Image via Twitter / Ben Badler
While the Brewers have largely been quiet on this winter’s free agent market, they have invested in their future a little further from home.
Last week a new international signing period opened for amateur free agents and the Brewers were active, signing 26 teenagers from four countries. The headliner in the group was Venezuelan shortstop/outfielder Jackson Brayan Chourio, who MLB Pipeline rated as the #18 prospect eligible to sign. The Brewers had approximately $6.4 million in international bonus money available this winter and spent almost a third of it ($1.9 million) on Chourio.
Jesse Sanchez of MLB.com had high praise for Chourio. “At the plate, the teen shows good bat speed, an understanding of the strike zone and the ability to put backspin on the ball,” Sanchez said. “He can drive the ball out of the park to all fields, especially the opposite field. There’s a chance Chourio’s frame will force him to move to third base or a corner outfield spot, but for now, he’s staying put up the middle.” The fact that the Brewers signed a top Venezuelan prospect is hardly a surprise. They’ve been building inroads into the country for years and also signed one of the top prospects from that nation, shortstop Eduardo Garcia, in 2019.
The process of accurately predicting the futures of international signees is incredibly difficult under normal circumstances. Top prospects largely sign at 16 years old, so scouts and organizations have to attempt to predict how a teenage player will develop physically, how their skills may adapt and grow as they experience a massive change in the quality of opponents and their ability to thrive far from home and in a culture very different from their own.
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This year international scouts had another hurdle to clear: The global pandemic made it increasingly difficult for them to see and scout players. In response to that challenge Major League Baseball pushed 2020’s signing period back from July until last week, but as the world continues to feel the effects of the virus it was still increasingly difficult for teams to see players as often as they would have liked.
Major Investments
Nonetheless, the Brewers have once again made major investments in an array of teenage players and now they face the hard part: turning those players into eventual big leaguers. It’s something they’ve struggled with in recent years.
The vast majority of players signed as international free agents report to the Brewers’ academy in San Pedro de Macoris in the Dominican Republic and start their professional careers in the Dominican Summer League. Orlando Arcia made his professional debut there in 2011, playing in 64 games as a 16-year-old before moving up to a stateside minor league affiliate. In the nine years since Arcia’s departure the Brewers have had exactly one international free agent signee reach the majors: Pitcher Miguel Diaz was there in 2012 and 2013 before being selected by the Twins in the 2016 Rule 5 Draft.
The day where the Brewers break that trend could be on the horizon, however: Two players on Baseball America’s list of the organization’s top ten prospects are international signings Hedbert Perez (#3) and Jeferson Quero (#10). MLB Pipeline also has Perez in their top 10 (#9) alongside Eduardo Garcia (#8). All three players are 18 or younger, however, and none have played a professional game at any level in the U.S.
Those players and the Brewers’ other recent international signees will have the benefit of some new developments within the organization: The club has a new Dominican facility and a new Dominican Summer League manager, having promoted former minor league catcher and coach Fidel Pena to that role in the fall of 2019. Pena is still waiting to manage his first professional regular season game, as the DSL did not play in 2020.
Assuming things eventually get back to normal, however, it’ll be an exciting time to be in San Pedro de Macoris in the years ahead as some of the game’s highest rated young stars take their first steps as professionals.
