The Brewers have been the most successful team in MLB over the past two seasons. Their 200 regular-season wins since the start of 2025 leads all clubs and they have advanced to the NLCS both years, culminating with a World Series title this year.
One big reason for that success is the Brewers kept basically every key contributor during that period. William Contreras, Brice Turang, Jake Bauers, Jackson Chourio, Christian Yelich, Jacob Misiorowski, Trevor Megill, Abner Uribe and Aaron Ashby were all back from 2025.
The only significant departure was Freddy Peralta, who was traded to the New York Mets in January before ending up with the Rays in August.
Even though there are only four impending free agents, not including players with options in their contract, Bauers is the most significant one. He’s 31 and coming off a career year that was highlighted by winning NLCS MVP.
In a free-agent class without a lot of high-quality hitters, Bauers stands out because his batted-ball profile is extremely impressive with elite-level exit velocities, hard-hit rates, bat speed, chase rate and walk rate.
The Athletic’s Tim Britton projected Bauers for a two-year, $29.5 million contract in August, but his stock has increased significantly since then thanks to the postseason.
A two-year deal might keep Bauers in Milwaukee’s price range, but a 31-year-old bat-first player with no track record prior to this season comes with significant risk for any club.
The Peralta trade came as he was entering the final season of his contract. Milwaukee picked up his $8 million team option for 2026 in November 2025, then traded him two months later.
Contreras is in the exact same position with a $15.5 million team option for 2027 before he hits free agency next winter. There’s no doubt the Brewers will pick up that option, but their modus operandi is to trade a player who is likely to be priced out of their market a year ahead of time to bring back maximum value.
There would certainly be a huge trade market for Contreras as one of the few high-level defensive catchers who can also hit. He was the only catcher with at least 500 plate appearances in 2026, posting a .270/.341/.417 slash line.
Milwaukee certainly has some flexibility with its lineup this offseason because Jesús Made, the No. 1 overall prospect in MLB, could debut at some point in 2027 after spending the entire season in Double-A as a 19-year-old.
Contreras would be more difficult than Bauers to replace because of positional scarcity.
Jeferson Quero made his MLB debut in 2026, appearing in one game on March 29 before going back to Triple-A for the rest of the year. He’s more of a defense-first catcher than an all-around player like Contreras, but the Brewers might be hoping improved offensive output from other players like Cooper Pratt and the addition of Made at some point will make up for the loss of Contreras and Bauers if either or both depart.
