ESPN insider floats former Cy Young winner as intriguing Brewers free agent target

So much of this offseason thus far has been about who the Milwaukee Brewers are likely to lose which, to be honest, is completely fair. Right now, most agree that Willy Adames is likely to move on despite his willingness to take a bit of a discount to stay and closer Devin Williams' future looks murky at best at the moment. Unfortunately, this sort of offseason outlook is not unfamiliar to Brewers fans.

The fact remains, though, that Milwaukee is going to make some additions this offseason either in free agency or trade as they still need to replace the guys that got purged from their roster already as well as plan for the expected departures of Adames and Williams. There will certainly be some internal options used for part of that, but 2025 is absolutely going to see some new faces from outside the organization.

One of ESPN's MLB insiders, Kiley McDaniel, just floated one particularly interesting option for Milwaukee on the starting pitching side as he thinks Shane Bieber could be a fit for the Brewers.

Shane Bieber could be a high upside target for the Brewers, but caution is needed

It wasn't that long ago that Bieber was one of the best pitchers in baseball. From 2018-2023, Bieber posted a 3.27 ERA with 938 strikeouts in 831 innings of work including winning the AL Cy Young in 2020. However, he showed some signs of regression in 2023 and ended up needing Tommy John surgery this past April.

Coming off his injury, Bieber is going to have to prove that he is healthy before any sane team will sign him to a long-term deal which could present a real opportunity for Milwaukee. If Bieber is willing to take a smaller guarantee for 2025 and then a contract structure that gave Brewers control for 2026 and then maybe some sort of option for 2027, such a deal could make sense for both sides. With the Brewers already losing Frankie Montas and Wade Miley, they need another starter and they definitely could do a lot worse than a former Cy Young winner to cover some innings.

There are some problems with this plan. One, McDaniel is projecting Bieber to get $10 million for 2025 and then something in the realm of $22-25 million for the next two years. The 2025 number feels right for a guy like Bieber coming off injury, but it is kind of hard to imagine Milwaukee giving him over $20 million a year after that given their payroll situation and the uncertainty surrounding his health.

Another potential problem here is that there are going to be a number of teams interested in Bieber on those kinds of terms. The prices for quality starting pitching have never been higher and the idea of getting a talent like Bieber on a reasonable deal is going to appeal to any number of contenders. McDaniel mentioned the Rays as a strong possibility here, but the list of aggressive suitors for Bieber is going to be considerably longer than that.

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