Telemachus Rafaelidys

Image courtesy of © Benny Sieu-Imagn Images Baseball is here, and the Brewers look to continue their dominance of the NL Central. To do so, they may need some breakout performances. National baseball writers have released a slew of bold predictions, including Eno Sarris picking Jacob Misiorowski to win the Cy Young Award. Here’s a quartet of hot takes of my own for the Brewers. 1. Brandon Sproat will generate more WAR than Freddy Peralta this season. Now that Sproat has secured a spot in the rotation from day one, there's no reason he can’t be there all season. After throwing more than 140 innings last season, he should easily be good for a full season of 150+ this year. In his prospect writeup, Brewers Fanatic’s Spencer Michaelis highlighted Sproat’s deep six-pitch arsenal and the steep improvement he showed over the course of last season. Peralta will probably put up a typically strong season, but that’s what makes this a bold prediction. Sproat will have the benefit of the Brewers’ defense behind him, and as he said himself about the Brewers, “this team bets on themselves.” Here’s betting he has a Rookie of the Year-worthy season, even after a rough start. 2. Jake Bauers will lead the 2026 Brewers in home runs. Bauers raked all spring, leading the majors in homers (7), wRC+ (311), and OPS (1.725). Yes, every year players explode in spring training only to implode once the season starts, but Bauers’s transformation took place over the course of last season, peaking in September and the playoffs. Matt Trueblood highlighted how Bauers spent his offseason training to lock in the changes he made and build on his momentum. Christian Yelich led the 2025 Brewers with 29 home runs, and the team is much better off when Yelich is performing at a high level. To keep Yelich healthy and productive, the team might give him more rest this season and provide additional playing time for Bauers. Even before Jackson’s Chourio’s terribly-timed injury news (and Andrew Vaughn's even worse one), Tim Mura pointed out that Bauers could be slated for more playing time this season. It's unlikely that Bauers will face many left-handed pitchers, but if he gets close to 500 plate appearances, he could lead this team with 30 home runs. 3. Brice Turang will be the best second baseman in baseball. This is certainly less bold than the first two, but many national pundits and writers aren’t fully bought in on Turang’s August breakout last season. However, Turang represented his country with aplomb during the World Baseball Classic and looks primed to ascend to the top of the keystone position. Nico Hoerner and Ketel Marte led the league in fWAR by second basemen last season, but the majority of Hoerner’s value comes from his defense, while the opposite is true for Marte. Turang’s defense is often underrated by publicly available advanced defensive metrics, but it’s not hard to imagine he climbs back into the upper echelon of those rankings while maintaining the better part of his breakout at the plate. Elite defense combined with elite offense and durability should push Turang to post the top WAR at the position and fully stamp his arrival as a superstar. 4. Marco Dinges ascends to become the top catching prospect in baseball. Dinges is just a few years removed from surviving a life-threatening medical condition. After recovering, he spent one season playing Division I baseball at Florida State, where he crushed the ball but was mostly confined to DH duty. The Brewers drafted Dinges in the fourth round of the 2024 Draft and set about developing him as a catcher. Prospect gurus don’t have consistent rankings on Dinges, but they all agree his receiving and footwork behind the plate need work; he swings hard, with a solid approach; he has a strong arm; and he has “twitchy” athletic characteristics. 'Twitchy' is just about the best trait a baseball athlete can possess. Dinges wants to catch and is diving into the work. He has a lot to learn, but with ABS creeping into MLB, receiving skills are likely to become less important, and his strong arm and athletic traits should help him post strong caught stealing numbers in the future. Combine the middle-of-the-order offensive upside that Spencer Michaelis sees with Dinges’s athleticism, work ethic, and history of overcoming challenges most can’t imagine, and he is primed to become one of the best catching prospects in baseball. View full article

We’ll find out soon!

Sanchez played 12 innings at first with the Brewers in 2024 and four innings total with the Yankees and Twins before that, but your point holds. They didn’t call up Wilken, they brought up another catcher. Definitely trust Arnold et al - we shall see!

Curt Hogg of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports that Jeferson Quero will be called up to the Brewers today. To make room for Jeferson Quero, Andrew Vaughn will be placed on the IL with a hand Injury sustained on Opening Day. Quero has been touted as a top 100 prospect in baseball the last three winters, but an unfortunate shoulder injury during the first game of the 2024 season waylaid his ascent to the majors. Quero has not had the same success at or behind the plate since his injury, but the Brewers will bring him to Milwaukee for his first big league opportunity. Quero is already on the 40-man roster and has an option allowing the Brewers to return him to the minor leagues if and when the team wants to make that move. For now, it appears Pat Murphy will have three catchers on the team with Quero joining All-Star starter William Contreras and veteran backup Gary Sanchez. The Brewers will be without Vaughn for an indeterminate amount of time. He left the first game of the season in the sixth inning for a pinch-runner, and the Brewers have not announced the nature or seriousness of the injury. With Vaughn out, Jake Bauers looks to be the starter at first base against all right-handed pitching. Bauers started the season with a home run in the opening game, a good first step toward validating last season's improvements and his league-leading seven home runs in spring training. Despite his breakout, Bauers is still unlikely to face left-handed pitchers, and with the Brewers facing a left-handed starter on Sunday, it's possible Quero or Sanchez could get the start at first base. View full rumor

0-2 walk, catcher interference, walk, dink…double. Four runs on basically one hit! Brewers ball!

Brewers scoring runs their way….2026 is on

Image courtesy of © Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images Opening Day against the White Sox is fast approaching. After a surprising trade and some late offseason shopping, this roster projection has the most changes of any we've published this winter. Caleb Durbin looked poised to be the everyday choice at third, but he plays in Boston now, so the Brewers found a new option. After trading away Freddy Peralta earlier in the offseason, the Brewers continue to get younger and deeper, with perhaps the best farm system in baseball. Virtually the entire pitching staff is young and talented, providing a litany of options for the team to choose from. The position-player group has both youth and experience, and a cluster of infield options on the cusp of the major leagues. The 2026 Opening Day Roster will be strong, and the future is very bright. Catchers (2) William Contreras Gary Sánchez Gary Sánchez returns to Milwaukee, solidifying the backup catcher position and giving the manager Pat Murphy a right-handed power bat on the bench. The 2025 team didn’t often have an option like Sánchez on the bench, and the former top prospect will provide both stability and punch. William Contreras looks primed for another All-Star season in 2026, Jeferson Quero will get more time to keep working back toward his pre-injury form, while Marco Dinges marches toward top-100 prospect status. V 4.0 changes: Sanchez in, Quero out. Infielders (6) Andrew Vaughn (1B) Brice Turang (2B) Luis Rengifo (3B) Joey Ortiz (SS) David Hamilton (INF) Jake Bauers (INF-OF) Team USA’s Brice Turang is in fine form already, primed to build on last season’s breakout. The Brewers signed Luis Rengifo to be the new starting third baseman, but the switch-hitter has had much better success in his career against left-handed pitching, opening the door for shared time at third. That's where things get interesting. With Andruw Monasterio accompanying Durbin to the Red Sox, the backup infielder role is open. David Hamilton was re-acquired from Boston, after originally being drafted by the Brewers, and is already a favorite of Pat Murphy. Hamilton would fit as a left-handed batter, but he's coming off a calamitous offensive season. Jett Williams and Cooper Pratt could contribute in similar roles to Hamilton's, as the season unfolds. Following a September and playoff breakout, Jake Bauers came to an agreement on a pay raise early in the offseason and looks locked into a bench role, with some chance to be more like the starting first baseman if things break right. Bauers’s defense at first is far superior to Tyler Black’s, so despite the electric start to spring training that Black has had, there isn’t room on the Opening Day roster for him; the main consequence of his stronger showing might be a boost to his trade value. V 4.0 changes: Rengifo and Hamilton in, Durbin and Monasterio out. Outfield (5) Jackson Chourio (LF) Garrett Mitchell (CF) Sal Frelick (RF) Christian Yelich (DH) Brandon Lockridge (OF) Brandon Lockridge’s fast start to camp (combined with Pat Murphy’s unabashed love for the speedster) nudges him just ahead of Blake Perkins. Perkins has minor-league options available to be exercised, and given Mitchell’s injury history, Perkins will almost certainly be a valuable depth piece again this season. As on the infield, Williams and Black are considerations on the grass, but not for Day 1. Akil Baddoo and Steward Berroa also lurk on the 40-man roster. V 4.0 changes: Lockridge in, Perkins out. Starting Pitchers (5) Brandon Woodruff Jacob Misiorowski Quinn Priester Chad Patrick Logan Henderson The battle for the final two spots in the rotation could be epic, with Kyle Harrison and Shane Drohan—the major returns in the Durbin trade—joining Chad Patrick, Logan Henderson, Robert Gasser and Brandon Sproat in the competition. Sproat flashed elite stuff in his first spring outing, and has the baseline workload to be a big-league starting pitcher right now. If Brandon Woodruff isn’t ready or the Brewers decide Patrick is more valuable in the bullpen, Sproat could be the frontrunner for the final spot. V 4.0 changes: None. Bullpen (8) Abner Uribe Trevor Megill Aaron Ashby Jared Koenig Grant Anderson Rob Zastryzny Ángel Zerpa DL Hall The depth of rotation options on the 40-man roster also deepens the bullpen, and despite no changes in this projection, there are many strong arms available to the Brewers. Zastryzny is the only player listed without a minor-league option available, but he might also be the most likely to be replaced if a change is made. Five lefties is probably too many, and the Brewers have let Zastryzny go in the past. Replacing him with Patrick, Craig Yoho or Coleman Crow could be the answer. V 4.0 changes: None. With the majority of spring training still to be played and a few decisions for the Brewers still to make, they sit in an enviable position. They have a strong core, youth, and depth throughout the roster. Which stud prospects will claim rotation spots? How will the infield time shares work out? Will Mitchell stay healthy? Will Black prove this is more than a lovely desert mirage? We will find out in a few weeks, but no matter who makes it to Opening Day, the 2026 Brewers are loaded with talent. View full article

Image courtesy of © Michael McLoone-Imagn Images To the surprise of no one, the Brewers traded away arguably their best pitcher for the third winter in a row. This time, Freddy Peralta was sent to the Mets, with two consensus top-100 prospects returning to Milwaukee. Unlike the previously traded Corbin Burnes and Devin Williams, the Brewers did not sign or draft Peralta as an amateur; they acquired him in a trade. In fact, it was a deal executed by none other than the current New York Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns, who can carve his initials twice on the Freddy Peralta trade tree. The Milwaukee Brewers' Freddy Peralta Era begins with Tyler Walker. On Jan. 28, 2010, the Washington Nationals signed Walker to join their bullpen. Walker had a respectable 3.57 ERA with the Nationals that year, in what would be his final season in the majors. To make room for Walker on their roster, the Nationals designated Marco Estrada for assignment, and the Brewers claimed him off waivers on February 3. At the time the Brewers acquired Estrada, he had only had a couple of cups of coffee in the big leagues, with a total of 20 innings over two seasons. Baseball America rated Estrada as the Nationals' 18th-best prospect that winter, and the team was coming off a 103-loss season, so it’s a little surprising that they removed a pitcher who had posted 3.63/3.41 ERA/FIP over 136.1 innings in Triple A from their roster. At 6 feet and 180 pounds, Estrada was seen as undersized at the time and had low strikeout numbers in 2009, but it’s hard to imagine that a last-place team wouldn’t find a player like this valuable. The Nationals' mistake would become the Brewers' gain. Estrada missed the majority of 2010 with shoulder fatigue, and the Brewers outrighted him from the 40-man roster, but he returned in 2011 and contributed a strong 92.2 innings in 43 appearances and seven starts. Estrada had a breakout year in 2012, starting 23 games with a 3.64 ERA over 136.1 innings and more than a strikeout per inning. Estrada pitched two more seasons with the organization, giving the team a lot of flexibility by starting 39 games in 60 appearances. On Nov. 1, 2014, the Brewers sent Estrada to the Blue Jays for first baseman Adam Lind. Estrada would go on to pitch with the Blue Jays for four seasons, providing a lot of solid innings and making an All-Star appearance for the club. Adam Lind was the fourth attempt by the Brewers to replace Prince Fielder at first base. He came to Milwaukee following a strong season in Toronto, with a .321/.381/.479 line in 290 plate appearances. Lind was under contract for the 2015 season on a $7.5-milliion deal, with a 2016 team option for $8 million. In what ended up being his only season as a Brewer, Lind hit a respectable .271/.360/.460, with 20 home runs and 2.0 fWAR. Following the season, new Brewers general manager David Stearns picked up Lind’s option, with an eye toward trading him. Just over a month later, Stearns struck a deal with the Seattle Mariners and their notoriously active general manager, Jerry Dipoto. Lind hit another 20 home runs in Seattle during the 2016 season, but his walk rate and BABIP declined sharply. He went from being 20 percent better than the average MLB hitter in 2014 to 7 percent worse than average in his lone season with the Mariners. The Brewers' return for Lind was three teenage pitchers: Carlos Herrera, Daniel Missaki, and Freddy Peralta, with a combined 34.1 innings above rookie ball. Stearns cashed in Lind for three lottery tickets, and one of them hit. Missaki was recovering from Tommy John surgery when the Brewers acquired him; he never pitched for the organization. After nine years away from major-league organizations, including stints in Japan, Latin America and Mexico, he pitched in the Cubs system in 2024 and threw 74 innings with the Rangers' Double-A affiliate last year. Herrera peaked with 85.2 innings in 2018 for the Brewers' Low-A affiliate, and hasn’t pitched in affiliated baseball since 2019. Peralta debuted with the Brewers in 2018, with a memorable one-hit, 13-strikeout performance in front of his parents. He evolved quickly into a fan and clubhouse favorite, and eventually into a true top-of-the-rotation starter. After pitching as both a starter and reliever in his first two seasons, Peralta signed a team-friendly extension in February 2020, which allowed the team to extend their contractual control through the upcoming 2026 season and (ultimately) to trade him this winter. In parts of eight seasons with the Brewers, Peralta accrued 17.8 fWAR, throwing 931 innings with 70 wins, 1,153 strikeouts and a 3.59 ERA. The Freddy Peralta trade tree will continue to grow, through the contributions of Brandon Sproat and Jett Williams. Sproat will likely compete for a rotation spot with the Brewers immediately. The 56th overall pick in the second round of the 2023 MLB Draft threw 141.2 total innings in 2025, including 20 with the Mets. Williams likely needs more time in Triple A to refine his skills with the bat and in the field. His strong approach at the plate and defensive versatility should set the floor for him as a valuable utility player capable of handling all three up-the-middle positions in the field. The Brewers have had consistency and stability in their front office for most of this century. Doug Melvin was the general manager when Estrada was acquired. Melvin stayed with the team when Stearns was brought in to lead the baseball operations department, and one of Stearns's first hires was Matt Arnold, the current president of baseball operations. All three executives completed key moves, to draw the line from Estrada to Sproat and Williams. It’s possible that contributions from the two new Brewers (or a new branch added in the future) will lead to a name change, but for the foreseeable future, this is the Freddy Peralta trade tree. For something that grew from the seed of a late-winter waiver claim, it's a mighty oak. Estrada, Lind and Peralta have combined to give the team 21.6 wins above replacement (WAR), according to Baseball Reference. That's value created by extremely low-cost risk-taking, like claiming Estrada in the first place and extending Peralta, rather than by using vital resources like first-round picks or young talent. In Williams and Sproat, they now have two players who could generate a similar amount of value for them in the decade to come. It's a great reminder of the value of savvy scouting, player development, and deft transactions. View full article

Yes. So many young talented arms poised to jump!

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. View full rumor

Image courtesy of © Kyle Ross-Imagn Images The Brewers' offseason has been - in a word - quiet - as we wait in anticipation for the Freddy Peralta trade that feels inevitable. The Brewers are masters of improving on the margins and making seemingly small (or even tiny) moves that result in acquiring players with an outsized impact on the team's success, but this winter feels exceptionally slow. To be fair, the Brewers won more games than any other team in 2025 and do not have any glaring holes. While we wait for more action, here is a ranking of the top five player moves from last season. Honorable Mention: Jake Bauers and Anthony Seigler sign minor league contracts After initially non-tendering Jake Bauers in November, the Brewers brought him back on a minor league deal in January of 2025. Bauers had an up-and-down season and dealt with injuries, but he really came on in September and was a standout for the Brewers in the playoffs. He has excellent bat speed, and the Brewers will look to utilize him in advantageous matchups in 2026. Anthony Seigler was the Yankees' first-round pick in 2018. Like Blake Perkins in November 2022, Seigler left the Yankees organization and signed a minor league contract in November 2024. He is an interesting and versatile player, logging a good number of innings at third base, second base, and catcher in 2025. The Brewers like Seigler’s swing decisions at the plate, and with prospect Jeferson Quero currently looking like the backup catcher at the MLB level, it’s possible the Brewers will give Seigler more time behind the plate during spring training this year. 5. Trade for Grant Anderson The Brewers traded 2024 7th round draft pick Mason Molina less than six months after drafting him to the Rangers in exchange for a relief pitcher with a career 62 1/3 innings pitched and a 6.35 ERA. Of course, the Brewers spun Anderson around, clicked his ruby cleats together, and turned him into a useful bullpen weapon who provided 69 2/3 innings with a 3.23 ERA. Importantly, Anderson had two options remaining, allowing the Brewers to send him up and down as needed to provide flexibility and bring in fresh arms from the minor leagues when they needed to. Anderson has four years of club control and another option remaining; he will likely provide the 2026 Brewers with similar flexibility and quality relief innings. 4. Signing Jose Quintana The Brewers made their most significant free agent signing of last offseason on March 3, roughly three weeks before Opening Day. Quintana had long been a Brewers foil; the team often struggled to make solid contact against him, particularly during his time with the Cubs and Mets. After signing so late into spring training, Quintana wasn’t ready to begin the season with the MLB club, and the Brewers called him up on April 11. Quintana went on to make 24 starts for the Brewers, pitching 131 innings with a 3.96 ERA. The Brewers' rotation looks very different now than it did in March of 2024 - Quintana gave the Brewers the quality innings they needed, when they needed them most, making this a successful acquisition executed at just the right time by the Brewers' front office. 3. Trade for Andrew Vaughn On June 12, starting pitcher Aaron Civale requested a trade, and on June 13, the Brewers traded Civale to the White Sox for Andrew Vaughn. Fittingly for this list, Andrew Vaughn was also seen as a less-than-optimal addition. At the time of the trade, the 2019 number three overall pick in the MLB draft had a .189 batting average, a 43 wRC+, and a negative WAR both in the season and cumulatively for his career. The White Sox, in the midst of their third consecutive season with more than 100 losses, had demoted Vaughn to Triple-A. The Brewers recalled Vaughn from Triple-A Nashville a few weeks later, and he turned into a new player. With the Brewers, he was 43 percent better than the average big league hitter, leading the Brewers in the category with a wRC+ of 143. Vaughn had several big home runs and hits, producing memorable moments during the Brewers' winning streaks. The Brewers clearly believe in the tweaks Vaughn made to his approach in 2025 as they tendered him a contract and agreed to a salary of $7.65 million for 2026. Vaughn has an additional year of team control in 2027, giving the team options moving forward. 2. Trade for Caleb Durbin Last winter’s version of trading away a pitcher with one season of team control remaining saw Devin Williams sent to the Yankees for starting pitcher Nestor Cortes and infield prospect Caleb Durbin. Similar to the Quinn Priester trade, this trade was not universally celebrated by pundits and Brewers fans. On the surface, this looked like an attempt to field a competitive roster while building for the future. The Ortiz portion of this trade failed spectacularly; his most noteworthy contribution to the 2025 Brewers was surrendering home runs on the first three pitches of the second game of the season, facing his former teammates in New York, and helping ignite the torpedo bat controversy. Shortly thereafter, he was put on the injured list and ultimately required the Brewers to attach a prospect to him in order to trade him off the roster. Durbin was never a highly regarded prospect. MLB Pipeline only added him as the 30th-ranked prospect on the Yankees' top 30 list following the 2024 Arizona Fall League, where Durbin set the stolen base record with 29 steals in 24 games. Durbin did not make the Opening Day roster but was promoted in mid-April when the Brewers gave up on Oliver Dunn. Durbin posted an above-average wRC+ in every month except May, finishing five percent above league average with a 105 and accumulating 2.6 fWAR on the season. Having limited experience at the hot corner, his defense at third base improved over the course of the season, earning positive value and finishing in the top half of players at the position. Durbin doesn’t look like a star, but his patient and hard-working approach fits in perfectly with the Brewers, and with five years of control left, the Brewers again acquired a positive asset. 1. Trade for Quinn Priester Less than two weeks into the season, the Brewers sent Yophery Rodriguez, John Holobetz, and the 33rd overall pick in the 2025 MLB Draft to Boston in exchange for Priester, the Pirates' first-round pick from 2019, who had limited MLB experience with low strikeout rates and poor results. At the time of the trade, the Brewers' rotation was in disarray with multiple pitchers on the injured list, and many believed this trade smacked of desperation. The then-19-year-old Rodriguez was coming off a successful season at Single-A and was ranked around 10th across the board on Brewers prospect lists. Holobotz was a textbook Brewers draft pick, selected in the fifth round from a smaller school, and the 33rd pick carries a lot of value - the Brewers had just acquired the 34th pick the year before from the Orioles as part of their trade haul for Corbin Burnes. Unsurprisingly, the Brewers knew what they were doing: they tweaked his arsenal, and Priester stepped right into the rotation, pitching 157 1/3 innings with a 3.32 ERA and a 56% ground-ball rate, including setting the team record with an 11-game winning streak. Priester was not rookie-eligible; otherwise, the Brewers would have had five players receive rookie of the year votes. Priester should have five years of team control left, and it appears that the Brewers acquired a very valuable asset. View full article

I’m high on Fischer too - looking forward to seeing him in camp in a month and a half!

Image courtesy of © Michael McLoone-Imagn Images Dear Santa, I hope you get this letter. We’ve been very good this year in Milwaukee - okay, maybe we swore too much in the middle of October - but otherwise very good! We’ve been patient and supportive - more than 2.5 million of us showed up for the third straight year. We love beating the Cubs, but we really want to make history next year. We don’t need much - we’re pretty set on a lot of things most fan bases need. So if it’s not too much to ask, here’s a small list of things we’d like, please: A statement of intent to go all-in! Just slip that in Mark’s stocking, please. Freddy Peralta as our Opening Day Starter. Please let him stay in Milwaukee this winter! One additional big power bat. We haven’t had a 30 home run hitter in three of the last five years, and we will need more power next fall! Good health in the coming year. Especially for Brandon Woodruff, William Contreras, and Christian Yelich. And especially in September/October. You can help with shoulders, lats, backs, and broken fingers - right? Continued growth from our young lads: August Brice Turang for a whole season - 30/30! Jackson Chourio with a little more patience leading to a lot more power - 30/30! The Miz walking fewer batters while continuing to do Miz things Quinn Priester and Chad Patrick locking in as excellent mid-rotation caliber starters Caleb Durbin turning into a Gold Glove third baseman and an on-base machine Joey Ortiz winning a Gold Glove and remembering that he was an above-average hitter as recently as 2024 Lots of innings and strikeouts for the many talented young pitchers working their way through the minor leagues. Cooper Pratt, Jesus Made, Luis Pena, and Brady Ebel being the best collection of shortstops at every level of the minor leagues from Triple-A to Single-A A bright new glove for Abner Uribe. Maybe fuchsia! A big trade deadline acquisition! We don’t know exactly what we will want - but we want it! Not to be greedy - but we need a fourth straight Central Division championship. It’s kind of a prerequisite for our last two wishes (like batteries for remote-controlled gifts). We promise not to take it for granted and to be thankful. We’d love to beat the Dodgers in the NLCS - they bullied us this year, and they squeaked past us in 2018. They’ve been pushing everyone around for a couple of years now, and we think lots of people, even outside of Milwaukee, would find joy in us receiving this gift. Finally, one last small thing - we really, really want to win a World Series for the first time ever! We haven’t asked for much. I hope you bring it all, and if you love us at all, please bring just the last one. We’re leaving out beer and cheese curds for you and tart Spartan apples for your sleigh team. Merry Christmas! - Brewers Fans View full article

Image courtesy of © Dan Hamilton-Imagn Images Freddy Peralta was a hot name at the Winter Meetings, and it looks increasingly likely that the Brewers will trade their ace prior to his final season of team control. The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal and Will Sammon reported that the Orioles, Red Sox, Yankees, Giants and Astros all expressed interest in acquiring Peralta, while our own Matt Trueblood added the Braves and Padres to that list. It would be a bold all-in decision for the Brewers to keep Peralta, but if (as expected) he is to be traded, here are a few returns we might see. Mets receive: Freddy Peralta Brewers receive: RHP Brandon Sproat (MLB Pipeline #5 prospect in organization), SS Elian Pena (10), RHP Peter Kussow (27) The Mets came out of the Winter Meetings with a lot of negative publicity, after watching the Dodgers and Orioles sign franchise mainstays Edwin Díaz and Pete Alonso, respectively. Acquiring Peralta would give the Mets and former Brewers GM David Stearns an experienced No. 1 starter to lead his young rotation. In return, the Brewers receive three players, headlined by Sproat, an athletic 25-year-old pitcher who can hit 100 MPH on the gun and sits around 96. Sproat struggled to generate strikeouts at his previous rate this season, in 121 innings at Triple-A and a brief 20.2 innings in the majors. Still, he has electric stuff; the Brewers can help him regain his dominance. Pena received the largest non-Roki Sasaki International bonus last winter, at $5 million, and is a robust hitting infielder who had a strong season in the Dominican Summer League. Kussow was the Mets' 2025 fourth-round draft pick from Arrowhead High School in Wisconsin, where he was a standout pitcher. Overall, the Brewers would receive an MLB-ready pitcher who should contribute to the team quickly, and two very talented 18-year-olds to develop. —Telemachus Rafaelidys Orioles receive: SP Freddy Peralta Brewers receive: OF Dylan Beavers (MLB Pipeline #83 overall prospect, #2 in organization), UTIL Jeremiah Jackson I’d like to preface this by saying that I’m quite bad at putting together mock trades. I’ve never worked in a baseball front office, nor have I ever worn a suit while attending a baseball game in person. Nonetheless, I think I’ve gotten good enough at the part where I point at good players and say “hey, they’d be awesome to get in a trade!” It’s the other part—the mental simulation of haggling; the imagining of leverage and negotiation—that I really struggle with. So if this trade seems unfair, it probably is, but that’s what makes this so much fun. A few years ago, Baltimore’s core of next-level position player prospects seemed to be the future of the AL East, but with disappointing results from pretty much everyone except Gunnar Henderson and a rotation that included 41-year-old Charlie Morton on Opening Day, this was a wash of a year. However, the Orioles now seem to be going all-in this offseason. They followed up trades for Taylor Ward and Andrew Kittredge with a $28-million free-agent contract for Ryan Helsley and a $155-million deal for Pete Alonso. Even after acquiring Shane Baz, the thing they’re missing is starting pitching, which has only marginally improved since the beginning of the offseason; they sent Greyson Rodriguez to the Angels to land Ward. In exchange for Peralta, the Brewers are still in need of more pop in their lineup. Only three players (Andrew Vaughn, Jackson Chourio, and Christian Yelich) slugged above .450 last season, and although Milwaukee made their small-ball approach work, their weakness was exploited by the Dodgers in a lopsided NLCS matchup. Dylan Beavers is Baltimore’s #2-ranked (and MLB’s #83-ranked) prospect, and had a solid showing across 35 games in the big leagues last year, posting a 125 wRC+. What’s more exciting is the 152 wRC+ he posted across 418 plate appearances with Triple-A Norfolk. While slashing .304/..420/.515 with the Tides, he also had a 16.3% walk rate against an 18.2% strikeout rate. His approach at the plate could be a major improvement over Isaac Collins in left field. Now that the Orioles have an excess of talent in the outfield with prospects like Enrique Bradfield Jr. and Ike Irish on the way, perhaps they’d be willing to part with him. Jeremiah Jackson was Mr. Do-it-All in 2025, primarily playing outfield for the big-league club but spending most of his time in Triple A playing shortstop and third base. Like Beavers, he had good power results, posting a 117 wRC+ with a .447 slugging percentage across 183 major-league plate appearances. He also posted a 182 wRC+ with a .673 slugging percentage across 171 plate appearances in Triple A. His career walk rate is just 6%, but he cut down on strikeouts significantly while in the minors last year, so he is trending in the right direction. This may seem like a lot to ask for one year of one pitcher, but it’s important to note that Peralta will be owed just $8 million from his club option in 2026 and has been a consistently solid starter since becoming a big-league mainstay in 2021. If Baltimore truly wants to be competitive in what may be the toughest division in MLB, this could be the deal that takes them to the next level. —Jason Wang Red Sox Receive: RHP Freddy Peralta Brewers Receive: LHP Kyle Harrison, RHP Kyson Witherspoon (MLB Pipeline #89 overall, #3 in organization), OF Nelly Taylor (15) After seeing what the Orioles had to give up for the Rays' Shane Baz, the package for Peralta should include an MLB-ready player, along with prospects that we can see make their debuts as soon as 2027. With the Red Sox showing interest in improving their rotation for this season, Peralta's $8 million salary is a nice, cheap rental, if not a player worth extending to keep the rotation strong beyond 2026. The club already added Johan Oviedo from the Pirates, as well as Sonny Gray from the Cardinals. So why not keep plucking from the NL Central and grab the Brewers' ace? He would easily slot into a prospective playoff rotation for them, and would be an upgrade over Patrick Sandoval, who is still coming off Tommy John. The Brewers would get a controllable asset back in Harrison, who, yes, is another left-hander when they already have five in the bullpen. If the Brewers see Ángel Zerpa, DL Hall, or even Aaron Ashby as potential starters taking the Jose Quintana role, however, a spot opens up for Harrison to slot in their place in long relief. The real prize in this package is Kyson Witherspoon, whom the Red Sox drafted in the first round in last year's draft. He has multiple plus pitches, including a mid-90s fastball, a sharp slider, and a cutter that is in the upper 80s and pretty consistent. He's still working on his changeup, but he does have a pretty decent curveball that's been given a 60 grade by MLB Pipeline. The downside is he hasn't made a professional debut, only starting in rookie ball this season. But don't be surprised if he becomes a top prospect in the future. Nelly Taylor, on the other hand, fits the mold and type that the Brewers organization has looked for for a while now. He's an aggressive, above-average runner who won Minor League defensive player of the year in his first full pro season. He's likely going to play center field, and would be a nice depth piece in a farm system that doesn’t exactly need immediate help in the outfield. Seeing as his bat speed has continued to improve over the last few seasons, maybe Taylor would see a path to the big leagues within the next season or two. —Ryan Pollak View full article

When Mitchell is able to play, he is an elite defensive center fielder and a good low ball hitter. The two issues are that he hasn't been able to stay healthy or hit high fastballs. The Brewers seem to still value him - without further roster moves he would likely be the starting CF. Roster Resource shows Mitchell on the bench with Bauers starting in left, and while Bauers had a mini-breakout last season with a much better approach at the plate, he doesn't field the position well enough to be on the grass for the big side of a platoon. Mitchell could be an interesting trade target for a team like the Mets that want to improve their OF defense, and Stearns was in Milwaukee when the team selected him in the first round of the draft. I'd be very cautious trading away Fischer - maybe that means it's the actual cost.

Tyler Soderstrom would be the perfect fit for the Brewers in left field. He just turned 24, has four years of club control remaining, and is coming off a breakout season in which he was worth roughly 4 wins above replacement. Perhaps, most importantly, he has the type of power that the Brewers' outfield lacked last season, and he could grow into more. In the aftermath of the Brewers' NLCS loss to the Dodgers, the lack of over-the-fence power the team showed in 2025 has been a major talking point. Even manager Pat Murphy chimed in at the Winter Meetings. “I hope we are this year,” Murphy said, when prompted by a reporter stating that the Brewers weren’t considered a home run team in 2025. Soderstrom was the Athletics' first-round pick in 2020. He entered their player development system as a catcher, but his offense has taken off now that he is no longer behind the plate. The 2025 season was the first time in his professional career that Soderstrom didn’t catch at all, and he had a huge season. Soderstrom’s 25 home runs would have been the second-most on the Brewers after Christian Yelich’s 29, and his maximum exit velocity of 114 MPH would have been second to William Contreras’s 114.1. Soderstrom has above-average bat speed and a solid hard-hit percentage, and while he chases more than most Brewers hitters, he makes above-average in-zone contact. At 6-foot-2 and 200 pounds, the power here is real. Defensively, Soderstrom initially moved to first base, but he wasn’t very good there. When the A’s promoted eventual Rookie of the Year Nick Kurtz, they moved Soderstrom to left field, where he excelled. Soderstrom has a strong arm and recorded the second-most outfield assists in the American League, with 11. Even more impressive was the range Soderstrom displayed: he finished 5th among all left fielders in Statcast’s OAA and was a finalist for the Gold Glove, losing to Steven Kwan. While the Gold Glove nod likely over-hyped his defense somewhat, Soderstrom’s combination of power and positive defensive contribution is enticing. Here are the players who had more home runs in 2025 and a more positive defensive impact in the outfield than Soderstrom: Aaron Judge, Julio Rodriguez, Corbin Carroll, Pete Crow-Armstrong, Cody Bellinger, Fernando Tatis Jr., and Andy Pages. Soderstrom will need to prove he can do this again for it to feel like he belongs on a list with those names, but that’s an exciting group of comps. The A’s almost certainly aren’t looking to move Soderstrom, so the Brewers would likely need to overpay to acquire him. But on the heels of the Isaac Collins trade, the Brewers should look to make another roster-consolidating move, turning multiple player assets into a higher-performing player to maximize the output on the major-league roster. If you are going to overpay for a player, a 24-year-old ascending power hitter who plays solid defense is the type to target. Consider Bellinger, who placed above Soderstrom in defensive value and hit four more home runs last season. He could sign a contract for more than $150 million this winter, and he’s already 30 years old. For a cost-controlled, power-hitting outfielder who can field his position, what should the Brewers be willing to offer? Like everyone else in the league, the A’s have reportedly been looking to acquire controllable starting pitching. Would Robert Gasser or Logan Henderson get the conversation started? The Brewers could include an additional arm from the upper minor leagues, such as Tate Kuehner or KC Hunt, then complete the offer by dealing from their surplus of corner infielders and include Mike Boeve or Brock Wilken. Acquiring good young players isn’t cheap, but the Brewers have the depth in their system to make a trade like this if they want to. Tyler Soderstrom isn’t a star right now. He was dislodged from his position and played in the shadow of his award-winning teammate last year. However, another year removed from the stress and grind of catching could change that. The Brewers should trade for Soderstrom before he reaches that next level, and maybe they can reach new highs together. View full article