Latest expert predictions have Brandon Woodruff landing with NL contender

Brandon Woodruff has been a Wisconsin institution since making his MLB debut in 2017, but that could change this offseason.

The Milwaukee Brewers did opt to give him the qualifying offer, which is worth a shade over $22 million this year. After declining his end of a $20 million mutual option (and receiving a $10 million buyout), Woodruff must now make the choice of whether to stick around with the Crew on the ostensible one-year deal, or test the free-agent market after a brief, but highly successful 2025 season.

When healthy, "Woody" was his usual excellent self on the mound, pitching to a 3.20 ERA and 3.17 FIP in 64 2/3 innings this season. However, he's made all of 23 starts since the beginning of the 2023 season, and he missed the Brewers' postseason run this year with a lat strain.

With the qualifying offer bogging his value down, there's a chance Woodruff could again opt to stay with the Brewers while trying to rebuild his value.

However, the experts at MLB Trade Rumors project him to earn a three-year, $66 million contract if he does choose free agency, with a few fellow National League contenders serving as his most likely landing spots.

Brewers could lose Brandon Woodruff to chief NL rivals this offseason

Three of MLBTR's four experts send Woodruff to the New York Mets, which makes sense on paper. Their collapse down the stretch in 2025 was directly tied to the waning health and production of their rotation, and Mets' president of baseball operations, David Stearns, oversaw Woodruff's development and emergence while with the Brewers.

One expert (Steve Adams) projects Woodruff to land with the Chicago Cubs, but that doesn't appear all too likely. The second-place finishers in the NL Central have been on a payroll-cleansing spree already this offseason, and they aren't likely to want to give draft pick compensation to the Brewers while assuming the risks associated with Woodruff's health.

About a dozen or so other teams get mentioned by name in Woodruff's section of the MLBTR predictions, but the point stands that if the right-hander rejects his qualifying offer from the Brewers, he's almost certain to leave in free agency. That would put additional pressure on the front office to figure out the plan with Freddy Peralta, as replacing both rotation stalwarts in a single offseason could prove nearly impossible, even for Milwaukee's braintrust.

Ultimately, the Brewers find themselves in some uncomfortable territory. No player in franchise history has ever accepted the qualifying offer, and the $22.025 million salary attached to it would be the largest single-season payout for a pitcher Milwaukee has ever had. It's something of a Catch-22, as the Brewers need Woodruff's stability and talent but may be better off reinvesting the money they just offered to him elsewhere.

All eyes are on the longtime Crew pitcher, as his decision will have massive ripple effects on the team's entire offseason strategy.