Milwaukee Brewers Top 5 Minor League Trade Chips

The Milwaukee Brewers farm system is getting better year by year as the depth and quality of the minor leagues has grown. With the Brewers being perennial playoff contenders, they tend to continually trade away from this talent pool rather than add to it via trade.

Brewers president David Stearns made another such trade just minutes prior to MLB’s lockout, sending two solid minor league prospects in David Hamilton and Alex Binelas to the Red Sox along with Jackie Bradley Jr.in exchange for Hunter Renfroe.

With Milwaukee still looking to improve it’s big league roster, trading from the minor league depth makes some sense.

Once the lockout and transaction freeze ends, they’ll be able to do so again. If they do, who are the Brewers’ biggest minor league trade chips?

Brewers minor league trade chip #5: OF Corey Ray

The trade stock for Corey Ray has certainly fallen in recent years. Ray, the 5th overall pick in the 2016 MLB Draft was supposed to be the crown jewel of the Brewers rebuild in the David Stearns era. They started him out with an aggressive assignment to High-A out of the gate.

A college performer, Ray was slated to move quickly through the minor league system. A mixture of injuries and poor performance have slowed his progression. Ray is still as talented as ever, but continual injuries haven’t allowed him to reach his full potential.

With the way the Brewers outfield is constructed and the bevy of outfield prospects, especially centerfielders, coming through the pipeline who are performing well, don’t have injury concerns, and are catching up to Ray’s level, Ray’s future doesn’t look like it’ll be in Milwaukee.

He was called up for a quick cup of coffee early in 2021, but once he was sent back to Triple-A, injuries struck again and he wasn’t brought back up the rest of the season.

When healthy in 2021, Ray performed well. In 146 ABs, Ray hit .274 with an .825 OPS and six homers.

At 27 years old, Ray is suffering from some prospect fatigue. If the Brewers are to trade him, the team getting Ray is going to be betting that a change of scenery, and perhaps an open big league opportunity, will help him stay on track. Ray may need to prove he’s healthy first, though.

Brewers minor league trade chip #4: RHP Victor Castaneda

The Milwaukee Brewers have a pretty full starting rotation for the near future. With the established guys in the big leagues already along with Aaron Ashby and Ethan Small, it’s going to be difficult for anyone to crack that group.

Victor Castaneda was signed by the Brewers out of Mexico in 2017. The 23 year old righty had a solid season in 2021, spending most of it in High-A Wisconsin, but earning a late-season call up to Triple-A.

Castaneda was one of the few pitchers in the Brewers minor league system that threw over 100 innings last year. He made all his starts, staying healthy and productive.

If he gets the right opportunity, Castaneda could make his big league debut in 2022. In Milwaukee, his role would likely be limited to a bullpen one, but he’s capable as a starter and should get an opportunity to prove he can remain one. That opportunity may have to come outside the organization.

Pitching has formed the foundation for the Brewers at the big league level, but they don’t have too many pitching prospects in the pipeline right now. There’s Ashby and Small, along with Antoine Kelly a little further behind, but other than that there isn’t much for high value pitching prospects. While Ashby and Small are more valuable and would technically be bigger “trade chips”, it’s extremely unlikely Milwaukee would be willing to part with either of those guys.

One pitching prospect they may be willing to part with if another team desires pitching back in a potential trade is Victor Castaneda. He has a starter’s arsenal and could be ready relatively soon.

On his own, Castaneda won’t bring back a huge return, but in a package with some other prospects, possibly some others from this list, they could bring back something solid.

Brewers minor league trade chip #3: OF Carlos Rodriguez

The Milwaukee Brewers have a very crowded group of outfield prospects. David Stearns has invested heavily in that position group in recent years, and everyone is jostling for position in a future Milwaukee outfield.

As things stand currently, Carlos Rodriguez appears to be on the outside looking in. Rodriguez did receive an aggressive assignment to High-A as a 20 year old in 2021, skipping Low-A entirely. He put up some solid numbers, hitting .267 with 15 stolen bases.

Rodriguez doesn’t possess much power, hitting just one home run all season, but he has a great ability to make contact and put the ball in play, generally hitting for a high average. The hit tool is legit and the speed is helpful.

Rodriguez will make for a great top of the order threat at full potential, and that’s going to be attractive to other teams in trade talks. Rodriguez is a top 20 Brewers prospect, so he’s not just a low-level throw in, he’s a legitimate prospect with value.

The Brewers, though, have a couple of outfielders who also possess Rodriguez’s speed and hitting ability, but also possess home run power as well. Joey Wiemer has surpassed Rodriguez on the depth chart, as has Garrett Mitchell. 2021 first round pick Sal Frelick has already caught up to Rodriguez in High-A.

While Milwaukee doesn’t need to move Rodriguez, if a deal comes along where another team is looking for an outfield prospect and they want someone that’s good that the Brewers may be willing to part with, Rodriguez makes sense.

It’s likely Rodriguez will start 2022 in Double-A and if he performs well there, his stock could continue to rise, but unless home run power develops, and with Rodriguez standing at 5’10” and 150 pounds being built for speed, it’s unlikely his stock will rise to the level of Mitchell or Wiemer to put himself in the picture to be in the Brewers outfield of the future.

His stock is solid right now, and another team could see his talent and the roadblocks ahead of him and target Rodriguez in a trade.

Brewers minor league trade chip #1: SS Brice Turang

The Brewers had gone 31 years since they last drafted a shortstop in the first round of the MLB Draft. They broke that drought when they selected Brice Turang 21st overall in 2018.

Since then, Turang was seen as Milwaukee’s shortstop of the future. He was a high school hitter, but a pretty advanced one, with a strong hit tool, and the defensive chops to stick at shortstop. Turang has met or exceeded expectations every step of the way.

Turang made it up to Triple-A in 2021 as a 21 year old, and was incredibly young for the level. His stats dipped a little from his production in Double-A earlier in the year, but he held his own. He showed great plate discipline, drawing walks, not striking out much, and playing a very strong shortstop. When he was drafted, some evaluators had concerns he might not be able to stay at short. But he has clearly proven he can.

The problem with all of this, is that the starting shortstop job in Milwaukee isn’t really open to new applicants. While Turang was lighting it up in the minors, David Stearns swung a trade for Willy Adames to fix the Brewers big league shortstop problem. Adames is under team control for the next three seasons. Turang is going to be ready for the big leagues at some point in 2022.

Secondary positions, such as second base and third base aren’t really available as Kolten Wong is under contract for another year, possibly two, and Luis Urias is coming into his own at the hot corner. Turang isn’t going to be called up to ride the bench or be a utility guy. He’s capable and deserving of being a starter, but will it be with Milwaukee?

Turang staying at shortstop is immensely more valuable to both him and the Brewers. Teams will pay much more for a shortstop than they will for a second baseman.

If the Brewers are going to make a blockbuster trade, if they’re going to trade for anyone big, a true impact player, Turang is likely to be in that return package.

Of the top tier of Brewers prospects, Turang is the most expendable based on his position and how the big league roster is currently constructed. The outfield prospects they’ll keep as that group will be in flux in each of the next two years and jobs will be open. The pitching prospects the Brewers will hoard because they know how good they can make them. But Turang is blocked, and the Brewers love Adames.

Barring something happening to Adames, a trade of Turang may be in the near future, whether it be once the lockout ends and the Brewers make a big trade to kick off the season, or even at the trade deadline as Stearns pushes the roster all-in once again in July.

Turang has a bright future and will be deserving of a big league shortstop job soon. It’s just not looking like the Brewers will have that opportunity for him.

For nearly all of the players on this list, they appear to be blocked one way or another. They’re good prospects and good players, but their brightest futures may not be in Milwaukee, and the Brewers can get good value for them to improve other areas of the roster.