Matt Arnold wins 2nd straight Executive of the Year Award

LAS VEGAS — When Matt Arnold accepted his Executive of the Year Award presented by Sage last year, he took the opportunity to thank many of the people who helped him throughout his career.

Apparently, his current colleagues took exception with Arnold’s recognition — or lack thereof — for Milwaukee’s front office.

So when Arnold became the first two-time Executive of the Year winner on Thursday night, he made sure to correct whatever oversight may or may not have occurred a year ago.

“Last year, I closed my speech with a heartfelt thank you to all my Brewers teammates,” Arnold said at Thursday night’s MLB Awards presented by MGM Rewards. “However, after the ceremony, these guys were a little sensitive that they didn't get enough love in my speech. A little confused, I went back and checked my notes. On the note pad, in my chicken scratch, it said, ‘There is no chance I'm here without you guys’ and I had ‘no chance’ underlined as a point of emphasis. This was the only point I underlined on the entire page. But, it wasn't enough.

“So if the Brewers guys can please stand up … if you would, please give my Brewers teammates a warm round of applause. They need it.”

Brewers assistant GMs Matt Kleine, Karl Mueller and Will Hudgens, executive advisor Matt Klentak, senior VP of player development and performance Cam Castro, special senior assistant Carlos Villanueva and VP of research and evaluation Ethan Bein stood up and received a warm ovation from the crowd.

“I love you guys,” Arnold said. “I wouldn't be here without you. Thank you very much.”

Milwaukee captured a third straight NL Central title in 2025, bucking preseason projections for another year while on a tight budget.

Arnold has been with the Brewers since 2015 and has headed their baseball operations department since the end of ’22. The Executive of the Year Award is an especially high honor because it was decided by a vote of executives from all 30 teams prior to the start of the postseason.

“I’m just fortunate to be part of a great group,” Arnold said earlier this week. “It’s so rewarding to work with good people, you know? And it’s really special. I certainly don’t take it for granted.”

MLB began its official Executive of the Year Award at the conclusion of the 2018 season, with Billy Beane of the Athletics earning the inaugural honors. He was followed by Erik Neander of the Rays in 2019, Andrew Friedman of the Dodgers in 2020, Farhan Zaidi of the Giants in 2021, Chris Antonetti of the Guardians in 2022, Mike Elias of the Orioles in 2023 and then Arnold in ’24 and ’25.

• All-time Executive of the Year Award winners

The latest honor comes weeks after Arnold was promoted from executive vice president and GM to president of baseball operations and GM, a sign of how highly Brewers ownership values the 46-year-old, and how little they want to see a rival club come and pluck him away after Milwaukee set a franchise record with 97 victories during the regular season. It marked the first time since 1982 that the Brewers finished with the best record in MLB.

They did it after trading away one of their best pitchers for the second consecutive offseason, all in the interest of replenishing Milwaukee's system with controllable Major League talent to make another run. First Arnold made the difficult decision on the eve of 2024 Spring Training to trade a former NL Cy Young Award winner in Corbin Burnes, who went to the Orioles for infielder Joey Ortiz and left-hander DL Hall, and then Arnold dealt two-time NL Reliever of the Year Devin Williams to the Yankees last December for infielder Caleb Durbin and left-hander Nestor Cortes.

Cortes didn’t pan out but Durbin sure did, arriving in Milwaukee in April and performing well enough to be among three finalists for the NL Rookie of the Year Award. He played alongside Ortiz, who took over at shortstop after the popular and productive Willy Adames departed via free agency prior to last year.

And those were not the only trades that buoyed the Brewers in 2025. Desperate for starting pitching in April after an epidemic of injuries decimated the rotation, they acquired right-hander Quinn Priester from the Red Sox when Priester was pitching in Triple-A, and saw him deliver a 3.32 ERA in 157 1/3 innings in the big leagues. When veteran Aaron Civale asked to be traded in June, the Brewers sent him to the White Sox for first baseman Andrew Vaughn, who like Priester was a former first-round pick who’d been exiled to Triple-A. Vaughn was called up in July and gave Milwaukee a jolt with an .869 OPS over 64 regular-season games.

That’s life with the Brewers, who are tasked with continuously turning over talent while extending the longest stretch of regular-season success in franchise history.

It earned Arnold a promotion, not to mention another award for his office.

“It’s just been something where you keep your head down and you work hard, and good things will happen,” he said last month. “Obviously thankful to a ton of people here, including [manager Pat Murphy] first and foremost, our ownership family, and too many other people to thank, but especially the guys who are here who I work with every single day. They are really, really impactful in my life, and they’re some of my best friends, too.

“It’s a great situation. I’m proud to be here in Milwaukee.”