Milwaukee Brewers: Which players should get contract extensions?

Contract extensions are officially en vogue in Major League Baseball. From veterans with 10+ years of experience to players yet to play a game, teams are locking up key players with multi-year deals. Could the Milwaukee Brewers make similar moves?

It seems like every team is signing up their key players in the past few weeks. The Boston Red Sox signed up ace Chris Sale to an impressive extension, while the Chicago White Sox have suddenly found a way to keep Eloy Jimenez on the Major League roster with a new contract. Should the Milwaukee Brewers look to give their young talent a little more now to save in the future?

We’ve got four important players who should stay in the fold far beyond 2019. From prospects to vets, and players in between, the Milwaukee Brewers have several guys who deserve the security that a new contract can provide.

Travis Shaw

Milwaukee Brewers third baseman Travis Shaw will earn $4.675 million after going through the arbitration process for the first time this past off season. Shaw has two years of arbitration eligibility before he reaches free agency. If he and the Brewers go year-to-year, he’ll become a free agent after his age-31 season.

Shaw has been incredibly productive for the Milwaukee Brewers since coming in a trade after the 2016 season. Shaw still has several productive years beyond 2021 yet to come, and should get a contract extension that keeps him in Milwaukee well into his 30’s.

Shaw could double his current earnings in his second year of arbitration, and go even higher from there in his final year of arbitration eligibility. The Milwaukee Brewers would be wise to offer Shaw a contract in the four- or five-year range with an average annual value of $12-to-$14 million range. Such a deal would give Shaw the financial security that he surely wouldn’t mind, keep him with the Brewers, and prevent him from hitting free agency before his age 35 season.

Keston Hiura

Keston Hiura hasn’t played an inning above Double-A, but it still makes sense to offer him a contract extension once he gets called up to the Majors.

While Hiura had the most polished bat in the 2017 amateur draft, there were serious concerns about his glove and his throwing arm. He’s addressed most of those concerns, and certainly looks like he’s the future at second base for the Milwaukee Brewers.

The Chicago White Sox just signed top prospect Eloy Jimenez to a six-year deal worth $43 million that buys out all of his years under team control and arbitration. He also has a pair of club options that extend his deal through the 2026 season.

The Milwaukee Brewers could make Hiura a similar offer that would buy out his years of team control and arbitration, and allow him to earn a salary more befitting a player of his ability in his first few Major League seasons.

While the deal comes with risk that Hiura won’t pan out, it’s a calculated move that would prevent the team from massive payouts in arbitration that Hiura could get.

An extension for Hiura would have to be six years with an average annual value of at least $5 or $6 million.

Josh Hader

This list would be incomplete without the Milwaukee Brewers’ best relief pitcher. Actually, to call Josh Hader a ‘relief pitcher’ isn’t really fair. The only words that really describe what happens when he comes into a game are ‘Force of Nature’. He amassed a 2.7 WAR in only 81 1/3 innings of regular season baseball. He struck out 143, walked 30, and was tagged for nine homers.

Hader has another season of team control beyond 2019, and has three more years of arbitration after that. It could make sense for the Milwaukee Brewers to go year-to-year with Hader due to the natural volatility that’s inherent to relief pitching, but it’s also just as likely that he ends up costing the Brewers a ton in arbitration.

It makes sense to offer Hader an extension, but how big of a deal should the Brewers offer? Would a ‘Chris Sale’ deal of five years around $30 million be enough? Considering that Hader won’t crack $1 million in yearly salary until next year at the earliest, a five year extension in the neighborhood of $25-to-$30 million should get him to sign and avoid the costly and awkward arbitration process.

As a reliever, Hader is likely to dominate in ways that few can for years to come. In 99% of cases, it makes zero sense to sign a reliever to a long-term deal, but Hader is proving that he’s in the 1% of special relief pitchers that deserve the investment from the team.