Off Season Ideas

[Scooterfletcher]

Don’t hate and just don’t post if it’s too early for you.

So we saved our pitching depth and I’d inquire on Jose Ramirez, Zach Neto, and the like this offseason and be willing to make a solid offer for them.   
 

If Woody keeps this up I’d offer him the QO.

Im open to keeping Peralta and taking the comp pick but I’d trade him for a Burnes equivalent value package.

Quintana might be a great cheap guy to resign for the 5 spot even with out pitching depth.  Deal him as we did Cortes at the deadline next year if we have too many good options in our system.

Reese walks and we pay the buyout.   Was a shrewd signing that didn’t go our way enough.

Offer arby to Vaughn and he’s our 1B period.

Quero becomes backup catcher in 26 so we can see if Contreras is tradable after the 26 season. 

[BrewCrew8675309]

See if Jansen wants to stay since Quero has more injury issues. Vaughn to first and if TBlack cannot use a glove at first to split time there, and the team will bring in Lockridge at the deadline over promoting from within, then this offseason it is time to let Tyler take his talents elsewhere. 

 

Sign an all-everything Castro/IKF to have around if Ortiz is just going to be a reserve level hitter. 

 

Bring in all those beautiful starting pitchers and let them have at it!! Looking forward to it.

[Scooterfletcher]

Ai?

[Madhawk23]

I think it's just way too hard to predict at this point which teams are going to be willing to trade good SS or 3B this offseason?

I do wonder though if we try to get Turang's elbow issue figured out this winter, and then see if we can't move him over to SS next year?  I know he's been a gold glove 2B, and with the arm issues - maybe it's too risky of a move to SS....but I do wonder if that's potentially an option?  Then, you could move Durbin over to 2B where he's probably a better fit for - both offensively and defensively.  Which then of course would open up 3B.  What really sucks about 3B is that I'm sure Wilken would have been up in AAA at this point had he not had the knee injury, so we would have had even a larger sample size of ABs at this point...not to mention we would have seen him at a more advanced level where he'd be one step away from the big leagues.  Either way though, not sure if he would have been completely ready to take over the starting 3B job in Milwaukee to start the 2026 season?  So, I think we'd be looking at a scenario heading into next year where we either need to find a 2-year stop-gap at SS or 3B (depending on what they do with Turang).

[Underachiever]

25 minutes ago, Madhawk23 said:

I think it's just way too hard to predict at this point which teams are going to be willing to trade good SS or 3B this offseason?

I do wonder though if we try to get Turang's elbow issue figured out this winter, and then see if we can't move him over to SS next year?  I know he's been a gold glove 2B, and with the arm issues - maybe it's too risky of a move to SS....but I do wonder if that's potentially an option?  Then, you could move Durbin over to 2B where he's probably a better fit for - both offensively and defensively.  Which then of course would open up 3B.  What really sucks about 3B is that I'm sure Wilken would have been up in AAA at this point had he not had the knee injury, so we would have had even a larger sample size of ABs at this point...not to mention we would have seen him at a more advanced level where he'd be one step away from the big leagues.  Either way though, not sure if he would have been completely ready to take over the starting 3B job in Milwaukee to start the 2026 season?  So, I think we'd be looking at a scenario heading into next year where we either need to find a 2-year stop-gap at SS or 3B (depending on what they do with Turang).

Other than hearing he had a sore arm earlier this spring, is there another arm issue I am unaware of?

[Scooterfletcher]

Luke Adams is pretty close to ready for a call up to aaa as well.  Hopefully Ortiz performs better and we can stand Pat at the IF until Pratt, Adams., Wilken, Boeve are ready to compete for a MLB spot.  

[Scooterfletcher]

If we offer Woody the QO and let him walk and deal Peralta for a Burnes type return, might we have the money to pay Schwarber?

Otherwise, I’d love to sign Ha-Seong Kim to a deal.  Others we should consider are Suarez if it’s a 3 year or less deal and then Naylor if (big if) Yelich can play at least half the time in left. 
 

Getting the QO pick for Woody and then some top prospect types for Freddy I think will be the way to go.   Frees up some money too to go after one of these guys .

[TURBO]

18 hours ago, Scooterfletcher said:

Luke Adams is pretty close to ready for a call up to aaa as well.  Hopefully Ortiz performs better and we can stand Pat at the IF until Pratt, Adams., Wilken, Boeve are ready to compete for a MLB spot.  

Burke just got called up to AA, so wondering if Adams gets the bump to AAA?

[ghostdrew]

2 hours ago, TURBO said:

Burke just got called up to AA, so wondering if Adams gets the bump to AAA?

Adams is hurt so not likely he gets moved up at this point

[TURBO]

1 hour ago, ghostdrew said:

Adams is hurt so not likely he gets moved up at this point

Oh crap, totally forgot that...Ok then.

[narwhalattack]

On 8/1/2025 at 6:29 PM, Scooterfletcher said:

If we offer Woody the QO and let him walk and deal Peralta for a Burnes type return, might we have the money to pay Schwarber?

Otherwise, I’d love to sign Ha-Seong Kim to a deal.  Others we should consider are Suarez if it’s a 3 year or less deal and then Naylor if (big if) Yelich can play at least half the time in left. 
 

Getting the QO pick for Woody and then some top prospect types for Freddy I think will be the way to go.   Frees up some money too to go after one of these guys .

I honestly wouldn’t mind if we even extend Woody. His stuff still looks pretty good and he has very good command that I think will allow him to be effective for a while. 

[Branyanisthegoat]

Id trade Freddy, pitchers are too risky, and he has piled up innings the last few years. Burnes was a model of health, until he wasnt. Convert that surplus value into something else.

Not necessarily related to Freddy, but really wanted the Crew to push for Casas from Boston this off-season when his name came up in trade rumors, would love a buy low on him now coming off back to back injury marred seasons, maybe he can be had for pennies. 

They will need a 1B regardless to compete with Vaughn, if he goes through arb the contract isnt fully guaranteed, and prefer its a LH w power. Add a utility piece that can compete with Joey, get Woody back, and add a slew of pitchers I never heard of but turn out to be great, and call it an off-season.

[SF70]

Going to be an interesting offseason with virtually the entire team returning but for Woodruff-Hoskins-Quintana.

Guessing payroll will be near the same or less so not expecting the team to add a higher priced FA with Arby raises, including Vaughn’s $6-7M, eating up most or all the savings on Hoskins.

The team having the best and deepest farm system in the game will come into play at some point and that time could be  next offseason that adds controllable talent if needed.

Next year’s team should be a WS favorite with having a mostly 3-4 years experienced, prime-aged, peaking team positionally with boatloads of controlled SP, and another potentially great bullpen.

[Lathund]

I'm very much in the "keep Freddy" camp. He's only making $8m, Burnes and Hader were due quite a bit more which surely played into deciding who to keep or not. Brewers have a lot of good young pitching, but the pitching staff is better with Freddy than without. Get his performance and mentorship for a season, get at least the ability to talk extension (I don't think it'll happen. Freddy will surely, and deservedly, want to cash in), and get a draft pick from the QO. Yes, trading him gets more than the QO, but enough to outweigh what he'll do? And it's not as if the Brewers don't already have a great farm. 

Now if they sign Woody, then I'd be more open to trading Freddy. But I do think they should keep one veteran leader in the rotation. 

Use the rest of the year to get a better idea of which versions of Oritz and Vaughn you could expect going forward. That decides whether you think those are areas in need of upgrading. But there are also prospects I'm sure they'd not want to block long-term there. SS in particular is a tough position to upgrade should they want to. A big trade for Geraldo Perdomo (My favorite option. But unlikely to be available), Josh Smith (Though defense isn't great) or Otto Lopez perhaps. But there are SS prospects in the pipeline, so doesn't have to be a long-term thing. 

Another area I'd look at is catcher. As in, start looking to the future. Is there a realistic chance of a Contreras extension that makes sense? I suspect not. He'll have 2 years until FA, and that means to start listening to offers. Not shop him, but listen. And how intently you listen has to depend on what other options you have. Quero's injuries have made that much harder to evaluate. Is he the real deal? What do they think of Siegler, Wood? Do they think Dinges can be the catcher of the future a few years down the line? So considering a trade relies on having an internal or external alternative ready to go. If they feel like they do, then you can get an absolute haul for a guy like him. Padres, Astros, Phillies are contending teams that have, or will have, a big need there. At least something to consider, but also nothing wrong with going another year with him and reevaluating. 

However, I wouldn't expect any of those big trades to happen. What I'd look at is infield and outfield depth. Brewers starters are great defenders and they can all play multiple positions. That means you don't really have to have strong SS or CF on the bench. You can have your 1B/RF/DH bat, and your backup infielder doesn't need to be a good defender. So a Willi Castro type guy, and whatever slugger is out there makes more sense than having Monasterio and a Daz Cameron-type. So meaningful bench bats, who can be solid starters when needing to cover for injury. 

With one of Peralta/Woody, Priester, Les Mis, Henderson, Gasser, Patrick, Myers, swingmen like Ashby/Hall, upper minors guys like Crow, Rodriguez, Hardin, Wichrowski, SP looks real good and deep. Finding a veteran like the 2026 version of Quintana is always a good idea, but not something to spend big on. 

This probably sounds weird coming from me (In case anyone reads and remembers what I say here...) and certainly feels weird saying, but I'd look at relievers. They're fickle, they're a lot less impactful than most people think.... but it's also the area easiest to improve. And when you have an already strong team, they'll help turn the run differential into wins. So get at least another elite setup man who can step in for Uribe/Megill when needed. 

The reality is that the Brewers will just do something completely unexpected. They'll, as always, look to find players available for less than the Brewers think they're truly worth, regardless of positional needs, and find a way to make it work. 

[Brewer77]

7 hours ago, Branyanisthegoat said:

Id trade Freddy, pitchers are too risky, and he has piled up innings the last few years. Burnes was a model of health, until he wasnt. Convert that surplus value into something else.

Not necessarily related to Freddy, but really wanted the Crew to push for Casas from Boston this off-season when his name came up in trade rumors, would love a buy low on him now coming off back to back injury marred seasons, maybe he can be had for pennies. 

They will need a 1B regardless to compete with Vaughn, if he goes through arb the contract isnt fully guaranteed, and prefer its a LH w power. Add a utility piece that can compete with Joey, get Woody back, and add a slew of pitchers I never heard of but turn out to be great, and call it an off-season.

Casas sure was an interesting character in the Red Sox Netflix doc. He doesn’t seem like a Murphy type player, but I could be wrong 

[jay87shot]

1) Re-Up Vaughn at least as of now (maybe try to extend if he plays well the rest of the way).

2) Freddy and Koenig to NYM for Ronny Mauricio and Jonah Tong (maybe a lesser prospect or two)

3)Extend Woody maybe 2/40 on top of the mutual 20.

3) Trade Mitchell or Perkins for prospect

4)Extend Turang and Frelick (buy 2-3 years of free agency around 15 per year)

5) Add the usual cheap vets and minor league contract. (C depth, low success high potential pitching)

6) Shop MeGill and Contreras for extreme overpay but no trade unless big package.

1)Sal RF 2)LF/CF Chourio 3)DH Yeli 4)C Contreras 5) 1B Vauhgn 6)LF/CF Collins/Perk/Mitchell 7)2B Turang 8)3B Durbin 9)Ortiz/Mauricio

Bench: Catcher (Quero, Seigler, or cheap vet), Mitchell/Perk, Mauricio, Mone/Seigler/EMJ/Black/cheap vet

Why chang what has been working

Rotation) Woody, Misi, Preister, 2 of Patrick, Gasser, Henderson, Ashby, Hall Tong, CarRod, Crow

Pen: Megill, Uribe, Mears, Anderson, Ashby, Hall, Yoho, cheap vet 

Not much changes, it would be nice to keep Woody or Freddy but we could be OK without. I don't no finances wise what my scenerio comes out to.

[Playing Catch]

They have the best record in baseball, and one of the deepest, if not THE deepest organization, top-to-bottom in baseball. The biggest opportunity to improve, as we all just lived through at the deadline, is to get another infielder, with the following traits:

                                                  IDEAL      ---      realistic...
Good infield defense at SS/2nd/3rd      ---      any corner IF 
   Above league average bat vs. RHP      ---      is a left-handed hitter to spell Ortiz/Durbin/Vaughn
                  Easily acquired/promoted     ---     expensive to acquire

I think the Brewers have been trying to acquire/develop this hypothetical player for a while, most notably in the draft/minors (Turang, Black, (Zavier) Warren, Dunn, Bauers, EMJ, Boeve, Bitonti, Made, Di Turi, Burke, Adamczewski, Seigler, Fischer --- righties Luis Pena, Luke Adams, Brock Wilken, and Pratt).

I suspect they believe in those guys, although unless Made explodes next season, I don't see a guy there that represents an IDEAL candidate, as most of them are probably either 1st or 2nd basemen, or they can't hit well enough to be counted on in a starting role.

20 hours ago, jay87shot said:

Freddy and Koenig to NYM for Ronny Mauricio and Jonah Tong

This guy would represent many of the characteristics. In terms of MLB players that could be acquired, I think it's slim pickings, depending on how strongly the player fits one of those characteristics. I think this is the toughest part about Yelich being a DH.

Maybe there's a deal to be had involving salary relief for a guy like Jake Cronenworth? Luis Garcia Jr.? Scooter's favorite, Brett Baty?

[BrewCrew8675309]

On 8/3/2025 at 2:52 AM, ghostdrew said:

Adams is hurt so not likely he gets moved up at this point

That is why I am proposing the Brewers don't address a direct need but make this trade anyway...

 

DLHall and Yoho for Tre Morgan 1B TB and a AA or A starting pitcher to be named later

Morgan is a silky smooth LHB that does not strike out a lot (...Brewer already). He is stuck behind Aranda and Xavier Isaac. Morgan and Vaughn platooning would add insurance in case the other falters and be cheap at it. Morgan has some experience in the outfield too (like a rich man's Bauers). TB and MKE do enough deals to know each other well enough to make this happen.

[ghostdrew]

1 hour ago, BrewCrew8675309 said:

That is why I am proposing the Brewers don't address a direct need but make this trade anyway...

 

DLHall and Yoho for Tre Morgan 1B TB and a AA or A starting pitcher to be named later

Morgan is a silky smooth LHB that does not strike out a lot (...Brewer already). He is stuck behind Aranda and Xavier Isaac. Morgan and Vaughn platooning would add insurance in case the other falters and be cheap at it. Morgan has some experience in the outfield too (like a rich man's Bauers). TB and MKE do enough deals to know each other well enough to make this happen.

Intriguing but I need more than Morgan for a valuable lhp bullpen arm in hall .Maybe a straight up yoho  for Morgan might be better.

[Scooterfletcher]

Yeah, you definitely don’t need to trade both Hall and Yoho for Morgan.   More likely someone like Carlos Rodriguez is enough for him by himself. 

[Beaugie]

Not sure who it could be, but we desperately need a power bat anchor. The team is playing flawless now but it's hard to always rely on stringing together hits without a true heavy hitter. We don't really have one in the minors. If Yelich didn't eat up so much DH time it would be fun to go after a big bat like Schwarber or Alonso but we know they will go to Boston and NY or LA and be overpaid for the most part. 

Brewers bargain bin shopping:

I'd honestly go after Tyler O'Neill. He can DH and fill in the OF when needed to keep his body more fresh since he seems to always get injured. Shouldnt cost a ton and legit 30+ HR power.

 

Ryan O'Hearn also would be a good choice, smart hitter + good fielder, versatile.  Takes walks and doesn't strike out much. Plus we could put him at 1st and platoon him with Vaughn if needed. 

 

I don't think we do much aside from those types of bats, I don't see us signing a SS/3B/2B the options aren't great so they will likely have inflated price tags for the upper tier FA. 

 

Obviously we will at least a couple RP, hopefully Devin implodes in NY the second half and wants to come home haha. Otherwise just stay the course and grab value guys and develop the rest.

 

I'd offer Woody a deal with each year having a mutual option if that's even remotely close to what he could get. If he wants a ton more let him walk. 

 

Keep Freddy unless a great offer comes up. The return for Burnes was underwhelming (edited to remove Durbins name, since Burnes was for Ortiz and Hall) I'd rather take a shot at extending him or taking the comp pick 

[ghostdrew]

2 minutes ago, Beaugie said:

Not sure who it could be, but we desperately need a power bat anchor. The team is playing flawless now but it's hard to always rely on stringing together hits without a true heavy hitter. We don't really have one in the minors. If Yelich didn't eat up so much DH time it would be fun to go after a big bat like Schwarber or Alonso but we know they will go to Boston and NY or LA and be overpaid for the most part. 

Brewers bargain bin shopping:

I'd honestly go after Tyler O'Neill. He can DH and fill in the OF when needed to keep his body more fresh since he seems to always get injured. Shouldnt cost a ton and legit 30+ HR power.

 

Ryan O'Hearn also would be a good choice, smart hitter + good fielder, versatile.  Takes walks and doesn't strike out much. Plus we could put him at 1st and platoon him with Vaughn if needed. 

 

I don't think we do much aside from those types of bats, I don't see us signing a SS/3B/2B the options aren't great so they will likely have inflated price tags for the upper tier FA. 

 

Obviously we will at least a couple RP, hopefully Devin implodes in NY the second half and wants to come home haha. Otherwise just stay the course and grab value guys and develop the rest.

 

I'd offer Woody a deal with each year having a mutual option if that's even remotely close to what he could get. If he wants a ton more let him walk. 

 

Keep Freddy unless a great offer comes up. The return for Burnes was underwhelming (Durbins been solid) I'd rather take a shot at extending him or taking the comp pick 

Return for burnes  was Ortiz and Hall. Durbin was for cortes.

[Beaugie]

22 minutes ago, ghostdrew said:

Return for burnes  was Ortiz and Hall. Durbin was for cortes.

Yes good call, brain fart. Durbin and Cortes were for Devin. Makes my point even stronger. That's a gross package (Hall+Ortiz) for a #1 pitcher even for just a season 

[sveumrules]

8 minutes ago, Beaugie said:

Yes good call, brain fart. Durbin and Cortes were for Devin. Makes my point even stronger. That's a gross package (Hall+Ortiz) for a #1 pitcher even for just a season 

Burnes put up 4.6 rWAR in his lone Baltimore season.

Ortiz is up to 3.9 WAR and Hall is at 0.5 rWAR so far with the Brewers.

They have already almost equaled Burnes production with another eight years of combined team control remaining.

Shedding Burnes salary was also probably needed to accommodate Hoskins on the payroll last year.

[Beaugie]

8 minutes ago, sveumrules said:

Burnes put up 4.6 rWAR in his lone Baltimore season.

Ortiz is up to 3.9 WAR and Hall is at 0.5 rWAR so far with the Brewers.

They have already almost equaled Burnes production with another eight years of combined team control remaining.

Shedding Burnes salary was also probably needed to accommodate Hoskins on the payroll last year.

My point is he's seemingly replacement level, Hall is far from anything special. Ortiz had a nice season last year and hopefully that's his norm but it's still an underwhelming package for a former CY Young pitcher. Obviously we weren't keeping him but Ortiz and Hall are both not difference makers, mostly replacement guys which is fine. We shall see what Ortiz is long term though Jury is still out.