5 Brewers Players Who Won't Be Back In 2024

The Milwaukee Brewers have played their final game of the 2023 season, getting eliminated by the Arizona Diamondbacks in the Wild Card round. It's a disappointing end to what seemed like a promising season.

The end of the season also will mean the end of certain players' tenures in a Milwaukee Brewers uniform. Some players like Brian Anderson and Julio Teheran have already seen their tenures come to an end, getting designated for assignment during the final week of the regular season, but several players on their way out the door remain on the roster.

These five Brewers players will not be back on the roster for Milwaukee in 2024.

Brewers player who won't be back next year #1: Jesse Winker

It's a miracle he was seen in a Brewers uniform after July with the performance Jesse Winker had this season. Injuries kept him off the field for the last two months, then he appeared out of nowhere on the playoff roster, going 0-for-2 in pinch hit appearances.

Winker was booed off the field after getting out both times as the fans were frustrated not only with Winker's poor performance this year, but also the fact that he somehow was on this roster and getting at-bats to begin with.

When he was on the field in the regular season, Winker hit just .199 with a .567 OPS, just one home run, and a 60 OPS+. He was 40 percent below league-average and his sole job was to hit. He was the designated hitter for the majority of his ABs

Winker had one year left before free agency and the Brewers seemed determined to keep him until then. Now he's entering free agency and there is zero chance he gets brought back.

The Brewers are likely to continue to get younger and Winker has no place on this roster next year. He was not able to hit for average, or for power, he doesn't have any speed, and is a poor defender. The Brewers would've been better off taking his $8.25MM salary for this year and lighting it on fire.

With the season Winker just had, filled with injuries and poor performance, he's probably looking at a minor league deal someplace just to try to show he can hit again. Wherever he gets that deal, it can not and will not be with Milwaukee.

Brewers player who won't be back next year #3: LHP Eric Lauer

It was a horrible, no good, very bad year for southpaw Eric Lauer. His fastball lost its 'zoom', he got hit all over the park, suffered injuries, neither he nor the Brewers knew what exactly was causing his struggles, he got taken off the field and sent to the pitching lab, struggled in Triple-A, then came up at the end of the year in a no-pressure start and struggled yet again to finish the year on a low note.

Lauer was earning a $5.075MM salary in 2023 and is eligible for arbitration one final time this offseason, but it's difficult to see the Brewers tendering him a contract. The maximum pay cut a player can take in arbitration is 20%, and that may not be enough for the Brewers to want to bring him back. Someone else may take a chance on Lauer, but it's likely the last we've seen of him in a Brewers uniform.

Lauer had a 6.56 ERA this year and the rotation clearly no longer had a spot for him. Even with all the early season injuries, Lauer was removed from the rotation because of poor performance, that was until he got injured himself. He's out of minor league options and the non-tender for Lauer feels like the most obvious move the Brewers will make this offseason.

Players who were up in the big leagues all season get non-tendered all the time. For Lauer to have spent the majority of the year in the minors and even when he was healthy and they needed a start, the Brewers didn't call him up, it's a clear sign that the Brewers aren't likely to keep him, especially at his salary. Lauer practically said as much after his final start, he believes he's made his last start in Milwaukee and if that's what he's feeling, he's probably right.

Brewers player who won't be back next year #4: 1B Carlos Santana

Carlos Santana was a nice veteran addition at the Trade Deadline. He performed about as expected, hitting .249/.314/.459 with the Crew, slugging 11 homers with a 109 OPS+. He improved the Crew's first base production and brought solid defense.

At the same time, Santana is still nearing the end of his career. He's going to turn 38 years old early next season and is a free agent this winter. There's still some juice in the bat but the Brewers aren't going to be the team that brings Santana back to have as their everyday first base option next year.

At this point, Santana will find a team that's not likely to contend that needs someone to fill out the lineup card that they can then flip at the Trade Deadline to a contender. That's what the Pirates did with him this year, flipping him to Milwaukee as a rental bat. He's in line for a similar situation this offseason and the Brewers are going to let him walk.

Santana hit a couple of big career milestones with Milwaukee, reaching 1,000 career RBIs and 300 career home runs in a Brewers uniform.

He did a great job, but Santana's status in Milwaukee was always temporary. The Brewers are going to look elsewhere for their starting first baseman in 2024.

Brewers player who won't be back in 2024 #5: 1B Rowdy Tellez

This may be the biggest "surprise" on this list, but it's difficult to see Rowdy Tellez returning to this roster next season for a couple of reasons.

First, Tellez has a rising salary in arbitration. He earned $4.95MM this season and will be due at least a slight raise for next season. Second, Tellez had a down year in 2023, forcing the Brewers to acquire Carlos Santana at the Trade Deadline. Down the stretch, even once he was healthy, Tellez was in a bench role and didn't make the postseason roster.

Tellez suffered from a power outage since mid-May. He was playing well through the first month and a half of the season, but fell off a cliff after that. He hit just one home run after mid-May. A forearm issue and then a hand injury kept him off the field for a bit.

The Brewers could pick up Mark Canha's option after Canha had an excellent run in Milwaukee and install Canha at first base for 2024.

Tellez was passed over as a the left handed power bat off the bench on the postseason roster in favor of Jesse Winker, who had the worst OPS on the team all year, just one home run, and hadn't played in the big leagues in two months. The Brewers still felt Winker was a better option than Tellez. That speaks to their state of mind on Tellez's bat and that would indicate a non-tender is likely coming this offseason.

Losing Tellez this winter would be a bigger loss in the clubhouse than it probably will be on the field. Tellez's presence, cracking jokes, and keeping the clubhouse light and loose was important during the regular season, leading to the division title.

The Brewers are likely to see some more roster turnover this season and some players may seem likely to move on but there's a decent chance they stay. For these five players, it's all but a sure thing they won't return to the Brewers roster in 2024.