Every Brewers player who is out of minor league options ahead the 2025 season

The Milwaukee Brewers are an exciting team that is firmly in the middle of their latest contention window. As the 2024-25 MLB offseason has marched on, the club has already been actively shifting pieces around. Multiple options were declined, a few pitchers were lost on waivers, and a few regular contributors from the 2024 squad were sent off the 40-man roster.

There's obviously much more work to do, but we'll save that discussion for another time. Ahead of the 2025 campaign, there are a handful of players on the Brewers' 40-man roster that will need to either make the club out of spring training next year or risk being exposed to waivers, where they could be claimed off waivers by other clubs and removed from the Brewers organization.

Which Brewers are out of options heading into 2025?

This is always risky business for the club that currently employs said player(s). There are plenty of times where option-less players are locked in to roster spots, but the Brewers have a few of them that have futures that are far less certain.

Let's take a look around the 40-man and identify which players have less flexibility than others heading into next season.

Vinny Capra

You're forgiven if you don't remember Capra's three-game stint on the Brewers this past season. The journeyman went 1-for-9 with a double and three strikeouts across this stint, making a pair of starts at third base and another five-inning appearance at shortstop.

Capra, 28, is a light-hitting utilityman who can bounce around all over the infield and the outfield corners. He doesn't offer much with the bat outside of a strong sense of patience at the plate, but he still manages to find jobs on a yearly basis. He's the ideal "AAAA" player in that he's solid in the minor leagues but not quite good enough for a consistent role at the game's highest level.

If Capra makes the 2025 Opening Day roster, it'd be a sign of the Brewers throwing in the towel before the year even began. Fortunately for followers of the Brewers, neither of these things will happen. He's minor-league filler and isn't even a lock to be claimed on waivers if he was exposed to them.

Eric Haase

Haase, 31, could conceivably be the Brewers' backup catcher in 2025 until Jeferson Quero is ready to rock and roll. Quero spent the entirety of the 2024 season on the shelf, so he'll need some time to get back up to speed. The Brewers could do much worse than to run with Haase as their backup to start things off.

Haase, a seven-year veteran, made it into 30 contests for the Crew this past season, hitting five home runs while driving in 14. His .273/.304/.515 line may not be maintainable across a larger sample size, but having him come back and back up William Contreras could be a solid option, especially with the serious lack of quality catching on the free-agent market.

As of right now, it feels like the Brewers could either sign free agent to back Contreras up, or just roll with Haase and either keep him as a third catcher/DH or make an attempt to pass him through waivers once Quero time rolls around.

Nick Mears

Mears is a non-tender candidate, but it wouldn't be a shock to see the Brewers bring him back for another go-round. The right-hander flashed serious potential as a member of the Rockies, to the point where the Brewers made a move to trade for him at the 2024 deadline.

In Milwaukee, the right-hander surrendered 10 runs on 14 hits (7.30 ERA) across 13 appearances, which doesn't exactly instill a whole lot of confidence, but he remained a high-strikeout pitcher who flashed enough promise that he may have earned his way onto the 2025 roster. It wouldn't be fair for the Brewers to trade for him at the deadline and determine they've seen enough after just a handful of second-half outings. He'll be back.

Joel Payamps

One of the most recent memories Brewers fans will have of Payamps is his blow-up outing against the Mets in the Wild Card Series. It's so simple to roll with recency bias and remember that ugly showing, but it's also important to remember how reliable Payamps' been over the past few seasons.

Payamps, 30, is the definition of a journeyman but seems to have found his footing and long-term home in Milwaukee. The right-hander following up a 69-game showing in 2023 with another 68-game one in 2024. He didn't post an ERA above 3.05 in either season while his FIP didn't dip below 3.73.

The Brewers are going to need Payamps in next year's bullpen, so he's in practically no danger of losing his hold on a roster spot. He allowed less than six hits per nine innings this season while sporting walk and strikeout rates that were close to the ones he had in 2023. He may be out of options, but that isn't going to change much about his status on next year's roster.

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