Prior to the 2023 Major League Baseball season, the Milwaukee Brewers participated in one of the biggest blockbuster trades of the offseason. The main teams in the trade were the then-Oakland Athletics and Atlanta Braves, and the biggest name was Sean Murphy, who went from Oakland to Atlanta. However, the Brewers sent outfield prospect Esteury Ruiz to the A’s and ended up receiver reliever Joel Payamps and catcher William Contreras in the deal.

Contreras was on Atlanta’s roster when they won the World Series in 2021, but saw his game, both offensively and defensively, improve upon his arrival in Milwaukee. Indeed, he has become one of Milwaukee’s most important voices, a young veteran on a team of youthful players.

And this year, he is confident that he will be earning his second World Series ring.

William Contreras regrets one thing about the trade away from the Atlanta Braves

The Brewers earned a first round bye and home field advantage throughout the MLB Playoffs by finishing with baseball’s best record at 97-65. While they await to see who their opponent will be in the National League Divisional Series, Contreras penned a letter to the city of Milwaukee, explaining why he is confident this year’s club will win the first World Series in franchise history.

But early in the letter, he revealed that, at first, he was incredibly disappointed to be traded to the Brewers:

“Three years ago, my agent calls and tells me, ‘Atlanta traded you.’ I told him: ‘Trade me back.’ I’m like, ‘MILWAUKEE?! OK. Nobody talk to me.’ Nah — it’s just crazy to be traded like that. Crazy. I barely understood what a trade means. But what choice do you have? So I try to accept it. I try to think, William. Be honest. What you KNOW about Milwaukee? Yes, for a Venezuelan kid, and even just coming from Atlanta, it’s a different world, a different culture.”

However, it did not take long for his views to change.

“But then I get here, and I get to know things.… It’s an amazing place. The organization, the fans, it’s such a great baseball city. Funny how it changes. Now if I think about that trade, I got lucky.”

Not only that, Contreras expressed his desire to be a Brewer for life:

 “It’s funny … I still have a little regret, years later, for being rude to my agent about the trade. ‘MILWAUKEE?!’ Wow. What a wrong way to react. Now, I hope I spend my whole career here — and I hope to be on the first World Series winner in Brewers history.”

Of course, many players have expressed their desire to stay in Milwaukee for life, only to leave in free agency or be traded by the club due to financial constraints.

And keeping their two-time All-Star catcher in the long-run will certainly be a challenge for the small-market Brewers.

That being said, it is good to hear that his desire is to stay.