Jake DiCesare has gained the reputation the past few seasons as being one of the best third baseman in the game and largely he has earned this. But at age 30 he has also proven to be one of the most injury prone players in the game, particularly experiencing chronic knee issues. And if the Brewers scouting staff is to be believed, he may be in for a steep decline soon in on the field performance even when healthy.
For those reasons primarily, but also with the team wanting to give
Craig Hoover a chance to show that he is ready to be the starter at third, where he provides elite defense. With his line drive hitting profile and decent bat tool (at least as the scouts see it) the hope is that given the opportunity and a bit more experience he can blossom into at least a very capable big league ballplayer.
But another factor is that the team did decide to buy out the last season of long-time starting catcher Zacarias Martell's contract and El Paso offered the Brewers 25-year old catcher
Willie Ortega, who is a gifted defender behind the plate and has the potential to be at least near league average offensively at the plate. He is also considered a dedicated, hard working professional.
In addition to Ortega, the Brewers got 23-year old outfielder
Eric Dougherty, who our scouting staff thinks is better than he has been given credit for nationally, with a plus bat, including potentially elite ability to avoid striking out (though not a great propensity to draw a walk), with plus defense in left and a chance to be a quite capable center fielder, and good raw speed, though just average skills on the base paths. In addition, he has the reputation for a great work ethic and low greed. He'll start his Brewers career at AA Nashville and is already developed enough that his floor is almost surely that of a 4th outfielder while his ceiling is to be a solid outfield starter in the big leagues.
The third player the Brewers got was a 23-year old left-handed reliever with some slight potential, but most likely will be organizational filler.
In addition to DiCesare, the Dawgs get 25-year old catcher Casey Davis, who is due for a chance to crack a big league team as a pretty fair backup catcher but was not likely to make the Brewers club. The Dawgs also get the very young (turned 18 in August) infielder/outfielder Federico Martinez, who has plus power potential and is a very good base runner but has very little else to recommend him as a potential big league player.