Brewers: 5 Things Still Left On Matt Arnold's To-Do List This Offseason

It's been a solid offseason thus far for the Milwaukee Brewers. They've made a bunch of moves, highlighted by the three-team blockbuster that saw All-Star William Contreras become a Brewer.

Veterans such as Hunter Renfroe and Kolten Wong are out, clearing the way for young prospects such as Brice Turang, Sal Frelick, and Joey Wiemer.

The Brewers have brought in Jesse Winker at DH, William Contreras at catcher, as well as Abraham Toro and Owen Miller at the utility infield spot. Also in the fold are several new pitchers to replenish the big league pitching depth, including Javy Guerra, Janson Junk, Elvis Peguero, Joel Payamps, and Gus Varland among others.

GM Matt Arnold in his first season in control has been checking things off his lengthy to-do list this offseason. Catcher upgrade? Check. DH upgrade? Check. Improve the middle of the order? Check.

But that's not everything. There's still more on Matt Arnold's to-do list this offseason. Here are the five things that still remain on the Brewers offseason to-do list.

Brewers remaining to-do list item #1: Meaningfully upgrade third base

The Brewers have added a couple of players who can play third base. Abraham Toro is a third baseman and was acquired in the Kolten Wong trade. Owen Miller was recently acquired and also could play third base. However, neither player figures to be an improvement over Luis Urias.

After a promising 2021 campaign, Urias' offensive output took a step back in 2022 and while he's still young, the Brewers should look for a legitimate upgrade at the third base position and push Urias into a super-utility role.

Milwaukee looks to have answers at just about every position outside of third base. Catcher and DH just got their answers with recent moves, Rowdy Tellez hit 35 homers at first base, Turang will likely take over at second base, and Willy Adames is at short. In the outfield there's Yelich and Tyrone Taylor will serve as a stopgap until the prospects take over. Garrett Mitchell and Sal Frelick are likely to see big league time early and there's a good chance both will make the club out of spring training. Joey Wiemer isn't far behind and is likely the future in right field.

Third base could stand to upgrade the most out of all the positions. There's not a lot of options out on the market, however. Brandon Drury and Justin Turner are the two top players on the free agent market. The trade market is always full of surprises and could have some interesting players available.

Because there aren't many great options on the market, Matt Arnold should look to move swiftly to get the guy he wants to upgrade the position.

Brewers remaining to-do list item #3: Add another left-handed option for the bullpen

After the departures of Josh Hader and Brent Suter, the Brewers bullpen finds itself quite thin in the left-handed pitching department. Currently, Hoby Milner is the only lefty reliever on the 40 man roster.

While the Brewers have been addressing the bullpen this offseason with a number of new players being brought in, all of them have been right-handed throwers, which still leaves a need from the left side.

Recently, the Brewers signed lefty Thomas Pannone to a minor league deal with an invite to spring training, but that's been it. He could compete for a bullpen spot but is on the outside looking in an his lack of a 40 man roster spot means he'll have an uphill climb to claim one in the Brewers bullpen.

On the free agent market, there aren't a ton of options for southpaws. There's always the possibility of bringing back Taylor Rogers, but he's likely to be out of Milwaukee's comfort zone when it comes to his salary. Andrew Chafin is another free agent option that will be somewhat pricey for a reliever for Milwaukee.

There's of course always the trade market if the Brewers see someone they really like but with how volatile the reliever position is year-to-year, Milwaukee might be more comfortable taking some low risk fliers on guys like Pannone and sign them to low-money one year deals or minors deals with camp invites. After all, Hoby Milner started on a minor league deal and has worked his way into being a valuable piece.

The Brewers focus has continually been on having quality depth at every position and their left-handed relief depth is pretty shallow. They'll need to add to it before the offseason is over.

Brewers remaining to-do list item #4: More starting pitching depth

Last season, the Brewers starting rotation was ravaged by injuries. Combined with the regression of Ethan Small that made him practically unusable at the big league level, this was a recipe for disaster in that group. There's a chance Small has to make a permanent move to the bullpen which makes a more permanent dent in the Crew's starting pitching depth.

So far this offseason, the Brewers acquired Janson Junk from the Angels in the Hunter Renfroe trade and expect him to compete for a rotation spot. He's a solid depth addition to that group but they need at least one more. It's not clear if they are looking to prospects like Adam Seminaris, who was also acquired in the Renfroe deal, and Robert Gasser, who was acquired in the Josh Hader trade, as viable rotation options for 2023. Both reached Triple-A by the end of last season, but at least early in 2023 they aren't going to be viable big league options.

The top six in the Brewers rotation depth chart right now are: Corbin Burnes, Brandon Woodruff, Freddy Peralta, Eric Lauer, Aaron Ashby, and Adrian Houser. They're returning the same group in that top six, Junk has been added but then they're right back to Jason Alexander and possibly Ethan Small on the depth chart.

They could use another starting option no matter what, but if Ethan Small ends up being moved to the bullpen again in 2023, they certainly need another pitcher who can start.

While the top six in the Brewers rotation depth chart is as strong as any team's in the league, the depth behind them leaves a bit to be desired. You can never have enough starting pitching. If you ever think you have enough, best to go and get one more.

Brewers remaining to-do list item #5: Complete one or more contract extensions

The Brewers have been dropping payroll this offseason, currently sitting at $20+MM below where the payroll was in 2022. There's certainly no good reason for that when the team says they're looking to compete and get back in the postseason and win a World Series in 2023. They don't seem to be playing in the top of the free agent market to spend that payroll savings.

So what are they dropping payroll from the rest of the team for? The most logical answer is for contract extensions for current players. The big three extension candidates are Corbin Burnes, Brandon Woodruff, and Willy Adames. All three have two years left until free agency.

Losing any of these three players would be a massive blow to the team's hopes of winning a World Series. Losing all three would be catastrophic.

The best way to avoid that is to negotiate contract extensions, and get at least one of them signed. Whether it's Burnes or Adames or Woodruff, they need to keep at least one. Keeping two would be fantastic. Extending all three is probably a pipe dream.

The Brewers do have money to spend. They don't seem to be wanting to spend it on free agents, and that's okay as long as they're willing to spend it on their current players and give them extensions.

This is the final thing but also a huge thing on Matt Arnold's to-do list. He has to get at least one of these guys signed to a long-term deal before Opening Day. If he doesn't questions will only persist into the season and into next offseason about them as trade candidates and teams will only continue to call. If you get down to just one season of control left, the team loses more and more leverage not only in extension negotiations, but in trade talks if they decide to go that route.

Save yourself the headache, Matt Arnold, get an extension done with as many of the three as you can.