I'm looking forward to what should be a fun World Series, and my prediction is Brewers over Rays in six games. Let's start today's Pipeline Inbox with a related question ...
Not only did the Brewers and Rays finish with the best records in their leagues before winning pennants, but they also ranked second and third in MLB Pipeline's midseason farm system rankings. The present is glorious and the future is bright for both franchises.
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That all-prospect matchup would be loaded, with 23 of the 24 players below ranking in the upper half of our organization Top 30s. The lone exception is Brewers right fielder Sawyer Strosnider, who ranks 16th on that list:
C: Marco Dinges (MIL No. 14) vs. Caden Bodine (TB No. 3/MLB No. 46)
1B: Andrew Fischer (MIL No. 5) vs. Taitn Gray (TB No. 6/MLB No. 97)
2B: Luis Peña (MIL No. 2/MLB No. 19) vs. Cooper Flemming (TB No. 5/MLB No. 75)
3B: Brady Ebel (MIL No. 4/MLB No. 93) vs. Taj Marchand (TB No. 12)
SS: Jesús Made (MIL No. 1/MLB No. 1) vs. Grady Emerson (TB No. 1/MLB No. 12)
LF: Josh Adamczewski (MIL No. 3/MLB No. 85) vs. Theo Gillen (TB No. 2/MLB No. 16)
CF: Braylon Payne (MIL No. 6) vs. Austin Overn (TB No. 9)
RF: Sawyer Strosnider (MIL No. 16) vs. Jacob Melton (TB No. 8)
DH: Luke Adams (MIL No. 13) vs. Nathan Flewelling (TB No. 4/MLB No. 63)
SP: Bishop Letson (MIL No. 8) vs. Ty Johnson (TB No. 10)
SP: Josh Knoth (MIL No. 9) vs. Jose Urbina (TB No. 11)
SP: Tyler Hardin (MIL No. 7) vs. Anderson Brito (TB No. 15)
Tampa Bay has six Top 100 Prospects to Milwaukee's four, the Brewers get the edge at five of the nine positions in the lineup and a slight advantage in pitching. I'd favor Milwaukee in a single game, and I'd predict them to win a World Series between these squads in seven games.
Who is one prospect who would’ve gotten you fired as a GM because you believed in them too much but they never were able to figure it out? I think of Franklin Perez. Back when I was l younger, I thought he was going to be the next Tigers ace. -- Garrett P., Killen, Ala.
Oh, there are several. I'm not even going to count pitchers who got hurt, such as Jesse Foppert, Greg Miller, Roger Salkeld and Brien Taylor. They all had ace potential, yet Foppert and Salkeld combined for a 5.37 ERA in 311 2/3 big league innings while Miller and Taylor never got there.
I still contend that Drew Henson could have been a star had he focused on baseball -- he looked great as a 19-year-old in High-A -- but that didn't happen. In terms of guys who stayed healthy and fell well short of expectations, I have several huge misses.
Rubén Rivera and Jesús Montero dominated the Minors and played well in their first brief stints with the Yankees, then got traded and fizzled. Both were bad-makeup guys, which we didn't know at the time.
Brandon Wood and Jarred Kelenic also starred in the Minors but struggled when they first reached the big leagues and were too hard on themselves to ever recover. I rated Kelenic ahead of fellow Mariners outfielder Julio Rodríguez, and I was dead wrong.
Jackson Holliday and Kristian Campbell are two more recent prospects who worry me. Holliday looked like a future batting champion in the Minors, and he has slashed .229/.300/.354 with much more miss and weak contact than expected with the Orioles. Some clubs ranked Campbell as the best prospect in baseball after his 2024 breakout and he starred with the Red Sox in 2025, then immediately nosedived afterward and didn't even surface in Boston this year.
My best guess is that the Twins will have the most rookies on their Opening Day roster, with four. Shortstop Kaelen Culpepper and outfielder Walker Jenkins should be everyday players, outfielder Emmanuel Rodriguez will be pushing for at-bats and right-hander Marco Raya could claim a bullpen spot.
The Cardinals and Mariners also could make a run at top honors. Outfielder Joshua Báez, catcher Leo Bernal and left-hander Quinn Mathews all could win regular roles, while lefty Cooper Hjerpe or right-hander Tekoah Roby could find jobs on the pitching staff.
Left-hander Kade Anderson, second baseman/outfielder Michael Arroyo and outfielder Lazaro Montes all factor prominently into Seattle's 2027 plans. They could be joined on the Opening Day roster by right-hander Charlie Beilenson or infielder Brock Rodden.
Chourio's floor stands out more than his ceiling, which isn't as lofty as his older brother Jackson's. Signed by the Guardians for $1.2 million out of Venezuela in 2022, he bounced back from a 2025 season marred by a shoulder strain to bat .274/.376/.408 with nine homers and 42 steals in 115 games between High-A and Double-A at age 21.
Chourio -- the Guardians' No. 5 prospect -- has four tools that grade as solid or better. His patient approach and bat-to-ball skills translate into advanced hitting ability, he's a plus runner with basestealing aptitude and he's a quality defender with a strong arm in center field. But like many of the best players in Cleveland's big league lineup and farm system, he's a markedly hit-over-power guy.
He's still young and perhaps can get stronger, but Chourio's nine homers this year represent a career high and he owns a .380 slugging percentage during five years in the Minors. He can get too passive at times, generates so-so exit velocities and doesn't drive the ball in the air consistently. He'll probably max out at 10-15 homers per year in the Majors, so his ceiling is more as an everyday player than a star.