Baseball America has released their selections for the top 10 prospects in the Milwaukee Brewers’ minor league system.
The Milwaukee Brewers have seen quite a bit of talent come up through their minor league system. Recently, the Brewers have concentrated on adding impact bats during the draft and this has allowed them to trade for impact pitching. The numbers for their starting pitching haven’t boded well for them as of late. In 2009 they finished with the second-worst starters ERA (5.37) in the majors and a record of 80-82. They do have a strong group of talent that has allowed them to stay competitive in recent years. They have finished over .500 in 3 out of the last 5 seasons with one playoff appearance in 2008 losing 3 games to 1 against the Phillies who went on to win the world series.
With top shelf talent in Ryan Braun, Prince Fielder and Yovani Gallardo the Brewers have a bright future. Now the key is to be able to build some impact players to fill in the gaps around these three players. Manny Parra has shown a lot of potential when he hasn’t be hurt. Unfortunately Ricky Weeks has done nothing to help his case. He has either performed poorly, or when he does show hints of his talent, ends up going on the DL. The main issue in Milwaukee has been pitching. They have developed a number of talented players (Ben Sheets, Yovani Gallardo, Manny Parra) or traded for impact arms which seem to leave after the season (C.C. Sabathia) and this past draft scouting director Bruce Seid specifically addressed the lack of upcoming arms in their minor leagues system by adding Eric Arnett and Kyle Heckathorn.
Unfortuantely, the majority of the talent in the minors remains on the offensive side of the ball. They are counting on Alcides Escobar to be their everyday shortstop now that they traded J.J. Hardy to the Twins for centerfielder Carlos Gomez. Casey McGehee has a strong grasp on the hot corner after putting up good numbers for them in 2009. Things are looking good for the Brew Crew in 2010 but they must get a solid veteran starter who will stick around for more than a few months.
Baseball America’s Top Ten List of Brewers Prospects
- Alcides Escobar, ss
- Brett Lawrie, 2b
- Mat Gamel, 3b
- Eric Arnett, rhp
- Jonathan Lucroy, c
- Kentrail Davis, of
- Zach Braddock, lhp
- Lorenzo Cain, of
- Jake Odorizzi, rhp
- Kyle Heckathorn, rhp
