As Top NL Contenders Improve, Pressure on Brewers Mounts

[Matthew Trueblood]

Image courtesy of © Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images

No team in baseball is paying a smaller share of its own team's payroll than are the Milwaukee Brewers. Even if we set aside the huge lump sum each team receives each year from the league's national TV rights agreements and the quarterly payments the Crew get as revenue-sharing payees, they get subsidized heavily, because their players received nearly $21 million in playoff shares and pre-arbitration bonus pool payouts. That money all comes from pooled league funds, rather than the pockets of Milwaukee's ownership group under Mark Attanasio.

Nonetheless, financially, the Brewers operate at a disadvantage. The Dodgers, Phillies, Mets, Cubs, Padres, and the team from Cobb County, Georgia each outspend the Crew every year, and with good reason; their revenues dwarf those of the team playing in the league's smallest market. While the Brewers get significant help with their payroll (some of it coming directly from their rivals), they need that help in a way none of their rivals do.

That reality is never thrown into sharper relief than on days like Tuesday, which saw the Phillies re-sign slugger Kyle Schwarber to a five-year, $150-million deal and the Dodgers set a new benchmark for relief pitcher salaries by signing Edwin Díaz for $69 million over three years. The final four teams in the 2025 National League bracket were the Phillies, the Dodgers, the Cubs and the Brewers, and already, the other three teams have spent varying amounts to reinforce their clubs for another run deep into October in 2026. (The Cubs, so far, have spent much more modestly than the others, but they're being cited as a potential destination for several high-profile free agents and trade candidates.)

Don't expect the Brewers to match those outlays. They could do it—they fill Uecker Field well and are a success story of marketing and revenue capture, to the greatest extent that that's possible for a team without an adjacent commercial district next to their home park or a major media market to exploit. If Attanasio were thus disposed, Milwaukee could push their payroll to $150 million or higher, at least for a year or two. That's not how he chooses to run the team, though, and eventually, even that modest increase would begin to stretch the club a bit thin. 

Instead, the perennial focus for the Crew is on homegrown talent, and as we know, they have arguably the best assemblage thereof in baseball. Theirs is the deepest corps of solid pre-arbitration players in the league, and their farm system is one of the three best in the game. They can (and will) continue to compete with the big boys, on a total budget less than half that of some of the others.

Fans will (rightfully) maintain high expectations for the 2026 team, though. The plan should be for the Crew to win a fifth NL Central crown in six years and try to claim their first-ever National League pennant. That doesn't require an enormous monetary stretch, but it does require that the club reckon with their star power gap. As good as Jackson Chourio, William Contreras, Brice Turang and Jacob Misiorowski can be, they don't quite match the Phillies (Schwarber, Trea Turner, Cristopher Sánchez) or the Dodgers (Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman, Yoshinobu Yamamoto) man-for-man. Those teams are also out to accrue better depth. The logical next step for Milwaukee is to beat these teams in October, but to make that possible, they'll have to find a creative way to keep getting more dynamic—more dangerous.

Nationals trade candidates MacKenzie Gore and CJ Abrams could each be interesting fits for the Crew. So could Tigers mega-ace Tarik Skubal, about whom the Brewers had discussions with Detroit at the 2024 trade deadline. We've already written, this month, about why Ketel Marte and Byron Buxton are interesting potential targets. The Brewers are unlikely to deal for Skubal now, since he's only a year from free agency and will be well-paid in 2026, but they do need to think aggressively, as well as farsightedly. As Schwarber and Díaz reminded them on Tuesday, Milwaukee has a tall mountain to climb. They might have the best overall organization in baseball, but that doesn't guarantee them a turn with the pennant. To get one, they'll need to exit their comfort zone and do something big.

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[eddiemathews]

The big-name signings by teams that are directly competing with the Brewers don't bother me like they used to...they are rarely as influential as we first assume. That said, adding a proven power outfield bat to this line-up would really add to my enjoyment of the off-season. I'm sure that the Brewers' management is focused on my enjoyment...

Still want Buxton, even though he seems to want to stay with the Twinkies. (Back in the 1970s I had Twinkies and Coke for breakfast every day while in college. The Breakfast of Champions. Too bad Hostess changed the recipe for their cream filling.)

That's Coca Cola, btw.

[GasserFace]

The Brewers are not going to escalate the payroll on any of the big free agents.  A trade is possible, but I would put that at less than 50/50. 

If you are going to follow the Brewers, the best strategy to get through the offseason is to have no expectations.  This makes it much more enjoyable.  For example, everyone remembers where they were on Greinkemas and Yeli/Cain Day.  Heck, I even remember being super pumped about Yaz Grandal.

If you have expectations of winning the offseason, I would suggest following the Dodgers, Yanks, and wherever AJ Preller works.

[Ro Mueller]

Last National League pennant for a Milwaukee baseball team: we blew a 3-1 World Series lead, including committing 4 errors in a Game 6 extra inning loss at home. Ugh.

[Matthew Trueblood]

32 minutes ago, Ro Mueller said:

Last National League pennant for a Milwaukee baseball team: we blew a 3-1 World Series lead, including committing 4 errors in a Game 6 extra inning loss at home. Ugh.

I think a lot about whether it would have saved the Braves for Milwaukee, if they'd won that second straight Series. Might've changed a lot of things about the way that sequence unfolded.

[CheezWizHed]

This seems like a "water is wet" type article.  Of course other teams are going to improve (on paper). That is what the offseason is for.  

Of course, the last couple of years had us predicted to be a 500 team and we ended up winning the division both years.  So offseason hype rarely lives up to the reality of the season (especially for the Cubs 😉)

[ClosetBrewerFan]

Does the Phillies resigning Schwarber make their team better?  Not resigning makes them worse, but resigning him is just status quo.

The Brewers had few free agent losses.  Woodruff was the only one I wanted back and they essentially resigned him.  If the Phillies get "credit" for resigning Schwarber the Brewers should equally get credit for "resigning" Woodruff.

[MNBrew]

Other teams' moves don't put pressure on the Brewers.  Silly assertion.  It's early in the offseason and the Brewers are wise enough to know that pennants aren't determined by who wins the winter headlines battles.  While there are no guarantees, the Brewers know what's doable for them, have plenty of time, and have a track record with enough success to justify trusting this front office.  That's not pressure.

[brewmann04]

same stuff like every year being a Brewers fans. this is what so sad that we never will be able to compete add this to selling a would be FA Player because we can't afford them. Salary Cap

[MattK]

4 hours ago, MNBrew said:

Other teams' moves don't put pressure on the Brewers.  Silly assertion.  It's early in the offseason and the Brewers are wise enough to know that pennants aren't determined by who wins the winter headlines battles.  While there are no guarantees, the Brewers know what's doable for them, have plenty of time, and have a track record with enough success to justify trusting this front office.  That's not pressure.

Isn't it actually the media and their takes on the off season that the Crew are "supposed to measure up to"?  The front office and their systems have earned our trust. 

[SF70]

This team is getting closer to making a big trade or trades. They have a farm that by the trade-deadline should be overflowing with pitching depth, and IF depth, especially R5’ers next offseason that they will need to thin out. 

[Playing Catch]

I get it. BF needs clicks like everyone else on the internet, but c'mon. Pressure mounting?? It's December 10th.

[sveumrules]

Whatever pressure the Brewers might be feeling, I'd imagine the Cubs have to be feeling quite a bit more...

2018: Double indignity of losing B2B games at Wrigley to the Brewers in Game 163 then the Colorado Rockies in the NLWC (2018 really was a looong time ago)

2019-23: Miss playoffs every year besides pandemic (their 346 W - 362 L record has them barely ahead of the unserious crosstown organization White Sox at 342 W - 365 L during these five years)

2024: Sign Counsell to a record breaking contract (win 83 games, again)

2025: Make the big offseason trade for Kyle Tucker (improve to 92 wins, but still can't beat the Brewers for the Division or in the Playoffs)

Maybe they double down and give Tucker $400M (doubtful with the Ricketts but one never knows until the ink dries somewhere), but just like with the Phillies and Schwarber that would just get them back closer to where they were last year (but now at long term, market rates).

[SoCalBrewfan]

By posting this I will be part of the problem, but goodness it's easy to get a rise out of people. I like the author's articles most of the time, but...

Phillies resign a guy everyone assumed they'd resign, one of several key potential free agent losses for that team. Dodgers sign away a reliever from the Mets. (Again, probably best reliever available, just like last year, which worked so well...) Nothing about either move has anything to do with Brewers plans. But this headline?  How about 'Phillies pause the free agent bleeding but are still under the gun?' How about "Mets lose another top reliever?" Is there a counterpart article on the Cubs site, two more players that won't be Cubs? (Or maybe, 'Cubs blunder continues to haunt them?')

Do Schwarber and Diaz signings fundamentally change the NL dynamics for 2026? No, but this way you get the usual "brewers too cheap, we never go all in" and then the inevitable responses. Slow news day, generate 'engagement' with inflammatory headline. Winning?

[igor67]

I was going to go with "Phillies pay even more to run it back". And "the Dodgers agree to contribute more to the luxury task for a reliever"