Predicting 2025 Brewers’ Opening Day Roster After Devin Williams Trade

The Brewers will have a huge hole in their lineup, left by the departure of Willy Adames, and there are going to be some changes in their pitching staff with the departures of reliable contributors like Devin Williams, Colin Rea and Hoby Milner. Still, taking the 40-man roster as it stands, the Brewers could still assemble a very good team likely to contend again for the NL Central crown.

Let’s look over the team and what the 26-man roster looks like following the Williams trade.

Starting Rotation
The Brewers already had what they hoped was a solid 1-2-3 punch in their rotation, between Freddy Peralta, Tobias Myers, and Aaron Civale. The acquisition of Nestor Cortes adds a solid mid-rotation starter whose real value for the Brewers is two-fold: He pushes Brandon Woodruff to the fifth spot for his comeback season after large chunks of 2023 and all of 2024 were lost due to injury; and he buys time for a stocked Triple-A rotation that includes Logan Henderson, Chad Patrick, Jacob Misiorowski, and Carlos F. Rodriguez to gain seasoning.

Cortes and Woodruff will determine how Milwaukee’s 2025 can go, especially in the early going. If both return to the form that made them top-10 vote recipients for the Cy Young Award not long ago, the Brewers could be able to go toe-to-toe with any team in the playoffs.

Projected Opening Day Rotation: Freddy Peralta, Tobias Myers, Aaron Civale, Nestor Cortes, Brandon Woodruff

Bullpen
The Brewers pen is quite deep—so much so that the Williams trade did little to ease congestion. Trevor Megill will likely take up the closer role, which he performed very well in 2024. The eighth inning, though, is up for grabs. Will it be Jared Koenig, Nick Mears, Abner Uribe, Joel Payamps, or Elvis Peguero? The losers will likely end up handling the seventh inning; twirl in Triple-A Nashville for a bit; or be moved to teams looking for help. Notably, the Brewers' AL counterparts (the Cleveland Guardians, another small-market team with an elite bullpen) have traded two relievers away already this offseason, in Eli Morgan and Nick Sandlin.

The Brewers will then turn to the back end of the bullpen, which will feature a number of prospective relievers who can go multiple innings. The top four contenders are all lefties: Bryan Hudson, DL Hall, Aaron Ashby and Rule 5 pick Connor Thomas. The team also has Craig Yoho knocking at the door of MLB, while injuries could see some of the Triple-A starters end up in the bullpen.

Payamps, Mears, and Thomas cannot be optioned to the minors. This could be one area where the Brewers make some trades.

Projected Opening Day Bullpen: Megill (closer), Payamps, Koenig, Mears, Hudson, Hall, Ashby, Thomas

Catchers
This is a straightforward position for the Brewers. William Contreras will likely be the starter for the third season, having secured a huge payday in his first year of arbitration. Eric Haase will be the backup to start the season, but he will be looking over his shoulder, as Jeferson Quero will be in Triple-A Nashville after recovering from a shoulder injury that cost him virtually all of 2024.

Projected Opening Day Catchers: William Contreras (starter), Eric Haase (bench)

Infielders
Three of the four positions will be set going into Opening Day. First base will be manned by Rhys Hoskins, who opted in with the Brewers for 2025. Joey Ortiz will move to shortstop to fill the very big shoes of Adames, who took a seven-year, $182-million deal from the San Francisco Giants. Brice Turang will return at second base, where he earned both the Gold Glove and Platinum Glove.

That leaves third base, where the Brewers already had some solid internal options before Caleb Durbin’s acquisition in the Devin Williams trade. Depending on how spring training goes, the Brewers could go with a platoon of Oliver Dunn and Andruw Monasterio at the hot corner for Opening Day, while Durbin may start in Triple-A Nashville to get regular playing time. Don't be surprised if Durbin bumps Monasterio out of the platoon at third, and also spells Ortiz and Turang later in the season.

Isaac Collins, a switch-hitter who has seen playing time at third base, second base, and who can also play some outfield, could also be an option off the bench for the Brewers. Vinny Capra could also be in the mix, but will likely be at Triple-A Nashville.

Projected Opening Day Infielders: Rhys Hoskins (1B), Brice Turang (2B), Joey Ortiz (SS), Oliver Dunn (3B/platoon), Andruw Monasterio (3B/platoon), Isaac Collins (bench)

Outfielders
Arguably the deepest position group on the team, all of the likely 26-man roster candidates for the Brewers have significant professional experience in center field. Blake Perkins handled most of the duties in 2024, where he was a Gold Glove finalist. Sal Frelick earned a Gold Glove primarily playing right field. Garrett Mitchell displaced Perkins in center and will likely start there most of the time, if healthy. Jackson Chourio finished third in Rookie of the Year voting in a historically strong class, and will end up in left field.

That will likely bump Christian Yelich to being the designated hitter most of the time, which should make things easier on his surgically-repaired back. Collins and Tyler Black may also see some time in the outfield, with Brewer Hicklen likely to be the first callup in case of injury.

Projected Opening Day Outfielders: Christian Yelich (DH), Jackson Chourio (LF), Garrett Mitchell (CF), Sal Frelick (RF), Blake Perkins (bench)

Lineup Projection

1. 2B: Brice Turang
2. LF: Jackson Chourio
3. DH: Christian Yelich
4. C: William Contreras
5. CF: Garrett Mitchell
6. 1B: Rhys Hoskins
7. RF: Sal Frelick
8. SS: Joey Ortiz
9. 3B: Oliver Dunn

Bench Projection

• C Eric Haase
• IF Andruw Monasterio
• IF/OF Isaac Collins
• OF Blake Perkins

Projected Rotation

• RHP Freddy Peralta
• RHP Tobias Myers
• RHP Aaron Civale
• LHP Nestor Cortes
• RHP Brandon Woodruff

Projected Bullpen

• RHP Trevor Megill (closer)
• RHP Joel Payamps (set-up)
• LHP Jared Koenig (set-up)
• RHP Nick Mears (set-up)
• LHP Bryan Hudson (middle/long relief)
• LHP DL Hall (long relief)
• LHP Aaron Ashby (long relief)
• LHP Connor Thomas (long relief)