Brewers: 3 Prospects To Keep At All Costs, 2 To Gamble With In Trade Talks

The Milwaukee Brewers will be buyers at the Trade Deadline this year. If they're going to add to this major league roster, that's going to involve trading away some prospects from their minor league system.

As always when it comes to trade negotiations, there are some players that just should not be available, that are too good and too valuable to even risk giving up. But if you're going to get somebody to help the club, you need to be willing to give up at least some prospects of value. There's reasons to like and keep all of the prospects in the Brewers system, but they have to gamble with losing some of them.

Trade season is about to kick into high gear, so let's take a look at the Brewers prospects who should be off limits, and which should be available for the right price.

Brewers Prospect To Keep At All Costs #1: OF Jackson Chourio

This almost goes without saying, right? Jackson Chourio is the top prospect in the Brewers system and arguably the top prospect in all of baseball. There's no way the Brewers can even consider dangling Chourio in trade talks.

To make matters even more clear, there's no one available at the trade deadline this year that would be worth giving up Chourio for. Unless the Angels suddenly make Shohei Ohtani available could this possibility even remotely be considered. Even if Ohtani was available, would the Brewers be willing to give up years of a likely franchise cornerstone for just a half season of Ohtani? Ohtani is an all-time great, yes, but the odds are just not there to give up Chourio.

Jackson Chourio is as untouchable as it gets for prospects at the Trade Deadline. If anyone calls and requests him in talks, Brewers GM Matt Arnold should just laugh and hang up the phone.

Brewers Prospect To Keep At All Costs #2: RHP Jacob Misiorowski

The Brewers gave Jacob Misiorowski their largest signing bonus in their 2022 Draft class and with good reason. The tall, lanky flamethrower has lit up the minor leagues this year and has been named to the All Star Futures Game.

The ceiling with Misiorowski is that of a true ace. While there's a long way for him to go to reach that, he seems to be on the right path in the Brewers organization.

Trading Misiorowski now would not be wise given the current state of pitching depth in the Brewers system. Corbin Burnes and Brandon Woodruff are likely to be gone from the organization and if Milwaukee is going to remain competitive and rely on the strength of their pitching staff, they need true ace-type arms. Misiorowski is the only one in the system capable of potentially filling that role.

While other teams may call on Misiorowski, the Brewers need to resist the temptation to include him in any trade talks. Even if Max Scherzer is offered, Matt Arnold needs to hold firm and keep Misiorowski off the table.

Misiorowski is an ascending player who likely hasn't even hit his peak yet in prospect value. He just vaulted into the Top 100 and can still climb even higher. There's no reason to sell now.

Brewers Prospect To Keep At All Costs #3: OF Luis Lara

While this name may be a bit lesser known by Brewers fans at the moment, Luis Lara is certainly a prospect that is worth keeping at all costs right now. There's a lot of promise and potential with Lara and trading him now would be selling early and way below his peak value.

As an 18 year old in Low-A Carolina, Lara is slashing .300/.408/.375 with 15 stolen bases, 28 walks, and just 22 strikeouts in 160 at-bats.

Lara is on the Jackson Chourio timeline, reaching Low-A as an 18 year old a month into the season, completely skipping over the Arizona Complex League. He's been dominating the Carolina League as an on-base machine. His incredibly low strikeout rate is impressive for a player of any age, but especially being so young at a level where the average player is much older.

Lara doesn't have the power potential that Chourio does, but this kid sure can hit, and his excellent speed makes him an ideal leadoff hitter of the future. The ceiling is so high with Lara that it would make no sense to deal him this early in his career.

A player on the rise with such talent that hasn't gotten on the national radar yet is sure to be a popular name among other GMs in trade talks. Other teams will certainly try to get Lara included in a deal. While the national media may not have him in Top 100 lists yet, scouts and teams around the league have surely noticed Lara.

Matt Arnold needs to stand strong and not be willing to include Luis Lara in trade talks this summer.

Brewers Prospect To Gamble With In Trade Talks #2: OF Hendry Mendez

The Brewers have had a lot of success with young, international players in recent years, especially in the outfield. Hendry Mendez has certainly been one of them and he has shown some serious potential. He's already reached High-A as a 19 year old and had a successful first season stateside last year.

Mendez is ranked as the Crew's #13 prospect by MLB Pipeline. He's missed a lot of this season due to injuries, but is due back in High-A soon. With such a deep group of outfield prospects already in the system, the Brewers will be able to withstand trading from that depth to acquire help for the big league club at the deadline.

While there's certainly a high amount of upside with Mendez, the Brewers will need to risk losing some upside in these prospects to get what they need from other teams. Even if Mendez turns out to be a really good player, Milwaukee should be just fine in the outfield.

Mendez doesn't strike out much and draws plenty of walks, which is exactly what you want to see in a young hitter, even though he doesn't hit for much damage. The description of his bat sounds similar to what Luis Lara is doing in Low-A right now. However, Lara's currently hitting .300 at Low-A while Mendez hit .244 at the level. It's been tough to get a good grasp on Mendez this season because of injuries.

Still, another team could sense the upside in Mendez and see the depth at his position in the Brewers system and be looking to acquire him in trade talks.

Deciding which prospects to keep and which ones to gamble with losing isn't always easy but that's what GM Matt Arnold will be facing over the next month as he mulls over trade proposals.