The Milwaukee Brewers keep doing what small-market clubs are supposedly not supposed to do: win, and keep winning. At 90-56, they’re on track for a 100-win season for the first time in franchise history, and they’ve already set the bar high after last year’s 97 wins, which still stands as the organization’s best mark.
That success has come without the kind of free-agent spending power their bigger-market rivals can flex, but the results keep piling up anyway. Milwaukee has taken the National League Central in each of the past three seasons and is positioned to do it again in 2026.
Now ESPN has taken notice in a big way. In its annual late-season ranking of baseball’s most talented organizations, Milwaukee jumped all the way to No. 2, behind only the Los Angeles Dodgers.
“Until recently, there was one team everyone wished they could be - the Dodgers - and now there’s the actual team everyone wants to be: the Brewers. They have the deepest list by a good margin because their big league team and upper minors are stuffed with good big leaguers; case in point the minor league leader in homers (Andrew Fischer, with 46) is buried at the bottom of the list.
“The Brewers don’t need high draft picks or the biggest international bonuses or a number of huge dump trades to fuel what they’re doing; they are just beating everyone else, consistently, at everything. Nobody can keep this up forever, so appreciate it while it’s here.”
That kind of language is a big leap from where ESPN had Milwaukee in recent years. The Brewers were ranked 12th in 2022, 21st in 2023, 17th in 2024, and 13th last year.
This time, ESPN gave Milwaukee just one player in its elite tier: Jacob Misiorowski. Three others landed in the “plus” group - Brice Turang, Garrett Mitchell, and Jackson Chourio - even though none of the three made the All-Star team this season.
What really pushed the Brewers up the board, though, was the sheer volume of players ESPN labeled “solid” across the organization, from the majors to the minors. That group included Jesus Made, Cooper Pratt, Logan Henderson, Luis Pena, Aaron Ashby, Kyle Harrison, Joey Ortiz, Braylon Payne, Luis Lara, Christian Yelich, Jett Williams, Abner Uribe, Shane Drohan, Robert Gasser, Brady Ebel, Tyson Hardin, Jeferson Quero, Bishop Letson, Josh Adamczewski, Josh Knoth, Andrew Fischer, Sal Frelick, Luke Adams and Blake Burke.
It’s a mix of familiar major-league names, recent draft picks and prospects still working their way up. And as always, the real test is whether that talent translates when the lights get bright in Milwaukee.
For now, though, the Brewers have earned the benefit of the doubt. They’re the best team in baseball again this year, and ESPN’s ranking says the organization’s pipeline is just as strong as the results on the field.
In Other News...
Brewers Are Still Cashing In On A Trade Nobody Noticed
A trade that barely registered in February has turned into one of the more intriguing baseball deals of the season. The Brewers and Red Sox swapped six players shortly before Spring Training, and every piece involved has already made a Major League impact this year, an unusually strong outcome for a transaction this size in recent MLB history.
For Milwaukee, the deal keeps looking better because Harrison and Hamilton have both provided real value at the big-league level, while Boston has gotten notable production from Durbin. It is the kind of swap that can reshape a roster in quiet ways over time, and it has already become the sort of move front offices will point to when they talk about finding talent others missed. [Read more 🡒]
Brewers Have A Strange New Weakness They Can't Take Into October
The Brewers have spent much of the 2026 season showing a rare unfamiliarity with Major League Baseballs ABS challenge system, and it has become one of the more curious wrinkles in their profile. Milwaukee has challenged pitches less often than any other team, and when it has gone to the system, the results have not been especially kind. Even in a sport built on small margins, this is a phase of the game the Brewers have struggled to turn into an edge.
What makes it more notable is how the problem has shown up across the roster, not just in one spot. Milwaukees catchers have also posted below-average success with the system, which can matter most in the tight late-game moments when a well-timed challenge can change the shape of an inning. For a club with October ambitions, it is a strange weakness to be carrying into the stretch run, especially one that could keep costing them in the very situations where every call feels magnified. [Read more 🡒]
Brewers Farmhand Just Delivered A Rare Performance Fans Will Love
Thomas Pannone gave the Brewers system a night it does not get often, and Triple-A Nashville had every reason to savor it. The 32-year-old left-hander was perfect against Durham, retiring all 27 batters in order while needing just 94 pitches to get through the game. He mixed in eight strikeouts and did it with a fastball that topped out at 91 miles per hour, a reminder that command and feel can still carry a pitcher a long way.
For a journeyman who has spent his career moving through multiple major league and minor league stops, it was the sort of performance that stands out even in a long baseball life. Pannone has made only limited appearances in the majors in recent years, which only adds to the appeal of a night like this for Brewers fans tracking the organization from the bottom up. It is the kind of outing that does not just fill a box score, it forces people to notice a name they may not have thought much about lately. [Read more 🡒]