The August 2 trade deadline will be here before we know it. Although the Brewers have been relying upon a lot of in-house talent this year, it is likely that David Stearns will be looking for ways to improve the major league ball club via trade.
The vast majority of trades performed near the deadline result in the contending team parting ways with prospects within their organization. Over recent years, the Brewers have done a good job at improving their farm system, but odds are they will lose a few prospects via trade this summer.
Let’s take a look at which prospects may be untouchable at the 2022 trade deadline. Keep in mind that there likely is no such thing as an untouchable list. What probably happens is David Stearns listens to offers for his top prospects, but significantly increases the return value.
1) OF Joey Wiemer
The Brewers fourth round pick in the 2020 draft earned minor league player of the year after his impressive 2021 season. He slugged 27 home runs in total and shot all the way up the prospect rankings to become the second ranked prospect in the organization. 2022 has been more of the same, despite facing better competition at Double-A Beloxi. He currently has 15 home runs on the year, has stolen 20 bases, and has been flashing the leather defensively as well.
HOME RUN ROBBERY BY @JWiems17!!! #SCTop10 #ShuckYeah pic.twitter.com/yRKpX1Wbog
— Biloxi Shuckers (@BiloxiShuckers) June 22, 2022
2) OF Jackson Chourio
Chourio was signed in January of 2021 during the international signing period. His play in the minor leagues so far has been outstanding. Playing in Carolina, the Brewers single-A affiliate, he currently has a slash line of .347/.400/.601/1.001. Due to his incredible performance at the plate he was named the minor league hitter of the month during May. He is off to a great start in his professional career and his ceiling is very high.
Highest wRC+ for an 18 year old in full-season A ball (min. 130 PA) since 2007:
184 – Jackson Chourio
172 – Mike Trout
169 – Giancarlo Stanton
164 – Bryce Harper
155 – Wander Franco
154 – Fernando Tatis Jr
151 – Vlad Guerrero Jr
150 – Freddie Freeman
147 – Carlos Correa— Cream City Prospects (@CreamCityPro) June 10, 2022
3) LHP Antoine Kelly
Kelly, a second round pick in the 2019 draft was once a top five prospect in the Brewers organization. In 2020 he ended up having surgery to address thoracic outlet syndrome and struggled mightly upon returning in limited action in 2021. Healthy in 2022, Kelly is back to being dominant and striking batters out. In his best game of the year he generated 30 swings and misses with 13 strikeouts. So far, he has three double digit strikeout games and 84 on the year in 64 innings pitched.
4) OF Sal Frelick
This should be obvious. Frelick is the Brewers top ranked prospect in the organization and it is highly anticipated that he will be a part of the big league club’s future in the next few years. The speedy and athletic outfielder is currently battling a hamstring injury, but is still putting together a nice season after being promoted to Biloxi earlier in the season.
5) OF Garrett Mitchell
Similar to Frelick, the 2020 first round pick is expected to be a part of the Brewers future outfield. An oblique injury has sidelined him since the middle of May, but hopefully he can return the field in the near future and continue to develop.
Follow me on Twitter @tylerkoerth. Follow us @WiSportsHeroics for more great content. To read more of our articles and keep up to date on the latest in Wisconsin sports, click here! Also, check out our merch store for some amazing WSH merchandise!
