There's little doubt that the Milwaukee Brewers are going to be a team to watch in the National League Central Division this season.

They put together a 97-win season in 2025 and reached the National League Championship series before getting swept by the Los Angeles Dodgers. Of course, the Dodgers went on to beat the Toronto Blue Jays and win a second straight World Series title.

With ace starter Freddy Peralta now with the New York Mets, what did the Brewers do in the offseason to help themselves improve?

Longtime MLB Insider Jim Bowden put together an extensive list of how all 30 MLB teams did in the offseason, along with a prediction on where teams would finish in their divisions, for The Athletic.

Bowden has spent time as an executive and general manager in the MLB ranks, so he has quite a respected voice around the majors.

In looking at the Brewers' offseason, Bowden gave the Brewers a B+ grade. He pointed out that the ballclub signed outfielder Akil Baddoo to a one-year, $1.25 million contract. Milwaukee right-handed pitcher Brandon Woodruff accepted a one-year, $22.025 million deal after going to salary arbitration.

As far as offseason acquisitions go, the Brewers picked up right-handed pitcher Brandon Sproat and infielder/outfielder Jett Williams from the Mets for Peralta and right-handed pitcher Tobias Myers. Also, Milwaukee got left-handed pitcher Angel Zerpa from the Kansas City Royals for right-handed pitcher Nick Mears.

After offering details like these, Bowden had a number of comments around the key takeaways from what the Brewers have accomplished to this point.

"General manager Matt Arnold won his second consecutive Executive of the Year Award but don’t expect a three-peat with both Andrew Friedman of the Dodgers and David Stearns of the Mets having excellent offseasons," Bowden wrote.

"The Brewers did what they probably had to do and traded away Freddy Peralta, who can elect free agency next offseason, and got a spectacular return from the Mets: Two top-100 prospects, Brandon Sproat and Jett Williams," Bowden continued.

"Sproat is a middle-of-the-rotation type bulldog who is ready for the majors and Williams should compete for an everyday job, in either the infield or outfield (or maybe he’ll play a mix of both)," Bowden wrote.

"I liked the pickup of Angel Zerpa to boost the bullpen, but the Brewers paid a big price to get him," Bowden continued. "I was surprised they extended Brandon Woodruff the qualifying offer based on his injury history, but if Milwaukee is to repeat as NL Central champions, it’ll need him after trading Peralta."

Now, Bowden also stated that the biggest question facing the Brewers this season is their ability to hold off fellow NL Central teams the Chicago Cubs, Cincinnati Reds, and Pittsburgh Pirates. Can Milwaukee fend off challenges to their supreme reign in the division?

All of this remains to be seen. But Brewers manager Pat Murphy knows that his team will need to exceed last season's results in a big, big way.

It's almost time for Spring Training, so everyone will get a chance to see how the players report and whether they are in good shape or not.

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