The Brewers have 18 players entering arbitration this year, and nearly all of them are likely to get raises.
Before the season fully ends, the Brewers have a chance to discuss the future. The team will need to address and evaluate its goals for the 2023 season. The first test for the Brewers begins with a core of players set to potentially leave the team.
Brewers Again in Unknown Territory
The name of the game now is money, and it has been for a while now. Players are much more likely to seek out the money they deserve than take pay cuts. The Brewers have long been known to limit their spending. Each year they raise their payroll, it becomes the new record for the organization.
This has proven to become an issue for the teams that aren’t willing to spend as much or simply can’t. The real challenge that the Brewers will face involves the money they choose to spend given the large amount of impending free agents this year and next. In order to pass this challenge, the Brewers will have to look at Kolten Wong, Andrew McCutchen and Taylor Rogers first.
Wong turned 32 and now faces a pleasant raise. He is scheduled to make $10 million next year if the Brewers accept his club option. It truly seems like an obvious move since Wong has been a crucial part of the Brewers squad. He finished the season with a WAR of 3.2 and hit a career-high 15 home runs. What he provides in defense is hard to replicate, despite Wong recording 17 errors this year.
Must-Keep Players for Brewers?
McCutchen is 36 years old and hasn’t indicated retirement yet. He is coming off a down year compared to his 2021 season, which may factor in to his decision. If McCutchen decides to continue to play, he can still hold value at his age, and he would be worth the look for the Brewers. There shouldn’t be a huge market for McCutchen, which may make him an easy target.
Bringing back an aging player coming off a down year does not sound like a recipe for success. It may not make perfect sense to bring him back, but the depth and baseball intelligence McCutchen can add for his projected price could work wonders. Another player in a similar boat for the Brewers is Rogers.
Rogers, like McCutchen, had one of his worst years for the Brewers. He totaled an ERA of 4.76 and averaged a hit per inning of work. There was hope that after he came over in the Josh Hader trade that Rogers would be able to fix some of the issues he was having. It turned out to be the opposite, but the soon-to-be 32-year old had multiple years with Minnesota specifically where he recorded an ERA below three. His value and price will be higher than McCutchen’s, but Rogers is valuable to the Brewers for the same reasons.
The Brewers' Looming Decisions
What will really affect this coming offseason the most is the contract situations of team veterans. Hunter Renfroe is scheduled to become a free agent in 2024. Freddy Peralta, Corbin Burnes, Rowdy Tellez, Brandon Woodruff and Willy Adames are all major players the Brewers risk losing to free agency in 2025. The Brewers will need to be selective with whom they will pay and how much.
The player who can be affected by the offseason decisions the soonest is Renfroe. Renfroe launched 29 homers and batted .255 for the Brewers in what is now a curious outfield. Christian Yelich is still locked under contract, Garrett Mitchell may start next year and if McCutchen is gone there will need to be a new DH. Renfroe could slide into the DH role for the team, although it is unlikely given his four total errors this year in right field.
The Brewers have holes they need to fill and money that needs to be saved for the near future. Perhaps the front office decides to extend Renfroe and take another step toward solidifying the offense. In such a case, the Brewers would then need to search for a DH candidate. Budget options like AJ Pollock or Adam Duvall could be quality players for the Brewers to look at if they decline their options. Regardless, the Brewers will still have plenty of work to do.
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