For the second year in a row, the catcher William Contreras and the Milwaukee Brewers came to a last-minute deal to avoid an arbitration hearing.
Contreras and the Crew settled on a one-year, $9.4 million contract for 2026 with a $14,5 million club option for 2027. The Brewers were set to enter the hearing with an offer of $8.5 million, while Contreras was seeking $9.9 million, so Milwaukee definitely moved above the midpoint, which would have been $9.2 million. A three-person arbitration panel would have decided on one of the two figures and nothing else.
Last year, the two sides settled at $6 million for 2025 with a $12 million club option for 2026. The Brewers declined that team option, setting up another arbitration battle. A third and final trip through this process looms next offseason.
Contreras was the only player the Brewers didn’t come to terms with before needing to exchange figures.
Since being acquired from Atlanta in a three-team trade before the 2023 season, Contreras has won two Silver Sluggers (2023, 2024) and was a 2024 All-Star. He received down-ballot NL MVP votes in each of his first two seasons.
His slash lines for each of his three seasons are .289/.367/.457 in 2023, .281/.365/.466 in 2024 and .260/.355/.399 in 2025. He hit a career-high 23 homers in 2024, with 17 each in 2023 and 2025, typically hitting in the No. 3 or cleanup spot in the batting order. Contreras’ 2025 production was hindered by a broken left (catching hand) middle finger, an injury he sustained late in the 2024 season and carried over. It became a big issue early in 2025, but he played through it, starting 128 games at catcher and another 22 at designated hitter.
Contreras is one of the top catchers in all of MLB due to his offensive prowess and strong defense.
The Brewers’ filing of $8.5 million matched the record for a second-time arbitration-eligible catcher, which was set by Will Smith of the Los Angeles Dodgers. Contracts with options are considered multiyear deals and can’t be used as comps for other arbitration cases. It is likely that the Brewers will decline next year’s club option.