Theo Tollefson

Image courtesy of © Jesse Johnson-Imagn Images The Minnesota Twins are still in sell mode, after their fire sale at the 2025 trade deadline. One of their two top starters, Pablo López and Joe Ryan, could be moved to alleviate their payroll pinch, even after the team reduced spending by roughly $30 million from 2023 to 2024 and by another few million in 2025.. If either López or Ryan is dealt, the Twins' star center fielder, Byron Buxton, is likely to be moved, as well. People in Buxton’s camp have indicated that, despite previous public comments to the contrary, he is willing to waive his no-trade clause to a contending team, as first reported by Dan Hayes of The Athletic. Buxton has been very loyal to the Twins, but even the most devoted players can have their patience tested when their team tears down a roster the way the Twins have. Not every team looking to contend in 2026 needs a star center fielder such as Buxton, but the Brewers could use his help. The Brewers have been playing musical chairs in center field the last two seasons. In 2024, Blake Perkins played 119 games, hitting .240/.316/.332 with six home runs and 32 RBIs over 434 plate appearances. Perkins played more of a backup role this year, and Jackson Chourio ended up playing the most games in center in 2025, with 89. Chourio’s bat was still solid in his sophomore season, with a .270/.308/.463 slash line, 21 home runs, 78 RBIs, and 21 stolen bases, but he played shaky defense compared to how he'd done in left field in 2024. Chourio went from 12 Defensive Runs Saved in 2024 to -4 this season, according to Sports Info Solutions. The sudden drop off when moving to a more demanding defensive position is a bit concerning, and Buxton had -5 DRS this season with the Twins. But DRS is not the all-telling stat in defense. Buxton still had plenty of highlight-reel catches in his 118 games played in center field this year. He also has the hardware to back it up, with a Gold and Platinum Glove awarded to him back in 2017. If the Brewers move forward with pursuing Buxton, moving Chourio back to left field would mean finding Isaac Collins a new defensive home, too. Fortunately for Collins, he is versatile with his defensive positioning, having spent several games at second and third base as well. Even with Buxton on board, it's easy to envision finding time for him, Chourio, Collins, and Sal Frelick, with Perkins's role receding to a purer defense-only gig. Alternatively, of course, someone in that mix could be dealt away. So what kind of trade package would it take for the Twins to be willing to move Buxton, if his no-trade clause gets waived? It’s safe to say the Brewers' top two prospects, Jesús Made and Luis Peña, are off limits, and the Twins are not in dire need for middle infield help in their farm system. A majors-ready player such as Collins could be someone the Twins would want to help their outfield depth, especially with his hometown connections to the Twin Cities suburb of Maple Grove. If Buxton does enter the trade market, it might be a package of Collins and a prospect or two that gets a deal done. Pitchers Bishop Letson and Logan Henderson are the types of arms the Twins like, but Minnesota has a bit of a logjam of young pitching. They have other needs the Brewers' farm system could also address. The positions where the Twins need the most help are first base, catcher, and the bullpen. While the Twins will likely look within their own farm system for relief help, they do not have many top-rated prospects in the upper levels of the minors for first base or catcher, which would make Jeferson Quero and the Brewers' first-round pick from the 2025 draft, Andrew Fischer, ideal trade targets for Minnesota. If a Buxton trade becomes a possibility, then it’s almost certain the Twins would trade their current starting catcher, Ryan Jeffers, as well. Jeffers is a year away from free agency, and with the Twins' current financial status, he's not expected to re-sign after the 2026 season. The Twins nabbed a top catching prospect, Eduardo Tait, from the Phillies at the trade deadline for Jhoan Duran, but Tait is still a couple of years away from the big leagues. Therefore, Quero would be a priority target for Minnesota. He is close to ready for the show, and would be able to take a jump into a starting role with Jeffers gone. Quero was limited to just 69 games in 2025 due to a hamstring strain that delayed the start of his season until mid-May and a shoulder injury in August. He put up decent numbers between the Arizona Complex League (on rehab assignments) and Triple-A St. Paul: a .271/.361/.478 slash line, 11 home runs, 57 RBIs, a 10.9% walk rate, and a 13.6% strikeout rate. Quero may not be ready for the starting role on a competitive team like the Brewers, but if the Twins truly intend to strip away their best and highest-paid players, then a player of Quero’s caliber would end up being thrown into the starting catcher role without concern for the long-term outcome. Fischer, on the other hand, will still be a year or two away from the majors and will try out between first and third base. The Twins don't have a first baseman ranked within their top-30 prospect list, per MLB Pipeline. Nor have they sought out a first baseman to develop internally in the last five years. Fischer may have limited playing time in pro ball, but his profile may be exactly what the Twins need to stop their own first base gap. Jeff Passan recently reviewed the case on Buxton’s availability and put his trade probability at 35% with López and Ryan both sitting at 50%. The Brewers were not a team listed as a landing spot for Buxton, but they do have the prospect capital to acquire him—more so than other listed teams, such as the Atlanta Braves or Cincinnati Reds. Much depends on whether the Brewers would be a team for whom Buxton would waive his no-trade clause. It's his desire to win that is pushing him toward an exit from Minnesota, though, and few teams offer a clearer path to consistent winning than Milwaukee. Still, if Buxton does become available, a Brewers outfield with Chourio in left, Buxton in center, and Sal Frelick in right might be the best defensive outfield in baseball. More to the point, adding 30-home runs, 30-steals potential into a lineup that had only two 20-homer hitters would put the Brewers over the offensive hump in the National League Central. Buxton has one of the very few things the Brewers currently lack. If they can snare him in a trade, they might be one step closer to unseating the Dodgers as National League champions. View full article

Image courtesy of © Jovanny Hernandez / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images Last week, the Brewers declined their team option on first baseman Rhys Hoskins. They now enter another offseason needing to carefully evaluate their options at the position. They've been looking for a new first baseman almost every offseason, for a long time. Ever since Prince Fielder signed a nine-year, $214-million deal with the Detroit Tigers in January 2012, it’s been a revolving door at first base in Milwaukee. The issue may be larger than most realize. The Brewers have not had the same first baseman for 100 or more games in back-to-back seasons since Fielder was on the team, from 2005 to 2011. Fielder filled the lineup card’s first-base slot in 930 of his 998 games with Milwaukee and was the most consistent bat in their lineup over that time. Fielder helped the team end a streak of playing at or below .500 for 14 consecutive seasons in 2007, when he stepped into league-wide stardom by hitting a career-high 50 home runs. The next season, he, CC Sabathia, J.J. Hardy, Ben Sheets, and the 2008 squad dominated down the stretch to get the Brewers to their first postseason in 26 years. All told, Fielder put together an impressive seven-year stretch in Milwaukee. He accumulated 16.8 bWAR, 230 home runs, and 656 RBI, and posted a .282/.390/.540 slash line, a 13.4% walk rate, and an 18.5% strikeout rate. Those are hard numbers to come by for first basemen today. Since the beginning of the 2012 season, the Brewers have tried 16 different players as regulars at first, and no one has seemed to stick. Hoskins is just the latest example. The Brewers had hoped he could cure what has ailed them at the cold corner, but Hoskins only played 94 games at first in 2024 and 82 this season. At the plate, things didn’t hum as well as Hoskins or the Brewers had hoped. He put up decent power numbers in 2024, with 26 home runs and 82 RBI, but saw his slash line drop to career-low marks in all three categories: .214/.303/.419 and a 99 OPS+ in 131 games. This year, Hoskins played in only 90 games, as he battled recurring discomfort in his left thumb during the second half of the year. His numbers were only somewhat better, and Andrew Vaughn rendered him virtually obsolete during his stint on the shelf. So what gives? Is this just the curse of Fielder’s departure to play for the team with whom his father made his name, or is there something more to it? The most games any player has played at first in a single season since Fielder’s departure was Chris Carter in 2016, with 155. The most games they’ve gotten from any player at first in multiple seasons over the last 15 years is the 269 played by Jesós Aguilar, from 2017-2019. Here’s the full list of players with a minimum of 45 games at first for the Brewers since 2012, broken down by season. Corey Hart, 2012, 103 games Yuniesky Betancourt, 2013 - 68 games Juan Francisco, 2013 - 67 games Mark Reynolds, 2014 - 91 games Lyle Overbay, 2014 - 83 games Adam Lind, 2015 - 138 games Chris Carter, 2016 - 155 games Eric Thames, 2017 - 108 games Jesus Aguilar, 2017 - 77 games Jesus Aguilar, 2018 - 132 games Eric Thames, 2019 - 105 games Jesus Aguilar, 2019 - 60 games Justin Smoak, 2020 - 31 games Jedd Gyrko, 2020 - 30 games Daniel Vogelbauch, 2021 - 59 games Keston Hirua, 2021 - 49 games Rowdy Tellez, 2021 - 46 games Rowdy Tellez, 2022 - 139 games Rowdy Tellez, 2023 - 76 games Carlos Santana, 2023 - 50 games Rhys Hoskins, 2024 - 94 games Jake Bauers, 2024 - 76 games Rhys Hoskins, 2025 - 82 games Andrew Vaughn, 2025 - 64 games Jake Bauers, 2025 - 40 games The Brewers have tried several things to fill the gap left by Fielder. They’ve moved fan favorites like Hart from their original position in the outfield to first. They brought in successful journeymen on one-year deals (Reynolds, Gyorko, and Carter), only to let them walk again in free agency the next offseason. Aguilar ended up as one of the best waiver claims by the Brewers in the last decade, only to be traded when Thames resurged from a down 2018 season. Hiura looked to be holding down second base for a long time, only to flame out quickly at the plate and at first base, making room for Tellez. The only thing the Brewers haven’t tried is to sign a free-agent first baseman to a long-term deal to lock the position down for several years at once. As the roster currently stands, Vaughn and Bauers look to be penciled in as the solutions for 2026, in a modified platoon that gives Vaughn a bigger share than a typical righty in such an arrangement After seeing their first attempt at a two-year deal to fix their issue at first base fail, the Brewers will be unlikely to sign any similar veteran to a long-term deal. Vaughn and Bauers will be free agents after the 2027 season, so there is still plenty of time left for one of them to be the first Brewers first baseman to play 100 or more games at the position since Fielder. There are also corner infield prospects who may make a case further down the road. Andrew Fischer, ranked as the Brewers' 6th-best prospect by MLB Pipeline, joined the organization in the first round of the 2025 MLB Draft. Luke Adams, a 12th-round pick from 2022, ranks as their 8th-best prospect on the same list. First base is a position where most major-league teams see a revolving door from year to year. For example, since the division rival Cubs traded away their longtime first baseman, Anthony Rizzo, to the Yankees in 2021, they only had four players play 45 or more games at first before handing Michael Busch the full-time role in 2024. The Boston Red Sox, a team more willing to spend big on first basemen in free agency, have only had 12 players play 45 or more games in a season for them since 2012, with Mike Napoli (2013-2014) and Mitch Moreland (2017-2018) both having 100 or more games for them in consecutive seasons at first base. But the Brewers are in a unique position since Fielder’s departure. To go from one of the most consistent players at one position for seven years, then 15 consecutive seasons with a new face playing the most games there is unheard of. Maybe the player to end this streak is already on the parent club, coming up through the farm system, or a free agent they’ll take a chance on after all. But for now, it looks as though the player who will get the most starting time at first over the next few years is in the organization right now, and it’s just a matter of someone playing well enough to keep the starting role. View full article

View full video

Compensation picks are being handed out as top free agents decline qualifying offers and for competitive balance purposes. Which teams are guaranteed a comp pick already and which will be likely to get one as more free agents sign during the Winter Meetings? View full video

The MLB Draft Lottery may be confusing to some people still, but the questions on how it works are answered here by Jamie Cameron and Jeremy Nygaard. View full video

The Brewers are likely losing one of their best hitters this off-season as Willy Adames hits the open market. How will the Brewers pursue players in trade or free agency to fill this large void left by Adames? View full video

Each October all 30 MLB teams send several prospects from their farm system to participate in the Arizona Fall League. But what happens with these prospects in the Arizona Fall League and how does it help them develop differently form their time in the Minor Leagues? View full video

The Brewers selected Chris Levonas 67th overall pick in the 2024 MLB Draft. Image courtesy of © Peter Ackerman / USA TODAY NETWORK The Brewers selected Chris Levonas 67th overall pick in the 2024 MLB Draft. Levonas is a 6'2, 175 pound 18-year-old out of Christian Brothers Academy in New Jersey. Levonas is the second prep arm drafted by the Brewers out of the Garden State. He was ranked 79 on the BrewerFanatic Draft Consensus Board. The 67th overall pick comes with a valued price tag of $1,230,000. Levonas is a gangly right-handed prep pitcher currently committed to Wake Forest. He has a package of interesting traits and skills on the mound. His fastball has taken a significant velocity jump this spring, up from the 90-92 mph range, now sitting 93-95 mph and touching 98 mph. It's an offering with a good spin that is likely to be a plus pitch if it isn't already. Levonas has also shown great proficiency in spinning the baseball, with a slider/curveball breaker pairing that carries spin rates between 2800-3000rpms, in addition to some feel for a changeup. Levonas commands and moves these pitches around the zone well, in addition to getting good extension at release. A loose, quick arm, with a four-pitch arsenal he commands well, a proclivity to spin the baseball, and plenty of projection. It's a massive up arrow for this profile heading into July. More to come... View full article