Brewers make anticipated contract options decisions as 2025-26 offseason gets underway

While the MLB offseason officially began on Sunday morning, most teams and players waited until Monday to make their first moves. The first step of any MLB offseason is deciding on options included in players' contracts.

As a brief reminder, players can have either a player, mutual, or club option tacked onto their contract, which gives one of the parties involved flexibility when it comes to deciding upon that player’s future with the organization. Player options are picked up by, unsurprisingly, the player when they believe that their value on the free agent market is less than the value of the option. Club options are picked up by teams when they believe a player's market value exceeds the value of the option. And mutual options are hardly ever picked up because they involve both parties agreeing that the value of a given player is exactly what the mutual option states it is.

On Monday afternoon, Brewers insider Adam McCalvy of MLB.com announced that three decisions have been reached in regard to contract options. According to McCalvy, the Brewers have exercised Freddy Peralta's $8 million club option, declined Danny Jansen's $12 million mutual option, and Brandon Woodruff has declined his side of a $20 million mutual option.

Brewers pick up Freddy Peralta's club option, decline Danny Jansen's mutual option, and Brandon Woodruff declines his side of mutual option

None of these moves should come as a surprise to Brewers fans. Peralta's value as the team's ace far exceeds the $8 million salary that he will make in 2026. Whether or not the team chooses to trade him before next season remains to be seen, but having an $8 million salary attached to him makes the 2x All-Star a trade candidate for all teams, not just the big-market spenders.

Jansen is a solid catcher and could easily earn a salary that exceeds the $12 million mutual option that the Brewers declined this afternoon, but it's likely that said deal is spread across multiple seasons. Additionally, with William Contreras and top prospect Jeferson Quero both expected to be a part of the Brewers’ catching plans in 2026, there was no need to retain Jansen at such a high salary.

Then there's Woodruff, who actually might be worth exactly the $20 million mutual option that he turned down this afternoon. However, there's more to consider for Woody than just one season's salary. The longest-tenured Brewer prior to becoming a free agent this afternoon holds a $10 million buyout in the mutual option, meaning Woodruff will earn $10 million from the Brewers to become a free agent this offseason. He also knows that the Brewers could extend him a $22.05 million qualifying offer if they want to retain him for just one more season, making it an easy decision for him to decline the extra $10 million he would get from picking up the mutual option.

The Brewers still have to reach contract option decisions with José Quintana, William Contreras, and Rhys Hoskins by Thursday. It's highly likely they turn down all three options, which would make Quintana and Hoskins free agents and force Contreras back into the arbitration process. It's expected that Contreras' salary in arbitration will be less than his $12 million club option, meaning the club could save money by turning down their All-Star catcher's club option, but it doesn't mean he won't be a part of the team in 2026.