2 moves the Brewers must make before the end of 2025

Christmas has arrived, and that means there is less than a week until the calendar flips from 2025 to 2026. Though not an official deadline for the MLB offseason, the end of the year serves as an excellent opportunity for teams to evaluate their past season as an organization and look ahead to what is to come in the following year.

The Milwaukee Brewers have been more active this winter than many expected them to be; they are essentially able to return the same roster that posted the best regular season record in baseball last year and advanced to the League Championship Series for just the fourth time in franchise history. However, around the margins of the roster, Matt Arnold and the Brewers front office have made several intriguing moves, adding reliever Ángel Zerpa in a deal that sent Isaac Collins and Nick Mears to the Kansas City Royals, and outfielder Akil Baddoo on a split contract. Not to mention the fact that to bring Brandon Woodruff back this year, the Brewers aggressively offered him the $22.025 million qualifying offer, which he accepted.

While the offseason has had more action than many Brewers fans might have been anticipating, there are still several moves left to make before the 2026 season arrives in March. Many of those moves, including roster decisions and waiting out a free agent market that could turn in Milwaukee's favor by the time February arrives, don't need to happen in the immediate future. However, two moves stick out as ones that the Brewers should be prioritizing as soon as possible. Whether or not they happen before the end of the calendar year remains to be seen, but the point stands that these are the next two moves Milwaukee needs to make this winter.

2 moves the Brewers must make before the end of 2025

1) Extend manager Pat Murphy

As has been extensively covered both by Jeff Passan over at ESPN.com and Adam McCalvy at MLB.com, the Brewers' 2x Manager of the Year, Pat Murphy, is entering the final year of the three-year contract that he signed after his predecessor and former mentee, Craig Counsell, departed for the North Side of Chicago following the 2023 season. Managers, especially those as successful as Murphy, rarely enter seasons holding "lame duck" status, which occasionally will impact the way they manage their roster, unless they plan on retiring in the near future. Counsell notably did manage in the final year of his contract in 2023, which led him to leaving for Chicago after the season concluded.

Murphy might be considering retirement in the near future, but the 67-year-old Brewers skipper appears to be energized by his team's recent success rather than bogged down by the responsibility it brings. It would be shocking to see Murph step away from the game after the 2026 season, especially after Rickie Weeks, who appeared destined to take over as the Brewers manager after Murphy's tenure concluded, transitioned to a role in the front office earlier this offseason.

Surely, Murphy and the Brewers' organization have discussed his contract situation and both feel comfortable with how it will proceed going forward; Milwaukee would be silly not to want to keep Murph in the dugout after he was named the NL Manager of the Year in each of his first two seasons at the helm. An extension is not only deserved for Murph, but it would also signal to the fans that the organization has confidence the current coaching staff can get the Brewers over the hump and finally bring a World Series title to Milwaukee.

2) Extend relief pitcher Abner Uribe

While Murphy himself should receive a contract extension in the near future, many of the young stars on his roster should also be considered for extensions as well. While players like Brice Turang and William Contreras might come to fans’ minds first when the term "contract extension" is floated around, the Brewers must consider offering a long-term cost-controlled deal to relief pitcher Abner Uribe.

In all likelihood, Uribe will be the Brewers' closer at some point in his career. Already, he assumed the closing duties in the postseason when Trevor Megill was hampered by a flexor strain injury that he was still recovering from. Whether Megill is traded this offseason or next (a trade feels inevitable at some point), Uribe is likely to start racking up saves in the near future, which will raise the salaries that he earns in the arbitration process considerably. Such a reality would likely lead to the Brewers trading Uribe away before he reaches free agency, which is set to occur after the 2030 season. To avoid that fate, the Brewers should extend Uribe now, while his cost still reflects his time spent as a set-up man rather than a closer.

Uribe was one of the best set-up men in all of baseball last season, with a 1.67 ERA and 37 holds to prove it. His nasty sinker-slider combo has already proven successful in the ninth inning, and it's only a matter of time before he is one of the better closers in all of baseball. In an effort to get ahead of the growing salaries that will result from a mass collection of saves, the Brewers would be smart to offer Uribe a contract extension sooner rather than later, especially if a trade of Megill is on the horizon.