Brewers Must Make 'Tough Decision' On 27-Year-Old's Future In Milwaukee

It's a big week for 40-man roster calls...

Jul 19, 2023; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Milwaukee Brewers logo patch on the jersey of catcher William Contreras (24) against the Philadelphia Phillies Citizens Bank Park. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-Imagn Images | Eric Hartline-Imagn Images

The Milwaukee Brewers' roster is in a good place heading into next season, but they still have tough decisions to finalize this week.

Tuesday is the deadline to protect eligible prospects from the Rule 5 Draft, which takes place next month at the winter meetings. Milwaukee already protected one of its prospects, righty Coleman Crow, by adding him to the 40-man roster on Nov. 3.

Crow's addition put the Brewers at 39 players on the 40-man, so in theory, they have just one more spot to give up (if they want to add more, they'll need to designate someone else for assignment). Which player, if any, could that be?

Will Brewers protect RHP Blake Holub from Rule 5 Draft?

On Sunday, Jim Callis and Jonathan Mayo named the "toughest Rule 5 decision" for every team, and for the Brewers, the experts chose 27-year-old right-handed pitcher Blake Holub, who is unranked in the team's minor-league system.

"Acquired from the Tigers in November 2023 in a straight-up swap for Mark Canha, the 6-foot-6 right-hander first reached Triple-A Nashville in 2024 and posted a 3.70 ERA with 53 strikeouts and 31 walks in 41⅓ innings," wrote.

"He’s a two-pitch reliever with a 93-95 mph cutter and a 84-86 mph slider, each of which had whiff rates of 29-30 percent in ‘25. Holub comes with nearly 7 feet of extension and generates a ton of ground balls (50.5 percent last season), which could interest some Rule 5 clubs, but would need to throw more strikes to fit immediately into an MLB bullpen."

Holub is something of a classic Rule 5 candidate, because he's at an age where he's clearly ready to make his major league debut if he's ever going to amount to an important player. A team with openings in its bullpen could love Holub's projections and snag him, because importantly, he'd be returned to the Brewers unless he spent the whole season on that team's major league roster.

Leaving Holub unprotected wouldn't guarantee the Brewers would lose him, but it would be a major vote of confidence in the big righty if they granted him that last current vacancy on the 40-man.

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