7 Milwaukee Brewers ranked in Fangraphs' Top 100 Prospects

I read and review the prospect rankings as they come out, and don’t really give them a lot of weight because I feel personal biases and preferences play too much of a roll in the selections. That, and the unpredictability of how tools will translate into major league production. I have, however, found Eric Longenhagen’s lists the most objective and predictive - er, well as predictive as they can be.

Read the linked article, and if you are unfamiliar with the 20-80 rating system read the linked explanation embedded in it. Eric has mixed in ready or almost ready prospects with long-range minor leaguers to give a snapshot of what we can expect from youngsters in the majors in the next few years. Subsequent snapshots will tell different stories.

Longenhagen has ranked seven Brewers in his top 84 (out of 100), which is of course a fantastic number. There is also an added player in the next fifty (RHP Marcos Diplan) to give us an eighth. And keep in mind that other players in the Brewers’ system that are not ranked could very well make major impacts (Brett Phillips, Mauricio Dubon, Phil Bickford, Trent Clark, and more!).

Here are Eric’s listed Brewers in the top 100:

1. Lewis Brinson, cf (16)
2. Corey Ray, of (20)
3. Luis Ortiz, rhp (57)
4. Isan Diaz, if (58)
5. Josh Hader, lhp (59)
6. Brandon Woodruff, rhp (80)
7. Lucas Erceg, 3b (84)

Josh Hader is a little further down this list than others, but is still rated the second best left-handed pitching prospect in baseball. Corey Ray and Luis Ortiz come in higher than some other rankings; Isan Diaz gets his proper props; Brandon Woodruff gets some love, and then there’s Ercegiggitty - I wonder if the Brewers would have considered Erceg for third this year if the Travis Shaw acquisition hadn’t occurred? And of course, Lewis Brinson is still leading the pack.

Looks good to me. The future's so bright, I gotta wear shades...