Brewers 2024-25 offseason primer: Free agents, arbitration, key dates and deadlines

Another offseason has arrived too soon. The Milwaukee Brewers finally won a playoff game, but still failed to advance beyond the first round. Now they face an offseason where they face the loss of their starting shortstop and a roster crunch that could hinder making additions.

The 2024 season was largely a success for the Brewers. A new manager, trading away Corbin Burnes for prospects, not having Brandon Woodruff all season, there were many changes that went against the Brewers but they still succeeded. The postseason success continues to elude them, however. As hard as it was to find success this year, it won't be getting much easier in 2025.

The pending free agency of Willy Adames is the headline of Milwaukee's offseason. Brewers brass have been publicly pessimistic about their chances to re-sign their slugging shortstop. That will leave a void in the Brewers infield that will need to be filled somehow. Whoever fills it is not likely to provide 32 home runs and 112 RBI like Adames provided in 2024.

The Brewers are also going to face some very tough 40 man roster decisions. After the conclusion of the World Series, players on the 60 day IL will be put back on the 40 man roster. The Brewers have seven players that ended the season on the 60 day IL. With a small free agent class, Milwaukee will need to find a way to create roster flexibility.

In this article, we'll take a look at every aspect of the Brewers offseason roster decisions as a primer to get you ready for how this offseason will shake out. Let's start with the important dates

Brewers important offseason dates

• Five days after World series: Free agency opens, option decisions, qualifying offers due
• Nov. 5-7: GM Meetings in San Antonio, TX
• Nov. 15: 40 man roster protection deadline
• Nov. 19: Deadline to accept or reject qualifying offers
• Nov. 22: Non-tender deadline
• Dec. 9-12: Winter Meetings in Dallas, TX
• Dec. 12: Rule 5 Draft
• Jan. 10: Arbitration filing deadline
• Jan. 27-Feb.14: Arbitration hearings

Eligible players file for free agency the day after the World Series. They cannot sign with a new team until five days after the World Series. This gives the team a five day exclusive negotiating window with their own players. The Brewers also have to make a decision on a qualifying offer for Willy Adames by that fifth day and make their decisions on the six players with mutual or club options for 2025.

If the Brewers extend a QO to Willy Adames, which carries a $21.05 million salary for 2025, he has until November 19th to accept or reject the offer. He's likely to reject it.

The deadline to add prospects to the 40 man roster to protect them from the Rule 5 Draft is on November 15th and then a week later is the deadline to tender arbitration eligible players contracts for 2025.

The Winter Meetings this year are in Dallas from December 9th through the 12th. This is the biggest week of activity on the baseball offseason calendar when it comes to trades, free agent signings, and rumors. The Meetings culminate in the Rule 5 Draft on the final day.

Brewers 2024-25 Free Agents

• Willy Adames
• Joe Ross

The Brewers only have two true free agents this winter, but one of them is a major contributor. Willy Adames is going to enter free agency for the first time in his career and test the open market. Milwaukee has not been shy about their love for Adames and wanting him to stay, but also have been cognizant of the kind of money he's likely to seek and how it's out of their price range.

Adames is highly likely to be the first player to receive a Qualifying Offer from the Brewers. The QO carries a $21.05 million salary and would be a one year deal to bring Adames back to Milwaukee if he accepts. However, Adames is also highly likely to reject the QO and seek a long-term deal on the open market. He's 29 years old, coming off a career year, and is the only starting caliber shortstop on the market.

Joe Ross also hits free agency coming off a solid year. He missed the last few years due to injury, but turned in a 3.77 ERA in 25 appearances with 10 starts covering 74 IP. There's a non-zero chance the Brewers could look to bring Ross back as a depth piece for the rotation or a long reliever out of the bullpen, a role in which he thrived in this year.

Brewers mutual contract options

• Wade Miley
• Gary Sanchez
• Frankie Montas

The Brewers have three mutual options this year, all of which are likely to be declined. Rarely do mutual options get exercised by both sides.

Miley has a $12 million option that will be declined as he's still recovering from Tommy John surgery he underwent early on this past season. He's attempting to come back from TJS for his age 38 season, and maybe the Brewers give him that chance, but they won't do it at that price point. Miley has a $1 million buyout on that option.

Gary Sanchez has a mutual option that's also going to be declined. His numbers weren't great this year and the Brewers have Eric Haase they could roll with as their backup to William Contreras in 2025. His buyout is $3 million.

Frankie Montas' mutual option carries a $20 million salary for 2025, an option the Brewers will surely decline. Montas was solid since coming over at the Trade Deadline but that's not a price they'll be willing to pay for him. Montas' opt out is $2 million.

Brewers club contract options

• Freddy Peralta ($8MM)
• Devin Williams ($10.5MM)
• Colin Rea ($5.5MM)
• Eric Haase ($1.4MM)

The club option decisions the Brewers have to make will be much easier. Freddy Peralta's club-friendly option of $8 million is an easy pick up for the front office. While Peralta has had his ups and downs throughout the season, that salary for a veteran team leader and front man of the rotation is a no-brainer.

Colin Rea's club option also is an easy pick up for the Crew. Rea, like Peralta, made every turn in the rotation this year remaining healthy and eating up innings. A couple poor late-season outings brought his ERA up to 4.29, but he was in the mid-3s for the majority of the season. The Brewers love what Rea has brought and it's highly likely they bring him back on this contract for next year.

Devin Williams is the toughest decision of the three. They won't be letting him hit free agency, but Williams has a $10.5 million club option that was designed to lock in his final year of arbitration. However, his arbitration projection this year is only $7.7 million, far lower than what his club option is far. This is in large part because Williams missed two-thirds of the season with a back injury. He wasn't able to rack up his usual save totals, so the raise he'd get in arbitration would be lower.

The Brewers could decline Williams' option, meaning they'd simply be going through the arbitration process one more time with him. That is, of course, if they don't trade him first, in which case his new team would have to go through the arbitration process with him.

Eric Haase is also arbitration eligible but has a club option for 2025 that's valued at $1.4 million per Spotrac. If it's declined, he's still arbitration eligible, but he's projected by MLB trade rumors to earn $1.8 million in arbitration, so picking up the option appears probable, especially with Gary Sanchez likely to hit the open market.

Brewers player contract options

• Rhys Hoskins ($18MM)

The Brewers don't usually give out player options, but they did in order to land Rhys Hoskins last offseason. Now, they have to await his decision on if he wants to return to Milwaukee for one more year or hit the open market once more.

It would appear that Hoskins is likely to opt in to his 2025 contract and return to Milwaukee. While the power numbers were solid with 26 home runs, he had his worst overall season to date. His .214/.303/.419 slash line were well below career norms and his 98 OPS+ was below league average. Combine that with Pete Alonso and Christian Walker also hitting the free agent market at first base this winter, and it's not a good time for Hoskins to test the waters.

Hoskins is unlikely to find a better deal than $18 million for the 2025 season, which means opting in and returning to Milwaukee is the smart play. It gives the Brewers an experienced first baseman in the heart of their order while their young corner infield prospects are still developing in the upper minors. If Hoskins were to leave, the Brewers would need to go out and find another stopgap solution at first base.

Brewers Rule 5 protection candidates

• RHP Logan Henderson
• RHP Chad Patrick
• RHP Coleman Crow
• 1B Wes Clarke
• OF Carlos D. Rodriguez
• 1B Ernesto Martinez Jr
• RHP Shane Smith

It's too long to list all of the Brewers minor leaguers eligible for Rule 5 selection this winter, but let's highlight the likeliest candidates for selection to either the Brewers 40 man or to another team's in the Rule 5 Draft in December.

Logan Henderson is the highest rated prospect eligible and a near-lock to be added to the 40 man roster by the deadline. Henderson reached Triple-A and had a 3.32 ERA in 19 starts this season. He's one of the Brewers best pitching prospects and is likely to make some big league starts in 2025.

The next two are certainly deserving candidates in Chad Patrick and Coleman Crow. Patrick won the pitching Triple Crown in the Triple-A International League this year and even though he's not a highly touted prospect, he's proven as much as he possibly can at Triple-A. Crow came over in the Tyrone Taylor trade last winter and missed all season recovering from TJS. He's in the Arizona Fall League presently to get some work in. Because he's just now getting healthy, the Brewers can likely get by the Rule 5 Draft without protecting him.

Some players with longer odds that the Brewers could still ultimately protect include a trio of hitters and a breakout pitching prospect in Shane Smith. Smith had a 3.05 ERA in 94.1 IP this year, transitioning to the rotation and reaching Triple-A. Someone could snag him if the Brewers opt not to protect him.

As for those hitters, Wes Clarke is a corner power bat that has put up some solid numbers and reached Triple-A. Ernesto Martinez is an exciting young slugger that dominated Double-A, so he may not warrant protection just yet, but he's getting closer. Carlos D. Rodriguez is an outfielder that hits for a very high average with very little power, but he can play all three spots and could be a solid outfield depth piece for Milwaukee to have on their 40 man if they cut bait with someone like Brewer Hicklen.

Brewers Payroll Outlook

The budgets haven't exactly been increasing these last few years for the Brewers. It's unlikely there's any sort of big budget increase in store for 2025 as the Brewers face the loss of their local TV rights deal with Bally Sports Wisconsin.

The Milwaukee Brewers carried an approximate $116 million payroll for the 2024 season. How much room will they have in the budget this offseason before they get to a similar payroll?

Let's make some assumptions. Let's assume Rhys Hoskins opts in, all the mutual options for Miley, Sanchez, and Montas are declined, club options for Peralta, Rea, and Haase are exercised, and Devin Williams' is declined. That would give the Brewers $71.6 million in guaranteed contracts on the books for 2025.

Moving down to arbitration, let's also assume Jake Bauers and Hoby Milner are non-tendered, saving the Brewers an estimated $5 million in salary. The rest of the projected arbitration salaries for the remaining eligible players, including Devin Williams, totals up to $30.5 million, bringing the Brewers payroll obligations up to $102.1 million.

Payroll obligations for pre-arbitration eligible players in 2024 totaled around $11 million, so let's assume a similar number in 2025.

That brings the Milwaukee Brewers 2025 payroll before they add a single free agent to $113.1 million.

Keep in mind, the Brewers payroll in 2024 was $116 million, so that leaves very little room for free agent additions or even trade additions before the Brewers payroll increases from this year. Now this doesn't mean the Brewers aren't going to run a payroll higher than 2024 next year, they very well could. How much higher could they go? Only Mark Attanasio knows.

What this does mean, however, is that the Brewers are likely to be active on the trade market once again as a way to improve the club and shift around payroll. One obvious candidate is Devin Williams, who carries a projected $7.7 million arbitration salary or a $10.5 million club option.

It's likely to be another offseason with limited payroll flexibility for the Brewers, and also limited roster flexibility as six players will come off the 60 day IL and back onto the 40 man roster and only five appear headed to free agency out of the gate. Flexibility will need to be created and the Brewers are gong to have to get creative to do it.