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  • Milwaukee Brewers Free Agent & Trade Rumors, Notes, & Tidbits

    The latest Milwaukee Brewers free agent and trade rumors, along with notes and tidbits about the team.
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    Steve Drumwright
    Right-hander Brandon Woodruff, already a two-time Opening Day starter for the Milwaukee Brewers, was the logical choice to do the same for the 2026 season as the most accomplished pitcher on the staff.
    But he and the Crew's medical staff are taking it cautiously with Big Woo following a strained right lat that sidelined him for most of the final two weeks of the regular season and all of the postseason. Woodruff threw a 33-pitch simulated game Monday, his first time facing live hitters since his final start of 2025 on Sept. 17.
    That puts the 33-year-old, who accepted the $22.025 million qualifying offer to return to the Brewers, behind the other rotation candidates in camp and also makes his starting Opening Day on March 26 vs. the Chicago White Sox at American Family Field questionable.
    “It’s up in the air right now,” Woodruff told Adam McCalvy of MLB.com. “I know that term’s used a lot. There’s one goal I have this year, and that’s to be healthy. I want to be available at the end of the year when it matters most. What that looks like early on, it could look a little bit different. Nothing’s set in concrete, though."
    Woodruff returned from October 2023 shoulder surgery and a couple of minor setbacks while rehabbing to make his 2025 debut on July 6. All he did in 12 starts was rekindle the thoughts of Woodruff pre-shoulder surgery as he turned in a 3.17 FIP and 130 ERA+. His control, previously terrific, was the best of his career, walking just 5.4% of hitters. He also struck out 32.3% of batters, also the best of his eight-year career.
    If Woodruff is unable to go, that would leave right-hander Quinn Priester and Jacob Misiorowski as the leading contenders to start Opening Day. Neither was in the majors last season on Opening Day.
    Steve Drumwright
    With the full squad having reported to Phoenix for spring training, it was time for manager Pat Murphy to set the tone for the Milwaukee Brewers in 2026. He did so in a speech to his players, some of which was provided via the team's social media channels.
    It was Murph at his finest. Leaning into what made the Crew so good in a 2025 that saw the team post the best record in MLB at 97-65, win their third straight NL Central title and advance to the NL Championship Series, where they were swept by the eventual World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers.
    Among Murphy's nuggets:
    "We found out what matters is who's in this room."
    "We're about people, we're about team."
    "We don't worry about what anybody thinks. (If) we stick to our standard, then you'll have another incredible season. ... And don't be shocked."
    But enough writing, listen to how Murphy delivered his words:
    Steve Drumwright
    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.
    The following games will be on Brewers.TV:
    Sunday at Chicago White Sox* Monday at San Diego Padres* Feb. 28 vs. Cincinnati Reds March 4 vs. Chicago Cubs March 9 vs. Los Angeles Dodgers March 21 vs. San Diego Padres March 22 at Chicago Cubs* * opponent telecast
    Steve Drumwright
    Outfielder Jordyn Adams, who has 38 games of MLB experience over the last three seasons, has signed a minor-league contract with the Milwaukee Brewers, according to Chris Cotillo of MassLive. The deal likely includes an invite to spring training, which begins next week.
    Adams, who plays center and right field, was the No. 17 overall pick in the 2018 draft out of a North Carolina high school. At the same time, Adams had committed to play football at North Carolina as he was a four-star wide receiver recruit. He chose a pro baseball career over football, receiving a $3,472,900 signing bonus from the Angels.
    While not possessing terrific power, having topped out at 15 homers in the minors in 2023, he does have speed, swiping 44 bags also in 2023, all at Triple-A. That was the same year he made his MLB debut, coming up Aug. 1. In two MLB stints, he played in 17 games, putting up a .128/.125/.128 slash line in 40 plate appearances. He had another cup of coffee with the Angels in 2024, but again struggled offensively with a slash line of .229/.289/.314 in 38 plate appearances over 11 games.
    He was designated for assignment that offseason, but was quickly picked up by the Baltimore Orioles for the 2025 season. He again got a small amount of MLB action, going hitless in five plate appearances over 10 games.
    In seven minor-league seasons, Adams has a .247/.328/.377 slash line with 52 homers, 288 RBIs, and 158 steals in 195 chances. One major drawback is that he does strike out quite a bit, with 758 in 2,738 plate appearances in the minors, a whopping 27.7% of the time.
    It would be hard-pressed for Adams to crack the Brewers' Opening Day lineup, but he would be a solid depth piece at Triple-A Nashville. He is the latest player to join the non-roster invitees to spring training.
    Steve Drumwright
    Milwaukee Brewers pitching prospect Frank Cairone posted an Instagram story of him throwing a ball just a month after being involved in a serious vehicle collision that left him hospitalized.
    The 18-year-old left-hander, who was a second-round draft choice by the Crew last summer, was involved in a two-vehicle collision Jan. 3 late at night in Franklin, N.J., and flown to an Atlantic City, N.J., hospital. According to police, Cairone was the driver of a vehicle that was hit by another vehicle that blew through a stop sign. 
    In the Instagram update, Cairone is in sweats and a baseball cap and slowly throws a yellow ball against a wall. While that is certainly a terrific sign for Cairone, it is unknown whether he will report to spring training, let alone pitch this season, as he continues to recover from the serious injuries he sustained. A passenger in Cairone's vehicle was also hospitalized with leg injuries.
    Cairone, a 6-foot-2, 195-pounder, was the 68th overall pick in the 2025 draft out of Delsea Regional High School and turned down a commitment from Coastal Carolina to sign with the Brewers for a $1.1 million signing bonus. He did not pitch for any Brewers affiliate, instead working out in Arizona in anticipation of making his professional debut in 2026.
    Jason Wang
    With a little over a month left before the start of the tournament, the rosters for each participating nation are all but finalized. Some countries have a few spots to fill, and Joey Ortiz was recently announced as part of the newest crop of baseball talent to join the Mexican National Team. He was added alongside Jonathan Aranda, Alek Thomas, and Taijuan Walker. 
    Ortiz has Mexican heritage through his parents and should be a big upgrade over Alan Trejo, who served as the team's starting shortstop in 2023. His offensive regression for the Brewers last season was a point of concern, but his defensive production allowed him to stay slightly above replacement, giving him 1.4 fWAR. 
    He'll be joined in the infield by Ramón and Luis Urías, the latter of whom is a former Brewer. Mexico's roster is now stacked with big-leaguers, including many returning faces from 2023 like Randy Arozarena and Jarren Duran.
    The schedule of the tournament will directly conflict with Spring Training, a crucial time for young talent like Ortiz to prepare for the upcoming season. These refusals are often due to injury risk ,but front offices have occasionally been strict with the way that their younger players are managed. Despite his regression in 2025, it's an encouraging vote of confidence by the franchise that he'll be allowed to forego spring training for the WBC.
    Ortiz will join fellow Brewers Brice Turang, Jackson Chourio, and Tyler Black in Miami for the competition.
    Telemachus Rafaelidys
    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.
    Steve Drumwright
    Outfielder Jackson Chourio will get ready for his third season in a Milwaukee Brewers uniform by playing for Venezuela in the World Baseball Classic. The Brewers made what had seemed a likely decision official via social media Thursday.
    This will be Chourio's first WBC. Rosters for all WBC teams are due February 3, which is Tuesday.
    Venezuela will be one of the teams to watch in this year's tournament. In 2023, Venezuela went 4-0 in pool play before being knocked off by the U.S. 9-7 in the quarterfinals. The U.S. went on to lose to Japan 3-2 in the championship game.
    Chourio was announced to Venezuela's roster along with Ronald Acuna Jr., Maikel Garcia, and Wilyer Abreu. The team captain is Salvador Perez. Whether Brewers catcher William Contreras will be named to the roster is unknown, especially since Perez is a catcher, too, as well as the team captain.
    No other Brewers are known to have made a WBC roster at this point. Sal Frelick is a strong candidate to play again for Italy.
    Brock Beauchamp
    The 2026 MLB season is right around the corner, and we're looking to expand our video coverage. Have you ever considered being on-camera and talking about the Brewers? If yes, we'd love to talk to you about it.
    Our videos are typically in a wide variety of styles: breaking news, analysis, and historical study. We're open to any and all ideas as long as they're centered around the Milwaukee Brewers. We're looking for serious baseball talk, so leave the hot takes at home.
    If you'd like to learn more about this cool little side gig, please email Brock Beauchamp at brock.beauchamp@brewerfanatic.com.
    Here is an example of a recent Brewers video from us:
    Steve Drumwright
    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.
    Steve Drumwright
    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.
    Jason Wang
    MLB Pipeline recently rolled out its list of top prospects at each position, and the Brewers' only representative wasn't Jesús Made or Luis Peña but rather Andrew Fischer.
    Fischer was drafted 20th overall in 2025 out of the University of Tennessee, where he had an outstanding collegiate career with a blue-chip program. As a Volunteer, he slashed .307/.438/.672 with 56 home runs over three seasons and carried over this success into the 19 professional games he played. Across 87 plate appearances with High-A Wisconsin, he posted a 141 wRC+ and seems poised to continue rocketing up through the minor league ranks.
     
    Scouts love the power he generates from the left side, but have questions about his defensive viability. He spent the majority of his final college season playing first base because of his limited agility and range, but the Brewers moved him back to the hot corner after being drafted.
    This could be a win-win situation. The organization will likely continue assessing his ability to fill the role, and if not, they could move him to first base, where the team arguably has a greater need. While the likes of Joey Ortiz and Caleb Durbin have several years of club control left, Andrew Vaughn will be a free agent in 2028. Milwaukee does have another top corner infield prospect in Luke Adams, but more future depth at the position is certainly welcome.
    Steve Drumwright
    For Milwaukee Brewers fans planning on giving Freddy Peralta one last hurrah at American Family Field, circle the dates July 20-22 on your calendar.
    Those three days are the first time the Brewers will face the New York Mets in the 2026 season, and it happens at home. Peralta was traded Wednesday by the Brewers to the Mets along with right-handed starter Tobias Myers for two prospects, infielder-outfielder Jett Williams and right-handed starter Brandon Sproat.
    Peralta is very likely to pitch in that series and could get some help from the Mets. The July 20-22 series is the second one following the All-Star break. The Mets face the Philadelphia Phillies coming out of the break, with a game on July 16, a day off, then July 18-19 at Citizens Bank Park. When Peralta pitches would depend on whether he makes the All-Star Game. Peralta is a two-time All-Star, including in 2025.
    Let's say that Peralta makes the All-Star Game with the Mets. That would push his first start to at least Saturday, July 18, after the break. Considering teams have the chance to reset their rotations at the break, Peralta is likely to be consulted as to whether he wants to pitch in the series vs. the Brewers, which is a Monday-Wednesday affair. The Mets would need to choose not to pitch Peralta against the two-time defending NL East champion Phillies in order to save him for a sentimental start against the Brewers. That would likely mean Peralta would start the Monday, July 20 game.
    Now, if Peralta doesn't make the All-Star Game but is still pitching well, he could start the Mets' first game out of the break on Thursday, July 16. That would set Peralta up to start the finale of the three-game series at American Family Field on Wednesday, July 22, an afternoon getaway game.
    However it plays out, the Brewers are likely to have an emotional tribute video ready for Peralta for the opening game of the series as he makes his return to Milwaukee for the first time since the trade. The Brewers don't play in New York until a midweek series Aug. 25-27. Coincidentally, the Brewers did not have a Peralta-themed promotional item (bobblehead, etc.) scheduled for the upcoming season.
    Steve Drumwright
    It seems like a Freddy Peralta trade is going to happen; it is getting much closer.
    According to a report by Michael Marino, who calls himself a national MLB reporter but appears unaffiliated with any outlet, the Milwaukee Brewers wanted young New York Mets right-handed starter Jonah Tong in the return package for Peralta, who is entering 2026 in his final year of team control and is making $8 million before hitting free agency.
    But the Mets rejected including Tong, the No. 4 prospect in the Mets' system and No. 46 in baseball, per MLB Pipeline. As a counterproposal, the Brewers asked for infielder-outfielder Jett Williams, the Mets' No. 3 prospect and No. 30 in baseball, and right-handed starter Brandon Sproat, the Mets' No. 5 prospect but not a top-100 player. The report said the Mets are not willing to pay that steep a price for one year of Peralta.
    Tong made five starts for the Mets while making his MLB debut in 2025, posting a 4.31 FIP and 7.71 ERA, with 22 strikeouts in 18⅔ innings. Sproat also made his MLB debut in 2025, putting up a 2.80 FIP and 4.79 ERA in four starts, striking out 17 in 20⅔ innings. Williams, who can play middle infield as well as center field, put up a .261/.363/.465 slash line between Double-A and Triple-A in 2025 with 17 homers, 52 RBIs, and 36 stolen bases in 130 games. Williams also struck out 131 times.
    Steve Drumwright
    Ryan Braun, the 2011 NL MVP with the Milwaukee Brewers, who had two incidents regarding performance-enhancing drugs, failed to receive 5% of the vote for the Hall of Fame on Tuesday and will no longer appear on the main ballot. Carlos Beltran and Andruw Jones were elected to the Hall of Fame.
    After playing his entire career with the Brewers, from 2007-20, the 2007 NL Rookie of the Year was in his first year on the Baseball Writers Association of America ballot. It was a long shot for him to be elected in his inaugural appearance on the ballot, so the real question is whether Braun would hit the threshold to improve his position in future years.
    But Braun received only 15 votes from the 425 writers who turned in ballots, or 3.5%. In fact, 11 of the 12 players who were appearing for the first time did not get 5% and are off the BBWAA ballot (Cole Hamels got 23.8%). Players not elected by the BBWAA will be considered by one of the committees and could be nominated for a vote.
    While Braun has some of the best numbers in Brewers history, he also had two well-publicized incidents involving PEDs. The first came after his MVP season of 2011, when he tested positive and faced a suspension. But he became the first player to successfully appeal on the grounds that his testing sample was handled improperly. Braun admitted to lying about never taking PEDs. Braun was involved in the Biogenesis scandal in 2013 and served a 65-game suspension.
    Steve Drumwright
    After the biggest week of player movement of this hot-stove season, Milwaukee Brewers ace Freddy Peralta remains a hot topic.
    According to a social-media post by Jon Heyman of the New York Post, five big-market teams are leading the pursuit of the right-hander. Those teams are the New York Yankees, New York Mets, Los Angeles Dodgers, San Francisco Giants, and Atlanta. But Heyman also notes that those five are "among many, many" teams trying to acquire Peralta. This comes after Brewer Fanatic's own Matt Trueblood reported Monday the Brewers were "moving toward a deal" for Peralta, with the Yankees as the most likely fit.
    Peralta is a hot property as he is making a very affordable $8 million for 2026 before hitting free agency. He is coming off a 2025 in which he posted a career-best 5.5 bWAR with an NL-leading and career-high 17 wins to go along with a 3.64 FIP and 1.075 WHIP for an ERA+ of 154, the highest of his career.
    Of course, the Brewers could always sign Peralta to an extension.
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