got him in 2019. He didn’t get to play in any official games until this year, due to the minor league cancellations last year, but that hasn’t stopped Hedbert.

Despite being just 17 years old last year, the Brewers invited Perez to the Alternate Training Site in Appleton and he actually performed extremely well despite facing advanced pitchers that were either close to the big leagues or had big league experience.

Perez has a smooth left-handed swing and just absolutely rakes, hitting for both average and power. He has good speed and is a strong defender. He has all the ingredients to be a five-tool outfielder in the future.

That’s not someone you just willingly trade away, even if he his a few years away from the big leagues.

Perez is one of the best young prospects in baseball, even if the popular lists don’t have him in their Top 100s yet. The Brewers know what kind of talent they have and they should not and likely are not going to be willing to part with him.

Milwaukee liked him enough to include him in spring training as well, bringing him over for a few Cactus League games, getting him some ABs against big league caliber pitching, including a chance to face Trevor Bauer.

Perez is currently in the Arizona rookie league, and so far he’s hitting .385 with a 1.061 OPS. It’s a relatively small sample size but he’s finally putting some official numbers up to back up the scouting reports we’ve read on him the past two years.

This is someone to hold on to.