Brewers: Recognizing International Signees of the Past, Present, and Future

Baseballs international signing period started with a bang over the weekend as a ton of prospects committed to ballclubs. The Brewers were no exception as they signed 33 players to start the signing period including two players currently ranked in the top 25.

Signing young ballplayers always comes with a gamble, but you never know where the next wave of talent is going to come from.  For instance, Teddy Higuera is often times regarded as the Brewers best international signee of all-time, however there have plenty other great players throughout the years as well.

In this article, we will take a look at more recent Brewers international signees from the 2000s. Players will be from the past, the present, and the future in a highly coveted prospect currently in the minor leagues.

The Past: RHP Wily Peralta

In 2005, the Brewers signed 16 year Wily Peralta out of the Dominican Republic. He made his professional debut in 2006 at the Arizona complex and eventually progressed through the minor leagues making his eventual big league debut in 2012. He would then go onto to make 120 starts with the Brewers up until 2017.

After leaving the Brewers, he pitched for the Royals in 2018-2019 and most recently the Tigers in 2021. In 2021 he enjoyed a quietly good season where over 93 innings he pitched to a 3.07 ERA.  At 32 years old he may still find himself in a big league role for a few more seasons.

The Present: RHP Freddy Peralta

Most remember Freddy Peralta arriving to the Brewers via the Adam Lind trade with the Mariners in 2015.  However, it’s easy to forget that in 2013 Peralta signed as an international signee with Seattle. At the time of the trade, he had not pitched pasted the rookie level in the minor leagues.

On mothers day in 2018, Peralta made his historic MLB debut in which he struck out 13 Rockies and had a no hit bid going into the sixth inning. He would have his ups and downs over the course of the next few seasons, but pitched well enough to ink a guaranteed five year contract with the Brewers that he signed in 2020.

2021 ended up being a career year for Peralta who had sustained success in the starting rotation and is now looking to build upon that in 2022.

The Future: OF Hedbert Perez

If you’re not familiar with Hedbert Perez, then you have not been paying close enough attention to Reviewing the Brew. Perez is currently the organization’s fourth ranked prospect per MLB Pipeline. He was signed during the 2019 international signing period.

2021 marked the start of his professional career. After initially starting the rookie league, he was promoted to Class-A Carolina, where he just got his feet wet. Overall, he played in 48 games in 2021, had a .276 batting average, and hit seven long balls. The power hitting left fielder seems to be progressing quickly and is on the fast track to the major leagues.

The international signing period is a great time for an organization to acquire talent. Fortunately, in the Brewers case they have had a good number of international players end up playing pivotal roles at the major league level. The next wave of international players is on their way to Milwaukee quickly.