Brewers: 3 Prospects To Protect From Rule 5 Draft, 3 To Leave Off The Roster

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The deadline to protect eligible minor league players from the Rule 5 Draft is coming up on Tuesday at 6 PM. The Milwaukee Brewers have several prospects worthy of consideration.

There's only so many roster spots to go around on the 40 man, though. As the roster currently stands, the Brewers have 34 players on the 40 man, leaving six open spots. Milwaukee's unlikely to fill all six of those spots at this deadline.

However, they will be adding a few players, so let's dig into the prominent eligible players and whether they should be protected or left off the roster.

Brewers prospect to protect #1 - C Jeferson Quero

This should be the easiest decision for the Brewers to make. Jeferson Quero is the Crew's #2 prospect, right behind Jackson Chourio, and he plays a premium position. Quero put up fantastic numbers for a 20 year old in Double-A Biloxi this season.

Quero has the 4 P's: Pedigree, Production, Proximity, and Premium Position working in his favor. He's close to the big leagues and any team would gladly take him and stash him as a backup catcher on their roster at the worst with a chance to potentially start.

Right now, Quero is number two on the organizational depth chart at catcher after Victor Caratini's and Payton Henry's free agency. Protecting Quero on the 40 man is an incredibly likely move. He'll start next season in Triple-A most likely, but he could be in the big leagues soon, especially with a 40 man spot.

Brewers prospect to leave off the roster #1 - OF Carlos D. Rodriguez

There's a lot to like about Carlos D. Rodriguez as a prospect. The young outfielder has a knack for making contact and he doesn't strike out. This season for Double-A Biloxi, Rodriguez was 3rd in the Southern League in batting average, hitting .291 on the year. He also added 21 doubles and 40 walks to just 50 strikeouts in nearly 400 at-bats.

The problem with Rodriguez's chances of making the 40 man roster are two-fold. One, he doesn't supply much of any power. He's not a home run threat and he's not enough of a stolen base threat to counteract that. Two, the Brewers 40 man roster is already loaded with outfielders. The Brewers can afford to risk losing him, even though he's a very good contact hitter, because of the sheer depth at the position.

Rodriguez has a decent chance of not getting selected in the Rule 5 and sticking in the Brewers organization, where his contact ability would be very good to keep around, but it's unlikely Rodriguez will warrant protection on the 40 man.

Brewers prospect to protect #2 - RHP Evan McKendry

Back at the August Trade Deadline, the Milwaukee Brewers made a minor league swap with the Tampa Bay Rays, sending out catcher Alex Jackson for the righty Evan McKendry. Both players were in Triple-A at the time.

The Brewers picked up McKendry, knowing he was Rule 5 eligible this winter but that he was close to being a big league ready arm. In Triple-A this year, McKendry had a 4.30 ERA as a starter. With Brandon Woodruff set to miss all of next season and the team in desperate need for more pitching depth, adding McKendry to the 40 man roster seems like an easy choice for the front office and has seemed like their plan from the beginning.

McKendry provides rotation depth and he can compete for a starting job in spring training. If left unprotected, there's a very good chance he's selected by another organization and the Brewers didn't trade for McKendry just to let him go to another team that easily.

Brewers prospect to leave off the roster #2 - LHP Adam Seminaris

While pitching depth is a need for the Brewers and a big reason why McKendry should get added, Adam Seminaris should be left off the 40 man roster and be unprotected in the Rule 5. The Brewers acquired him alongside Elvis Peguero and Janson Junk in the Hunter Renfroe trade last year.

Seminaris disappointed with the Biloxi Shuckers, pitching to a 5.95 ERA in 16 starts this year. He did deal with some injuries and is currently pitching in the Arizona Fall League, where he has a similar 5.87 ERA in 15.1 IP.

There's nothing in Seminaris' performance to indicate he's currently worthy of a 40 man roster spot. Milwaukee can afford to leave him off the roster until otherwise and risk some other team potentially taking him but it's unlikely given his performance this year.

Brewers prospect to protect #3 - SS Freddy Zamora

When the Brewers drafted Freddy Zamora in the 2nd round of the 202 Draft, they felt he was a first round talent that fell due to injuries and were thrilled to get him. He had a great 2021 season, but then an injury took out most of his 2022 season. Zamora bounced back in 2023 in Double-A.

Zamora was solid, if not spectacular this season. He hit .255 with seven homers and 17 stolen bases. He also had a .713 OPS. While his numbers this year didn't jump off the page, he may still be worthy of protecting.

Zamora plays shortstop, a premium position, and putting up steady, solid numbers offensively at that spot is something that is quite valuable. He's likely to start at Triple-A next season and the Brewers may be stocking up on shortstop depth. With reports that the Brewers could be selling from their big league roster this offseason, Willy Adames is a logical trade candidate. If that happens, Brice Turang likely moves over to shortstop, but if he can't produce offensively, who is the next man up at the position? Freddy Zamora is the next closest shortstop to the bigs in this organization, which could warrant him needing to be protected.

It's not a guarantee that Zamora is worthy of a 40 man roster spot ahead of the deadline, but he's a name that should earn strong consideration.

Brewers prospect to leave off the roster #3 - 3B Zavier Warren

This is the Rule 5 year for 2020 Draftees out of college and the Brewers only have two of those players left, Zamora and 3rd rounder Zavier Warren. 1st rounder Garrett Mitchell and 4th rounder Joey Wiemer are already on the 40 man roster while 5th rounder Hayden Cantrelle was traded away.

Zavier Warren has not lived up to his pedigree as an on-base machine. He had an OBP over .500 in college at Central Michigan. The switch hitter struggled to a .238/.328/.403 slash line in his minor league career. He's shown some solid power, hitting at least 12 homers in each of his three minor league seasons and had 15 homers this year.

Defensively, Zamora was drafted as a catcher, but that hasn't worked out. He played shortstop in college, but didn't stick there, the Brewers put him at third base but he played the majority of innings this year at first base. He continues to move down the defensive spectrum and the offense just isn't enough to warrant carrying a likely first-base only defensive profile on the 40 man roster.

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