3 Brewers Prospects Whose Stocks Fell Hard In 2023

2. 2B Felix Valerio

Remember when there was a ton of excitement around Felix Valerio? The Brewers acquired him from the Mets as part of the Keon Broxton trade as a teenager. He hit everywhere he went, hitting .306 with 16 stolen bases in the Arizona Complex League, then hitting .314 with an .899 OPS and 27 stolen bases in Low-A Carolina in 2021 before a late season promotion to High-A Wisconsin.

Valerio showcased more power in Appleton in that limited sample, leading to a belief that he was doing enough damage to potentially become a big league regular. The undersized infielder then was advanced to Double-A Biloxi for the 2022 season and was ranked the #12 prospect in the system.

There, Valerio has stalled.

He hit just .228/.313/.357 but with 12 homers and 30 stolen bases in Biloxi in 2022. While the power output is nice, the drop in getting on base was concerning. Prior to that year, Valerio never had an OBP below .376 in a season. But perhaps it was a one-off down year, after all the jump to Double-A is the biggest in the minors.

Valerio repeated Biloxi in 2023 and a second straight down season has tanked the prospect stock that Valerio still had. He hit just .223/.286/.345 with six homers and seven stolen bases this year. He only played in 80 games and moved to a part-time role for the Shuckers. The hit tool that had the Brewers excited and Valerio's stock so high has gone backwards in Double-A.

As a 5'5" middle infielder with just average defense at best, Valerio's game has to be shooting singles, getting on base, and stealing bases. Without it, his stock is nothing. Now that he's had back-to-back seasons where his bat has gotten worse, Valerio's stock has fallen hard.