Brewers Sign Speedy Outfielder from '23 Great Britain WBC Squad to Minors Contract

Though the Milwaukee Brewers' 40-man roster is full at the moment, there are still roster spots at the minor league levels that need to be filled before the regular season. The organization added a minor league veteran with some international experience to fill one of those spots last week.

On Monday of last week, the Brewers agreed to a minor league contract with free agent outfielder Chavez Young. The 26-year-old is a seven-year minor league veteran who has played with two different organization and has two seasons of Triple-A experience.

Young, who was born in the Bahamain city of Freeport, was originally drafted out of high school in the 39th round (back when there were that many) of the 2016 draft by the Toronto Blue Jays. He was in that organization until last offseason when he was sent to the Pittsburgh Pirates in the trade that netted them pitcher Zach Thompson.

Young has played in 575 career minor league games over seven seasons with the two organizations. He has accumulated a .256/.338/.391 slash line over that time with 107 doubles, 29 triples, 36 homers, and 244 runs batted in.

One element of Young's game that likely caught the Brewers' eye is his speed. Young has 151 career steals to his name while playing in the minors. He has had at least 20 steals in every season since 2018 (excluding the lost 2020 season) including 32 just last season between Double-A and Triple-A.

Another is one the Brewers are famous for loving: flexibility. Young has played all three outfield positions in his minor league career with a majority of his games coming at the key center field position.

Young was able to get a little international exposure a year ago when he played for the Great Britain team in the World Baseball Classic. He went 4-for-13 over four games in the tournament, collecting a hit in the team's opening round game against Team USA and swiping three bags in their next game against Canada. He would end up leading the entire tournament with five steals despite Great Britain not making it out of the first round.

Young currently shows as being assigned to the Triple-A Nashville Sounds according to his milb.com page. That's a great place for the young outfielder to gain additional minor league experience considering how that Brewers level has performed in recent seasons.