3 crucial organizational needs for Brewers to address in the 2024 MLB Draft

The 2024 MLB Draft is coming up fast. The Milwaukee Brewers hold 22 selections in the 20 round Draft and will have 22 opportunities to add future major leaguers who could help this team win a World Series.

While the Brewers have one of the deepest farm systems in baseball and are loaded with talent, they still have no shortage of needs to address in this year's Draft. For an organization that has to rely on drafting and development to remain competitive like the Brewers, they can't afford to have too many misses in the Draft.

The Brewers have had a lot more success in the Draft in recent years, but the whole Draft is still a crapshoot. There's no guarantee that even a first round pick will become a big league contributor and the odds get smaller and smaller the later you go.

Last year, the Brewers walked away feeling like they had one of the best draft classes in the league. The performance of those players this season has only backed up that assessment. They'll be looking for a similarly great class of players this year.

How can they get there? Here are the big needs the Brewers have to address in the 2024 MLB Draft.

Brewers Draft Need 1: Outfield

It may seem strange that outfield depth would be considered a need for the Brewers given how they've focused heavily on that group, especially with first round picks. The big league outfield depth has created a logjam. Between Christian Yelich, Garrett Mitchell, Sal Frelick, Blake Perkins, Jackson Chourio, and Joey Wiemer, there's only so much playing time to go around.

However, the MLB Draft is not for addressing immediate team needs. If it was, this Draft would just be 22 consecutive pitchers for the Brewers.

Despite the broad major league depth the Brewers have in the outfield, the Brewers have nowhere near as much prospect depth in that group in the minors.

Milwaukee hasn't drafted and signed a true outfielder in either of the last two drafts. Last year's draft was entirely pitchers and infielders. As a result, the prospect depth among this position group, especially in the lower minors, has started to thin. The Brewers have just two true outfielders on their top 30 prospects list.

Possible fits: There's a couple of outfielders that would make sense for the Brewers in the first round this year. Carson Benge, Vance Honeycutt, and Ryan Waldschmidt would all make sense at 17 overall. Dakota Jordan could be an option at 34. All four are college outfielders with traits the Brewers have historically liked.

Brewers Draft Need #2: Catcher

The Brewers place a very high priority on the catcher position. Not only is the quality of the defense there crucial to the Brewers run prevention unit, getting offensive production out of that spot is also a priority. Milwaukee has shown the ability to teach catchers how to improve defensively, something they've done with Omar Narvaez and William Contreras.

The Draft isn't about addressing immediate team needs, it's about projecting needs a few years out and keeping a pipeline of talent available at those positions. Catcher could be one of those needs.

William Contreras has a few seasons of team control left and unless he agrees to a contract extension, it's very possible he could find himself traded away before he reaches free agency. The Brewers do have a top catching prospect in Jeferson Quero that could be the catcher of the future.

However, Quero suffered a torn labrum in his throwing shoulder early this season and will miss the whole year. While the Brewers feel confident that Quero's elite throwing arm will return to pre-injury levels, there's a potential that it doesn't. Outside of Quero, the Brewers don't have much for catching prospects behind him in the minors. He's the only catcher in the Brewers top 30.

Should the Brewers draft a catcher early on, by the time he's ready for the big leagues it would be right around the time Contreras is reaching free agency or being traded away, barring an extension. Contreras' dwindling team control, the uncertainty with Quero, and lack of a top catching prospect behind him makes catcher an area of need to address in this year's Draft.

Possible fits: Sam Houston State's Walker Janek and Stanford's Malcolm Moore are first round options the Brewers could take to headline this class. Cal's Caleb Lomavita could be another day one option. NC State's Jacob Cozart and Texas Tech's Kevin Bazzell also are logical Brewers targets.