In just over five weeks, pitchers and catchers will report, signaling the start of spring training. By then, organizations will begin to finalize their Opening Day rosters, and fans should have a pretty good idea as to how competitive their favorite team will be in the upcoming year.
For many teams, the biggest moves have already been made. A flurry of activity happened at or around the Winter Meetings, and organizations have already committed to over $1 billion in free-agent contracts. The Blue Jays have been the most aggressive in locking down talent, notably signing Dylan Cease ($210 million, 7 years), Kazuma Okamoto ($60 million, 4 years), and Cody Ponce ($30 million, 3 years). Most other teams have made at least one big free agent acquisition or trade, but the Brewers have remained comparatively quiet.
The only free agent Milwaukee has signed is Akil Baddoo, and the only trade they’ve made thus far sent Isaac Collins and Nick Mears to the Royals in exchange for Angel Zerpa. Neither move is expected to move the needle, which begs the question: What are they waiting for?
It’s important to remember that this is how Milwaukee has operated in the offseason for quite some time now. The Brewers have never been huge fans of pursuing big-name free agents, who are often the first to get pulled off the board. They’re quite expensive, and the sheer amount of bidders for any given player often drives prices past the financial comfort zone of the front office. Many of the largest contracts in franchise history were extensions for players like Christian Yelich and Ryan Braun, making Lorenzo Cain’s $80 million contract signed in 2018 the largest free-agent deal Milwaukee has ever inked.
Instead of simply throwing money at their problems, the Brewers love to find undervalued assets and bid low on them, relying on their outstanding internal player development and taking low-risk bets on players that others have already glossed over. In order to do this, deals are often struck late when the negotiating leverage shifts away from the player and towards any club willing to give them a chance.
A few recent notable examples of late free agent signings include:
None of these four players was highly sought-after, and each came with an asterisk. For Woodruff and Hoskins, it was injury-related. It was understood that Woodruff would miss the entire 2024 season and part of the 2025 season, while Hoskins had just missed the entire 2023 season after tearing his ACL in spring training. For Miley and Quintana, it was age. Both starting pitchers were 36 years old when they signed their deals and seemed to be in the twilight of their big-league careers. These players were effective but only if you looked past the unappealing circumstances on the surface and were willing to take a chance (Hoskins may be the only exception, but hey, you can’t be right 100% of the time, that’s not fair for the other teams).
Another factor that’s likely contributing to the Brewers’ sluggish pace of roster revamping is that their needs don’t align well with what they’re willing to pay. There aren’t any major holes in the current roster and, barring a trade of someone like Freddy Peralta, all of the biggest contributors to the team’s success in 2025 will be along for the ride in 2026.
However, if there were one aspect that could use some love, it’d be finding power in the lineup. In 2025, they ranked deceptively high in slugging percentage because their .258 batting average placed third in MLB, but they ranked 22nd in home runs (166) and 25th in ISO (.145). If Andrew Vaughn somehow manages to maintain his 141 OPS+ over the course of a full season, it may not be a problem, but precedent would suggest that outcome is unlikely.
But these days, power doesn’t come cheap. Kyle Schwarber, an archetypal three-true-outcome player, returned to the Phillies for $150 million over five years. Pete Alonso signed a similar contract with the Orioles for $155 million over five years. There aren’t many slugging free agents left, and those that are available, like Kyle Tucker, are absolutely out of the Brewers’ price range.
It’s a similar story with starting pitching. Milwaukee has a considerable number of young arms in the rotation. Still, if they want to pursue a veteran arm to back up Peralta, it would cost a considerable amount, either in cash or prospects. This seems like a big reason why they’ll look to retain Peralta this year, especially since he’ll be paid just $8 million to be the team’s ace.
And so, their patience is understandable given their strategy. They’ll continue to wait until the marquee names are snatched up at a premium or full price, paving the way for the not great but still good players to be slowly and surely marked down with each passing week. Even if they don’t do anything, their roster remains solid, and their young core will only continue to improve.
The one caveat to all this is that the other teams in the division aren’t quite so passive. The Cardinals have already made a handful of trades (albeit to enter an apparent rebuild), and the Cubs have made quite a few small moves to reinforce their bullpen. The most surprising organization has been the Pirates, who, aside from being interested in players like Schwarber, Josh Naylor, and Okamoto, picked up Ryan O’Hearn and Gregory Soto in free agency before also acquiring Brandon Lowe in a three-team trade.
None of these moves is necessarily enough for the Brewers to fear for their position atop the NL Central yet, but at the same time, they can’t be totally ignored. Still, the front office tends to march to the beat of its own drum, regardless of what its closest rivals are up to. Realistically, the organization is likely biding its time and waiting to get what it needs at the right price. It may not happen soon, but something will happen eventually. Probably.