Brewers just made savvy move to drive Devin Williams' trade value even higher

It's already a well known fact that the Milwaukee Brewers are one of the MLB teams that operates under a tight budget. The early days of the 2024-25 offseason have been proving that seemingly on a daily basis.

Having to deal with Rhys Hoskins picking up his $18M contract option and William Contreras' huge upcoming raise in arbitration makes a tight payroll even tighter, sure. However, Milwaukee's recent placement of Colin Rea on waivers suggests that they're concerned about the measly $5.5M club option for next season, which is more than a little bit concerning.

On Sunday, the Brewers declined Devin Williams' $10.5M club option, as first reported by ESPN's Jeff Passan. Since the right-hander has one year left of arbitration, he's not going to hit free agency just yet. Instead, he'll be awarded a $250K buyout and then will have his next salary be up to arbitration.

Brewers use big-brain thinking when it comes to Devin Williams' trade value

For what it's worth, MLBTR's Matt Swartz predicts Williams will earn $7.7M in arbitration this year. So, the Brewers are effectively bypassing a $10.5M contract in favor of right around an $8M instead. For a penny-pinching team like Milwaukee, this move makes a ton of sense, but it brings us back to the whole "this is concerning" thing.

Keeping Williams around is obviously a great thing, as he's one of the game's best closers when he's on his A-game. His career ERA currently sits at 1.83 through 241 outings while striking out over 14 batters per nine innings in his six years in the big leagues. These numbers are borderline videogame-like, so his presence in the back end of the bullpen will be important for a Brewers team looking to capitalize on their current contention window.

As is always the case with a club that is tight on money, the Brewers may very well have just lowered Williams' 2025 salary so they can trade him at the deadline.

Now that Williams will be making less money next year, there are going to be many more teams that will be interested in ponying up to trade for him. The Brewers may not feel that they have a legit shot at re-signing him once he hits the open market, so flipping him before he earns a ton of money is probably the way they'll go (see: Corbin Burnes, Josh Hader).

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