Two Tough Decisions Highlight Non-Tender Deadline Day for Brewers

[Matthew Trueblood]

Image courtesy of © Benny Sieu-Imagn Images

It won't be a cheap run through the arbitration ringer for the Brewers this winter. They're likely to pay the quartet of William Contreras, Trevor Megill, Brice Turang and Andrew Vaughn somewhere between $25 million and $30 million in 2026, and that's despite all four having at least one more year of eligibility for arbitration after this. Jake Bauers, whose much-improved performance in 2025 should make him safe at this year's non-tender deadline, is in line to make another $2 million or so.

Milwaukee will certainly tender contracts to all four of their major contributors who are eligible. Bauers is a trickier case, because even though he was so good this year and will cost relatively little in 2026, he can no longer be sent to the minor leagues. For an organization that prizes and always needs flexibility in its roster construction, having a non-regular locked into one of the scarce bench spots all season might be an uneasy situation. Still, those five all clearly deserve to be back with the three-time defending NL Central champions.

Garrett Mitchell is also eligible for arbitration this winter, for the first time. He's set to make even less than Bauers and can still be optioned to the minors, if needed. He poses a different kind of problem for a team concerned with roster utility, though. Mitchell has only played 139 total games since the start of 2023, including his stints in the minors on rehab assignments. His inability to stay healthy (and the very real questions about how he can bounce back from a second devastating shoulder injury in as many years) makes it just as risky to lock him into a spot on the 40-man roster for a should-be contender as to do so with a 26-man roster spot for Bauers.

Unlike Mitchell, Nick Mears is out of options, so he, too, damages the flexibility of the roster if the team tenders him a deal Friday. He's set to make roughly $1.6 million via arbitration, according to MLB Trade Rumors. That's not a prohibitive amount of money, but again, the most important question is whether he's a pitcher worth committing a place on the active roster to for the whole season. One can make compelling cases in favor or against him.

Thus, Mitchell and Mears will be the names most worth watching Friday. The Brewers are likely to press each to agree to terms now, rather than tendering them a deal and letting the deadline to exchange figures (on Jan. 8, 2026) apply the pressure. Since these are fringe cases, each player will have to be willing to sign on terms the Brewers consider palatable, or they're likely to be released. 

In years past, this has often been a day when the Brewers would target a player another team was considering cutting and acquire them in trade. That's far less likely this year, with Milwaukee's 40-man roster quite crowded as it is—but it's not impossible. Nor is it out of the question that we might see the team agree to a multi-year deal with one of Contreras, Megill or Vaughn, taking them through 2027. Between those more remote possibilities and the very real one that we see either Mitchell or Mears traded or released, Friday will be an interesting day for Brewers fans. 

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[eddiemathews]

Bauers could very well end up in a platoon with Vaughn. There is no guarantee that Vaughn will continue to produce at last year's level...in fact, the second half of his Brewer stint was about on a par with what Bauers was doing. 

No to Mears. Yes to Mitchell. Extend Turang.

[MattK]

12 minutes ago, eddiemathews said:

Bauers could very well end up in a platoon with Vaughn. There is no guarantee that Vaughn will continue to produce at last year's level...in fact, the second half of his Brewer stint was about on a par with what Bauers was doing. 

No to Mears. Yes to Mitchell. Extend Turang.

We are starting to get to the point where the first "young guys" (Turang, Contreras) (?Mitchell?) are at time when the front office would be smart to offer longer term extended deals ... with a bunch more guys waiting in the wings (Frelick). This will be an interesting test to see if the FO is just always going to play young players to save money, or if some getting-older guys will get paid a bit more and the FO will keep them around. 

[ClosetBrewerFan]

I'd be disapointed if they non-tendered Mitchell and I think that is unlikely.  If he is hurt or ineffective, IL or option him next year.  Sure its a 40 man roster spot, but he has immense talent to justify that.  I'd hope they could find a trade partner for Mears rather than non-tender. I'm fine if they trade him.

[long ball]

Locks: Wild Bill, Brice, Megill. I doubt any of them have a salary announced today though, just tendered 

Vaughn- I’m like 99% sure he’ll get tendered. I think there’s an outside chance they announce an agreement on a contract today. 
 

bauers- nothing would surprise me here. If I were calling the shots, I’d lean toward tendering him. 
 

mitchell- I see absolutely no reason not to tender him. Pro ejected for barely over league minimum and can be optioned. No sense in trading him since any return is going to have lower upside than the lottery ticket he already is. 
 

mears- I think he’s either traded today or non-tendered. They also have Anderson and Zastryzny who are out of options, but not yet arbitration eligible - so having all 3 of those guys take up space all off season on the 40 man makes things difficult. 
 

 

[ClosetBrewerFan]

49 minutes ago, long ball said:

They also have Anderson and Zastryzny who are out of options, but not yet arbitration eligible - so having all 3 of those guys take up space all off season on the 40 man makes things difficult. 
 

 

I'm fairly sure Anderson maintains his one option in 2026. He was optioned twice last year but stayed in the minors for less than 20 days.  Fangraphs still lists him with one option remaining.

[ecjimg]

Mitchell non tendered?  Really? Come on maaaaan.   Im close to ignoring future posts by this author....

[Team Canada]

3 minutes ago, ecjimg said:

Mitchell non tendered?  Really? Come on maaaaan.   Im close to ignoring future posts by this author....

Just say you disagree and why.

[GasserFace]

Mitchell is a no brainer tender.  I don't think it is even a question.  Mears is the only question.  I would not tender him a contract, but would also not be upset if they did tender him.  Just limit his usage to keep him healthy.

[tmwiese55]

1 hour ago, GasserFace said:

Mitchell is a no brainer tender.  I don't think it is even a question.  Mears is the only question.  I would not tender him a contract, but would also not be upset if they did tender him.  Just limit his usage to keep him healthy.

And it seemed they do like him and trust him.   Of course the no options is an issue but they can use a couple DL stints with him throughout the year to manipulate that a bit or to give rest.   So my guess is they'll keep him, but could obviously go either way

[ClosetBrewerFan]

All players were tendered a contract per McCalvy

[Outlander]

I guess today ended up not being too interesting, which may not be a bad thing.

[JohnBriggs12]

Mitchell has barely played for four seasons.  He's 27 and was terrible out of the gate last year.  I have no faith that he'll ever be a regular in the big leagues, much less come close to the potential he had 5 years ago.  Five years in baseball is an eternity.  Playing at the highest level in the game takes skills that need to be honed and worked on constantly.  He's not been able to do that for the majority of time he's been a Brewer.  I'd wish him well and move on.

[TURBO]

On 11/21/2025 at 11:52 AM, ecjimg said:

Mitchell non tendered?  Really? Come on maaaaan.   Im close to ignoring future posts by this author....

Well, he is a Cubs fan, so...

I can see if someone wasn't a fan of the Brewers they could look at his track record and think he is expendable, but we have a lot invested into Mitchell, so I say keep him around and see what happens one more season.  I highly doubt many real Brewers fans or the team itself is ready to dump him just yet.