Brewers thankfully avoiding contract mistake with veteran pitcher

Brandon Woodruff is something of a legend around these parts, which is why most fans were ecstatic when he accepted his qualifying offer from the Milwaukee Brewers a few weeks ago. However, fans are also aware of Milwaukee's typically shallow pockets, and as a result, the return of Woody has led to some concern over the state of the Brewers’ payroll, adding a hint of bitterness to an otherwise sweet situation. It's certainly nothing compared to the Chicago Cubs reluctantly giving Shota Imanaga a qualifying offer and being shocked when he took it, but Woodruff's choice has put the small-market Brewers in a difficult predicament.

At $22.025 million, Woodruff is now the second-highest-paid player on the roster (behind Christian Yelich) and is the owner of the highest single-season pitcher salary in Brewers history. Sad though that fact may be, it's a testament to the team's recent run of dominance that they've been able to churn out elite pitchers without paying top dollar for them.

Woodruff is certainly one of those elite pitchers, pitching to a 2.98 ERA over 637 1/3 innings between 2018-23. Unfortunately, injuries have sapped his availability in recent years, and it's unclear what the 32-year-old still now has in the tank, but his effectiveness when he did pitch in 2025 still mirrored the success that he had pre-shoulder surgery.

Even still, paying an aging starter with a recent history of injuries more than $20 million in a single season is a risk, one that might come with a high reward, but still a risk nonetheless. Extending that risk to include more years of guaranteed money, regardless of how it affects the players' average annual salary, is not necessarily a move the small-market, sustained-success-minded Brewers would make. Thus, it's a bit of a relief to hear that the front office hasn't engaged in any long-term extension talks with Woody.

Brewers reportedly not engaging Brandon Woodruff in extension talks

The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal revealed a disturbing Freddy Peralta update in his latest pre-Winter Meetings piece, suggesting the Brewers are ready to seriously negotiate trades for their incumbent ace.

Rosenthal cited Woodruff's veteran presence (and salary) as reasons for the Crew's willingness to part with their best pitcher, though he ended his section on Milwaukee with a return to one of his previous revelations:

"Another option for the Brewers, as written previously, is to create payroll flexibility by signing Woodruff to a multi-year extension at a lower average annual value, or negotiating a new one-year deal for him that includes deferred money," Rosenthal wrote. "There have been no substantive discussions on either possibility, a league source said."

While the prospect of deferring money is an interesting one, and certainly a strategy to create more payroll flexibility this offseason, it's not one the Brewers typically take, currently only paying a total of $2.8 million annually in deferred money to Ryan Braun and Lorenzo Cain. Deferring even $5 million of Woodruff's 2026 salary to a later date could be the difference between the Brewers adding a key role player or not this offseason (José Quintana's salary was less than $5 million in 2025).

However, in regard to a long-term contract, it's slightly reassuring to hear that Milwaukee is not currently electing to go down that path with Woodruff. The sense of relief has nothing to do with Woodruff's performance on the mound or what he might bring to the table over the next few years. Rather, it's the worry that Woodruff would re-injure his shoulder or sustain a different impactful injury that would keep him off the mound during a year where the Brewers have committed considerable money to him; Milwaukee can ill-afford to pay sizable contracts to players not on the field.

Having pitched less than 135 frames since the start of the 2023 season, Woodruff should be treated as a luxury, not a key part of the rotation moving forward. It will be amazing to have him back for another postseason push in 2026, but there's a reason the team hasn't discussed an extension with its longest-tenured player.