Brewers: MLBTR Predicts 3 from 2022-23 Top 50 Free Agents List to the Crew

What's not to love about free agent season? Fans of MLB teams like the Milwaukee Brewers get to try and wonder which players might end up being signed by their favorite team. It can be almost as fun as watching the games themselves.

And with free agent season comes free agent predictions. Plenty of MLB sites around the internet try to predict where some of the top free agents will land. One of those pieces comes from the writers over at MLB Trade Rumors.

The site has once again compiled a list of their top 50 MLB free agents for the 2023 season. And like last season, a few of their writers have predicted three free agents who they think the Brewers will bring in to help start up another playoff streak next season.

What type of players are the Crew predicted to sign? Some position players to give the offense some more consistency? Some needed depth for the starting rotation or the bullpen? Let's find out.

Here are three free agents that MLB Trade Rumors predicts the Brewers will sign for the 2023 season.

1. C Christian Vazquez

The Brewers face an offseason of potential turnover at the catcher position. For starters, Omar Narvaez, the team's primary catcher for the last three seasons became a free agent when the offseason began and there are no indications yet that the team plans a reunion with him.

Milwaukee still has their other main catcher from last season, Victor Caratini, but there is no guarantee that he will be tendered a contract for 2023 based on a subpar offensive performance last season.

And the other three catchers on the 40-man roster are prospect Mario Feliciano, Alex Jackson, and the recently re-acquired Payton Henry. Those three have a combined 89 games of major league experience between them.

Thus, Steve Adams of MLB Trade Rumors predicts that the Brewers will sign the newly crowned World Series champion Christian Vazquez of the Houston Astros, who is one of the top two catchers out on the free agent market this offseason.

Prior to his midseason trade to Houston, Vazquez had spent his entire MLB career, which began in 2012, with the Boston Red Sox. He has a career .261/.310/.386 slash line and has amassed 55 homers and 276 RBIs in 733 games. He has also caught 34% of base stealers for his career and has compiled a 7.0 total bWAR.

Vazquez is a good defender who provides enough on offense to be the type of catcher that Milwaukee tends to like. At a projected $27MM over three years, it could be a worthwhile price to pay for a more proven catcher than the team has had in a while.

Here are three free agents that MLB Trade Rumors predicts the Brewers will sign for the 2023 season.

2. 3B Brandon Drury

Like catcher, third base is another offensive position the Brewers could look to address this offseason. The production the team received there during the 2022 season was inconsistent to say the least.

A year after it seemed like he had taken the reigns at third base, Luis Urias took a step back in 2022. Injuries to start the year didn't help, but he still ended up seeing all parts of his slash line decline from year to year (.239/.335/.404). A .739 OPS was okay, but will those numbers bounce back or continue to go down?

Jace Peterson saw a bunch of time at third last year as well and started off well enough, but his production dropped as the season went on and he is now a free agent. Mike Brosseau had good numbers in his first season with Milwaukee (.255/.344/.418), but only played in 69 games. Who knows if he is ready for a bigger role.

MLB Trade Rumors' Darragh McDonald predicts that the Brewers will bolster the position by bringing in free agent third baseman Brandon Drury. It might not be a long term solution, but could provide some needed stability.

The 30-year-old signed with the Cincinnati Reds as a free agent prior to last season before being traded to the San Diego Padres at the trade deadline. When all was said and done, he ended up having the best offensive season of his career.

Between the two teams, Drury hit .263 with a .813 OPS, which was a career high as were his 28 homers, 87 RBIs, and 87 runs scored. He was awarded a Silver Slugger at the utility position for his efforts.

Speaking of which, Drury would bring another trait that the Brewers always seem to love: positional versatility. While he has played most of his career games at third (211), he has played nearly as many at second (192), and a good number at the corner outfield spots (76 in left field, 57 in right field).

One question is whether the Brewers believe that his production is sustainable. Prior to last season's 2.6 bWAR, Drury had only produced a positive bWAR in two other seasons: 1.4 in 2017 and 0.2 in 2021.

MLB Trade Rumors projects Drury at a two-year deal worth $18MM. If he can provide Silver Slugger level offense yet again going forward, that price would be worth it for Milwaukee.