Brewers: Young, high-ceiling International prospects worth monitoring

The Milwaukee Brewers are in the middle of the franchise’s longest run of consecutive postseason appearances, having made the playoffs every season from 2018 until present. This has been in large part because of strong leadership in the front office and a complete shift in philosophy.

The Brewers realized that if they were going to compete with the big teams with deeper pockets they were going to have to get creative on the margins and adapt some abnormal practices. This places an added emphasis on developing controllable talent and taking some big swings on raw potential.

The Brewers have had great success in recent years churning out talented pitchers in house that they’ve build their team around. On the flip side, the Brewers have failed to develop impact major league hitters on offense. This has forced the club into spending on the open market and having to plug holes in the lineup year in and year out.

To help rectify this, the front office has placed an added emphasis in the draft and international signing market on signing toolsy, high upside prospects at premium positions. The Brewers don’t care about their defensive home at the moment, that’s something that’ll sort itself out down the road. The hope is that through their developmental process they’ll be able to produce several everyday bats in Milwaukee, freeing up money to be spent in other places.

The international market has been good to the Brewers in recent years.

While they’re still several years away from making their major league debut, these are a few of the Milwaukee Brewers most promising international signings.

OF – Hedbert Perez – 18 years old – ETA 2024

Tools: 55 hit, 50 power, 60 run, 55 arm/field

• 2019 international signing
• 4th ranked prospect in the Brewers system (I feel like this is too low)
• Bats: Left / Throws: Left

Hedbert Perez has a chance to be Milwaukee’s next star, I’m that high on his upside. His power/speed blend, coupled with his advanced approach is beyond impressive for his age.

He is athletic enough to stick in center, but also has an arm to play corner outfield as well. He’s a young guy that’s already up in Low-A Carolina and he’ll be getting recognition on the National level soon enough.

I’m willing to bet you’ll see him ranked as a top 10 prospect in all of baseball before its all said and done. This international signing was a home run for David Stearns and company.

C – Jeferson Quero – 18 years old – ETA 2024

Tools: 50 hit, 50 power, 60 arm, 55 field

• 2019 international signing
• 6th ranked prospect in the Brewers system
• Bats: Right / Throws: Right

Quero has been fantastic thus far in his short minor league debut. Quero has a plus bat and potential to be an above average defensive catcher.

Milwaukee has struggled to develop home grown catchers throughout the years. No Brewers catching prospect has represented the team in the All-Star game since Jonathan Lucroy did it back in 2014. And while the system appears to have a strong catching core at the moment, I think Quero is going to be the best of them all.

SS – Eduardo Garcia – 19 years old – 2024 ETA

Tools: 50 hit, 50 power, 50 run, 55 arm/field

• 2018 international signing – 24th ranked player in his class
• 12th ranked prospect in the Brewers system
• Bats: Right / Throws: Right

Eduardo Garcia is one of the more projectable young infielders in the Brewers minor leagues. He has above average tools across the board and stands at 6-foot-2 160 pounds – leaving a lot of room to fill out.

As he physically matures, his tools should improve as well – there’s plenty of untapped potential in Garcia. This makes him a viable option to shift over to third base should he outgrow the shortstop position. His glove is also notable because he was considered among the best on the international market back in 2018. He’s going to be an interesting one to monitor down on the farm.

He’s also made the jump up to Low-A Carolina as a 19 year old.

SS/CF – Jackson Chourio – 17 years old – ETA 2025

Tools: 55 hit, 50 power, 60 arm, 50 run

• 2020 International signing -18th ranked prospect in that class
• 18th ranked prospect in the Brewers system
• Bats: Right / Throws: Right

Jackson Chourio was the Brewers crown jewel of their 2020 international signing class. Chourio has all the characteristics you’d dream of: quick-twitch athlete, power/speed combo, and can drive the ball to all fields – all while playing two premium positions proficiently.

This one is all upside and has a long way to go, but this is one of my favorite high upside players in the system.

OF – Luis Medina – 18 years old – ETA 2024

Tools: 45 hit | 55 power | 50 run | 55 arm | 50 field

• 2019 international signing – 13th ranked player in that class
• 27th ranked prospect in Brewers system
• Bats: Left / Throws: Left

Luis Medina was a big get for the Brewers when they signed him back in 2019. Ranked the 13th best player in that class, Medina is a big, athletic outfielder with the chance to develop into a big time plus power hitter if everything breaks just right.

Make no mistake about it, he’s a power over hit type of prospect so the front office is going to have to be patient with him. He’s gotten off to a slow start thus far, but the tools are there for an exciting player.

While scouting prospects is an imperfect science, if the Brewers have routinely been taking chances on high upside prospects during the international signing period. Should the Brewers end up lucky enough to hit on a couple of these high ceiling international signings, the future of this team will be looking bright.

It will be fun to monitor these young, talented international signings over the next few seasons and see if they can realize their incredibly high ceilings. Milwaukee could use some cheap, controllable difference makers in the lineup, and these are the kind of talents worth betting on.