The Amato Report - Brewers
- Jim Santora
- 2 days ago
- 3 min read
After a successful first season with the Brew crew and racking up way more wins than anyone thought, the Crew had a mostly quiet offseason with a ton of draft stock to play with. Can they build on their 'successful' season and continue this rebuild?
NOTABLE OFFSEASON TRANSACTIONS
Acquired: Blaze Alexander, Pedro Pages, Sonny Gray
Departed: Jordan Beck, Connor Norby
Strengths
As noted above, draft picks. The Brewers have 5 picks through the first 3 rounds, including #3 overall and #7 overall. These picks will be tremendous for the Brew crew. I guess the question is do they go prospect with that #7 overall? Or best overall value in the card? I think we all know #3 will likely be between Rafael Devers, Nick Pivetta or Drake Baldwin. Or maybe even the Miz!
Kyle Stowers is the notable piece on offense; you probably didn't know, but he had a .912 OPS before getting injured in late August. Isaac Paredes is probably the best infield piece, and had nice reverse splits against RHP this year (and they gave him a 2 at 3B??). Jackson Chourio should have a solid 2nd year campaign, although he did way better against LHP this time around (<.300 OBP vs RHP gross). There's a lot of 'decent' players with JP Crawford and Gavin Lux that should help move baserunners along. Heliot Ramos is a solid LF option, just don't look at his 4 range rating. I thought the Pedro Pages trade was good in case the Brewers can't nab a catcher early (Hmmmmmmmmm).
Opportunities
Carlos Rodon is the ace - which is a good card btw - but I don't know if I want to start the year with this guy as my #1. Sonny Gray was a good acquisition as he has reverse splits. But the rest of the staff is...interesting. The bullpen is middle of the road, led by Anthony Bender, who I drafted in the 2nd round probably 5 years ago lol...time flies.
If I was the manager I would have traded Stowers. Can he possibly repeat a .900 OPS? Can he even do .800? Steamer is giving him a .780 OPS, which I think is fair, but I think the sophomore slump is going to find him, again all subjective. I would have sold high on that card in a heartbeat, especially thinking this is another rebuild year for the Crew. But there's
always the deadline!
Draft day strategy
My guess is that they go catcher early, whether that is Drake Baldwin or someone else (Reese McGuire and his 16 OB units and 8 BP homers!). With 4 picks in the first 2 rounds, there's a prospect waiting to be taken by this manager 10000000%. Sal Stewart? Jonah Tong? Brandon Sproat? You bet this manager has looked at their Baseball America pages more than you think.
Depth is needed at SP and 3B and a few high leverage bullpen arms could be used. The Brewers have the picks to make all this happen.
Projected lineup (as of now vs RHP)
C - Pedro Pages
1B - Wilmer Flores
2B - Matt McLain / Blaze Alexander
3B- Isaac Paredes
SS - JP Crawford
LF - Heliot Ramos
CF - Jackson Chourio
RF - Kyle Stowers
DH - Gavin Lux
Projected rotation
Carlos Rodon
Jameson Taillon
Sonny Gray
Bailey Falter
I refuse to put Andrew Heaney on this list
Keep an eye on these players in 2026 (in real life)
Matt McLain - separated shoulder destroyed Tony's dream of his early breakout, but this 'prove it' year is good for Jordan...it'll be a monster card or you can simply move on
Jackson Chourio - I mean, the kid is 21 but there's an Acuna breakout waiting here...it's just a matter of time
Zac Veen - a victim of the "added 45lbs of muscle" in the offseason when interviewed in spring training (as someone who has been lifting for years, I assure you, 45lbs is not humanly possible in 3 months...I WISH). Not sure where he finds time in the OF, but don't forget about this kid...he can rake...and especially in Coors.
Victor Vodnik - throws 100mph easily, but plays in Coors...I think there's a random breakout year waiting for this kid. The Rockies always seem to have one of them.
2026 projection based on Ed's power rankings: 11th place (6.85 overall score)
Unfortunately, I agree with the power rankings. There's just too much going on with this roster to really be competitive, but everyone knows this wouldn't be a one-year rebuild.
Jordan will compete his tail off, which will keep him in a lot of games, but ultimately the Crew will be sellers. But they are on the right track with youth, picks, and some tradeable pieces to stock up for next year's draft. But who knows they proved us wrong last year and maybe they'll do it again.
