The surprise placement of starting pitcher Colin Rea on waivers can be seen as acknowledging financial uncertainty due to the Bally Sports Network collapse.

But that’s possibly too simple of a take that ignores the growing strength of the Brewers in a crucial part of any Major League Baseball franchise.

That’s the depth in their farm system, which arguably makes their inability to play in the free agent pool an inconvenience instead of a serious issue.

So, what positions likely have a lot of contenders fighting to make it to MLB with Milwaukee? Let’s take a look.

Okay, let’s get this out of the way: Willy Adames said he would take less money to stay in Milwaukee, and the Crew could channel the spirit of Bobby Bonilla to help keep him.

It gives the Brewers a slim chance to keep Adames in Milwaukee. Put that possibility aside for the sake of this discussion.

Because in the next year or two, the Brewers could have a lot of choices to make.

Cooper Pratt reached Double-A Biloxi in 2024, where Eric Brown Jr. had a rough, injury-plagued season where he didn’t crack the Uecker line.

Vinny Capra had a decent season in Triple-A Nashville. Freddy Zamora, Ethan Murray, and Casey Martin had rough seasons at Biloxi.

The real logjam is in the lower minors, where Eduardo Garcia had a bit of a breakout, and Jadher Areinamo had a real breakout in High-A Wisconsin. At the same time, Jesus Made and Luis Pena flashed dynamic offensive profiles in the DSL, overshadowing Jorge Quintana.

Keep in mind, these players are behind Joey Ortiz and Brice Turang, even though the latter seems entrenched at second base, where he won both the Gold Glove and the Platinum Glove.

Third Base

Should Joey Ortiz slide over to shortstop to replace Adames, the Brewers will need a new third baseman. Again, the team will have a lot of potential choices to fill that hole, both short-term and long-term.

We start with Tyler Black (who mostly played first base in 2024 but had a solid defensive performance in 2023) as perhaps the front-runner if the Brewers want an in-house short-term option.

Mike Boeve and Brock Wilken, who reached Double-A Biloxi, could be added to the mix. Boeve is arguably ahead of his fellow 2023 draft classmate.

Just below them, there’s Luke Adams, Juan Baez, and Eric Bitonti, who reached full-season professional ball – all of whom have flashed some very good offensive tools.

Wilken arguably had the roughest year of the bunch, while Black wasn’t helped by spending time on the Milwaukee-Nashville shuttle.

The former showed a three-true-outcome profile in 2024, albeit he struggled to reach the Uecker line, while the latter is arguably somewhat deficient in power but brings good contact-hitting skills, OBP skills, and speed.

Boeve and Baez look to have excellent hit-for-contact tools and some decent pop, while Adams and Bitonti’s profiles are more akin to three-true-outcome hitters, though Adams has also been a legitimate threat on the basepaths.

Some players could move across the diamond, as the Brewers have few blue-chip prospects at first base (Ernesto Martinez and Wes Clarke are the best options in the upper minors).

Starting Rotation

The surprise placement of rotation mainstay Colin Rea on the waiver wire can best be explained by listing the starting pitchers in Double-A or higher that are not currently on the 40-man roster: Chad Patrick, Shane Smith, Jacob Misiorowski, Logan Henderson, K.C.

Hunt, Brett Wichrowski, Nate Peterson, and Tate Kuehner. That’s just from Double-A and Triple-A; of those eight pitchers, only one had an ERA above 4.00.

In that sense, it’s easy to understand why Colin Rea was waived and Frankie Montas’ option was not picked up. The Brewers have lots of rotation options in the upper minors.

That’s before considering the fact that the Brewers start with Tobias Myers, Freddy Peralta, Aaron Civale, DL Hall, Aaron Ashby, Brandon Woodruff, Robert Gasser, and Carlos Rodriguez on their 40-man roster.

Overview

When it comes to potential holes, the Brewers have a lot of options to address them on the farm. These internal options make filling holes a lot easier, especially with the uncertainty of broadcast revenue hanging over the team’s payroll.

But these will be fun battles to watch, and each player involved can make a good case to be the one who stays.