3 Brewers prospects that could be traded next after the Wes Clarke deal

The Milwaukee Brewers recently made the tough decision to give Wes Clarke, a promising prospect, a fresh start in Houston, as they traded the minor league slugger away for cash. An abundance of first basemen in Triple-A led to the decision; the position became over-populated with recent additions of Andrew Vaughn and Bobby Dalbec, and the return of Tyler Black from the injured list.

Although Clarke's trade wasn't impactful at improving the Brewers’ big league roster, trade season is nearly upon us, and it is likely that more prospects will be on the move as Milwaukee is positioning itself to be buyers yet again.

Here are three Milwaukee Brewers prospects that could be traded this summer

1) RHP Coleman Crow

Back in 2023, the Brewers acquired Crow from the Mets in exchange for Tyrone Taylor and Adrian Houser. They struck the deal despite knowing he had just undergone Tommy John surgery and would miss all of 2024. Until last week, he had been putting together an impressive bounce-back season in 2025, but a hip issue recently put him on the injured list.

Despite the recent injury, Crow has been performing well and raising his prospect stock this year. Through 10 starts, he has a 2.51 ERA in Double-A while having five or more strikeouts in half of his starts, and a pair of nine-strikeout games. Being Rule-5 Draft eligible this winter hurts his chances of staying with Milwaukee, so it's possible that he gets leveraged in a trade before the July 31 trade deadline. Even if the hip issue is something long-term, Crow's been traded while injured before, and that shouldn't change his value all that much. 

2) 1B Ernesto Martinez Jr.

Ernesto Martinez, a 6'6" giant at first base who routinely stretches out to do the splits, began his professional baseball journey with Milwaukee as an international free agent. Last winter, as a minor league free agent, he elected to return to the Brewers organization. This year, the 26-year-old is continuing to do well. Through 41 games, he has a .246/.376/.406 slash line with five home runs and 23 RBIs.

As a left-handed batter, Martinez's immediate path to the big leagues was initially blocked by Jake Bauers, but now with Andrew Vaughn on the 40-man roster and under control through the 2026 season, the picture is even more complicated. Furthermore, Rhys Hoskins has an option for the 2026 season as well, but being a mutual option, it's highly unlikely it will be picked up.

Unless Milwaukee is going to trade Bauers this year, or hand out a roster spot to Martinez this off-season, they may want to consider trading Martinez now. Otherwise, he may test the free agent waters again and see if he finds a situation that gives him a better chance at cracking a major league roster.

3) RHP Brett Wichrowski

Despite being a 13th-round pick in 2023, Brett Wichrowski has carved out a name for himself in Milwaukee's farm system, currently ranking 13th overall per MLB Pipeline. The right-hander has made eight starts this year in Biloxi and has a 2.76 ERA.

Wichrowski throws in the high 90s, with the ability to touch triple digits at times. The biggest question for him is honing in the control and whether he will stick as a starting pitcher or not.  Regardless, he has the stuff on the mound to make an impact at the big league level someday.

Although not Rule-5 draft eligible until 2026, Wichrowski is a good prospect Milwaukee could leverage in trades this summer if they are looking to make a splashier acquisition. The Brewers are loaded with young, talented, and MLB-ready arms, so trading Wichrowski at the expense of improving the 2025 roster is a real possibility, but by no means necessary.