Brewers add highly successful big-league GM to their front office

When David Stearns stepped down from the Milwaukee Brewers' top front office role — only to accept a similar position with the New York Mets a year later — it felt like the beginning of the dreaded brain drain that happens to successful MLB teams.

Luckily, the Crew have mostly been able to keep their core of key decision-makers intact, led by new president of baseball operations Matt Arnold. Sure, one can scrutinize their best effort at sleepwalking through this offseason, but no one can argue with three straight NL Central titles and one of the best farm systems in all of baseball. In fact, it's pretty easy to argue that Arnold has actually been better than Stearns during his three years as the head of the Brewers' front office.

Though it doesn't exactly help the on-field product, Arnold and his team are making a big addition — to their front office braintrust. They've secured the services of former Minnesota Twins general manager Thad Levine, as first reported by MLB.com's Adam McCalvy.

Brewers hire former Twins GM Thad Levine to support Matt Arnold

What exactly a "special advisor to baseball operations" does is open for interpretation, particularly since it appears to be a new role in the front office designed specifically for Levine.

Levine worked under chief baseball officer Derek Falvey for all eight of his seasons in Minnesota before stepping down, and he also had prior experience as an assistant general manager with the Texas Rangers. He's a grizzled veteran in the front office, which should serve Milwaukee well.

Notably, Levine oversaw one of the most successful periods in Twins history as GM, as the team won three division titles and made four playoff appearances under his stewardship from 2017-24. They also broke their ignominious streak of 18 consecutive playoff losses in 2023, sweeping the Toronto Blue Jays in the American League Wild Card Round.

This will be Levine's first MLB job since departing from Minnesota, and he's found a very soft landing spot. The Brewers' front office is a well-oiled machine, and they should be together for a long time to come after Arnold earned a promotion earlier this offseason.

Levine won't have any decision-making powers in his new role, but he made a number of impressive moves while with the Twins, including blockbuster trades for Nelson Cruz and Sonny Gray. Pairing him up with the same minds who stole Andrew Vaughn from the Chicago White Sox is a power move by the Brewers.

With the front office seemingly now settled, the team must turn its attention to a number of key agenda items, including a potential Freddy Peralta trade, acquiring at least one offensive upgrade, and resolving the William Contreras arbitration situation.