Recent Moves may Change Plans for Brewers Top Prospects in Infield, Outfield

Expand

Photo: Brice Turang - Instagram

Brice Turang

Brice Turang

Since the early days of the offseason, the Brewers have known that their chance to contend in 2023 likely depended on production at the major league level from some of their top prospects, but in the last week the names of those prospects have changed.

When the Brewers exercised Kolten Wong’s option for 2023 it seemed like bad news for longtime top prospect Brice Turang. The #21 overall pick in the 2018 draft, Turang has played 377 of his 419 professional games as a middle infielder. The 2022 season was his second year at the AAA level,and he spent the entire campaign there, batting .286 with a .360 on-base and .412 slugging in 131 games. He led the Nashville Sounds in hits (152), runs (89) and stolen bases (34, in 36 tries). With Willy Adames, Luis Urías and Kolten Wong all expected back, however, there didn’t project to be a lot of playing time available for Turang.

Meanwhile, the Brewers’ decision to move on from Hunter Renfroe seemed to be great news for several other Brewers prospects. Former first round picks Sal Frelick and Garrett Mitchell, 2021 breakout prospect Joey Wiemer and recent trade acquisition Esteury Ruiz are all on the doorstep of the majors, and all play nearly exclusively in the outfield. While Christian Yelich remains ensconced in left field, one of those four prospects seemed likely to pick up the lion’s share of playing time in center field (FanGraphs’ depth charts prefer Mitchell) and the others seemed likely to push Tyrone Taylor for playing time in right.

Changing Outlook

In a single transaction, however, everyone’s outlook changed. The Brewers traded Wong to the Mariners, opening up space in their infield, but the primary player they got back is veteran outfielder Jesse Winker.

This move is great news for Turang, who might have the clearest path to the majors he’s had at any point in his Brewers career. Right now in Cactus League play he’d seem likely to see a lot of playing time all over the infield as the Brewers front office evaluates whether they prefer him and Urías on Willy Adames’ left or right. When healthy Adames does not come out of the lineup often but having both Urías and Turang on the roster would give Craig Counsell two viable options at shortstop when or if he needs a backup out there. Turang likely still needs to beat out veteran Abraham Toro for playing time, but Toro hit .185 with a .239 on-base in 109 games for Seattle last season and would seem to be easier to displace than Wong.

In the outfield, however, Winker would seem like a lock to play most days if he’s healthy. He was a career .288 hitter with a .385 on-base and .504 slugging across five years with Cincinnati before going to Seattle and having a clunker of a debut season there, slugging just .344. He played in 136 games for the Mariners but finished the season on the injured list with neck and knee issues. The Brewers are betting on him to be healthy and regain his 2021 form, when he was a National League All Star.

Letting him try to get back on that level, however, likely means holding back some of the prospects the Brewers have been praising at every opportunity for months. Assuming Winker is healthy, he’s unlikely to lose significant playing time in a corner. The Brewers likely already didn’t have enough room on the roster to carry all four of Mitchell, Frelick, Wiemer and Ruiz, but now it’s possible half of that group will end up ticketed for AAA.

It’s still early in the offseason and a lot can change between now and Opening Day, with further moves or injuries altering the discussion or making it entirely moot. At this point, however, some of the Brewers’ top prospects have already had a roller coaster of a winter and seen their potential early career trajectories change significantly in the span of a few weeks.