6 Brewers players who won't be back for the 2025 season

The Milwaukee Brewers' 2024 season was cut short in the most brutal of fashions on Thursday when they lost a heartbreaking series finale to the Mets. It is easy to dwell on those sorts of losses to the end of time, but the reality is that the Brewers' offseason has officially arrived and with that comes with lots of 2025 roster speculation.

We have already seen the offseason rumor mill beginning to churn even before the Brewers' early exit with the word that Milwaukee is interested in pending free agent Paul Goldschmidt. Even more speculation about the Brewers' plans is on the way after that which means we need to figure what holes the team will need to fill this offseason.

Here are the Brewers players that are very likely to not be back in 2025

This isn't supposed to be an exhaustive list of the players that COULD be moving on this offseason. There is always a chance that the Brewers make a trade or trades that take existing rostered players and package them for upgrades and predicting nontender decisions can often be a bit of a crapshoot especially if Milwaukee has specific plans plans for their 40-man roster and the Rule 5 Draft.

However, we can make some educated guesses as to a number of players that are likely to be elsewhere before the start of the 2025 season. Some of them have been widely reported or at least speculated while others are good ol' fashioned common sense. Not all of these players are 100% to not return to the Brewers, but the odds are pretty good.

With that out of the way, here are the Brewers that are very likely to not be back for the 2025 season.

Joe Ross

We'll start with an easy one. The 31 year-old reliever had not made a big league appearance since 2021 and in 25 appearances this season, he posted a perfectly reasonable 3.77 ERA. Those 2024 numbers certainly don't disqualify him as a big leaguer, but he is about to hit the open market where pitching commands a premium and his walk numbers and lack of swing and miss stuff suggest that he might end up getting paid more than he is likely to actually be worth.

Wade Miley

The Brewers brought Miley back after a lengthy stretch where he was one of the more under appreciated pitchers in baseball. From 2018-2023, he put up a more than respectable 3.43 ERA across 582.2 innings. Unfortunately, injury issues have plagued him along the way and he ended up needing Tommy John surgery in late April 2024. Miley has a $12 million mutual option for 2025 in his contract and with his health and availability uncertain, Milwaukee shouldn't exercise their half of it.

Jake Bauers

This one is trying to read the tea leaves a bit. Not only has Bauers been actively bad for most of 2024 with a .199/.301/.361 slash line this season, he possesses no defensive value whatsoever. With the Brewers already looking at Goldschmidt as a 1B/DH option, Bauers is the obvious choice to get shuffled off the roster. It also may be the end of the line for Bauers in MLB altogether as he has bounced around the league since 2018 with little to show for it.

Frankie Montas

Milwaukee traded away real assets when they went out and got Frankie Montas from the Reds at the trade deadline. This was despite the fact that Montas had only put up a 5.01 ERA in 19 starts with Cincinnati in 2024 which probably should have been a red flag from the start. Montas was marginally better than that in Milwaukee, but he definitely hasn't been worth the $20 million option it would take to keep him for next year. Expect the Brewers on pass on that financial burden.

Hoby Milner

This one is a little speculative as Milner is still arbitration-eligible, so this is predicting a nontender. However, Milner is entering his last, and most expensive, arbitration year and he just posted a 4.73 ERA in 61 appearances for the Brewers. Milner's lack of velocity and swing and miss stuff means he has basically no margin for error in the big leagues. The smart move is to let him try to catch on with another team instead of the Brewers' assume the risk in keeping him themselves.

Willy Adames

Sadly, most of the signs thus far have pointed to Adames leaving in free agency this offseason. By all accounts, he is set to get a significant payday once he hits the open market and there has been next to no indication that the Brewers have any intention of tying up that much money to keep him. Never say never especially since Adames has expressed a willingness to stay in Milwaukee, but the odds are slim to none here.

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