Coming off his best start of the season, it will be at least another two weeks before Logan Henderson takes the mound again.
The Milwaukee Brewers on Tuesday placed Henderson, a right-handed starter, on the 15-day injured list with a strained lower back and called up right-handed starter Coleman Crow.
Last week against the two-time defending World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers, Henderson struck out seven over five shutout innings, allowing two hits and walking three. He has allowed two runs or less in all five of his starts, including just one in that start before facing the Dodgers. That was another five-inning, seven-strikeout performance.
Henderson has a 6.7% walk rate and 33.3% strikeout rate in 23 innings this year.
Crow won't start Wednesday's series finale vs. the St. Louis Cardinals, which remains vacant. Instead, the Brewers will wait to slot Crow into the rotation with Friday's series opener against the Houston Astros. Crow has done very well in his first two MLB starts this year, allowing a total of three hits over 10⅓ innings with one walk and seven strikeouts. With Henderson on the shelf, Crow could be up for multiple starts, although veteran right-hander Brandon Woodruff is inching closer to a return to the rotation.
We're looking for contributors to write Brewers content over the offseason!
First, feel free to reach out via email at brock.beauchamp@brewerfanatic.com or reply to this article.
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If you’ve ever wanted an audience for your Brewers takes, this is the perfect place. While we generally lean into analytics and analysis, we also take a “come as you are” approach to baseball and give writers a lot of leeway to write about the game in a way that interests them. That could manifest in historical pieces, previews, or regular series. It’s a matter of finding your niche in the fandom and carving out a space for it.
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A couple of scary pitching injuries from Thursday's game resulted in one player going on the injured list.
Left-handed reliever DL Hall was placed on the 15-day injured list by the Milwaukee Brewers on Friday with a left pectoral strain. Right-handed reliever Jake Woodford was designated for assignment. Coming up from Triple-A Nashville are right-handed reliever Craig Yoho and left-handed reliever Brian Fitzpatrick. The Brewers' 40-man roster now stands at 39.
Apparently escaping anything serious was right-handed reliever Grant Anderson, who took a line drive off the bat of San Francisco Giants rookie slugger Bryce Eldridge off his right forearm that left seam marks on his skin.
Hall left the game in the fifth inning after throwing a pitch. He had found a nice role in the bullpen as a multi-inning reliever, throwing 31 innings across 24 games with a 2.03 ERA. Hall has had issues with walks this season, sporting an unsightly 19% walk rate, while striking out 25.4%, his best mark since joining the Brewers before the 2024 season.
Woodford was acquired by the Brewers from the Tampa Bay Rays the day before Opening Day. After signing a minor-league deal in the offseason, he had an upward mobility clause that would have forced the Rays to put him on their 40-man roster or be offered to other teams for the same purpose. The Brewers took a gamble on the veteran, who was mainly used in a mopup role over his 16 appearances, putting up a 6.94 ERA in 23⅓ innings. He had a 6.3% walk rate and 17.9% strikeout rate this year.
Yoho is back in the majors after making his MLB debut last year with seven appearances. The changeup specialist had one blowup outing in his brief time up, covering four call-ups. That was allowing five runs in a game against the Chicago White Sox. In his other 7⅔ innings, he allowed two runs. Yoho had nine walks and seven strikeouts overall, with four walks coming against the White Sox.
Fitzpatrick is up for the second time this season. He appeared in four games, including making his MLB debut April 29 vs. the Arizona Diamondbacks. Fitzpatrick pitched a total of 5⅔ innings and had a 1.59 ERA with three walks and four strikeouts.
With 17 games in 17 days, you knew there would be moves to keep the Milwaukee Brewers' bullpen fresh. This one, though, has more of an odd feel to it.
The Brewers on Tuesday optioned left-handed starter Robert Gasser to the rookie-level Arizona Complex League and selected the contract of right-handed starter Garrett Stallings from Triple-A Nashville. The Brewers had an opening on their 40-man roster to accommodate Stallings' promotion for his MLB debut.
Gasser had a solid outing in Monday's series opening against the Cincinnati Reds, going 5⅔ and giving up three runs on seven hits with one walk and five strikeouts. The move to the ACL generally indicates a team giving a player a break to get some planned rest. Gasser is in his first full MLB season following Tommy John surgery at the beginning of the 2024 season. Combined with his minor-league time, Gasser threw just 43⅔ regular-season innings. He currently is at 62⅔ innings this year between Nashville and the Brewers just past the midpoint of the season.
In seven MLB starts this year, Gasser has a 4.98 FIP (4.54ERA) with an 8.4% walk rate and 23.4% strikeout rate.
Stallings is a 28-year-old who was drafted in 2019 in the fifth round by the Los Angeles Angels. He was acquired from the Baltimore Orioles in May 2024 in a minor trade and has been at Nashville since. This year in 12 starts and four relief appearances, Stallings has a 3.45 ERA in 62⅔ innings, walking 22 and striking out 59. He will provide another length option for the Brewers, possibly even making a spot start.
That came as a result of Los Angeles Dodgers superstar first baseman Freddie Freeman withdrawing from a third appearance with Canada in the WBC due to personal reasons.
Black, a first and third baseman who has also played a little left field, ranks 24th among Brewers prospects. While having a solid .270/.399/.442 slash line with 42 homers and 222 RBIs across five minor-league seasons, Black has only seen 23 games of action at the MLB level with the Brewers, with a .211/.357/.263 slash line.
Canada has never advanced out of pool play in its five WBC appearances.
Frank Cairone, a left-handed pitcher who was a second-round draft choice by the Milwaukee Brewers in 2025, is in a New Jersey hospital following a car crash on Friday.
In a statement released Saturday, the Brewers said, "Frank is currently being cared for at a hospital in New Jersey with the support of his family. The Brewers’ thoughts and prayers are with Frank and his family during his difficult time." No other information has been released.
According to NJ.com, Cairone was injured during the collision new his home in Franklinville, N.J. Cairone had to be flown to a hospital in Atlantic City, N.J., for treatment, a source close to the family told NJ.com. Police said Cairone was driving a vehicle when another driver failed to stop at a stop sign and slammed into Cairone's car.
Cairone is a 6-foot-2, 195-pound left-hander who was taken by the Brewers with the 68th pick of the 2025 draft, a supplemental choice the Brewers received for not signing 2024 pick Chris Levonas, a right-handed pitcher also from New Jersey who instead honored his commitment to Wake Forest. Cairone, who turned 18 in September, signed for a $1.1 million bonus instead of going to Coastal Carolina, but did not make his professional debut, instead spending time at the Brewers' complex in Arizona.
Prospect gurus Keith Law of The Athletic and Kiley McDaniel of ESPN both released their team farm system rankings on Wednesday, and both like the Brewers best! McDaniel posited that, in recent history, the Dodgers and Rays have been viewed as the model organizations, but that opinion has now shifted to the Brewers. Law agrees, though not in so many words, crediting the team with an advanced, integrated process for identifying and developing talent. The two writers laud the Brewers for acquiring amateur talent through all available pipelines, including international signings, the MLB draft, and trade acquisitions, and see the Brewers as having both upper-echelon talent and excellent depth.
Six Brewers were featured in Law’s top 100 list, including the newly acquired Brandon Sproat (75) and Jett Williams (45). Interestingly, Law writes that the Brewers were his number one overall system even prior to the Freddy Peralta trade, while McDaniel posted on social media that the trade moved the Brewers’ system from sixth to first and moved the Mets’ from first to sixth. Overall, McDaniel has 8 Brewers in his top 100; Logan Henderson (64) and Bishop Letson (91) were included on the ESPN list but not The Athletic’s. Both experts list Jesús Made third overall behind only the Pirates’ Konnor Griffin and Kevin McGonigle of the Tigers. Luis Pena, Cooper Pratt, and Jeferson Quero were the other three prospects on both lists.
Developing a pure, native app for either Android or iOS is a breathtakingly expensive endeavor, which is why we haven’t done it, despite so many requests over the years. Thankfully, technology has met us halfway, and PWAs (Progressive Web Applications) have reached maturity in the marketplace.
What is a PWA? It’s effectively a pseudo-app that works much like a native application but doesn’t require tens of thousands of dollars in development to produce. It creates a single browser instance and maintains it as if it were an application. It’s basically a standalone browser tab, dedicated specifically to Brewer Fanatic.
From this app instance, you can receive notifications; the typical browser interface is removed, and the site is presented clearly, using as much screen real estate as possible, all without sacrificing any functionality. The site is faster, more reliable, and offers more mobile functionality than a standard web browser.
Additionally, a newer, completely updated Brewer Fanatic is coming later this year, and that will add even more app-like features, making PWA usage even better for all our users.
With that said, here’s how you turn Brewer Fanatic into an app on your mobile device.
Over the past few years, Milwaukee has built a reputation for being a scrappy squad of underdogs powered by hustle and love for the game. In addition to being a euphemism for finding a lot of success with a shoestring budget and no superstars, it also means playing great defense. Chasing down tough fly balls, smothering choppers in the field, and being fundamentally sound are all traits that come to mind when thinking of the Brewers.
And for the past few years, there was considerable evidence to back that up. The team has consistently been among the best when it comes to accumulating Defensive Runs Saved and haven't placed below sixth in that category since 2020. They've also regularly brought home hardware for their efforts, winning the past two Team Gold Glove awards as well as several individual accolades. Unfortunately, that streak has come to an end.
Despite having two Gold Glove finalists, Brice Turang and Sal Frelick, neither was ultimately crowned the best defender at their position in the National League, losing out to Nico Hoerner and Fernando Tatis Jr. respectively. Neither of these results are surprising as Nico Hoerner comfortably led all second basemen in baseball in DRS (17), while Tatis had the most DRS of any National League right fielder (15). Turang and Frelick had strong defensive showings themselves, but they didn't do enough to bring home the proverbial bacon.
In fact, the Brewers as a whole seemed to take a step back this year when it came to fielding production. They combined for just 31 DRS, placing them 11th in MLB. Jackson Chourio, Isaac Collins, and Joey Ortiz accumulated negative DRS while other key starters like William Contreras and Andrew Vaughn accumulated zero.
At the end of the day, it's difficult to place too much stock in this given the somewhat convoluted logic behind how defensive metrics are calculated as well as the mercurial nature of a player's fielding abilities. Brandon Lockridge seems like a promising outfield glove, Joey Ortiz can and should bounce back on all fronts next year, and the rest of the team will likely continue to be solid. Expect some Gold Glove love to come Milwaukee's way in 2026.
For the second time this week, the Milwaukee Brewers have lost a member of their coaching staff. The first move involved associate head coach Rickie Weeks shifting into a scouting role. The second announcement has the hitting coach leaving the organization.
David Lesky of Inside The Crown is reporting that Connor Dawson is being hired as the Kansas City Royals' hitting coach. He had been with the Brewers for the previous four seasons.
Dawson, who grew up near Kansas City, is making a lateral move to return to his hometown team. The Brewers' offense flourished under his watch, ranking among the best run-producing teams in the league despite limited standout performances. Especially in 2025, the offense had the second-best walk-to-strikeout ratio in baseball. In addition to being analytically minded, Dawson knows that life is bigger than baseball. Stringing together quotes from prior interviews, Dawson shared his philosophy, stating, "The thing I talked about the least with players and coaches is a swing. The thing I talked about the most is how we connect with players. That's what matters, the people matter."
He brings that philosophy to a young team that was one of the lowest-scoring teams in baseball. How do you think the Brewers will react to his loss?
Get ready, Milwaukee Brewers fans. It is less than a month until the three-time defending NL Central champions are back at American Family Fields of Phoenix.
Official report dates were announced, with the Crew pitchers and catchers due Feb. 12 and the first full-squad workout Feb. 17. Players in the Brewers' system who are playing in the World Baseball Classic have report dates of Feb. 11 and Feb. 12, respectively, regardless of their organization. Players often report early, especially those bouncing back from injuries or just wanting to get extra work in.
The first Brewers exhibition game is March 21, when they host the Cleveland Guardians. The Brewers also host WBC participant Great Britain on March 3, while the annual prospect showcase, Spring Breakout, will feature the Brewers traveling to the Seattle Mariners in Peoria, Ariz., on March 20. The Brewers' last home game in Arizona is the next day, March 21, against the San Diego Padres, with March 22 vs. the Chicago Cubs the last game in the desert at Mesa, Ariz.
The Brewers will face the Cincinnati Reds in two exhibition games in Milwaukee on March 23-24.
Opening Day for the Crew is March 26 vs. the Chicago White Sox at American Family Field.
Brock Wilken, third baseman for the Double-A Biloxi Shuckers, has been named the Brewers Minor League Player of the Month.
Wilken, the Brewers' first-round pick in the 2023 MLB Draft out of Wake Forest, was outstanding at the plate in May. He posted a .938 OPS with nine home runs in the month while carrying a very respectable .368 on-base percentage. Thirteen of his 22 hits on the month went for extra bases. Wilken has logged most of his time at the hot corner in 2025, starting 39 of his 51 games there.
You can view Wilken's scouting report and stats on our prospect profile page:
Shortstop Jesus Made, the consensus No. 3 prospect in all of baseball, was one of nine players in the Milwaukee Brewers' system invited to spring training Tuesday.
Spring training invites allow players not on the 40-man roster but under contract with the team to report when big-league camp opens, which for the Brewers is Feb. 12 for pitchers and catchers and Feb. 17 for position players. Pretty much anyone in the system can appear in a spring training game, but an invite allows prospects and veterans searching for a major-league job to get in extra work with the players on the 40-man roster. For prospects, it gives them a taste of what big-league spring training is like before ultimately joining the team's minor-league camp to get ready for the regular season.
The other prospects joining Made, an 18-year-old who played at three levels in 2025, including Double-A Biloxi, are infielder-outfielder Jett Williams, shortstop Cooper Pratt, center fielder Luis Lara, third baseman Brock Wilken, corner infielder Luke Adams, left-handed starter Tate Kuehner, and catchers Ramon Rodriguez and Matt Wood. It is possible that more prospects are added at some point.
Williams was one of two players recently acquired from the New York Mets in the trade for right-handed starters Freddy Peralta and Tobias Myers. The other one was right-handed starter Brandon Sproat, who is already on the 40-man roster.
Hoskins has been out of action since early July when he sustained a left thumb sprain while making a tag at first base. He was originally expected to be back in the lineup by mid- to late-August, but the most recent updates suggest that he isn't expected to start his rehab assignment until then.
Milwaukee did (sort of) hedge against this by acquiring Andrew Vaughn from the White Sox, and he has been playing incredibly well so far, almost suspiciously so. Since joining the team, he's slashing .375/.439/.771 across a sample of 57 plate appearances, which is way above his career norms of .250/.306/.414. It's unclear as to whether the front office truly saw something in him worth making him the Brewers' starting first baseman down the stretch, but if they just saw him as a holdover that has worked out far better than expected, they'll have to start looking for more reinforcements.
Ryan O'Hearn stands out as one of the only options at the position that could give the lineup a real boost. With a .456 slugging percentage and 133 OPS+, he's a hitter with qualities that compensate for the current lack of pop. As it stands, Jackson Chourio is the only hitter with a slugging percentage over .450 and the team's combined slugging percentage of .387 places them 23rd in MLB.
The only move Milwaukee has made so far is to acquire Danny Jansen to serve as their backup catcher, which does make the team better, but perhaps not enough to push them past their typical first round exit. In an ideal world, Andrew Vaughn would maintain his 234 OPS+ through the end of the season but reality will likely set in before long. Will is true abilities still be enough to take the Brewers to the next level or should they seek more help before it's too late?
While the Milwaukee Brewers as a team didn't bring home any postseason hardware, one of their players may need to make room on their mantles for an individual award.
The Baseball Writers Association of America (BBWAA) announced its award finalists on Monday, including Caleb Durbin as a Rookie of the Year finalist.
Durbin appeared in 105 games primarily at second base and shortstop. He finished the year with a .785 OPS, including nine home runs, and totaled 48 runs scored. He also swiped 22 bases. Overall, Durbin registered a .345 weighted On-Base Average (wOBA), resulting in a 121 wRC+. Defensively, Durbin was credited with +5 Outs Above Average (OAA) at second base, which would have ranked 7th in baseball had he had enough innings to qualify.
Do you think he will win the award? Let us know in the comments!
First up is second baseman Brice Turang, who earned -2 Outs Above Average, zero Fielding Run Value, and seven Defensive Runs Saved this season. While OAA and FRV weren't favorable to him, by DRS, he was the second-best second baseman in the NL in 2025. The only problem? Chicago Cubs keystone stopper Nico Hoerner lapped the field in each of those categories (14 OAA, 12 FRV, 17 DRS) and is a surefire bet to win the award this year. Xavier Edwards of the Marlins is the other finalist.
Meanwhile, Frelick is competing with Corbin Carroll and Fernando Tatis Jr. for the award in right field. Tatis (eight OAA, nine FRV, 15 DRS) was better than Frelick (six OAA, seven FRV, nine DRS) in each of the primary three defensive counting stats and is likely the favorite after winning the award in 2023.
Both Brewers players won the Gold Glove award at their respective positions last year, with Turang securing the fabled Platinum Glove for the best defender in the NL, regardless of position.
Gold Glove winners will be announced on Sunday, Nov. 2.
The Milwaukee Brewers called up Black, a first baseman, and left-hander Shane Drohan from Triple-A Nashville on Friday. Matos, an outfielder, was designated for assignment for the second time this season, while right-hander Carlos Rodriguez was optioned to Triple-A.
The 25-year-old Black was one of the Crew's top hitters during spring training, posting a crazy .550/.522/1.000 slash line with one homer and 14 RBIs in six Cactus League games. The trouble for Black, who is known for his bat and not his glove with a .270/.399/.441 career minor-league slash line, is hitting when given the chance at the MLB level.
In 23 games with the Brewers, Black has a .211/.357/.263 slash line with no homers and three RBIs over 70 plate appearances. At Nashville this season, Black has a .282/.378/.410 slash line with one homer and six RBIs.
The addition of Black, a left-handed hitter like Jake Bauers, could mean that Bauers sees more time in left field with Black getting chances at first base. The Brewers have been looking for ways to get more out of their offense with three starting position players, outfielder Jackson Chourio, designated hitter Christian Yelich and first baseman Andrew Vaughn, on the injured list and this could be a way. This is Black's first call-up this season after not making the Opening Day roster due to the presence of Bauers and Vaughn at first base.
Matos was a possible solution for a bit of offense when Chourio began the season on the IL. The Brewers picked Matos up in a March 30 trade after he was DFA'd by the San Francisco Giants after not making the Opening Day roster there. But in nine games with the Crew, Matos had a slash line of .200/.238/.200 with no homers or RBIs and seven strikeouts in 20 at-bats. If Matos goes unclaimed on the waiver wire, he could be assigned to Nashville or released.
Drohan is back for his second stint with the Brewers after getting a spot start April 8 vs. the Boston Red Sox, his previous team. Acquired in the six-player Caleb Durbin trade, Drohan lasted just 2⅔ innings, allowing three hits and four walks with two strikeouts. Barring a rotation move, Drohan is likely to fill Rodriguez's spot as a long man out of the bullpen.
Rodriguez did well in his two relief appearances since being called up last weekend. He pitched two innings in mopup duty against the Miami Marlins on Sunday and the Detroit Tigers on Wednesday, allowing one run on five hits and no walks with five strikeouts.
In a recent roundup on MLB.com, early results on MLB television ratings were revealed. They include:
MLB on Fox is up 10%
MLB on ESPN is up 22%
MLB Tuesday on TBS is up 16%
Perhaps most importantly, it appears substantial gains are being made in the 18-34 age demographic, a decades-long weakness of Major League Baseball.
This is in sharp contrast to the World Series, which has been in decline for years and is often used as a benchmark for the overall popularity of the sport. I was able to find World Series ratings dating back to 1968, and until 2007 the World Series never carried a rating under 10. That slowly spiraled until it hit its low-water mark of 4.7 in 2023 as the Texas Rangers and Arizona Diamondbacks squared off.
MLB and Commissioner Rob Manfred have aggressively pushed rules changes, largely in an attempt to capture younger demographics that have abandoned baseball in favor of football and basketball.
Is baseball on the rebound with fans or is this just a blip on the radar?
Matt Arnold has been promoted to President of Baseball Operations; he will continue to oversee baseball operations, a responsibility he has held since October 2022 after the departure of David Stearns, who also held the PoBO title. Arnold originally joined Milwaukee in October 2015 as vice president and assistant general manager, advanced to senior vice president and assistant general manager in June 2019, and was promoted to senior vice president and general manager in November 2020.
During his tenure in Milwaukee, the club has qualified for the postseason seven times and secured five National League Central Division championships in 2018, 2021, and 2023 through 2025. The team has won at least 92 games in each of the last three seasons, including a franchise-record 97 victories in 2025.
Arnold was named MLB Executive of the Year for 2024 in voting by executives from all 30 clubs. He also received Executive of the Year honors from The Sporting News in 2024 and 2025 and from Baseball America in 2024.
Before joining the Brewers, Arnold spent nine seasons with the Tampa Bay Rays from 2007 to 2015, most recently as director of player personnel. Earlier in his career, Arnold held roles with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2000, the Texas Rangers in 2002, and the Cincinnati Reds from 2003 to 2006. He has 25 seasons of professional baseball experience.
David Stearns once held the position of both PoBO and General Manager, as Arnold does now. Will Arnold hire a new General Manager to work under him, just as he was promoted to that title in 2020 under Stearns?
Jesus Made, the Milwaukee Brewers' 19-year-old shortstop who has rocketed up prospect rankings, was named the No. 3 prospect in all of baseball by MLB Pipeline on Friday.
Made, who played at three levels in 2025, including a brief stint at Double-A Biloxi, was slotted behind two other shortstops in No. 1 Konnor Griffin of the Pittsburgh Pirates and No. 2 Kevin McGonigle of the Detroit Tigers. In fact, the top five players and eight of the first 10 were all shortstops.
The Brewers were one of eight teams to have at least five prospects in the Top 100. The others were shortstop Luis Pena at No. 26, infielder-outfielder Jett Williams at No. 51, shortstop Cooper Pratt at No. 64, and right-handed starter Brandon Sproat sneaking in at No. 100. Williams and Sproat were the players the Crew acquired from the New York Mets in exchange for right-handed starters Freddy Peralta and Tobias Myers.
Made moved up one spot from where he ended the 2025 season on the MLB Pipeline list. Catcher Jeferson Quero was on the list last year at No. 84, but didn't make the Top 100 this time around.
Freddy Peralta, Jose Quintana, Quinn Priester and Chad Patrick will all retain their spots in the Brewers starting rotation, with the arrival of Jacob Misiorowski rounding out the group. The odd man out will be Aaron Civale, last year's early-July starting reinforcement. Civale, who turns 30 on Thursday, has a 4.91 ERA in five starts this year, and is a free agent at season's end. Everyone else in the mix either has significantly outperformed him; is more important to the long-term future of the Brewers; or meets both of those criteria.
Presumably, Misiorowski will take the place on the roster of Easton McGee, whom the team recalled to replace the optioned Grant Anderson. With Civale, DL Hall and Aaron Ashby all in the pen, the Brewers now have one of the deepest groups of multi-inning relief options in the league. That figures to come in handy, since Patrick, Misiorowski and even (lately) Peralta are prone to short starts. One way or another, though, the pitching staff certainly got more talented—and Pat Murphy's job to manage it just got a hair more complicated.
While other teams have reduced their spring training television schedule with the demise of FanDuel Sports Network, the Milwaukee Brewers are status quo for 2026.
The Crew announced Wednesday that eight of their Cactus League games will be carried on Brewers.tv, the new home for televised games this season. That is one more game than was carried by FanDuel Sports Wisconsin in 2025. The Brewers said those eight games will be available for free to anyone with an MLB.com account in the MLB app.
All 31 spring training games will be broadcast in some variety.
An additional eight games will be streamed at Brewers.com. There are likely to be other games televised on MLB Network.
Also, there will be 20 radio broadcasts on the Brewers Radio Network, including six on WTMJ (620 AM) and 14 on WKTI (94.5 FM, ESPN Milwaukee).
The Brewers' Spring Breakout games, March 20 vs. the Seattle Mariners and March 22 at the A's, will be on Brewers.TV.
The Brewers open exhibition play Saturday vs. the Cleveland Guardians at American Family Fields of Phoenix. That is a radio-only game.
Signing Rhys Hoskins was a big deal for the Brewers back in 2024. Milwaukee is typically very conservative in the free-agent market, but several circumstances made it possible. First, they had a desperate need for a first baseman after another unproductive season from Rowdy Tellez. Second, Hoskins had missed all of 2023 due to an ACL tear he suffered in spring training, so while he may have ordinarily been seeking a longer-term deal, the rest of the league needed to see what he could do after such a long layoff and serious injury. This paved the way for an affordable two-year deal worth $34 million, with an $18 million mutual option afterward.
Mutual options are rarely ever exercised, but, unsurprisingly, the Brewers were quick to decline their end of the bargain. Hoskins was lukewarm at best, posting a 102 OPS+ over 845 plate appearances and accumulating just 0.7 total rWAR with the team. It was a considerable step back from his production in Philadelphia and, when combined with recurring stints on the injured list, necessitated other options at first base, such as Jake Bauers. One of the players brought in this year to fill a gap left by Hoskins was the prodigious Andrew Vaughn, who the Brewers have under team control for a few more years. He played exceptionally well and is likely slated to be a significant part of the team's future at the position.
Still, Milwaukee could be in the market for more depth at first base, especially since we've yet to see a full season of work from Andrew Vaughn, and whether his resurgence was the result of actual mechanical adjustments or just smoke and mirrors. Nonetheless, history suggests that Hoskins won't be worth the money he's owed, and it's probably better to use the roster spot and extra money elsewhere.
On the second day of the 2025- 2026 Major League Baseball off-season, the Milwaukee Brewers got a sense of what they have to work with ahead of the 2026 season.
Adam McCalvy of MLB.com is reporting that the Milwaukee Brewers have exercised their team option, declined Danny Jansen's mutual option, and Brandon Woodruff has declined his mutual option. None of these decisions is overly surprising.
Across 33 starts in 2025, Peralta pitched 176 2/3 innings, recording 204 strikeouts to surpass the 200-strikeout mark for the third consecutive season, joining an exclusive group in franchise history. Peralta finished the regular season with a strong 2.70 ERA, though his expected outcomes metrics suggest some regression moving forward with a 3.64 FIP per FanGraphs. His production led to his second All-Star selection and generated a 5.5 bWAR. He has an $8 million team option for 2026 and will be a free agent at season's end.
The 32-year-old Woodruff returned to the Brewers rotation in 2025, logging 12 starts and 64 2/3 innings pitched. Woodruff finished the campaign with a strong FIP of 3.17 and an elite 26.9% K-BB% rate. Had both sides exercised the mutual option, Woodruff was set to make $20 million in 2026. Instead, he'll earn $10 million via a buyout and assuredly come out on top in whatever deal he signs via free agency.
Jansen played 98 games for both the Tampa Bay Rays and the Brewers. He generated 14 home runs with 38 runs scored, resulting in an OPS of .720, a .318 wOBA, and a 103 wRC+ across the year. The Brewers will now be in the market for a backup catcher to relieve William Contreras.
Do you think the Brewers should try to re-sign Woodruff or Jansen? Let us know in the comments!
While some Major League Baseball teams have transitioned to a direct-to-consumer model, the Milwaukee Brewers will stick with the regional sports network (RSN) model for at least one more season.
Adam McCalvy of MLB.com is reporting that the Milwaukee Brewers extended their agreement with Main Street Sports, which owns FanDuel Sports Network Wisconsin. This will be the Brewers' third season on the network.
While the product offered by MLB helps market fans avoid blackouts, RSN deals typically generate more revenue for teams. It's worth noting that there were plans for the team to be broadcast by MLB following the 2024 season before they reversed course and agreed to a deal with the network.
While it's unknown how long the deal will run, Rob Manfred has targeted 2028 as a date to make sweeping moves with baseball's local television contracts. It is unlikely this Brewers' contract goes beyond the 2027 season, at most.
Sentiment on X seems generally negative toward the announcement, specifically citing major issues with the app. What has your experience been with the network and its app?