The Brewers have signed outfielder Monte Harrison to a minor league deal, reports Todd Rosiak of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Harrison has received an invitation to major league Spring Training.
Harrison, 27, returns to his original organization, as the Brewers selected him in the second round of the 2014 draft. He drew a lot of attention as he moved up the minor leagues due to his speed-power-defense combination. He split 2017 between Class-A and High-A, hitting 21 home runs and stealing 27 bases. That was enough to get him onto Baseball America’s list of the 100 best prospects in the league and included in the Christian Yelich trade prior to 2018.
Unfortunately, mounting strikeout numbers have been an issue for Harrison since reaching the upper levels of the minors. He’s gone down on strikes in more than 30% of his Double-A and Triple-A plate appearances as well as getting punched out at a 48.7% rate in the majors. That latter number is in a small sample of just 76 trips to the plate but also highlights why he hasn’t been given an extended run of play there.
The Marlins released him in March of last year and he signed a minor league deal with the Angels. He did get 14 plate appearances in the big leagues for the Halos but spent most of his time in Triple-A. In 82 games down there, he hit nine homers and swiped 28 bags but struck out in 34.1% of his trips to the plate. He was outrighted in the middle of the season and elected free agency in October.
The Brewers have plenty of outfield options on the 40-man roster, with Yelich, Garrett Mitchell, Tyrone Taylor, Jesse Winker, Brian Anderson and Blake Perkins all in the mix. They also have some highly-touted prospects near the majors, such as Sal Frelick and Joey Wiemer, with Jackson Chourio not far behind. That will probably make it challenging for Harrison to work his way back to the big leagues, though the new rules could potentially work in his favor. The upcoming season will see bans on defensive shifts and limits on pick-off moves, with those changes theoretically making speed and defense more impactful. Should Harrison manage to get onto the roster, he’s out of options but he still has less than a year of service time, giving the club plenty of affordable control over his services.
welcome. back
Anyone else turn off the tv when mad dog comes on MLBN?
Him screaming at the camera for an hour is very irritating
That whole ahhhhhhhhhhh shtick at the beginning is even more irritating, and totally unnecessary.
He reminds me of a dive bar regular that will gladly lecture you about local sports, but never cares to hear the opinions of others.
@Milwaukee-2208 Mad Dog is a NY sports talk legend. Him and Francesca pioneered sports radio talk shows. Judging by your name, you are definetly not a NYer so his screaming may be a lot for you to handle. For any born and raised NYer, his way of talking is normal for the debate-style shows hes a part of
I’m born and raised in NY. The loud New Yorker thing is just what loud, obnoxious NYers say when people call them out. Or they say some B.S. like some family members say like “What? I’m a New York Italian?! We’re all loud and passionate”. No, you are are just narcissist that loves hearing your own voice over that of other people.
You don’t speak for NY. And just because people may be from NY doesn’t give them a pass for being annoying.
I saw Harrison play for the Carolina Mudcats during his last season in the Brewers system before he was included in the Yelich trade. Harrison played center and was flanked by a couple of first round picks in Corey Ray and Trent Clark (now Grisham) in left and right field. Lee and Clark got all the hype, but Harrison had a better season than both of them. In one game I saw Harrison make a Jim Edmond style catch in deep left center. For a big guy, he’s very athletic – reminded me very much of Preston Wilson. I would like to see Harrison finally stick on a roster in some capacity, but he isn’t getting any younger. He’s a true long shot at this point.
Just writing this makes me think that maybe the Brewers don’t actually draft very well, not in the first round anyway. Guys like Lee, Grisham and Huira certainly haven’t turned into impact players at all…
*Meant Ray, not Lee in that last sentence…
Put him at AA and have him work with Chuck Caufield. Teach him how to bunt with line driving it back up the middle
Won the trade!
Dude turned down a football scholarship at Nebraska to sign with the Crew.
Hey, he made $1.8 million before he was even 20.
Was crushed when Milw traded him. Really thought Harrison was going to be special. Maybe he signed back with Milw to retire. Theres no room for him at AAA and I wouldn’t want him around Chourio at AA. Don’t need that K pct jinx.
Keon Broxton 2 baby
Too bad his 2017 minor league season was an outlier and not a career building block. That’s his only better than average season in pro ball