This story was excerpted from Adam McCalvy’s Brewers Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.
MILWAUKEE -- With no big holes on a roster coming off 97 wins, the toughest call facing the Brewers is whether to aim for improvements on the margins or make the latest difficult decision for a franchise ever seeking young, controllable talent. This offseason, that could mean trading away All-Star starting pitcher (and 2026 free agent-to-be) Freddy Peralta to fuel the future.
Next week’s Winter Meetings in Orlando, Fla., will provide president of baseball operations Matt Arnold much more information about which direction to go. So far, he’s not seen an offer that piques his interest.
“I’m not sure that there’s a scenario that’s been presented that would make any sense for us,” Arnold said this week. “We obviously get hits on him all the time. He’s a very popular target, certainly. But he’s also a huge part of our team and we want to be competitive in 2026. A big part of this is bringing back the core that we had last year.”
Peralta is a bargain at $8 million next season coming off a year in which he led the Brewers with 33 starts and a 2.70 ERA in his third straight 200-strikeout season. And on top of that, Arnold said payroll won’t drive the decision. Even with significant arbitration raises pending for players like Andrew Vaughn, Brice Turang and Trevor Megill, Arnold said he was under no mandate to cut the payroll, and he “certainly” could keep the roster as is going into 2026.
Asked whether he was “fretting” payroll, as one recent report suggested, Arnold said: “No. It’s always something we have to be cognizant of, but we have incredible support from our ownership and our fans. We’ve had a nice ability to outkick our market size for years with our payroll, and I certainly appreciate that from [owner Mark Attanasio] and his family.
“Besides, it’s not ever about spending the most dollars.”
Club needs
1. Power. Last year’s Brewers ranked 22nd in home runs (166) and 29th in barrels per plate appearance (4.7), winning instead with elite plate discipline, contact and speed. Milwaukee did see a power bump from developing hitters like Turang and Sal Frelick and will count on more next season, along with another step forward for 21-year-old budding star Jackson Chourio. But if the Brewers can find a way to squeeze some pop onto the roster, it could help.
2. Pitching depth. Even though they appear flush with starters -- Peralta, Brandon Woodruff, Quinn Priester, Chad Patrick, Jacob Misiorowski, Robert Gasser, Logan Henderson and Tobias Myers all will head into Spring Training as options for the rotation, plus, perhaps, Aaron Ashby and DL Hall -- the Brewers will surely add some depth at the edges. They always do, partly because Milwaukee has proven to be a good landing spot for pitchers on the comeback trail.
“To pitch roughly 1,500 innings, you just have to have a lot of players available,” Arnold said. “To build the depth we’ve had in the past is definitely an area of focus for us.”
3. Clarity on the coaching staff. Associate manager Rickie Weeks has moved to a front-office role, leaving Milwaukee without a right-hand man for manager Pat Murphy. Hitting coach Connor Dawson also departed for a job with the Royals. The Brewers are expected to make more moves to set the 2026 staff, and they will probably spend some of their time in Orlando working on that critical puzzle.
Potential trade candidates
Peralta’s future is the most compelling question mark. The club loves what he does off the field and on it -- the 29-year-old right-hander finished fifth in NL Cy Young Award balloting after going 17-6 during his third straight season with at least 30 starts. He’s also affordable. But those are the same reasons he’s so valuable as a trade chip.
The Brewers could also consider trading from their outfield depth, or flipping a reliever like All-Star (and arbitration-eligible) closer Megill, since Abner Uribe appears ready to take over the ninth inning. And at some point, they will have to start thinking about star catcher William Contreras, who has two seasons of control remaining before free agency.
Prospects to know
Caleb Durbin (2.8 wins above replacement, per Baseball Reference), Isaac Collins (2.1), Patrick (1.9), Henderson (1.0) and Misiorowski (0.5) were among the prospects who made their Major League debuts in 2025 during a banner year for Brewers rookies. The candidates to make similar impacts next season begin with catcher Jeferson Quero (Milwaukee's No. 4 prospect and No. 84 overall, per MLB Pipeline), who is positioned to open next season as Contreras’ backup. Shortstop Cooper Pratt (Brewers' No. 3, No. 56 overall) is another contender after a solid second half with Double-A Biloxi last season, along with Joey Ortiz’s offensive troubles in 2025.
As far as prospects who could be traded, Milwaukee has shown a willingness to part with top-ranked farmhands. Yophery Rodriguez, for example, was in MLB Pipeline’s Brewers Top 10 when he was sent to the Red Sox on April 7 in the Priester trade. The only players off limits appear to be middle infield super-prospects Jesús Made (Milwaukee's No. 1, No. 4 overall) and Luis Peña (Brewers' No. 2, No. 18 overall).
Rule 5 Draft
The Brewers added their No. 25 prospect, right-hander Coleman Crow, to the 40-man roster in early November to shield him from both Minor League free agency and Wednesday’s Rule 5 Draft -- the only prospect protected this year. Among those left unprotected were pitchers Justin Yeager (2.04 ERA in 49 appearances with the top two levels of Milwaukee’s system last season) and Blake Holub (50.5 percent ground-ball rate). The Brewers’ 40-man roster currently stands at 39.
Burning question: How much will they change the roster?
Will the Brewers run it back with their young core or, even if it hurts, get creative in trades to get better? Thanks to the way they built the roster around young, controllable talent, both avenues are available to Arnold and his team as the Winter Meetings kick the offseason into the next gear.