My biggest disappointment for the Brewers over the past year is that they haven’t really attempted to get any younger third baseman in their organization. The Dodgers made as many trades on Friday as the Brewers made in all of 2020. Included in the Dodgers two trades was one where they netted 26-year old 3B prospect Sheldon Neuse. Neuse is the exact type of player the Brewers should be adding in hopes of finding their next longer-term solution to their 3B issues. I wish the Brewers would trade for a couple of 3B prospects in order to try to develop one into their future solution at the position.

The Brewers currently have a long-term 3B problem. Even if Robertson has a massive breakout this year, he’s only under contract for 2021 and there is no guarantee the Brewers would be able to keep him. I am a believer in Urias, but he is a middle infielder, not a third baseman.

Here are third baseman between 22-26 years of age that the Brewers should be interested in trading for that in many cases could be obtainable:


Kevin Padlo, Rays, age-24

Report/Reasoning: Ranks as the Rays #18 prospect according to Baseball America, but would likely be top ten in the Brewers system. Average 3B defender with an above average arm. Is someone who struggled early in his career, but has now shown the ability to develop into a true slugger (“the power is real” according to Baseball America). The Rays have Mike Brosseau and Joey Wendle to play at 3B, so Padlo, who is on the 40-man roster, is reaching the point it’s time for the Rays to either give him at bats or ship him to another team to fill a different need. If the Rays instead want to give Padlo a chance then he is someone redundant with Brosseau.


Davis Wendzel, Rangers, age-23

Report/Reasoning: Good defensively. Offensively controls the strike zone and makes quality swing decisions. He currently ranks in the mid-teens in the Rangers organization and their top prospect is Josh Jung who is also a 3B, so he could be obtainable.


Tristin English, Dbacks, age-23

Report/Reasoning: Probably the most unheralded prospect of those named thus far. English is built big and strong, and has shown an ability to hit the ball with a compact swing. He isn’t high up prospect lists (just #23 on the Dbacks list), but he reportedly has good actions at 3B and possesses a monster arm. BA thinks he’s good enough defensively to stick at 3B. He’s actually played around the diamond thus far in his professional career, so he also offers some defensive versatility. He is the exact type of player I wish the Brewers had in their system right now.

Dodgers as a 3B trade partner
The Dodgers have an embarrassment of riches. As mentioned they traded for Sheldon Neuse this week who would’ve been an excellent Brewers target. They already had three third baseman among their top-10 prospects.

Edwin Rios, age-26 (turns 27 in April and is the Dodgers #7 overall prospect per Baseball America) now moves to a backup role and a LHH off the bench. If the DH does come to the NL they should be able to find more at-bats for him.

Kody Hoese, age-23, projects to be a solid future third baseman and is a well-rounded hitter. He is the Dodgers #4 overall prospect according to Baseball America. I would be over the moon if the Brewers found a way to acquire Hoese as their potential future at the position (not for 2021, but a play that could pay off for the future).

Miguel Vargas, age-21, from Cuba, Vargas is the Dodgers #9 overall prospect by BA’s rankings. He isn’t exactly proven and would be riskier than the others mentioned. He projects to have line drive power to the gaps and should rack up plenty of doubles. I don’t think the Dodgers would move him or the Brewers would be as interested, but I wanted to point out just how overflowing the Dodgers are with 3B prospects.

Rockies as a corner infield trade partner
Similar to the Dodgers, the Rockies have a ton of intriguing corner infield prospects. At 3B they have the following, but they may view one of them as the heir apparent to Nolan Arrenado. The Rockies in addition to having 3B prospects have several 1B prospects as well. The Brewers haven’t made a trade with the Rockies since 2004, but if they do ever figure out each other’s phone numbers I think a match could be made.

Colton Welker, age-23, is somewhat of a liability defensively, but is projected to have a very good bat. He held his own as a 21 year old at Double-A, and might not be too far away from the majors. He is the Rockies #7 overall prospect.

Aaron Schunk, age-23, is a former 2nd round pick out of Georgia and probably a player the Rockies would be less inclined to part with since he’s more of an all around player than Welker and has the versatility to play 2B as well.


There are plenty of more possibilities out there as well, but the primary point is I would like to see the Brewers make an attempt to add these type of players to their own system, otherwise third base is going to be an internal black hole for awhile.