Brewers release several minor league prospects, including Hunter Renfroe trade piece

With the season now over, not only are major leaguers soon to be heading to free agency, so are minor leaguers. On Wednesday, the Milwaukee Brewers released seven minor league prospects, including one of the key pieces in the return for Hunter Renfroe.

Adam Seminaris was a 5th round pick in 2020 by the Angels and was included in the 2022 trade for outfielder Hunter Renfroe along with Elvis Peguero and Janson Junk. Junk was DFAed earlier in 2024 and Peguero has been a regular presence in the Brewers bullpen since the trade. Seminaris, meanwhile, struggled to even make it out of Double-A.

Seminaris pitched to a 5.95 ERA over 16 starts in 2023, mostly in Double-A Biloxi. Things didn't get better in 2024 as Seminaris repeated the level and posted a 6.15 ERA in 74.2 IP and was moved out of the rotation and into the bullpen.

The Brewers gave Seminaris a couple years to try to get things together, but he just wasn't able to and now the soon to be 26 year old will look to latch on with a new organization.

Brewers release several minor league players ahead of offseason

Also included in the minor league cuts was James Meeker. Meeker was promoted to the big leagues to make his MLB debut back on June 7th. He threw a scoreless inning against the Tigers and then was demoted back to Triple-A and designated for assignment off the 40 man roster. He was not called back up.

The 29 year old Meeker did well with the one shot he was given, and now he'll look to latch on with a new club that should have more opportunity at the big league level.

The other players that the Brewers released on Wednesday were outfielder Noah Campbell, infielder Ben Metzinger, and pitchers Tyler Wehrle, Harrison Durow, and Morris Austin.

Campbell has a lot of upper minors experience the last few years, but his numbers never really jumped off the page. After a bit of a downturn this year, the Brewers move on from the utility man.

Metzinger was a 7th round pick and senior sign back in 2022. His numbers were not great his first two seasons in the minors and then he was practically unplayable this year. Metzinger appeared in 12 games and did not have a single hit in any of them. He was 0-for-16 with 11 strikeouts on the season, spending most of the year on the development list.

Wehrle had some okay numbers out of the bullpen in High-A Wisconsin and the 24 year old could latch on elsewhere. Durow was an undrafted free agent in 2023 that posted a 4.80 ERA in Low-A Carolina and ultimately did not show enough for the organization to look to bring him back for another season.

Morris Austin was a 10th round pick in 2023, which makes it slightly surprising they cut him loose this quickly, but he was a senior sign and clearly was not performing like the other college seniors the Brewers took that year that have jumped up the system. Austin struggled to a 4.26 ERA in Low-A Carolina.

There will likely be more minor league players that get released as the offseason rolls along.

More Brewers News from Reviewing the Brew