5 Prospects the Brewers That Could Be Attractive Trade Chips at 2025 Trade Deadline

5 Prospects the Brewers That Could Be Attractive Trade Chips at 2025 Trade Deadline originally appeared on Athlon Sports.

A strong farm system is the key to the Brewers remaining successful year in and year out. Milwaukee doesn't like trading a lot of their top talent, but in order to get good players, you have to be willing to give up good players.

The Brewers already traded away one of their top prospect trade chips earlier this year in Yophery Rodriguez to get Quinn Priester. As the July Trade Deadline now approaches, the Brewers are going to have to trade from their farm system a little more if they plan to bring in any additions to bolster the big league club.

Here are five Brewers trade chips from the farm system that could be in demand from other teams during trade talks.

1. 1B/LF Tyler Black

Tyler Black has been a highly rated prospect coming up through the Brewers system since they selected him out of Wright State in 2021. The question always was, what would his defensive home be?

The Brewers appear to believe Black's best defensive fit is at first base. He has some versatility in left field as well, but third base does not seem to be a realistic option and neither does second base. In limited MLB opportunities last year, Black wasn't able to get much traction offensively either, which has left him on the outside looking in on the roster picture.

It didn't help that Black suffered a hamate fracture towards the end of spring training that cost him the first several weeks of the season. To make matters worse, since returning to action, Black is hitting a paltry .130 with a .439 OPS in 15 games in Triple-A Nashville. 

While Black is on the 40 man roster, he doesn't seem to be in the future plans for the Brewers, especially after the acquisition last month of Andrew Vaughn. Black may simply be in need of a change of scenery and an opportunity elsewhere. 

The best way for him to get that is to go on a hot streak at the plate over the next few weeks to build up some trade value. If his offense falters, there's not enough defensive value for him to get another chance and he could fall victim to the same fate as Keston Hiura.

2. 3B/1B Luke Adams

Luke Adams is one of the more polarizing prospects in the entire Brewers system. He's had a swing with a lot of movement, though he has toned that down over the last few seasons, but he has shown an innate ability to get on base and hit for power. 

Adams has been incredibly passive at the plate, being more than willing to take his walks, and hit by pitches, consistently earning OBPs above .400. Yet his batting average has consistently remained low and it remains to be seen how long his passivity will allow him to be productive as he rises to higher levels.

Adams is having a strong season in Double-A Biloxi. His career high in home runs is 11, a number he's hit each of the last two full seasons and in 2025 he's already at that mark at the beginning of July. 

There's still a potentially high reward for Adams, but there's still plenty of risk in his profile. If another team believes strongly enough in Adams' potential, they could target him as a headlining prospect in a trade with the Brewers. 

3. OF Braylon Payne

Trading away your most recent first round pick isn't exactly the most desirable move for an organization, but it's also not unheard of. Recently, the Giants traded away last year's first rounder James Tibbs III in a package for Rafael Devers. Famously, in 2008, the Brewers traded their most recent top pick Matt LaPorta in order to get CC Sabathia.

This is not to say the Brewers will be making a CC Sabathia level trade this year, but you never know what opportunities may arise that could require the Brewers to give up someone like Braylon Payne. 

He's been solid, slugging five homers with 21 stolen bases, a .249 average and .748 OPS in Low-A Carolina. But he also has a 28% strikeout rate and somehow just four doubles. 

It may be in the Brewers best interest to move Payne while his value is still fairly high coming off last year's draft. There are definitely teams out there that were targeting Payne last year and if they can pick him up a year later, they'll likely jump at that chance.

4. RHP Brett Wichrowski

The Brewers are quite well known for their pitching development and other teams around the league are sure to target some of that talent for themselves. Brett Wichrowski is one of those pop-up talents that is an example of why the Brewers are better at developing pitching than just about anyone.

Wichrowski was a 13th round pick out of little-known Bryant University in 2023. Next thing you know, he's showing up throwing a triple-digit fastball and has scouts around the league buzzing.

He lost some steam last year, struggling to maintain his velocity a little and there's some reliever risk. But Wichrowski has looked stronger in 2025, maintaining his velocity a little more, cutting his walk rate slightly, and he has a stellar 2.35 ERA in 11 starts in Double-A Biloxi. 

If I'm another team in trade talks with the Brewers and I want to grab a pitching prospect, Wichrowski is going to be high on my list of targets.

5. SS/2B Jadher Areinamo

Jadher Areinamo continues to just put up big numbers and he's having a career year in 2025 as he's repeating High-A. He's already set a career high in walks, which is important as he's been way too aggressive in his swing decisions thus far in his career. His OPS is over .800 and his power has ticked up as well. 

With those improvements, it would be a great thing for the Brewers to keep Areinamo around, and perhaps promote him to Double-A. However, Milwaukee also has no shortage of other middle infield options that could make it easier for them to part with Areinamo. They made a similar move last year, trading High-A shortstop Gregory Barrios for Aaron Civale.

Areinamo is also Rule 5 Draft eligible this winter and the Brewers have two highly touted middle infielders hot on his heels in Carolina in Jesus Made and Luis Pena. A trade of Areinamo could clear the path to one or both of those young infielders being promoted to High-A. 

The Brewers have plenty of prospects that should draw interest from other teams in trade negotiations this month. They'll have to decide which ones they're willing to part with and for various reasons, these five prospects could be among the ones they're willing to move to improve the big league club in 2025 and beyond.

Related: 2025 Milwaukee Brewers Top 50 Prospects June Update

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This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jul 7, 2025, where it first appeared.