The Rule 5 Draft occurs every December at Major League Baseball’s Winter Meetings. The offseason lockout of 2021-2022 caused the cancellation of the major league phase, although the minor league portion was held as scheduled. To learn more about the minutiae of the Rule 5 Draft, click here.

The Milwaukee Brewers have selected 29 players in the Rule 5 Draft. Not every transaction goes smoothly, as some players get returned to their original teams. Infielder Colin Walsh (2015) was returned to the Oakland A’s in June 2016 after appearing in 38 of the Brewers’ first 46 games, posting a unique batting line of .085/.317/.106 across 63 plate appearances.

In 2006, the Detroit Tigers reportedly paid Milwaukee $75,000 to draft left-handed pitcher Edward Campusano. The pitcher was then traded to Detroit and was in the running for a bullpen spot with the Tigers. In March 2007, Campusano underwent reconstructive elbow surgery and missed the entire season. He was returned to the Chicago Cubs that October.

Right-handed pitcher Eduardo Morlan was chosen in the 2008 Rule 5 Draft from Tampa Bay. He was returned to the Rays the following March. He pitched in Double-A for the Rays in 2009 and in 2010 before getting released two months into the season. The Brewers signed him a day later and assigned him to Double-A Huntsville. Despite posting an ERA of 2.74 and earning three saves in 32 appearances, Morlan was released by Milwaukee after the season.

Not every pick is accompanied by such drama. Here are five picks that turned out well for Milwaukee.

#5 Jeff Bennett, RHP (from Pittsburgh)
Bennett had been the Pirates’ 19th-round pick in the 1998 Amateur Draft. He struggled through six years, finally making it to Triple-A Nashville, which was then a Pittsburgh affiliate. In the 2003 Rule 5 Draft, he was picked fifth by Milwaukee.

Bennett was primarily used in middle relief, low-leverage spots, and appeared in 60 games for Milwaukee in 2004, which ranked third on the staff. He posted a decent 91 ERA+ but had an ugly 5.15 FIP. His best day as a Brewer came on June 18 when he pitched two scoreless, hitless innings while striking out two in a 4-1 win over Minnesota, earning his sixth of eight holds on the year.

Bennett was sent down to Nashville—now a Brewers farm team—for the 2005 season. Despite posting an ERA of 3.03, 13 saves, and a 1.11 WHIP in 49 games for the Sounds, the Brewers declined to offer Bennett a contract after the season. The Atlanta Braves inked him to a minor league contract in early 2006, but the pitcher missed the entire year due to undergoing Tommy John surgery.

He pitched from 2007-09 in Atlanta before being released by the Braves in late July. Tampa Bay signed him, and Bennett appeared in 11 games. After a short, failed stint with the Rays in 2010, he was signed in mid-season by the Brewers. Bennett made 12 appearances in Nashville but was jettisoned after posting an ERA of 11.32.

In the latter days of his career, Bennett pitched in Mexico and a couple of Independent leagues, and even reached as high as Triple-A Albuquerque with the Dodgers before retiring in 2015.

#4 José Mercedes, RHP (from Baltimore)
Mercedes was signed by Baltimore in 1989 as an international free agent. After pitching two seasons in the Dominican Republic, he made his American debut in 1992, pitching in Rookie and Single-A ball, making 13 starts in 16 appearances and posting a 2.29 ERA and a WHIP of 1.20. He moved up to Double-A Bowie in 1993 but struggled in 23 starts with an ERA of 4.78 and 1.60 WHIP. In December, he was selected by the Brewers with the third pick of the Rule 5 Draft.

Mercedes suffered an abdominal strain in spring training and started the season on the 15-day disabled list. He made three rehab starts at Triple-A New Orleans before being activated by the Brewers in late May. Mercedes made his big-league debut on May 31, going 5 1/3 innings while allowing three hits and two walks while striking out two in a long relief stint in a 7-4 loss to Texas. He made 19 relief appearances before the season ended with the baseball strike.

After just five appearances in early 1995, Mercedes went on the DL again, this time with an irritation to the ulnar nerve in his right elbow, and missed the rest of the season. Mercedes started the 1996 campaign at Triple-A New Orleans and was called up to Milwaukee in mid-June, but he only lasted five weeks, as he was waived and assigned to New Orleans.

The following year was make-or-break, and Mercedes performed well for Milwaukee and had his best season as a big leaguer. He led the Brewers with two complete games and one shutout among his 23 starts, along with six relief appearances. His 159 innings were the third-best on the staff. He posted an ERA+ of 123.

Mercedes started in Milwaukee in 1998 but was on shaky ground after six appearances (four starts). After allowing 12 hits and 11 runs in just 3 1/3 innings on May 4, Mercedes went on the 15-day DL with a right shoulder injury. He underwent surgery in mid-July and missed the rest of the season, and was subsequently released by the Brewers in December.

He won 14 games for Baltimore in 2000, but then led the American League with 17 losses the following year. Mercedes pitched in five contests for the Montreal Expos in 2003, his final big-league season.

#3 Alberto Reyes, RHP (from Montreal)
Reyes was a menacing, 6-foot-1, 230-pound right-hander who was signed as an international free agent by Montreal in early 1988. He made his professional debut in 1990 as a starter but would pitch almost exclusively in relief after that. In his five years as an Expo farmhand, Reyes only made it to Double-A Harrisburg before being selected in the 1994 Rule 5 Draft by the Brewers.

In his first season as a Brewer, Reyes made 27 appearances before his season ended in late July due to a torn ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow that required Tommy John surgery. Reyes posted an ERA+ of 206 and a WHIP of 1.11 across a small sample of 33 1/3 innings. He returned in late 1996 and pitched in 13 games as Single-A Beloit before getting called up to Milwaukee in September, where he made five appearances.

Reyes began the 1997 campaign at Triple-A Tucson. He was called up for one game in May and then sent back down. Reyes returned to Milwaukee in late July and finished the season there, posting a substandard ERA+ of 86 and an FIP of 4.19.

The injury bug derailed Reyes’ season again in 1998, although he still managed to make 50 appearances despite missing six weeks late in the season. He ranked third on the staff in games pitched and posted an ERA+ of 109 and a FIP of 4.89.  

Reyes pitched in 26 games for the Brewers in 1999 before getting dealt to the Baltimore Orioles in mid-July for pitcher Rocky Coppinger. Reyes bounced around over the next 10 years, making stops with Baltimore, Los Angeles Dodgers, Pittsburgh, New York Yankees, and St. Louis before finishing his career with two years in Tampa Bay, including posting a career-high 26 saves in 2007.

#2 Ned Yost, C (from New York Mets)
Edgar Frederick Yost III was originally chosen in the second round of the 1974 MLB January draft (Regular Phase) by the Montreal Expos but declined to sign. Six months later, he was selected seventh overall in the June Secondary Phase draft by the New York Mets.

Yost played for four years in the Mets organization and had his best year in 1977 at two stops, batting .297/.358/.521 with 17 doubles and 13 HRs in just 259 at-bats. In December, the Brewers picked Yost with the seventh pick in the Rule 5 Draft.

Yost spent the next two years at the Triple-A level in the Brewers organization (I could not find any details on why he wasn’t required to play in the majors in 1978). Yost began the 1980 season with Milwaukee, and after playing sparingly over the first three weeks, was sent back down to Vancouver. He was recalled in September and got a hit in his first game back, a single off Minnesota Twins pitcher Albert Williams.

In 1981, Yost served as the third catcher behind Ted Simmons and Charlie Moore and got only 27 at-bats, but he did jack three home runs among his six hits. The following year, Yost was the primary backup behind Simmons and hit .276/.324/.429 across 98 at-bats as the Brewers won the American League crown. With less than a week left in the season and Milwaukee battling with Baltimore for supremacy in the American League East, Yost hit a clutch three-run homer in the top of the 9th inning off Boston’s Mark Clear to give the Brewers a 6-3 win. Yost only had one plate appearance in the postseason, drawing a walk in a World Series Game 6 13-1 loss to St. Louis.

Yost started 57 games behind the plate in 1983, still playing behind Simmons. Yost set career highs with runs, hits, home runs, and RBI. After the season, Yost was traded to the Texas Rangers for catcher Jim Sundberg. Yost set a career high in 1984 with 242 at-bats but only slashed .182/.201/.273 and was released after the campaign. Montreal picked him up, but he only got 11 at-bats at the end of the 1985 season. Yost played the next two seasons in the Atlanta Braves organization before retiring.

After his playing career, Yost managed in the minors for Atlanta and served as a long-time coach with the team. He managed the Brewers from 2003 to 2008 and the Kansas City Royals from 2010 to 2019.

#1 Mark Brouhard, OF (from California)
Brouhard was selected in the fourth round of the 1976 January Draft—Regular Phase by the California Angels. In four years in the Angels chain (Rookie, Single-A, Double-A), Brouhard had a combined batting line of .313/.378/.507 with 72 home runs and was named the Double-A Texas League Most Valuable Player in 1979 by virtue of batting .350 with 28 home runs and 107 RBI. Yet the Angels did not add him to their 40-man roster and lost him when the Brewers selected him in the 1979 Rule 5 Draft.

‘Big Bro’ managed to get 125 AB in 1980 with Milwaukee, playing the outfield corners and a few starts at first base. He batted only .232/.278/.400 but did show extra-base power with six doubles and five homers.

In 1981, Brouhard started at Triple-A Vancouver but only played 16 games there before an injury to Paul Molitor led to Brouhard being called back to Milwaukee. He batted .274/.305/.371 across 186 at-bats. He posted a nearly average OPS+ of 99 and legged out a career-high three triples. Brouhard was unable to play in the postseason due to a pulled calf muscle.

The following season, Brouhard started the year in Milwaukee and made a brief detour to Vancouver in August after losing playing time to Charlie Moore and Marshall Edwards. He returned at the end of the month, just in time to make the postseason roster. Although his season wasn’t spectacular, he set a career high with an OPS of .771 and an OPS+ mark of 116.

Brouhard appeared in only one game in the postseason, but what he did in that contest was enough for him to make the top of this Rule 5 list and make him an instant Brewers legend.

The Brewers trailed the California Angels two games to one in the American League Championship Series. Brouhard was inserted in the starting lineup after an injury kept usual starter Ben Oglivie out. Batting seventh and playing left field, all Brouhard did was collect a single, double, and home run, knocking in three runs and scoring four (the latter tying a playoff record). Despite that, Brouhard never got off the bench for the rest of the postseason.

Over the next three seasons, Brouhard mostly split time between Milwaukee and Vancouver, accumulating only 490 big-league at-bats, batting .257/.304/.404 with 14 home runs.

Brouhard finished up his playing days overseas in Japan, along with 55 minor league games back with California, his original organization.

Final Thoughts
Unfortunately, the Brewers have not been able to pick up players such as George Bell, Josh Hamilton, or Roberto Clemente, who became solid players. The Brewers’ list of Rule 5 successes is a short one.

And sometimes a player that you don’t have room for goes on to star for another team. In 2024, Brewer farmhand Shane Smith was lost to the Chicago White Sox and became an All-Star last season.

The Brewers just haven’t been that lucky.

Not many of the players that the Brewers have grabbed in the Rule 5 Draft have turned out to be success stories. Do you have a player that you felt was left off this list? Start the conversation in the comments section below!