Nationals snag left-handed starting pitcher who was squarely in Brewers' price range

It's no secret that the Milwaukee Brewers don't have the money left in their payroll to sign a big-name free agent this winter. That reality was highly unlikely even before Brandon Woodruff accepted the team's qualifying offer, which gives him the highest single-season salary of any pitcher in franchise history. However, now that the Brewers have $22.025 million committed to Woody, a contract that looks increasingly better with each new free agent starting pitcher contract, they have very little room in their payroll to improve the margins of their roster before the 2026 season arrives.

Thankfully, the Brewers don't have many areas of need this offseason, with most of their record-breaking 2025 squad returning for the 2026 season. That said, there are still a few areas where the Brewers could either stand to upgrade or at least create competition for their incumbents. As their roster currently stands, the Brewers still need a third catcher on their 40-man roster, they could use a left-hander in their starting rotation, a role that could be filled by converting Aaron Ashby back into a starter, and, while the team appears committed to Joey Ortiz, creating competition at the shortstop position would be a wise move from Milwaukee's front office.

Likely the most expensive of those three positional needs is finding an experienced, left-handed starter who gives the Brewers valuable depth, as was often needed a season ago. Last offseason, such a player was signed very late in the winter, when Milwaukee agreed to a one-year contract with José Quintana worth $4.25 million. This year, while Quintana absolutely remains a viable option, the Brewers are likely to get creative if they want to add veteran depth to their starting rotation. Taking on a previously injured player like Jordan Montgomery, who's seeking a short-term inexpensive "prove-it" deal is one avenue the Brewers could explore.

Another option would be to search for players who are hoping to return to MLB after spending time overseas, pitching in one of the Asian leagues. Milwaukee has utilized this strategy in the past, signing Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) MVP Josh Lindblom, who had previously pitched in MLB, to a three-year, $9.125 million deal back in 2019. While that deal didn't work out as Milwaukee hoped, with Lindblom being designated for assignment before the end of his second year in a Brewers uniform, it's possible that Matt Arnold and company have their eye on the KBO or Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) in Japan, hoping they can add a talented starting pitcher on a reasonable salary this winter.

Unfortunately, their best opportunity to do so might have just been ruined after the Washington Nationals announced their latest signing.

Nationals sign Foster Griffin to one-year, $5.5 million deal, taking a reasonably priced starting pitcher off the board

Foster Griffin was by no means a perfect fit for the Brewers' starting staff. Concerns exist over how his "kitchen-sink" arsenal of pitches, which includes a fastball that sits in the low 90s, will translate back to MLB. Griffin was excellent in NPB over the last three seasons, pitching to a 2.57 ERA in more than 300 innings, but there's no guarantee he will have the same success after returning to an MLB mound for the first time since 2022.

That said, there aren't many starting pitchers who have dominated professional baseball players in the way Griffin did in Japan, available for $5.5 million. It's the type of low-risk, high-reward move that would have made a lot of sense for the cash-strapped Brewers. Add to that the fact that Griffin is a lefty, and Milwaukee currently has zero southpaws in their projected 2026 Opening Day starting rotation, and the partnership would have made even more sense.

Unfortunately, the Nationals and their new President of Baseball Operations, Paul Toboni, snagged Griffin before the Brewers could. The natural reaction from the rest of the baseball world will now be "when are the Nationals going to trade MacKenzie Gore?" Adding a starting pitcher, and a left-handed one at that, should give the Nationals even more justification for trading their talented southpaw, Gore, who is likely to fetch a significant return from the acquiring club. Of note is the fact that the Brewers' arch-rivals, the Chicago Cubs, have had their eyes on Gore dating back to last year's trade deadline, meaning today's signing not only took a reasonably priced pitcher off the market, but it also might have laid the foundation for a blockbuster trade on the North Side of Chicago.