How much of a youth takeover are Brewers planning?

Is it too early to call Brice Turang the runaway winner of the National League’s 2023 Rookie of the Year and Most Valuable Player awards?

I mean he’s on pace to steal 81 bases, draw 121 walks, hit 40 home runs, score 202 runs, drive in 202 runs and collect 202 hits while hitting .500 with a .900 slugging percentage and .615 on-base percentage. Seems like a no-brainer.

OK, mayybeee four games is too small of a sample size to work from. But Turang’s energetic play in his first week of Major League Baseball is part of what seems to be the story line to follow when it comes to this year’s Milwaukee Brewers.

Sure, the bottom line to follow is always wins and losses. But really, the more fascinating thing to watch over the next six to even 12 months is where the organization decides to go with its roster.

As the Crew enters 2023, the big league roster feels like it’s at that transition point. It’s actually pretty similar to where the Green Bay Packers are at. At what point do both organizations clear out aging veterans, cut salary and start anew.

In the Brewers’ case, the Josh Hader trade from early last August was the first domino to fall in the turnover process. The trade of second baseman Kolton Wong to Seattle was another.

Fans of the team had to wonder this off-season if 2021 Cy Young Award winner Corbin Burnes is the next one after the Brewers low-balled him for a mere $700,000 in the arbitration process. If they don’t extend him soon to a mega-deal, the Brewers will lose contractual control of Burnes after 2024. Same with their other All-Star starter Brandon Woodruff. This year, both remain relatively cheap for their outstanding talents with Woodruff making $10.8 million and Burnes about $10.1 million.

Shortstop Willy Adames is also only under club control through next year. He’s making $8.7 million this year, again not too costly for a middle infielder who’s on the fringe of All-Star status when he’s playing his best. Add first baseman Rowdy Tellez and starting pitcher Eric Lauer to the list of players who can be unrestricted free agents after 2024.

This all brings the discussion back to the spunky second baseman Turang and others, who represent the new wave of talent that has reached the point in its development where it’s time to let them play.

When talking about this group, comparisons are already flying thinking about the group that came up in the mid-2000s and put Brewers baseball back from oblivion. Prince Fielder, Ryan Braun, Rickie Weeks, JJ Hardy, Corey Hart. You could include Ben Sheets in that group though he came up earlier than the others.

The future meets present position group of 2023 includes Turang, centerfielder Garrett Mitchell, who played with the Brewers the last six weeks of 2022 and Joey Wiemer, who is holding down the rightfield spot now due to the hamstring injury to infielder Luis Urias. He was a fourth-round pick by the Brewers in 2020.

Turang was Milwaukee’s first round draft pick in 2018, a year after Keston Hiura, who appears to have flamed out after such a promising start. Mitchell was the top pick in 2020. Look out for outfielder Sal Frelick, the top pick in 2021, who nearly made the club out of spring training, but is waiting in the wings at triple-A Nashville. It would be shocking if he doesn’t get his first taste of the Major Leagues at some point this year.

Then there’s the 19-year-old sensation Jackson Chourio, another outfielder who tore his way through single-A last year and starts this year at double-A Biloxi. He’s the Brewers number-one ranked prospect and top-10 prospect overall.

The possibilities for these youngsters make currently injured outfielder Tyrone Taylor and the declining Christian Yelich look pretty pedestrian. The outfielders in the group all can run like the wind. Turang has played a lot of shortstop, so the infield skills are there and he’s already shown he’s athletic too.

It will be fascinating to watch how this evolves. Where will these guys play when they’re all up with the big club and what veterans will stay to hold it all together? Don’t forget, newly-acquired catcher William Contreras is only 25 with just over one year of Major League experience and is under club control for years to come. He was an All-Star as a rookie last year with Atlanta.

The problem might be Yelich, who could be untradable with his $26 million per year contract that could carry through 2029. The other curiosity is if you look at Brewers’ list of top prospects, there aren’t many pitchers rated very highly. Right-hander Jacob Misiorowski is ranked 10th. He’s a ways off after just being drafted last year. Lefty Robert Gasser, part of the Hader trade, ranks 10th. Ethan Small, who got a cup of coffee last year and was a number-one pick is ranked 14th and starts this year at triple-A. You can’t give up on him yet as a contributor.

But that makes you question what will become of Burnes, Woodruff, Lauer and Devin Williams who reaches free agency after 2025. Freddy Peralta and Aaron Ashby are the starters that have been extended contracts already. Peralta is a known quantity. Not sure what to think about Ashby, who showed flashes last year but couldn’t avoid that one bad inning and finished 2-10. If the young pups develop at the plate and on the field, you’d sure love to have the pitching to go with it.

A lot could depend on how the Brewers do in the first four months this year. The trade deadline is Aug. 1. That’s when Hader was dealt, just over a year away from free agency. Would the Brewers deal Burnes and/or Woodruff if things aren’t going well? Will they next off-season? Does one of them get a mega-deal? I highly doubt both will from the Brewers. What about Adames, who seems like such a key part of the team’s chemistry?

The future is bright. The present is harder to predict. Let’s go with 84-78 and another battle to the end for the final wild card spot.

Matt Frey is the Sports Editor at The Star News.

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