Brewers non-tender fan favorite reliever at deadline while rest of roster survives

The non-tender deadline has passed for all 30 MLB teams on Friday night and several players are hitting the free agent market across the league, including a Milwaukee Brewers fan favorite for the last few years.

The Brewers have non-tendered left handed reliever Hoby Milner, making him a free agent and spelling the end of his four year tenure in Milwaukee.

The rest of the Brewers arbitration eligible players were all tendered contracts and the Brewers agreed to avoid arbitration with catcher Eric Haase earlier in the day. Those players that were tendered contracts include William Contreras, Devin Williams, Aaron Civale, Trevor Megill, Nick Mears, and Joel Payamps.

Brewers non-tender Hoby Milner

This non-tender does not come as much of a surprise for the soon-to-be 34 year old Milner. He struggled this season to the tune of a 4.73 ERA in 64.2 IP and wasn't trusted in high leverage situations down the stretch.

Over the last two years, Milner had been a key piece in those spots as "High Leverage Hoby" and quickly became a fan favorite.

Milner also spent most of the last couple seasons as the only reliable left-handed reliever in the Brewers bullpen. They needed a lefty and Milner was the only one back there. In 2024, that changed as Jared Koenig and Bryan Hudson were added to the mix.

The Brewers are now in a much stronger position with the southpaws in the bullpen, which helped to make Milner a little more expendable as the non-tender deadline approached. Again, his downward turn in performance in 2024 also did not help his case. When Pat Murphy needs a lefty next year, he has two reliable options he can turn to with Koenig and Hudson and Milner just couldn't prove he was still reliable.

Milner also was left off the Brewers postseason roster for the Wild Card series against the Mets, a further sign that his status had fallen within the organization.

Milner ends his Brewers career with a 3.64 ERA with 220 appearances. The sidewinding lefty will now seek another bullpen opportunity elsewhere.

With this non-tender, the Brewers 40 man roster currently sits at 37.