MILWAUKEE -- With Wednesday’s tender deadline having passed and Major League Baseball’s first virtual Winter Meetings on deck next week, here are three things I’m wondering about the Brewers.

1. Did any players of potential interest to Milwaukee hit the market on Wednesday?
Yes, which shouldn’t come as a surprise given that 59 players were non-tendered around the Major Leagues and joined the pool of free agents. It wasn’t the deluge some observers expected, given the economic impact of the pandemic. Last year, per MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand, there were 56 non-tenders.

“I don’t think anyone had a great grasp of what we were going to see around the industry, and what we saw were very constructive conversations between teams and players trying to get to the right answers,” Brewers president of baseball operations David Stearns said.

Some teams and players, however, were unable to come to terms. Given the Brewers’ needs, here are three new free agents who stood out, spanning the risk spectrum:

Maikel Franco, 1B/3B, Royals
This marks the second straight year that Franco was non-tendered, although his 2020 output with Kansas City represented an upgrade over the previous year for Philadelphia. Franco is still just 28 and slashed .278/.321/.457 with a weighted runs created plus of 106 in 243 plate appearances for the Royals. The Brewers’ biggest need is offense, and they have holes at both third base and first base. Franco is a fit in a lot of ways if Milwaukee officials are convinced of the uptick in production.

Danny Santana, OF/SS/1B, Rangers
A switch-hitter known for his athleticism who has made 50-plus starts at three positions (center field, shortstop and first base), Santana just turned 30 on Nov. 7. He was very good for Texas in 2019, hitting 28 home runs with an .857 OPS, but he played only 15 games in 2020 and needed surgery to repair a torn ligament in his right elbow in September. He is not expected to be ready for the start of the 2021 season. All of that adds up to Santana being a potential low-risk, high-reward sign for somebody, and the Brewers have been known to place such bets.

Kyle Schwarber, LF, Cubs
It doesn’t look like the Brewers have a position for Schwarber. Has that ever stopped them before? The slugging catcher-turned-left fielder belted 38 home runs the last time MLB played a full season, and he would join a long list of left-handed power hitters acquired by Stearns, if -- and this is a big if -- there aren’t so many suitors that the price drives up. Does Schwarber have a first baseman’s mitt?

2. What’s up with all the catchers?
In a word, it’s crowded. The Brewers struck a one-year deal with free agent Luke Maile on Tuesday, pending a physical exam, then convinced Omar Narváez and Manny Piña to take pay cuts on one-year deals Wednesday, avoiding arbitration. The club also has Jacob Nottingham, David Freitas and prospect Mario Feliciano on the 40-man roster.

Essentially, Stearns said the decision to sign both Narváez and Piña in addition to Maile provided depth, and time to sort things out later. Piña, Nottingham and Freitas are out of Minor League options. Narváez, Maile and Feliciano have options remaining.

For now, Narváez remains atop the depth chart despite a disappointing debut season with Milwaukee.

“He’s someone we spent a lot of time on, trying to understand this year and project next year,” Stearns said. “Ultimately, we made the decision we wanted Omar back. We look at the body of work that he has contributed over the course of his career, and up until an abbreviated, strange 60-game season, Omar had been a very consistent offensive player. So we anticipate that being the player we will get in 2021.”

3. What will next week look like?
The Winter Meetings were supposed to convene on Sunday in Dallas, but the pandemic prompted MLB to make the event virtual for the first time. Even if there are no face-to-face gatherings, Stearns is expecting more activity, both because of the influx of free agents on Wednesday night and because it’s getting time to start building rosters, even if much uncertainty about 2021 remains.

Bats remain the Brewers’ priority, and they have a history of being creative in terms of positioning.

“I think it will be more active than we’ve seen over the last month and a half, because the last month and a half around the industry has been pretty quiet from a transaction perspective," Stearns said. "I don’t know that you’re necessarily going to see the same volume as you do in a normal year when you have an in-person Winter Meetings, but we are getting to the time in the calendar where the conversations accelerate and get more specific. I do think conversations will pick up.”