Milwaukee Brewers Top 5 Minor League Trade Chips

Brewers minor league trade chip #2: OF Joe Gray

Joe Gray‘s prospect stock was revived in 2021. Gray was a 2nd round pick of the Brewers in 2018 out of high school, and he struggled to begin his pro career. He played in Rookie ball in 2018 and 2019 and put up poor numbers both seasons as he was dealing with injuries. Then the cancelled 2020 season didn’t help the perception of his prospect value.

But Gray worked on some things and most importantly was healthy in 2021. As such, he dominated Low-A with the Carolina Mudcats for the first half of the season. He was looking unstoppable and finally showing the potential that led the Brewers to select him so high in that 2018 draft.

He earned a promotion to High-A Wisconsin and struggled a bit there, but his value is way up and other teams have now gotten a real look at what Gray can do when healthy and they’re likely to target him in trade discussions.

Even with that fantastic start to the season with Carolina, Gray also appears to be on the outside looking in when it comes to the outfield pipeline. His struggles in a half-season in High-A shows that there’s still a lot of development to go to consistently tap into his raw talent. Meanwhile, other outfield prospects have shown more polish and are going to be big league ready before Gray is.

That might make the Brewers more willing to part with Gray, even though they believe in his upside. Although patience can pay off, by the time Gray is likely to be ready, there may not be a job available for him, making him a possible trade chip. Gray’s value right now is as high as it’s ever been since he was drafted, and the Brewers can cash in if the right deal presents itself.

If an inquiring team wants an outfield prospect in a potential trade, Gray is likely the highest rated one the Brewers have that they would potentially be willing to part with.