The Milwaukee Brewers this afternoon made their final option decisions (which needed to be made by Thursday). There are no real surprises, though one of those decisions could have gone either way:
The Hoskins and Quintana decisions were no-brainers. Hoskins was the Brewers’ best hitter by the time the season reached late May, but as Milwaukee turned its season around, Hoskins went in the other direction. From May 24 until July 5, Hoskins hit just .161/.252/.339, and on the last date of that run, he suffered a thumb sprain that landed him on the injured list. Andrew Vaughn then mercilessly stole Hoskins’ job, and despite returning to the Brewers on September 9, Hoskins made only one start the rest of the way and had one hit in just 10 plate appearances. He did not make the Brewers’ postseason roster.
Quintana offered value to the Brewers last season, but he was making only $4 million in 2025 and was nowhere near the $15 million option. He’s also a year older, and will be 37 before the 2026 season starts. He’ll probably get a job somewhere, but not at $15 million.
The Contreras decision might annoy certain Brewer fans who think of the team as cheap; the team stands to save an amount of money that seems trivial when dealing in the multi-billion-dollar baseball business, likely an amount less than one million dollars. These arbitration hearings can be uncomfortable for teams and players, and there’s at least one notable instance in recent Brewers history of a player being rather upset at the way the team presented its case at arbitration.
I’d be surprised if there’s any such bad blood with Contreras. I’m sure the team made it pretty clear to his agent why the option was in there. It might seem trivial, but this is a business, after all, and the Brewers are far from the only team that would’ve made a similar decision. There’s always a chance, too, that the Brewers are considering a longer-term deal for Contreras, and declining that option has no bearing on those negotiations, whether they’re happening or not.
With Hoskins and Quintana becoming free agents, the Brewers’ 40-man roster is now at 36, though they have still not officially activated Garrett Mitchell and Logan Henderson from the 60-day IL.