Question of the week: grade the offseason

[Brock Beauchamp]

What grade do you give the Brewers this offseason?

[CheeseheadInQC]

I probably would go C+. B+ for value, D+ for roster fit.

[Ewitkows1]

Espn gave us a C saying they have no idea how to grade us. It's not a traditional offseason after winning 98 games. It feels like they are putting a bit waiting for next year when made etc are ready.

[Brock Beauchamp]

6 minutes ago, Ewitkows1 said:

Espn gave us a C saying they have no idea how to grade us.

Honestly, I think that's pretty fair and close to what I'd say about the offseason. 

[Frisbee Slider]

Kept Woodruff, got good value for Peralta. Acquired additional upside arms in Harrison and Zerpa. What more could we have realistically done?

I’m not sure pushing all our prospect chips into the center of the table prior to a potential lockout would be wise. 

[Ewitkows1]

Needed an offensive upgrade at SS or 3rd and we ended up downgrading. 

[Frisbee Slider]

3 minutes ago, Ewitkows1 said:

Needed an offensive upgrade at SS or 3rd and we ended up downgrading. 

Fair but we have nearly a dozen capable replacements on the left side of the infield knocking on the door. 

[MadScientist]

I gave them a B for getting good value.  I don't think there was a realistic way for the Brewers to make big upgrades in the offense.  There are some possible holes in the lineup, but there always are.  Somehow the Brewers seem to make it work. 

[Roderick]

I gave them a B.  But if Zerpa doesn't work out eventually, and Collins replicates what he did last year, then that grade is way too high.

[liveforoctober]

The Brewers just operate differently man. That is good or bad depending on the person. Obviously it has been really good the last few years and it is a way I enjoy building things so I've enjoyed it all greatly.

Arnold is seeing market inefficiencies and exploiting them. Why is our entire team under 5'10 and 180lbs? Because Arnold and his crew saw something baseball didn't. Why do we currently have 5 LHP in our bullpen? Who knows. Someone got in Arnold's ear about something maybe. (I have a small suspicion that Koenig is a trade high candidate and Zerpa was a get to replace him... but I have no way of proving that.)

We probably/possibly got a surplus of output from two rookies last year and decided to offload both at a potential peak in value. We kept some chips in Joey Ortiz being who we thought he could be when we partially gave up our Cy Young for him. We have shunned experience (save Woodruff) for forever youth in our rotation and it looks like we are riding with the kids this year.

Did we have a good offseason? Who knows. Ask again in July.

[long ball]

I voted for a C. 
 

kept woodruff which was a surprise. That’s probably the most positive move. 
 

the trades were more about long term roster building than they were about competing in 2026. So there are some long term positives but also some short term losses, especially with trading Freddy. 
 

coaching staff shake ups are hard to judge, but hopefully we see a bounce back for stolen bases with this group. 
 

Sammy Peralta adds an optionable bullpen shuttle guy. He’s probably further down the shuttle depth chart though. 
 

Akil Baddoo doesnt so much for me, but I understand it. 
 

gary Sánchez is a good low risk back up catcher addition that I like. 
 

Rengifo was basically necessitated by the Durbin trade. I do think he’s a slight downgrade from Durbin, but in conjunction with the Durbin trade I think it’s a net positive. 

im not sure what kind of roll any of the minor league signings may end up with, but we’re likely to get some value from at least one of them in 2026  

overall they operated like the Brewers usually do which isn’t going to be flashy. I do like this roster better than the 2025 roster was at the end of spring last year. 
 

it is disappointing not to see them make a bigger improvement for the 2026 season coming off such a successful 2025 campaign.  That’s why I’m only rating it a C. 

[landoc88]

Two grades for me this offseason 

 

The trades. B. Trades Fastball Freddy for two 100 prospects. 

 

Free agency. F Mark Attanasio continues to be a cheap sob

[owbc]

I wonder how the FO would grade themselves...

Woodruff accepting the QO set the tone for the offseason, ate up most of the budget, and triggered the call to trade Peralta. Do they regret extending the QO? 

I bet they would grade themselves highly on trade return. Peralta trade sets them up well for the future but could backfire in the short term with how important it is that Woodruff doesn't get hurt.

They likely project the Durbin trade as lopsided in our favor.

On FA signings, likely a high grade as well for gap filling the roster while not committing any $ beyond 2026. 

Who knows what the other potential options were. 

[MadScientist]

Honestly, a B/C grade is fine with me.  Teams that win the off season have a habit of falling flat on their faces. The Mets have been a prime example of that for many seasons.

[liveforoctober]

3 hours ago, landoc88 said:

Free agency. F Mark Attanasio continues to be a cheap sob

It continues to amaze me how many people don't understand the Brewers ownership group and how handcuffed Mark A is, personally, to spending.

[Frisbee Slider]

4 hours ago, landoc88 said:

Free agency. F Mark Attanasio continues to be a cheap sob

Did we want to pay 32-year old Bregman $175 million to decline in performance and block our prospects?

Bo Bichette $42 million per season to block our prospects, too?

Pete Alonso, $155 million?

Our payroll is what it is and we don’t really need Rhys Hoskins or Matt Garza 2.0. I understand a desire to ‘do something’ in free agency but only if it actually helps the team, which is rarely the case for Milwaukee.

 

 

[long ball]

24 minutes ago, Frisbee Slider said:

Did we want to pay 32-year old Bregman $175 million to decline in performance and block our prospects?

Bo Bichette $42 million per season to block our prospects, too?

Pete Alonso, $155 million?

Our payroll is what it is and we don’t really need Rhys Hoskins or Matt Garza 2.0. I understand a desire to ‘do something’ in free agency but only if it actually helps the team, which is rarely the case for Milwaukee.

 

 

Fans on social media/message boards complain about the Yelich contract and how it’s holding us back… You know the guy who makes about the same as Ian Happ. 
 

I can’t imagine what they’d say in the final few years of those deals you cited. 

[TURBO]

5 hours ago, landoc88 said:

Two grades for me this offseason 

 

The trades. B. Trades Fastball Freddy for two 100 prospects. 

 

Free agency. F Mark Attanasio continues to be a cheap sob

 

[MVP2110]

2 hours ago, liveforoctober said:

It continues to amaze me how many people don't understand the Brewers ownership group and how handcuffed Mark A is, personally, to spending.

Not too mention the payroll is up $14 million over last years OD payroll according to Fangraphs. So ownership actually upped what they were willing to pay a decent amount 

[SF70]

Offseason grade: A.

Sold high on players not in the team’s long-term future and ended up with the deepest stable of 5+ years controlled starting pitchers with BL experience in all of baseball along with the best farm in the game.

This FO is showing the baseball world how to accumulate the largest amount of young, controllable talent in all of baseball, and we are closer to winning a WS today than we were in the beginning of the offseason.

[StearnsFTW]

Zerpa trade-A.  I think Zerpa is going to be really good here and we gave up nothing (IMO).

Freddy trade-B+ 

Durbin trade-A+.  Gonna look back at this and wonder how we got Harrison for Durbin.

Free agency-C.   Rengifo saves this from being a D-.  Sanchez stinks.

 

Overall B+

[Turning2]

C. Didn't totally gut the team, but didn't noticeably upgrade with MLB proven talent either. Banking on future potential development as always, maintaining status quo. But maybe a few things will hit more immediately. Really needed an offensive upgrade at either SS or CF. Not many SS options and I was fine with Ortiz anyway. Should have added a real proven bat to the OF. Grade F on that. 

[Frisbee Slider]

1 hour ago, Turning2 said:

Should have added a real proven bat to the OF. Grade F on that. 

I will guess some of our infield prospects will learn how to play left field soon enough.

[liveforoctober]

4 hours ago, Turning2 said:

C. Didn't totally gut the team, but didn't noticeably upgrade with MLB proven talent either. Banking on future potential development as always, maintaining status quo. But maybe a few things will hit more immediately. Really needed an offensive upgrade at either SS or CF. Not many SS options and I was fine with Ortiz anyway. Should have added a real proven bat to the OF. Grade F on that. 

Like. Who. Please say Castellanos...

[Turning2]

2 hours ago, liveforoctober said:

Like. Who. Please say Castellanos...

I'm get paid to do what I do, not to nerd out scouring rosters to find workable upgrades. There are always guys that could be traded for. Sometimes the price might be high, but not necessarily not contract wise. It might just cost you prospect capital. If you don't have the cash but you have prospect capital, it's reasonable to spend it in the right circumstances. Since you seem to troll my posts, you already should know who I thought was a good match. No, it wasn't Castellanos.