Brewers free agency: 3 ways Milwaukee can use the money they saved by trading Peralta

Under chairman and principal owner Mark Attanasio, the Milwaukee Brewers have long operated within clear budget constraints. While executives like David Stearns and Matt Arnold have had the flexibility to add when necessary, the organization has largely avoided major long-term commitments, with the exception of signing Lorenzo Cain for five years and extensions for Christian Yelich, Jackson Chourio, and back in the day, Ryan Braun.

That said, earlier this offseason, Brandon Woodruff accepted the team’s qualifying offer, worth $22.05 million, making him the highest-paid pitcher in a single season in franchise history. As a result, it’s easy to see Arnold’s logic in acknowledging that retaining Woodruff factored into the club’s decision to trade Freddy Peralta, despite Peralta carrying a relatively modest $8.0 million salary for the 2026 season.

To be clear, trading Peralta was by no means a salary dump. Instead, multiple factors informed the decision, including his elevated trade value due to affordability, which kept numerous small-market teams in play as potential partners, and his proven pedigree as a frontline starter. Beyond Peralta himself, broader considerations also factored in, such as uncertainty surrounding the Brewers’ television situation and the potential shifting financial landscape of the sport after the 2026 season.

Regardless, with Peralta gone, Milwaukee frees up $8.0 million in their 2026 payroll. Other players in the deal, Tobias Myers and Brandon Sproat, are both pre-arbitration players, so their salaries cancel out, and Jett Williams is not yet on the 40-man roster, making him currently a non-factor in the payroll. That raises the question: how might the Brewers choose to allocate the money they’ve saved?

3 ways the Milwaukee Brewers can spend the money they saved by trading Freddy Peralta

1. Add a third catcher to the 40-man roster

One glaring need for the Brewers yet this offseason is the need for a third catcher beyond William Contreras and Jeferson Quero. Since Contreras can handle a lot of the load -- the 2x All-Star has played 141 games or more in each of his three seasons in Milwaukee -- if the Brewers want to give Quero consistent reps to continue his development, he may be due for an assignment to Triple-A to start the season.

With last season’s backup catcher Danny Jansen signing a two-year, $14.5 million deal with the Texas Rangers, Milwaukee will need to explore other options in free agency. In the past, the Brewers have shown a willingness to make short-term investments at the position, as evidenced by their one-year, $7.0 million deal with Gary Sánchez a few years ago. Following that model, Milwaukee could look to spend a few million dollars on a veteran such as Elias Díaz, Jonah Heim, or Sánchez, all of whom are still unsigned free agents. Additionally, the Brewers have already been linked to former Chicago Cub Reese McGuire, though he is unlikely to command a major league deal.

2. Upgrade the outfield

Although the outfield free agent group isn't that deep, targeting another player at this position could be one way the team spends money. Sal Frelick and Jackson Chourio are locks in the field, preferably in the corner spots. Therefore, finding someone to rotate in with Garrett Mitchell, Blake Perkins, and possibly even Jett Williams in center field makes sense, but only if they offer a clear upgrade over the aforementioned names, seeing as the Brewers have plenty of options who could serviceably fill the position.

Given how thin the free agent outfield market is right now, an upgrade would likely have to come via a surprising late-offseason trade that sees the Brewers part with significant prospect capital to find a player who is clearly better than their current options. It's unlikely, but Matt Arnold and the Brewers' front office have surprised us before; who's to say they won't do it again?

3. Add another pitcher

An organization can never have enough pitching, as evidenced by what the Brewers went through at the start of last season when all of Nestor Cortes, José Quintana, Brandon Woodruff, Robert Gasser, DL Hall, and Aaron Civale were down with injuries during the month of April. Therefore, despite the Brewers seemingly having a surplus of starting options at the current moment, it wouldn't necessarily be surprising to see them add another veteran arm to the mix. Someone like Quintana or perhaps trade deadline acquisition Jordan Montgomery could round out the Brewers' 2026 starting options by adding a veteran left-handed presence to the group.

It will be interesting to see if the Brewers immediately reinvest the money saved by trading Peralta. They could certainly choose to hold it for later, saving it until a clear need arises -- a strategy reflected in years of notable midseason moves, including the acquisition of Willy Adames in 2021 and the trades for Quinn Priester and Andrew Vaughn last season.