Rhys HoskinsKevin Abele/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
When the Brewers signed Rhys Hoskins last winter, surely they were hoping he would play well enough on his $12M salary in 2024 to opt out of the rest of the $34M contract.
Instead, they are (unless they can trade it away) now stuck with his $18M salary for 2025, as well as the $4M buyout of the $18M mutual option for 2026.
By no means do we think they’re tanking the upcoming season, this despite losing Willy Adames to the Giants and trading Devin Williams to the Yankees. But if they can move Hoskins and save a huge chunk of money, they’ll happily take their chances on Tyler Black as an everyday first baseman to make it happen.
The tricky part is finding a team that would be willing to take on Hoskins’ salary, when there are so many first basemen—Pete Alonso, Christian Walker, Paul Goldschmidt, Anthony Rizzo, Josh Bell and Carlos Santana—still available in free agency.
If the Brewers are willing to at least buy down the salary a bit, though, the Pirates could be an interested party.
They’ve become big fans of taking one-year flyers on guys coming off of disappointing seasons—see: Aroldis Chapman, Martín Pérez, Rowdy Tellez and Yasmani Grandal last winter, Rich Hill in 2023, Jose Quintana in 2022—and they could definitely use at least one more 1B/DH option, even after the recent acquisition of Spencer Horwitz.
Goodness knows they’re probably sick of facing him, too. In 29 career games against Pittsburgh, Hoskins has a 1.000 OPS. Could be nice to have him hitting for the home team at PNC Park for a change.
The Trade: Milwaukee sends 1B Rhys Hoskins and $8M cash to Pittsburgh; Pittsburgh sends IF Tsung-Che Cheng to Milwaukee
