NL Central rumors: 3 Brewers rivals reportedly interested in free agent lefty masher

It's been a quiet offseason for the Milwaukee Brewers when it comes to additions to their position player group. The Brewers did sign outfielder Akil Baddoo to a split contract, meaning he will make a certain salary when he's a part of the major league roster and a different one when he's playing in the minor leagues. However, Milwaukee also parted ways with outfielder Isaac Collins in a trade to acquire Ángel Zerpa from the Kansas City Royals, meaning the signing of Baddoo was more of a replacement than an addition. Paired with the presumed departure of Rhys Hoskins, who may or may not be heading to the Washington Nationals after an unconfirmed report claimed he was, and the Brewers are left banking on improvements from their current batch of position players at this point in the offseason.

An addition to the offense could certainly come in a hypothetical Freddy Peralta trade which appears to have gained momentum over the last week, or by way of Matt Arnold and company swinging a surprise deal by using some of the organization's other trade assets. However, given the current state of the Milwaukee's payroll, it feels highly unlikely that the cash-strapped Brewers will make a significant addition to their position player group via free agency. It's not entirely out of the question; the longer players go without signing deals, the more likely it becomes that they agree to a short-term contract -- the Brewers' bread and butter. But it's more likely that any additions to the offense at this point in the winter will be marginal.

Meanwhile, several of the Brewers' division rivals remain active on the free agent market. The Chicago Cubs are in need of some reinforcements to their outfield group after sending away top prospect Owen Caissie to acquire Edward Cabrera from the Miami Marlins. The Cincinnati Reds will need a boost to their offense if they want to make some serious noise in the National League. And the rebuilding St. Louis Cardinals simply need players, whom they may or may not end up trading at the deadline to acquire more prospect capital.

According to a recent report from MLB insider Jon Heyman, the Cubs, Reds, and Cardinals are among the teams interested in one of the top free agent bats remaining. Along with many other interested teams, the Brewers' division rivals have interest in lefty masher Miguel Andujar.

According to Heyman, the Cubs, Reds, and Cardinals are all interested in free agent Miguel Andujar

Brewers fans were interested in Andujar themselves, but the apparent bidding war that is occurring seemingly eliminates Milwaukee from the running. At this point, there's a decent chance Andujar, who is entering his age-31 season, secures a multi-year deal this offseason, which likely isn't something the Brewers are interested in.

Though there has been plenty of inconsistency in Andujar's past and injuries have prevented him from logging a full season in either of the last two campaigns, it's not difficult to see his value: he crushes left-handed pitching. Throughout his career, Andujar holds an impressive slash line of .297/.332/.475 -- good for a 121 wRC+ -- against left-handed pitchers compared to a 101 wRC+ against righties, which is certainly nothing to complain about. The splits have become even more severe in recent history in large part due to Andujar's excellent 2025 season. In 94 games split between the Athletics and Reds last year, Andujar was a 171 wRC+ hitter against southpaws, while posting a 108 wRC+ against right-handers.

Though he has the ability to play both third base and outfield, Andujar is not a strong defender and offers very little value on the basepaths. Any team that signs him is essentially signing him to be a corner outfielder who makes starts against left-handers and occasionally against righties. That fits the mold of what the Cubs, Cardinals, and Reds need this offseason.

Luckily, the Brewers are currently projected to have exactly zero southpaws in their Opening Day rotation. Robert Gasser will almost certainly impact the rotation at some point, but until then, even if Andujar does land with an NL Central rival, his value against the Brewers will be nerfed by the fact that Milwaukee appears unlikely to have a strong left-handed presence in their starting staff.

Yes, the Brewers could use another outfielder in the mix, and a right-handed one at that, but given how much Milwaukee values defense and baserunning, Andujar isn't the perfect fit that would make the organization go to Opening Day payroll heights they've never been to before. There are plenty of flaws in his underlying metrics that are likely to keep the Brewers uninterested in the contract he ends up signing, which, after his strong 2025 campaign, is likely to be an overpay.