The Milwaukee Brewers have done well to work within their means, but time for that practice may be running out.
Apart from Brandon Woodruff’s $22.025 million qualifying offer and the exercising of Freddy Peralta’s $8 million club option, it has been a relatively quiet winter for the Milwaukee Brewers.
According to ESPN Senior MLB Insider Jeff Passan, the Brewers should depart from their frugal ways and look to spend money on additional support.
“This is mostly a function of the Brewers carrying the best record in baseball last year and the expectation that doing so warrants an uncompromising follow-up to ensure it ends with gold rings rather than disappointment,” Passan wrote. “Expecting that of the Brewers, of course, would be foolish. This is the team that leading into its 97-win season signed one free agent for $4.25 million.”
“Still, it would be nice for the Brewers, whose front office has put together a tremendous big league roster with a top-five farm system to boot, to have at least a little money to spend and add talent beyond Akil Baddoo (free agent) and Angel Zerpa (trade), their lone acquisitions this winter. The Brewers instead are spending the winter talking about trading their best pitcher (Peralta). And while the churning of free-agents-to-be has been part of what has sustained Milwaukee's success in recent years, it's a thankless cycle for fans and front office alike.”
Milwaukee is a small market, and its resident Major League Baseball team operates as such. Part of the reason president of baseball operations Matt Arnold has won two-straight Executive of the Year awards and manager Pat Murphy has won consecutive National League Manager of the Year awards is because of their ability to identify talent and maximize it.
“Ultimately, the Brewers will sign someone who helps because that's what they do,” Passan added. “They work the margins, they hunt value, they make do. And whether it's via trade or on one-year deals, they'll hop back on the hamster wheel and leave everyone wondering what should've been.”
The Brewers made a statement last season with a franchise-best 97 wins, the conquering of the NL Central Division for the third year running and a trip to the National League Championship Series. They came up short to the Los Angeles Dodgers, but so did everyone else.
Yet, the idea of an often-injured Woodruff collecting a steep paycheck for one season while Peralta’s tenure with the team seems to be on borrowed time presents a potentially tenuous situation. There is a lot to be excited about with the position players, but the Brewers would benefit by being proactive instead of reactive.
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