Brewers 2022-23 Offseason Preview: Free Agents, Options, Arbitration, and More

The 2022-23 MLB offseason is here. The Milwaukee Brewers fell short of the postseason, leading to their offseason beginning earlier than hoped. Now, the work needs to begin on improving this team for 2023 and getting them back into the playoffs.

There is no shortage of work ahead, as the shortcomings were many with the 2022 Brewers. The offseason is their best opportunity to make improvements to the roster, address those shortcomings, and ensure they continue the window of contention as long as possible.

There will be roster turnover this offseason, as there is every year. The Brewers have a number of players hitting free agency. Some might re-sign, some will leave. Others will be traded, or non-tendered. Free agents may be signed, prospects will be promoted. The 40 man roster Milwaukee ended with in 2022 will not be the same one they carry into 2023, that is for sure. How many changes there will be is yet to be determined.

With all these changes, it can be so hard to keep track of what the Brewers roster situation really is. That’s what this preview is here for. All of the roster decisions that they will face this upcoming offseason will be previewed here. We’ll look at the players that are free agents, those with contract options to be decided, players that are in arbitration and could be non-tendered, positions of need, and more.

This is a crucial offseason for the Milwaukee Brewers. They clearly took a step back in 2022 and the mid-season trade of Josh Hader puzzled many, not only in Milwaukee but around the league. For the clubhouse to gain trust back in the front office, they’ll want to see a commitment to winning and improving this roster.

In previewing the Milwaukee Brewers offseason, we’ll look at the Brewers free agents, arbitration class, contract option decisions, positions of need, and more.

To improve this roster, some players will have to go out, and some new players will have to come in.

Turnover is inevitable, but that’s what makes the offseason so exciting. It’s an opportunity to reset, make some wholesale changes to the active roster, and get ready for the start of the next regular season where everyone begins on a clean slate and a 0-0 record.

Brewers 2022-23 Free Agents (8)

Andrew McCutchen, Jace Peterson, Omar Narvaez, Taylor Rogers, Trevor Rosenthal, Pedro Severino, Jonathan Davis, Josh Lindblom

The Brewers have a couple of key players hitting free agency this winter.

The highest paid player of this group is Andrew McCutchen, who made $8.5MM in 2022. Milwaukee signed him to a one year deal this spring to much surprise considering the Crew’s crowded outfield picture but also to much celebration from ownership who “stretched the budget” to sign him. While McCutchen is a likable personality and a good leader in the clubhouse, he disappointed at the plate and didn’t mash lefties like he was brought in to do. Given that and the growing crowd in that outfield, expect McCutchen to play elsewhere in 2023.

Jace Peterson, “On Base Jace” as he’s affectionately known to many, has reached free agency. He’s served well in a utility role for the Brewers and has been a good presence in the clubhouse. He could parlay that into a decent payday on the open market but he’s unlikely to get a starting job either in Milwaukee or anywhere else. With Mike Brosseau capable of stepping into Peterson’s role, the Brewers may be willing to let Peterson walk but I wouldn’t be totally surprised if he comes back on a one year deal.

Omar Narvaez couldn’t have picked a worse time to have a terrible season at the plate. He was solid in 2021 with some power and hitting for a decent average, but Narvaez toiled around the Mendoza line in 2022 with just four home runs. Victor Caratini ended up taking the most ABs for the Brewers at catcher this year because of Narvaez’s struggles. With young Mario Feliciano ready for a big league job, Milwaukee is likely to let Narvaez walk this offseason and won’t think twice about it.

The Brewers acquired Taylor Rogers as the immediate replacement for Josh Hader. The issues with that trade have been thoroughly discussed, but one of the issues that hasn’t been talked about as much is that Rogers will hit free agency a year before Hader does. Rogers made $7.3MM in 2022 between the Padres and Brewers and even though he didn’t perform all that well in Milwaukee, he’s still likely to get a decent payday in free agency. Will the Brewers give it to him and bring him back after they weren’t willing to pay Hader? Likely not.

Signing Rogers would be odd considering what he would demand and that the Brewers are adamant that Devin Williams is going to be their closer. Rogers isn’t going to get big money from Milwaukee to be a set up guy or on a closer by committee. Letting Rogers walk would also be a bad look considering he was a key part of such a massive trade, but the Brewers made this bed for themselves, now they have to lie in it. Still, I’d expect Rogers to leave this winter.

Another ill-fated Trade Deadline acquisition was Trevor Rosenthal, who never threw a pitch for the Brewers and is now a free agent. Will the Brewers sign him back? Maybe. They might try to just so they don’t look as stupid for acquiring him in the first place. They do like Rosenthal and when healthy he can be a weapon, but he just hasn’t been healthy in two seasons. I wouldn’t be surprised to see him brought back, but also wouldn’t be surprised if he walked. If he returns and pitches well, maybe that trade won’t look as dumb in hindsight.

Pedro Severino, Jonathan Davis, and Josh Lindblom all finished the season in Triple-A Nashville. Lindblom was there all year in a veteran leadership role, while Severino and Davis were outrighted off the 40 man and both elected free agency. Davis was out of a job as soon as he got hurt and Garrett Mitchell was called up. With other outfield prospects ready, Davis is going to look elsewhere for an opportunity. The same goes for Severino, who never got a real chance in Milwaukee after his positive PED test.

Brewers Club Option Decisions (2)

Kolten Wong, Brad Boxberger

What are the Brewers to do with Kolten Wong? He struggled both offensively and defensively in the first half of the year, but improved during the second half. He ended with a respectable slash line of .251/.339/.430 with a career-high 15 homers and a career-high 116 wRC+.

That’s really not a bad season at all, in fact it’s a pretty good season. You would think that would be an obvious decision to exercise his club option, right? Not necessarily.

Wong’s club option carries a $10MM salary for 2023, with a buyout of $2MM if the Brewers decline it. So, it’s essentially an $8MM decision for Milwaukee. Do they want to pay Wong, who just turned 32 years old, for another season at a reasonable, but still somewhat high salary? Or will they let him walk, pay the buyout, and install Brice Turang, who is just 22 years old, at second base and would make just $700k next season?

The Brewers would save $7.3MM by switching from Wong to Turang at second. Turang’s a shortstop by trade, but with Willy Adames in the fold, second base is his best path to big league playing time. He spent all of the 2022 season in Triple-A Nashville and posted a very inspiring .286/.360/.412 slash line with 24 doubles, 13 homers, and 34 stolen bases.

With the presence of Turang, I would be mildly surprised to see the Brewers pick up Wong’s option for 2023.

The other option decision they have is Brad Boxberger. He has a $3MM club option for 2023 with a $750,000 buyout if they decline. Boxberger was solid once again in 2022, finishing the year with a 2.95 ERA in 64 innings. His numbers were similar to his successful 2021 campaign. Can he keep it up for a third consecutive year in Milwaukee?

Relievers are volatile year-to-year, but if the Brewers think he can maintain some success, his $3MM is not unreasonable. A slight concern was his average fastball velocity dipping from 93.5 MPH in 2021 to 92.8 MPH in 2022. Boxberger will turn 35 next year and velocity dips for relievers into their mid-thirties are causes for concern when it comes to their performance.

Brewers Arbitration-Eligibles (18)

Hunter Renfroe, Brent Suter, Luis Perdomo, Brandon Woodruff, Matt Bush, Willy Adames, Trevor Gott, Corbin Burnes, Eric Lauer, Jandel Gustave, Adrian Houser, Rowdy Tellez, Luis Urías, Hoby Milner, Devin Williams, Mike Brosseau, Keston Hiura

The Brewers have one of the largest arbitration classes in MLB this offseason with a staggering 18 players eligible. That’s nearly 70% of the active roster. Several key players are among this group and are due big raises.

We’ve already taken an in-depth look at the salary projections for these players.

The players that are due the biggest raises are, of course, the stars. Corbin Burnes, Brandon Woodruff, Hunter Renfroe, and Willy Adames are slated to earn the biggest salaries of this group with substantial increases over their 2022 salaries.

In total, if the projections are accurate and the Brewers tender all of these players contracts, they will earn a combined total of over $30MM in raises. That will eat up a large chunk of the payroll space the Brewers added from the parting free agents and whatever budget they may have for free agents.

However, the Brewers aren’t likely to tender all 18 of these players. But yet, there aren’t too many obvious cut candidates that would provide some savings. There’s a few fringe roster options like Luis Perdomo and Jandel Gustave that could be non-tendered but the payroll savings will be minimal. Most of this group are key players to the Brewers current and future plans.

Could Keston Hiura be non-tendered? That would certainly be a surprise given his previous draft and prospect status. His struggles are notable, but it would seem unlikely the Brewers would simply non-tender him for nothing in return instead of at least attempting to trade him or see if he figures it out in 2023.

Other non-tender candidates you have to squint to see. Trevor Gott maybe? Adrian Houser struggled a bit in 2022 but still holds enough value and is cheap enough they wouldn’t have to non-tender him. Maybe Brent Suter could be a candidate?

There’s not much fat to trim here, despite this being a bulky arbitration class. Renfroe, Suter, Caratini, and Perdomo will all be entering their final years of arbitration and will be free agents following the 2023 season.

Brewers Rule 5 Eligible Prospects

Brice Turang, Cam Robinson, Abner Uribe, Victor Castaneda, Carlos Rodriguez (OF), Felix Valerio, Cam Devanney, Eduardo Garcia, Joe Gray Jr

There are a number of other Brewers minor leaguers that are Rule 5 eligible this winter, but these are the notable names.

Brice Turang is a guaranteed lock to be added to the 40 man roster this winter and protected from the Rule 5 Draft. He seemed ready for his big league debut late in 2022 and will surely be relied upon in 2023, no matter what happens with Kolten Wong’s option decision.

There are a couple of other prospects who have strong cases to be added to the 40 man roster this winter. Cam Robinson and Abner Uribe are flamethrowing reliever prospects and those are the types that get plucked often in the Rule 5 Draft. Robinson reached Triple-A by the end of the year and could be called upon early in 2023. Uribe is a bit more raw as a pitcher but can throw 103 MPH.

Uribe is in the Arizona Fall League again this year after missing most of the 2022 season with a torn meniscus. He’s kept the walks down, which is key for him, and has been showing improved command. He may need to be protected.

Victor Castaneda is another option for protection. He made it up to Triple-A this year and has been a solid starting pitcher to this point in the minors. Castaneda could be important rotation depth going forward for Milwaukee although he likely wouldn’t be much more than a back-end rotation option. This is Castaneda’s second year being Rule 5 eligible but he’s much closer to the big leagues now and more likely to be plucked if left unprotected.

The only other name on this list that could seriously merit protecting and could be selected would be Cam Devanney. He had a very good season in Double-A and earned a late-season promotion to Triple-A. He could be a utility guy at the big league level and maybe more if he gets an opportunity. He was 2nd in the Brewers farm system in homers this year with 23, behind only Jon Singleton. Devanney hit a solid .264 with a .832 OPS across Double-A and Triple-A.

Outfielder Carlos Rodriguez only played in High-A this year and missed most of the season with an injury after starting out well. He most likely won’t be selected, even if he does, the Brewers are pretty well set in the outfield. Felix Valerio had a great 2021 season, but struggled with a full year in Double-A in 2022 and isn’t likely to get selected. Joe Gray Jr had a breakout first half of 2021, but he’s struggled mightily in High-A and had a poor 2022, making his protection unnecessary and a selection unlikely.

Eduardo Garcia is a highly rated shortstop prospect, but since he just reached High-A late in 2022, no team is likely to be willing to take the risk of trying to make him play all of 2023 in the big leagues.

Brewers Positions of Need

1. Added Pitching Depth

We’ve gone in-depth on the Crew’s needs this offseason, but it’s important to go over them again and look at the needs in context of this whole offseason preview and give some potential options.

David Stearns has stated that the Brewers lack of pitching depth was an issue in 2022 (which it was) and that that will be addressed this offseason, most likely with some external additions. So look for a couple of free agent signings for either bullpen or rotation depth. While Milwaukee isn’t going to be looking at the top of the market for pitching, they will be checking around for someone that can help them and is in their price range.

Someone like Chad Kuhl could be an option for improving the rotation in Milwaukee. He won’t cost too much, had a good season in 2022, and might even present an improvement over someone like Adrian Houser. Chris Flexen of the Mariners might be an option on the trade market as back end rotation depth.

The bullpen could have any number of options on the free agent market that they could sign for cheap, potentially even on minor league contracts.

2. Third Base

Luis Urias regressed a little at third base in 2022 and with Jace Peterson hitting free agency, the Brewers could stand to upgrade that position. Urias could fill the super-utility role that Peterson held if Milwaukee acquired a new starting option at third base.

However, the free agent market this winter isn’t exactly flush with starting third base options. The best player that could potentially be worthy of being a starter and might be in the Crew’s price range is Brandon Drury. Nolan Arenado could opt out and become a free agent, but even if he did, the Brewers couldn’t afford him.

Other than Drury, there aren’t really any free agents that would be an improvement over Urias. They would then have to look to the trade market and maybe target someone like Arizona’s Josh Rojas or Colorado’s Ryan McMahon. If they really wanted to go all out, trading for Boston’s Rafael Devers would represent a move dedicated to building a World Series roster right now.

3. Catcher

The Brewers got extremely poor offensive production from their catchers in 2022. Victor Caratini hit .199 on the year, while Omar Narvaez hit .206. Yikes.

They need to get better. Catching prospect Mario Feliciano is ready for a role in 2023 and he’ll likely take one spot. Narvaez is a free agent, so they could simply roll with a Feliciano/Caratini duo in 2023. Although since Caratini struggled so much in the second half, it isn’t out of the question for them to non-tender Caratini and look elsewhere for another catcher.

The free agent market has players such as Tucker Barnhart and Christian Vasquez available, but the cream of the crop this year is Willson Contreras. Would Contreras sign with Milwaukee? He’d cost a lot but he’d be a major improvement. I’m sure Brewers fans would warm up to him if he puts on a Milwaukee uniform.

But if the Brewers do look to the free agent market for catching upgrades, there are a couple of good options out there.