As the 2025 MLB Draft quickly approaches, the Prospects Live team wants to make your life as easy as possible. In this series of articles, I'll be providing team-by-team analysis of their recent draft trends, their available draft capital for 2025, any areas of the draft they've heavily targeted, as well as a few names in this year's class that might fit into their historically preferred archetype.
Max Ellingsen
This analysis isn't sourced for the upcoming year, nor is it a guarantee the organization won't pivot from what they've done in the past. Simply put, this article aims to provide an in-depth look at teams and their recent draft classes to try and decipher trends that could help uncover players your favorite team might be targeting. It's far from a perfect science, but I've done my job if it makes things easier to follow on draft day.
Milwaukee Brewers
- 2025 Bonus Pool Value - $13,138,100 (10th)
- Top 100 selections - 20, 32, 59, 68, 94
One of the more creative teams when it comes to draft strategy, the Brewers are always good for mixing things up on draft day and tanking everyone's mock draft. With a bevy of comp picks in this year’s draft, the Brew Crew find themselves with five top one hundred selections in the 2025 draft, providing plenty of ammunition to get funky. It’s never easy to get into the minds of their scouting department, but I’m going to try my darndest to do just that.
2024 Draft Overview
The 2024 draft was a weird one, even for the Brewers’ standards. First rounder Braylon Payne ($1,100,000 underslot) wasn’t on most first round radars, but with an enticing combination of bat to ball and speed, the lefty swinger saved them a boatload of cash while simultaneously providing a nice balance of floor and upside. They followed up with Tennessee first baseman Blake Burke ($600,000 underslot), a polished hitter that produced at the highest level of college baseball, but is defensively limited as a 1B/DH profile. With the massive chunk of change they managed to save with their first two picks, the Brewers tried to have their cake and eat it too, selecting highly touted prep right handers Bryce Meccage ($940,000 overslot) and Chris Levonas, however for one reason or another, Levonas didn’t end up signing, opting to attend Vanderbilt instead. Levonas not signing led to major fall out in this class that left the Brewers scrambling on day three to try and fill out their bonus pool effectively, subsequently leading to four overslot signings in the later rounds. Even with their lost Comp B pick, this was a massive haul for Milwaukee. Marco Dinges ($85,000 underslot), Mason Molina (slot), John Holobetz ($100,000 underslot), and the aforementioned prepsters all have shown tremendous promise thus far. An utterly loaded class.
2023 Draft Overview
Another underslot at the top, the Brewers went with prolific slugger Brock Wilken ($870,000 underslot) in the first, largely betting on his combination of plate discipline and pop to make him a productive third baseman in the professional ranks. Following up with prep righty Josh Knoth ($540,000 underslot) and Omaha third baseman Mike Boeve ($300,000 underslot), the Brewers took a nice chunk of their savings and went for the slugging prep infielder Eric Bitonti ($980,000 overslot) in the third. As if there wasn’t enough upside, after saving some cash with college arms Jason Woodward ($310,000 underslot) and Ryan Birchard ($70,000 underslot), they landed potential first rounder Cooper Pratt ($1,050,000 overslot) in the sixth round. Tack on dynamite reliever Craig Yoho in the eighth for a measly $10,000 bonus and a handful of late round prep players that includes Bishop Letson ($230,000 overslot) and Josh Adamczewski ($100,000 overslot) and you have another exceptional class for the Brewers.
2022 Draft Overview
The 2022 draft cycle was likely the weakest of their three most recent classes, however the Brewers still came away with some big time talent that’s impacting their big league roster. First rounder Eric Brown Jr. ($650,000 underslot) fit the mold of a Brewers first rounder, however he hasn’t panned out with the bat and is struggling to hit at the Double-A level. Second rounder Jacob Misiorowski ($1,220,000 overslot) recently received his big league call up and features massive stuff from the right side out of a huge frame. He’s the headliner in this class and has graced league wide top one hundred lists for several years now. They followed with Robert Moore ($115,000 underslot), Dylan O’Rae (slot), and Matthew Wood ($100,000 underslot), however the biggest coup was landing Luke Adams ($135,000 overslot) in the 12th round. The Brewers’ ability to find high school talent on the cheap is unmatched league wide and is a testament to their elite scouting division.
Early Round Demographics
The Brewers are going to go underslot with their first pick. That is abundantly clear. The type of player they go with, however, isn’t necessarily as big of a slam dunk. They have a fondness for good bat to ball skills and tend to emphasize it over most, however players like Brock Wilken and Eric Bitonti don’t necessarily fit that prototype, instead possessing massive power and a keen eye at the plate. Regardless of general profile, I do expect a bat in the first round that will save them some cash. After that, they’ll likely take a swing or two on high upside preps in the middle rounds that get paid like a top five round talent and supplement those large spends with high floor college talent they can look to develop. The Brewers move money around more than maybe any other team, and I don’t expect that to stop anytime soon.
Late Round Demographics
I know I mentioned it before, but it is truly remarkable how often Milwaukee is able to hit on late round high school players. The Brewers seem to find a legitimate prospect or two every single year with signing bonuses most high schoolers wouldn’t ever consider a competitive offer, giving them an unbelievable advantage when it comes to building depth in their system. Pair that with their good development system and it’s tough to argue the “Milwaukee way” is any different from the optimal way. Take as many shots early as you possibly can, secure a safe middle ground of talent, then aim for upside late and don’t worry about bulk. It’s worked wonders in recent years and has their farm system on the rise.
Names to Know
Charles Davalan, Arkansas OF - The undersized Canadian has supreme bat to ball skills, excellent plate discipline, and some sneaky pop in his bat. He absolutely screams Brewer to me and is one of my favorite player-org fits in this class.
Ethan Conrad, Wake Forest OF - A good blend of hit and power with projection, Conrad missed a significant amount of time this season but possesses excellent metrics and good athleticism. I’m not sure if he’d be a significant money saver, but I could see a world where it happens.
Daniel Dickinson, LSU INF - Dickinson would likely save the Brewers some cash at twenty and provides a good offensive floor with up the middle defensive value. They might even give him a shot at shortstop and see if it works out. He’s a bit down the board, but that’s nothing new for this organization.
Discussion