Steve Drumwright

Image courtesy of © Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images It's that time of year when we make silly promises to ourselves, in order to try and be better people in the next 12 months. Those can include going to the gym (yeah, right), being better with our finances, or learning to do something new. But how to approach that from a baseball fan's point of view can be very different. All you can do is hope that certain things improve. With that in mind, here are three things Milwaukee Brewers fans should resolve to do in 2026. 1. I resolve to think unconventionally. Think of three players who were vital to the Brewers' success and where they started the 2025 season. The first is Caleb Durbin. Acquired in the Devin Williams trade from the New York Yankees, Durbin was beaten out for an Opening Day roster spot by Oliver Dunn and Vinny Capra, and started at Triple-A Nashville. Durbin was thought to be more of a second baseman at the time of the trade, but with Brice Turang entrenched there, Durbin shifted to third base during spring training, where it was said he didn't have the arm for the position. All he did was earn a mid-April promotion to make his debut, and never look back. He was a nice contributor offensively, finishing with a .256/.334/.387 slash line, but even more surprisingly, he was a rock defensively at third base. Up next is Quinn Priester. The right-handed starter also started 2025 at Triple A, but was in the Boston Red Sox organization. Due to major starting pitching issues in the first two weeks of the season, the Brewers swung a deal for Priester, sending outfielder Yophery Rodriguez, right-handed starter John Holobetz and a Competitive Balance Round A pick to the Red Sox. At the time, Rodriguez was the No. 7 prospect for the Brewers, according to MLB Pipeline, while Holobetz, a fifth-round pick in 2024, was just getting his feet wet in pro ball, with 31 strikeouts in 24 innings. The draft choice, No. 33 overall, turned out to be pitcher Marcus Phillips. The price seemed steep at the time, but it may end up a bargain. Priester still has four more years of team control and will be in the Opening Day rotation for 2026, after going 13-3 with a 4.01 FIP and 125 ERA+. The last piece of this puzzle is Andrew Vaughn. Like Durbin and Priester, the first baseman was picked up in a trade after spending time stuck in Triple A for another team. Vaughn had been the No. 3 overall pick in the 2018 draft by the Chicago White Sox, but fell out of favor with a team that had the most losses in MLB history in 2024 and was sent to Triple-A Charlotte after two poor months in 2025. When acquired in mid-June for disgruntled right-hander Aaron Civale, Vaughn was a reclamation project, with the Brewers hoping to ignite a spark in the first baseman. It worked. After a brief time at Nashville and called up to fill in for the injured Rhys Hoskins, Vaughn homered off Los Angeles Dodgers right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto in his very first plate appearance. That would be the first of nine homers, to go along with a .308/.375/.493 slash line and 46 RBIs in 64 games. He enters 2026 as the starting first baseman. There will certainly be situations in 2026 where the Brewers will pluck a player from the unknown, and he could be key to their success. Don't expect all contributions to come from the usual places. 2. I resolve not to covet players out of the Brewers' price range. When the trade deadline rolls around, the Brewers will have a need of some sort, whether due to injury or lack of production. There will be a player or two on other teams whom fans will clamor for, but they won't be realistic targets due to their financial price tag. That is life as a Brewers fan. The front office shops at Target, not at Saks Fifth Avenue—and it usually works. Whether it's a corner infielder or a pitcher who would bolster the team's chances, don't look at the names all the MLB insiders are always talking about. Look a little bit deeper at some of the options that won't cost a big package of prospects to acquire. Consider what president of baseball operations Matt Arnold did at the 2025 trade deadline. He went out and got right-handed reliever Shelby Miller from the Arizona Diamondbacks for cash and backup outfielder Brandon Lockridge from the San Diego Padres for left-handed starter Nestor Cortes, who didn't have a spot on the Brewers' roster. While Miller didn't work out due to injury, Lockridge was surprisingly thrust into an immediate role due to an outfield shortage, and is a reason why the Brewers parted ways with Isaac Collins, who finished fourth in the NL Rookie of the Year voting. 3. I resolve to believe in the unbelievables. There are two players seemingly on the spot for 2026: shortstop Joey Ortiz and center fielder Garrett Mitchell. Ortiz is in the spotlight because he plays the most important defensive position, but took a major step back offensively in his second season with the Brewers after being part of the return in the Corbin Burnes trade. In his first season as a starting big-league shortstop, he was excellent defensively, committing just one error after June 29 and nine for the season. Anything in his vicinity, you had confidence he would make the play, whether routine or difficult. But the opposite was true when Ortiz was at the plate. After a .239/.329/.398 slash line in 2024, Ortiz put up a .230/.276/.317 mark in 2025. While the average was similar, Ortiz lacked the plate discipline, seeing his walks drop from 56 to 27. He popped out at an incredible rate. He came up with the bases loaded plenty of times, and went a paltry 5-for-30 (.167) with 16 RBIs, grounding into three double plays. MLB.com's Adam McCalvy detailed a lot of the numbers that went into Ortiz's poor offensive season. Having an offseason to reset and work on his offense can only help. Getting any semblance of offense from Ortiz in 2026 will be huge. Mitchell is a much different case. Like Ortiz, Mitchell plays very good defense at a prime position, center field. But since making his MLB debut in late August 2022, Mitchell has played in a grand total of 141 games with 443 plate appearances, due to a number of injuries. In 2023, he played in just 19 games following a torn left labrum in his shoulder while diving back into a base. In 2024, a fractured left index finger with a week left in spring training kept him sidelined until July. Last year, he strained his left oblique on April 25. During a rehab stint in June, he reinjured his left shoulder, which required season-ending surgery. His most extensive action was in 2024, when he played the final three months and posted a .255/.342/.469 slash line with eight homers and 11 steals in 69 games. Mitchell, the Brewers' first-round draft choice in 2020, would make the Brewers' offense that much more dynamic if he could stay healthy. Despite not yet playing a full season's worth of games, Mitchell has been on the MLB roster long enough that he is arbitration-eligible this offseason. He is projected to earn $1 million by MLB Trade Rumors, a number that will go up after 2026. This is a case where the Brewers would be happy to see that number spike a bit, as it would mean Mitchell was on the field and made an impact. View full article

Image courtesy of © Mark Hoffman / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images Christmas was last week, but we here at Brewer Fanatic have one more gift to give you: The top stories you, the Milwaukee Brewers fan, enjoyed the most in 2025. Money, one particular trade target, a career resurrection with its impact, and an injury to a star player were the topics you read the most. Here is a recap: 5. Cashing In Headline: "How Much Money Did Brewers Make in First Sustained Playoff Run Since 2018?" Author: Matthew Trueblood Publish date: Oct. 19 Summary: There was good news, but it certainly didn't offset the bad news about how the Brewers' season ended. While the Brewers' amazing season came to a sudden and stifling halt with the four-game sweep by the eventual World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers in the NL Championship Series, there was a financial boon to the 2025 season. Unfortunately, it wasn't as much money as it could have been had the Brewers won at least one game vs. the Dodgers. As Trueblood details, the Brewers (and Dodgers) would have received a much bigger chunk of change had the NLCS been extended past the required four games, with "the two teams playing divided roughly 85% of the gate." MLB takes a bulk of the gate revenue from the basic number of games for each postseason series. "In other words, for sold-out Games 3 and 4 at Dodger Stadium, the Brewers only got (as a rough estimate) $3 million," Trueblood wrote. "They probably made more like $2 million at the gate for Games 1 and 2 at the smaller, lower-priced Uecker Field. By contrast, Game 5 could have netted the Brewers a solid $5 million by itself, and Games 6 and 7 would have been worth nearly as much, in gates alone." It all added up to what Trueblood estimates was a $30 million windfall for the Crew. As anyone would do, Trueblood hypothesizes how the Brewers would use that newfound cash. With other contracts coming off the books and some raises taking effect through arbitration or contract extensions, Trueblood said the Brewers could spend $50 million to bring in new talent. "Given the money they just made this fall and any reasonable revenue projection for next season, the Brewers should be back over $125 million next year, which means that they can go make aggressive moves in free agency or on the trade market," Trueblood wrote. "That kind of freedom, for a team that also has a cadre of young stars and one of the game's best farm systems, should scare even the mighty Dodgers." 4. A New Beginning Headline: "Andrew Vaughn Creating a Fantastic Problem for Milwaukee Brewers, and a Real One for Veteran Slugger" Author: Jake McKibbin Publish date: July 29 Summary: July was the month of Andrew Vaughn. The first baseman, who had been acquired from the Chicago White Sox in mid-June for starting pitcher Aaron Civale, had been relegated to Triple-A by the AL's worst team and had a new lease on his baseball life with the Brewers. After a couple of weeks at Triple-A Nashville, Vaughn was called upon to replace the injured Rhys Hoskins. That moment turned out to be monumental for both players. There was little doubt as to Vaughn's talent, having been the No. 3 overall pick of the 2019 draft out of Cal, but he hadn't had the success expected of him and, in fact, struggled so much that the White Sox sent him to the minors to get straightened out. But when he made his Brewers debut on July 1, it was like someone had hit the refresh button. In his first plate appearance, he hit a home run off Los Angeles Dodgers right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto. Whatever it was, Vaughn vaulted into the spotlight with the Brewers. As McKibbin wrote, Vaughn wasn't chasing pitches like he was with the White Sox, pulling the ball more and hitting the ball hard more often. As an added bonus, Vaughn's July featured a reduction in strikeouts and an increase in walks. "The development of his swing decisions suggests that, while Vaughn is unlikely to maintain a 1.075 OPS over the remainder of the season, his improvements are here to stay in a position that the Brewers have struggled to garner offensive production from since mid-May," McKibbin wrote. McKibbin also took a look at what Vaughn's production could mean to Hoskins for the rest of the season, as well as Jake Bauers, the backup first baseman. "However you look at it, Vaughn has a fantastic opportunity over the next three weeks to demonstrate that he should be the Brewers' starting first baseman down the stretch and into the playoffs," McKibbin wrote. 3. A Complicated Move? Headline: "Trading for Eugenio Suárez is What Brewers Hired Pat Murphy For" Author: Matthew Trueblood Publish date: July 22 Summary: The trade deadline always makes for good content, and Brewers fans had to be using the meme of Leo DiCaprio pointing when they saw this article. Third baseman Eugenio Suarez, stuck with the injury-ravaged Arizona Diamondbacks at the time, was a popular trade target for a lot of teams. The Brewers, in desperate need of an influx of power, most definitely could have used Suarez's right-handed bat. That was never the question. The question, instead, was how Suarez would fit into the Brewers' lineup and what the ramifications of acquiring the third baseman would be. The Brewers were solid at the time at third base with rookie Caleb Durbin, but he would never be confused for a power hitter. "Adding Suárez would throw a roadblock in front of a key player who was the centerpiece of an offseason deal for the team's former relief ace, who has delivered huge value for them and embodies their whole philosophy and identity neatly," Trueblood wrote. And this is where Trueblood got into the crux of his article. Adding Suarez would move Durbin off third base and put the talents of manager Pat Murphy to work. "Murphy is willing to move players around defensively," Trueblood wrote. "He's willing to communicate, compassionately but bluntly, that certain players won't play every day, and to hold them to a high standard of preparation and performance, anyway. He's the perfect guy to manage the juggling act that will become necessary if this team lands Suárez." Durbin could have seen action at second base against left-handers, giving the lefty-hitting Brice Turang a break, or even moving Turang to short and spelling Joey Ortiz. Murphy never had to worry about this dilemma as Suarez was traded to the Seattle Mariners. Durbin would finish third in NL Rookie of the Year voting and Turang would turn on the power in August, so some moves are better left not being made. 2. Vaughn's Roller-Coaster Ride Headline: "Once Again, Andrew Vaughn Has Complicated First Base" Author: Jason Wang Publish date: Sept. 21 Summary: In case you were wondering, yes, Vaughn was a very popular topic with Brewers fans. That was because he was providing something the Crew really needed, and that was right-handed power. Hoskins had hit 12 homers before his thumb injury. After joining the Brewers, Vaughn hit five in July and another four in August. But August was a tricky month for Vaughn. While the power was still there, he wasn't able to sustain the pace he set in July. That coincided with Hoskins being on a rehab assignment, getting close to returning to the lineup. But the Brewers kept Hoskins in the minors as long as they could before finally activating him Sept. 9. That allowed for Vaughn to regroup and, perhaps with the knowledge the first base job was his to lose, he responded with a productive bat, even though he didn't hit another homer in the regular season. "His aforementioned slump saw him lose a lot of his pop at the plate, at least on paper," Wang wrote. "He slugged just .375 over that span (Aug. 8-31), partly due to bad luck and partly due to opposing pitchers becoming wise to his antics. Now, he has become less reliant on the long ball and is more than willing to simply put the ball in play as long as it becomes a hit of some sort. He still hasn’t hit a home run since August 15th, but has instead slashed .444/.475/.583 with five doubles so far this month." The combined production of Vaughn and Bauers would lead to Hoskins not being on the roster for either postseason series. 1. A Tough Situation Headline: "Brewers Manager Pat Murphy Needs to Stand Up to Catcher William Contreras" Author: Jake McKibben Publish date: May 8 Summary: The revelation that catcher William Contreras had a broken middle finger on his catching hand was an eyebrow-raiser. It helped explain Conteras' slow offensive start to the season, but the injury was sustained late in the 2024 season and didn't really become problematic until this early point in the season. McKibben wrote on the subject just shortly after the injury announcement, so the path the Brewers would choose was not exactly clear. The conventional route would have been putting Contreras on the injured list for a couple of weeks to allow the injury to heal. Catching with a broken finger is painful, much less when a batter might clip the glove from behind and perhaps exacerbate the injury. McKibben provided a few potential options, including a splint, which didn't seem ideal as it would affect Contreras' ability to hit, not to mention the logistics of catching. But Contreras is one of the most valuable Brewers, as you can see where he ranks on our Brewer Fanatic list, not only for the terrific defense and the way he handles the pitching staff, but — as we have mentioned a few times above — he also provides right-handed power and a strong middle-of-the-order bat. McKibben then offered a quote from Murphy about Contreras not wanting to go on the IL due to the iron-man mentality the catcher has. "It's incredibly brave of Contreras to fight through the pain he is in, but the Brewers have enough depth at catcher that they don't need him to," McKibben wrote. "They can afford for him to get back to full health without endangering himself." McKibben concluded the article by saying Murphy needed to take a stand with Contreras and spend some time mending on the IL. Contreras would end up playing the entire season with the broken finger and had an offseason procedure to address the injury. View full article

That isn't to say everything is in good shape. Despite the similarity in the two seasons, Chourio's bWAR dropped from 3.8 to 2.2, some of which is likely due to playing most of the time in center field after only playing the corners in 2024. However, he also stopped drawing walks. Chourio walked in a paltry 5.1% of his plate appearances in 2025, which was down from an already-poor 6.8% as a rookie. Chasing pitches is his primary problem. Chourio swung at 38.4% of pitches thrown outside of the strike zone, a worse mark than his 32.8% in 2024. That is where the hitting staff will need to work with Chourio the most. Laying off those pitches to draw more walks (as well as getting into better counts) will make him more productive. Defensively, it was remarkable how much progress Chourio made. As a rookie, he was often criticized for not being aggressive enough and just didn't seem comfortable in the corners. That he started 87 games in center this year and didn't look lost shows how much work he put into his defense in the offseason. Sure, there is more work to be done, but he is a capable center fielder. Chourio is a big part of the future of the Brewers, who showed their belief in him two offseasons ago with an eight-year, $82-million contract before he had played a game in the majors. So far, Chourio is showing that investment will pay dividends. But there seems to be another level to Chourio that has yet to be unlocked. If and when he that is achieved, Chourio will put himself in the NL MVP conversation on an annual basis. View full article

John Counsell, who was the Milwaukee Brewers' former director of community affairs and the father of former Brewers manager Craig Counsell, died Tuesday. He was 83. John Counsell worked for the Brewers from the time Craig Counsell was 8 to 18, with his son often running with the big names in team history, including Hall of Famers Robin Yount and Paul Molitor. John Counsell attended Notre Dame, where he also played baseball, footsteps Craig would follow. John Counsell was signed by the Minnesota Twins and played four years (1964-67) in the minors, including three with the Wisconsin Rapids Twins. But he never made it past Class A. Craig Counsell would play for the Brewers in 2004 and again from 2007 to 2011, then became the team's manager from 2015 to 2023, winning three NL Central titles. View full rumor

When it comes to content ideas, you either come up with something creative or steal from someone else. Well, here at Brewer Fanatic, we are going to borrow a concept from our friends over at Twins Daily. That is a list of player assets entering the upcoming season. Twins Daily has been doing this since 2018. Our inaugural Brewer Fanatic list will rank the 25 Milwaukee Brewers players and prospects with this in mind: Who are the most valuable in the organization's pursuit of building a champion? To do so, we considered age, upside, and contract. The Brewers are in one of the best positions in franchise history, coming off their third straight NL Central championship, having a relatively young MLB roster and prospects ready to be the next wave of contributors. Like it or not, that will allow the Brewers to spin off some of the talent before hitting free agency or to acquire other controllable assets. This list is a group effort. Jason Wang, Michael Trzinski, and I each came up with our own lists and merged them to create this ranking. Our individual rankings are included with each player, so you know who to blame if your favorite player isn't higher. Just kidding (but really). Each player's age and controlled-through years are based on his Baseball-Reference age for the 2026 season and when B-R says he can become a free agent. 25. Jared Koenig, LHP Jason's rank: 26 | Michael's rank: 24 | Steve's rank: 16 2026 Season age: 32 Controlled through: 2029 Opening our list is one of the Brewers' most dependable arms, who is often put into tough and late-inning situations, even if he is a late bloomer. As the Brewers do, they picked Koenig up off the scrap heap following the 2023 season, when he spent the entire season in the minors for the San Diego Padres after pitching in 10 MLB games for the Oakland A's in 2022. In two seasons with the Crew, Koenig has appeared in 127 games and posted a FIP of 3.31, striking out 24.6% of batters and walking 8.1%. While tying for ninth in MLB with 27 holds, Koenig has been versatile, serving as an opener in six games, all in 2024. Koenig provides a nice complement to Aaron Ashby, the Brewers' workhorse left-handed reliever, allowing manager Pat Murphy options depending on matchups, while also having a lefty to deploy when Ashby isn't available. Koenig allowed one run in six postseason games in 2025. He primarily relies on his sinker, which he used 57% of the time in 2025, while mixing in a cutter (18%) and curveball (16%). Koenig is entering his final pre-arbitration year and would be a very attractive piece to another team, even as he enters his age-32 season. 24. Tobias Myers, RHP Jason's rank: 14 | Michael's rank: 26 | Steve's rank: 25 2026 Season age: 27 Controlled through: 2030 After being a surprising rock of the 2024 starting rotation in his rookie season, notching a 2.7 bWAR in 27 games (25 starts), Myers was virtually nonexistent for the Brewers in 2025. Part of that stems from how his 2025 began — on the 15-day injured list with a strained left oblique. That was only a temporary setback, as he was activated and returned to the rotation in late April, when the Crew needed starters. But that only lasted for six games (one in relief) as Myers was optioned to Triple-A Nashville less than a month later. The Nashville shuttle was his plight for the rest of the season. As the Brewers' rotation stabilized, Myers was relegated to a bullpen role. His numbers for the season were very solid. He posted a 3.92 FIP, just behind the 3.91 in 2024, and an ERA+ of 117 in 22 games, including six starts. A big development for Myers in 2025 was the introduction of a splitter and a reduced reliance on his changeup. Already with a cutter and slider in addition to his four-seamer, Myers used the new splitter 16% of the time in the majors, with his changeup going from 11% in 2024 to 1% in 2025. Myers figures to be in the mix for the back end of the Brewers' rotation or a long-relief role. 23. Garrett Mitchell, CF Jason's rank: 20 | Michael's rank: 21 | Steve's rank: 21 2026 Season age: 27 Controlled through: 2028 Mitchell is the great unknown for the Brewers. Unknown because he hasn't been able to stay on the field long enough to showcase his value due to a variety of injuries. A first-round draft choice in 2020, Mitchell made his MLB debut in August 2022, playing 28 games that season. Since then, the left-handed-hitting center fielder has played 19, 69, and 25 games. That was due to a torn labrum while sliding (2023), a fractured left index finger in spring training (2024), and a strained left oblique and left shoulder surgery while rehabbing (2025). That doesn't include a left knee injury that sidelined him in 2021 and an oblique issue in 2022, both in the minors. In 2024, when he came back from the fractured finger, he showed flashes of his potential, putting up a .255/.342/.469 slash line with eight homers, 21 RBIs, and 11 steals. With 13 homers and 23 steals in 141 career games, it isn't hard to project a 20-homer, 30-steal full season. Mitchell has the talent and charisma to be as productive and popular as left fielder Jackson Chourio, which would be a boon for the Brewers. While Blake Perkins provides stellar defense in center, he doesn't have the offensive tools that Mitchell does, and the Brewers' offense sorely needs. With Perkins in his first year of arbitration eligibility, 2026 shapes up as a crucial season. The nature of Mitchell's injuries seems more fluky than anything, but frustrating for all involved, given their frequency. Mitchell is likely to be the Opening Day center fielder for the second year in a row; the only question is how many games will be played after that. 22. Robert Gasser, LHP Jason's rank: 21 | Michael's rank: 22 | Steve's rank: 19 2026 Season age: 27 Controlled through: 2030 The Brewers have been dreaming on Gasser since he was the key piece coming back in the Josh Hader trade with the San Diego Padres at the 2022 trade deadline. At the time, Gasser was a top prospect as a left-handed starting pitcher and, after spending all of 2023 at Triple-A Nashville, Gasser made his MLB debut in May 2024. But after five starts, in which he had a 3.38 FIP and 163 ERA+, Gasser blew out his left elbow and required Tommy John surgery. That kept him out until late in 2025, coming back to make two abbreviated late-season starts. The good news is that means Gasser will have a typical offseason and be ready to go at a fairly full throttle in spring training, though the Brewers will monitor his workload. With the rotation currently having a top three of right-handers Freddy Peralta, Brandon Woodruff, and Jacob Misiorowski, Gasser will be in competition with right-handers Chad Patrick, Logan Henderson, and Myers for the final two spots. Working in Gasser's favor is that he is a left-hander, potentially the only one in the 2026 Opening Day rotation. Featuring a four-seamer and a sweeper that he uses fairly equally (34% and 33% for his brief MLB career), along with a sinker and changeup, Gasser showed a good strikeout ability with 410 in 337⅓ innings in the minors, including 41 in 38 innings while rehabbing in 2025. Gasser should be a big part of the Brewers' rotation in 2026 and beyond. Due to the injury that cost him most of two seasons, this will be his final pre-arbitration season. 21. Luis Pena, SS-2B Jason's rank: 5 | Michael's rank: 26 | Steve's rank: 26 2026 Season age: 19 Controlled through: TBD Speaking of dreaming, we hit the first of three prospects to make this list. As you can see, where to rank Pena differed greatly, perhaps because the interpretation of this list's meaning differed among the three voters. None of this is a knock on Pena, the consensus No. 2 prospect in the organization. Six months older than top prospect Jesus Made, the 19-year-old Pena has risen through the system at the same speed as Made, except for one late promotion for Made in 2025. Both are middle infielders, with Pena shifting to second base in deference to Made. Pena, part of the Brewers' stellar 2024 international signing class, made it to High-A Wisconsin this season after being part of an exceptional grouping at Single-A Carolina. In 71 games at Carolina, Pena slashed .308/.375/.469 with six homers, 52 RBIs, and 41 steals. Following his promotion to Wisconsin, Pena ran into his first struggles as a professional, with a .168/.220/.297 slash line in 25 games. Speed is Pena's primary asset, with 83 steals in 140 games over two seasons, but he does have a good hit tool, having won the Dominican Summer League batting title in 2024 with a .393 average. His power increased from one homer in 2024 to nine in 2025, showing there is room to grow there as his body matures. Pena has also seen time at third base and appears to have the arm strength for the position. Likely to begin 2026 at Wisconsin, Pena is very much part of the Brewers' future and could find his way during the year to Double-A Biloxi with a good showing. View full article

The Milwaukee Brewers will hand out the fourth-highest postseason shares, giving out $168,852.76 after reaching the National League Championship Series. The Brewers' pool comes from the MLB total of $128.2 million, which is just shy of the record of $129.1 million. There will be 70 individual shares distributed to players, managers, and certain staff members who were eligible for the World Series or on the roster after June 1. Separate cash awards will be given to other members of the organization. Team executives are not eligible for either payout. The Los Angeles Dodgers, who swept the Brewers in the NLCS and won their second straight World Series, received shares worth $484,747.57. The American League champion Toronto Blue Jays' full shares are worth $354,118.39, while the Seattle Mariners, who lost to the Jays in the ALCS, received $182,376.45. View full rumor

Image courtesy of © Raymond Carlin III-Imagn Images The Brewers have a bit more insurance against injuries and underperformance in 2026. Right-hander Gerson Garabito and left-handed starter Drew Rom agreed to minor-league contracts with a non-roster invite to spring training, according to Curt Hogg of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. So what do we know about each? Garabito sounds like the more interesting of the pair. A 30-year-old Dominican, he stands 6 feet and weighs 180 pounds. He had an adventurous 2025, beginning the season on the Opening Day roster for the Texas Rangers. Garabito, who spent the last four months of 2024 with the Rangers after making his MLB debut in late May, appeared in three games, two in a mop-up role. It didn't go well. In his second appearance of the season, he allowed eight runs (four earned) on seven hits with no walks and three strikeouts in 2 ⅔ innings, in a 14-3 loss to the Cincinnati Reds. A week later, he made his last big-league appearance of 2025, when he gave up four runs on six hits in 3 ⅓ innings against the Chicago Cubs. Garabito was sent to Triple-A Round Rock a few days later. There, his struggles continued: He posted an 8.81 ERA in 10 starts, walking 18 and striking out 28 in 31 ⅔ innings. After two months at Round Rock, Garabito was released to sign with the Korean Baseball Organization's Samsung Lions. His fortunes changed in South Korea, where he made 15 starts and went 4-4 with a 2.64 ERA in 78 ⅓ innings. He walked 37, but also struck out 84. That performance is what got the Brewers interested. While he will be ticketed for Nashville, Garabito will be looking to build upon his KBO showing and be an option when the Brewers need to dip into their minor-league depth for an extra arm. He'll also be looking to improve upon his big-league track record. In 21 games, including two starts, Garabito has a 5.77 career ERA, with 13 walks and 30 strikeouts in 34 ⅓ innings. Garabito was originally signed by the Kansas City Royals as a 16-year-old, in September 2012. He didn't make it to Double A until 2019. He became a minor-league free agent following the pandemic-scrubbed 2020 season and signed with the San Francisco Giants, spending time at Double A and Triple A. He was out of organized ball in 2022 and 2023, pitching in Venezuela, then landed a deal with the Rangers before the 2024 season. He throws roughly 94 miles per hour, but his four-seam fastball lives in the movement dead zone. He'd do better to turn to his sinker more often, though the changeup and (especially) splitter with which he complements those offerings play a bit better off the four-seamer. He'll be a good candidate for some tinkering, under the Brewers' famously clever pitching brain trust. Rom, meanwhile, has almost been exclusively a starter, with 104 of his 116 professional games coming in the rotation. He turned 26 on Monday. He's a 6-foot-2, 215-pound left-hander who was drafted in the fourth round of the 2018 draft by the Baltimore Orioles. He progressed up the Orioles' chain to Triple A in 2023, including a two-day call-up to the Baltimore roster in May. Then, he was traded to the St. Louis Cardinals in the Jack Flaherty deal at that year's trade deadline. He made his MLB debut in late August, posting a 1-4 record and 8.02 ERA in eight starts, covering 33 ⅔ innings. He walked 19 and struck out 32. His 2024 season was wiped out by injury. He was placed on the injured list with a biceps injury, but then had arthroscopic surgery on his left shoulder in May, ending his year. He came back in 2025 with three rehab starts at Low A, then made four starts at Triple-A Memphis. In those seven games, he had a 4.24 ERA in 23 ⅓ innings, walking six and striking out 24. His last appearance was in early June. Rom apparently sustained an undisclosed injury. It appears to be another setback with the upper arm or shoulder. Though he only throws 91 miles per hour, Rom has some interesting secondary offerings. He throws a funky cut-splitter and a plus sweeper, as well as a slider and sinker that round out a starter-worthy arsenal. If he can stay healthy, Rom is an interesting arm. Both he and Garabito have the right mix of stuff and experience to start games in an emergency, but each is best thought of as something akin to the Elvin Rodríguez signing last winter—with even lower stakes, since neither initially receives a 40-man roster spot. They're spare pieces, but they could be solid ones. Always amassing depth and leaving themselves ample options, the Brewers have done a bit of reinforcement in advance. View full article

This. Braun signed his 5/105 deal prior to 2016, right? He needs to be worth what? 13 wins over those 5 years to have it be an even deal? He's at 4.8 fWAR and 4.7 bWAR with three years to go. I don't think it's crazy that he ends up around 10 WAR total over the life of the contract. That makes it an unwise deal in the end, but not so unwise as to be horrible. And there's probably something to be gained from having Braun around for some people. I wouldn't count myself as one of them, and I do think the deal is subpar. But it's not so bad as to be completely underwater at this point, and not so bad as to be a franchise-killing albatross. I don't think last year is the real Braun, nor do I think 2016 is legitimate to expect, but if he's a 2-win player for the next three years (and he is still a guy who can hit, I think), I think it's probably a C-level deal for the Brewers. Maybe the franchise can't afford C-level deals, but the reality is you're going to have them. Braun signed the extension in April 2011 -- before his PED issues came to light following his MVP season. https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2011/04/brewers-extend-ryan-braun-through-2020.html The extension kicked in starting in 2016.

What a trade! Yelich is entering his age-26 season and the Brewers will have five seasons of control. You can't get that very often, so yes, the prospect haul had to sting a bit to get a player of this caliber. Brinson: 20-20 potential, maybe a question on durability (122 games was his high in the minors), good defender Diaz: Hit-first shortstop-second baseman who reportedly had some maturity issues this season Harrison: Had a breakthrough year in 2017, but is he just the next Glenn Braggs? Or better? Or worse? Yamamoto: Clearly blossomed with a superb 2017 Which one of these players hurts the most to lose? I would say Brinson at the moment, but Harrison is not too far behind. The Crew still has outfield depth in the minors. Don't forget about Corey Ray (yes, he struggled in his first full season in the minors after maybe being pushed a bit), with Tristen Lutz and Trent Clark-Grisham still coming. The Yelich trade erases any urgency for these guys. I have wondered if Braun would ever go play first. This would be the time, even if Santana was traded. Thames would platoon with Braun, giving Braun he requisite day off each week and being a top bat off the bench. Yelich will be solid but not spectacular in center. He has good range, but probably won't be pulling them back like Gomez and Broxton have. Yelich, Cain, Phillips and Broxton are all versatile enough to play any outfield spot (maybe not right field for Cain). The defense would be much improved. Santana had his issues and Braun had some lapses, but I don't see that happening with these four out there. If Santana stays? Even more of a reason for Braun to go to first and the offense is dynamic.