The Milwaukee Brewers are heading into the 2026 MLB Draft with the same thing that has helped power their recent success: a real need to get this one right.
That’s been the Brewers’ formula for years. In a market where free agents keep getting pricier, Milwaukee has leaned hard on the amateur draft to keep its roster stocked with affordable talent.
The payoff is already sitting on the 26-man roster. Over the last eight years, the Brewers have brought in Brice Turang, Garrett Mitchell, Sal Frelick, Jacob Misiorowski, Logan Henderson, Aaron Ashby, Craig Yoho, and Cooper Pratt through the draft, and all eight are currently on the big-league club.
The pipeline doesn’t stop there, either. The Brewers’ prospect group is full of recent draftees who have moved up and made themselves part of the organization’s future, including Andrew Fischer, Josh Adamczewski, Blake Burke, Marco Dinges, Braylon Payne, Bishop Letson, and Luke Adams.
Now the next wave is almost here. The 2026 MLB Draft starts tomorrow at 12:00 p.m.
CT, and Milwaukee will make four picks on Day 1, covering rounds one through four, then another 16 on Day 2 before the draft wraps up. The one thing the Brewers won’t have this year is a supplemental-round selection, after trading their Competitive Balance Round B pick to the Boston Red Sox in the Caleb Durbin-Kyle Harrison deal.
Here’s how their draft board lines up:
Round 1 - No. 25 overall pick
Round 2 - No.
66
Round 3 - No.
102
Round 4 - No.
131
Round 5 - No.
164
Rounds 6-20 - the Brewers will make the 28th selection in each of rounds 6-20
That missing supplemental pick matters. The Brewers traded away the pick they received in February as part of the deal that brought Harrison, Shane Drohan, and David Hamilton to Milwaukee.
That selection was tied to the club’s status as one of MLB’s lowest-revenue and smallest-market teams. The league awards supplemental picks each year to the 10 lowest-revenue clubs and the 10 smallest-market clubs, with those picks landing in Competitive Balance Round A or Competitive Balance Round B.
Teams rotate between those rounds each time they receive one, and the order is based on the previous season’s standings.
Milwaukee has been in this spot before. Last year, the Brewers dealt their Comp A Round pick to the Red Sox in the Quinn Priester trade, but they still had compensatory picks after losing Willy Adames to free agency following a qualifying offer and after not being able to sign 2024 Comp B Round pick Chris Levonas.
This year, with the Comp B Round selection already moved and Brandon Woodruff having agreed to the qualifying offer, the Brewers didn’t pick up any extra compensatory help. That leaves them with just two selections inside the first 100 picks.
That shortage of early capital could shape the way Milwaukee attacks the draft. As Reviewing the Brew’s Tyler Koerth noted back in mid-April, fewer early picks also means less bonus pool money to spread around.
In recent years, the Brewers have often saved money early and used it later on more expensive high school pitchers. That approach may be tougher to pull off in 2026.
Koerth also suggested the tighter draft pool could push Milwaukee toward a college pitcher with its first pick, which would be a notable shift. The Brewers haven’t taken a college pitcher with their first selection since Ethan Small in 2019.
So while Milwaukee still has plenty of options in front of it, the first-round choice could set the tone for the rest of the weekend. An under-slot pick at No. 25 would likely leave the Brewers room to stay aggressive later. An over-slot, highly regarded prospect could force a more measured approach as the class comes together over the next two days.
In Other News...
Brewers Top Prospect Jess Made Just Delivered A Huge Reminder
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Made has still been carrying the kind of profile that keeps evaluators interested even when the hits do not always come in bunches. He has stayed productive in 2026 with a high batting average, a low strikeout rate and enough run production to rank second in RBIs in the Southern League, so a night like this only reinforces the sense that the Brewers top prospect is keeping himself in the middle of the conversation. [Read more 🡒]
Jake Bauers Sparks Another Brewers Win Over Cardinals Before The Break
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Milwaukee took four of five from St. Louis and has continued to stack wins as the All-Star break approaches, a stretch that has kept the club moving in the right direction even with the grind of the schedule. The Brewers have handled the first part of their longest road trip of the season well, and Bauers night was another reminder of how much little plays and timely power have mattered in that run. [Read more 🡒]