{"id":3995,"date":"2024-11-03T10:28:47","date_gmt":"2024-11-03T10:28:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=3995"},"modified":"2024-11-03T10:28:47","modified_gmt":"2024-11-03T10:28:47","slug":"can-the-brewers-successfully-replicate-their-2024-payroll-cutting-offseason-this-winter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=3995","title":{"rendered":"Can The Brewers Successfully Replicate Their 2024 Payroll-Cutting Offseason This Winter?"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Brewers remained competitive after cutting payroll last season. Could they replicate it again like their sign Rhys Hoskins, trade Corbin Burnes scenario?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Last winter, the Brewers had a very interesting and somewhat confusing offseason. The front office made it clear the team was planning to compete, yet there weren\u2019t any signs of showing it. Trading away\u00a0Mark Canha, letting\u00a0Carlos Santana\u00a0walk, and packaging\u00a0Adrian Houser\u00a0and\u00a0Tyrone Taylor\u00a0for a pitcher recovering from\u00a0Tommy John\u00a0surgery doesn\u2019t sound like moves a team with playoff aspirations would make.<\/p>\n

But just when January came around, the Brewers made a big splash by signing the top free agent first baseman,\u00a0Rhys Hoskins, to a two-year deal in what looked like the offseason-defining move. But then, about a week later, the club flipped their ace pitcher\u00a0Corbin Burnes\u00a0for the return of\u00a0Joey Ortiz,\u00a0DL Hall, and a compensatory first-round pick who eventually became first baseman from Tennessee,\u00a0Blake Burke.<\/p>\n

Fast-forward to today, the club won the NL Central and was just as competitive while shedding around $10 million from its 2023 payroll. With the Brewers moving away from Bally Sports and now having their games aired on MLB.tv, there\u2019s a chance the Brewers will have to do it again and cut payroll while planning to make another playoff run.<\/p>\n

The Brewers might have to replicate their duo transactions of signing Hoskins and trading Burnes to save money. Join me in this series of trying to replicate this double move with the 2025 crop of free agents.<\/p>\n

Payroll Preview<\/strong><\/p>\n

Before we look into what the Brewers could do to cut salary, why don\u2019t we look at what the payroll could look like without making a signing or trade? We already know\u00a0Willy Adames\u00a0and\u00a0Joe Ross\u00a0will be off the payroll. But there is still good money that\u2019ll need to be paid elsewhere.<\/p>\n

According to Adam McCalvy, eight players have options in their contract. Hoskins has opted into his $18 million salary, while the Brewers will likely opt into the club options of\u00a0Freddy Peralta,\u00a0Colin Rea,\u00a0Devin Williams\u00a0and\u00a0Eric Haase.\u00a0Wade Miley\u00a0has already been bought out of his $12 million contract for 2025 for the $1.5 million buyout. Barring a trade before a potential deadline, the club will probably elect to pay the buyouts of\u00a0Gary Sanchez\u00a0and\u00a0Frankie Montas.<\/p>\n

Next, the club has eight arbitration eligible players looking to get a nice raise. For now, we will assume all players will be tendered and the salaries will be the same as the FanGraphs projections.<\/p>\n

Finally, there are pre-arbitration contracts that will have a pay near the league minimum. While we can\u2019t assume each player will be paid $760,000, we can look at the projected salaries of those contracts according to FanGraphs which currently sit at $11.4 million.<\/p>\n

When we put all those numbers together, the Brewers would have a projected salary of around $127 million. This is around $11 million more than the projected 2024 payroll. Even though FanGraphs projected roster payroll is currently at $99.36 million, it doesn\u2019t account for the players that will opt into their contracts. So, with this being known, the Brewers won\u2019t go out and buy another player without cutting their salary from other avenues. But let’s look at the potential signing first before cutting salary.<\/p>\n

SIGNING: Brewers Sign 2B\/SS\u00a0Gleyber Torres\u00a0(Calculated Market Value Per Spotrac: three-year, $21 million)<\/strong><\/h3>\n

I know what you are all thinking, why do the Brewers need another middle infielder? Joey Ortiz and\u00a0Brice Turang\u00a0are great middle infielders. The club has\u00a0Tyler Black\u00a0waiting for his time to get called up.\u00a0Cooper Pratt\u00a0is going to be the club’s future. So why get another one?<\/p>\n

It may seem easy to slide a player like Ortiz over to shortstop and find someone to take over at third. But even the options at third are quite slim in-house. If they go this route, the next man up would probably be\u00a0Andruw Monasterio. Nothing against the utility infielder, but it is definitely a far cry from Adames with the bat.<\/p>\n

As for potential prospects, the aforementioned Black is still trying to figure out his role in the organization and could slide in at the hot corner. 2023 first-round pick\u00a0Brock Wilken\u00a0could also see some opportunities at the major league level. However, with a .199\/.312\/.363 line in 108 games with the Biloxi Shuckers last season, he may need time in Triple-A Nashville before the club adds him to the 40-man roster.<\/p>\n

The free agent market isn\u2019t great either.\u00a0Alex Bregman\u00a0is just as if not more expensive than Adames.\u00a0Yoan Moncada\u00a0is an option, but he has only played 104 games in the last two seasons.\u00a0Eugenio Suarez\u00a0could’ve been a great option that could’ve provided a little bit of pop in the lineup. The Diamondbacks, however, exercised his $15 million option preventing him from joining free agency.<\/p>\n

Gleyber Torres could play second base and allow Turang to play his natural shortstop position. In seven seasons with the Yankees he has a .265\/.334\/.441 line with a 113 wRC+. The Venezuelan two-time All-Star had a rough start to his 2024 season, posting a .230 batting average with eight home runs and 35 RBI in his first 93 games of the season. However, his second half of the season should net him a better paycheck in 2025, as he hit .290 with a .780 OPS in his last 61 games.<\/p>\n

Torres is a career .251\/.332\/.398 hitter with two outs and runners in scoring position. In high leverage situations, he had a .338 batting average on balls in play with 27 RBI with a 102 OPS+. While he doesn\u2019t exactly fit the hole that was left behind, he would be a decent replacement in the lineup. The same cannot be said for his defense.<\/p>\n

According to FanGraphs, he had a negative OAA (outs above average) as well as -11 defensive runs saved in 2024. For an organization that had prided itself on defense over the last few years, signing a bat like Torres could become a defensive liability.<\/p>\n

He had positive defensive numbers back in 2022, but it\u2019s still not the same glove as Adames provided. There has been a potential buzz of moving outfielder\u00a0Sal Frelick\u00a0into the infield so maybe Milwaukee could use Torres\u2019s talents as a part-time DH.<\/p>\n

In his final year of arbitration, Torres received a $14.2 million contract. He may not be worth that type of pay this offseason, but he is still arguably the best second baseman on the free agent market. He will likely look for a better pay than the projection made by Spotrac.<\/p>\n

Prediction: Gleyber Torres signs a two year, $26 million with an opt out after 2025 (4 million buyout) and a mutual option for 2027 ($16 million, 3 million buyout)<\/em><\/p>\n

TRADE: Brewers trade Devin William (2025 Salary: $10.5 million)<\/strong><\/p>\n

If there was a talking point to end the Brewers 2024 season, it was Devin Williams who came into the ninth with a 2-0 lead attempting to punch the Crew’s ticket to the NLDS. Unfortunately, he allowed four runs including a three-run home run by pending free agent\u00a0Pete Alonso. From then on, people were wondering if this may be the last time we see the Airbender as a Brewer.<\/p>\n

In six seasons with the Brewers, Williams picked up 97 saves, a 1.83 ERA, and a 1.02 WHIP. His efforts resulted in him winning the 2020 Rookie of the Year as well as two\u00a0Trevor Hoffman\u00a0Reliever of the Year awards (2020 and 2023).<\/p>\n

Last offseason, the Brewers signed Williams to a deal hours after the club had exchanged arbitration numbers. The deal was for one year, $7.5 million and a club option for 2025 worth $10.5 million with a $250,000 opt out.<\/p>\n

If the Brewers were planning to keep Williams, they would likely take the buyout and negotiate a one year contract in his final year of arbitration in hopes to get a lower salary. But we all knew what happened to\u00a0Josh Hader\u00a0and Corbin Burnes in their final years of arbitration. This could be no different.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve already seen what a Brewers team would look like without Williams. For the first half of the season, he was nursing stress fractures in his back. During that time, the Brewers went (75-56) as Trevor Megill slid into the closer’s role. By the end of the season, the Brewers bullpen had a 3.11 ERA and a 1.16 WHIP. Even if you take away Williams numbers, the rest of the bullpen would\u00a0still<\/em> have the second best ERA in baseball (3.16) along with the third-best WHIP (1.16).<\/p>\n

The Brewers can fill the void of Williams with pitchers like\u00a0Trevor Megill,\u00a0Abner Uribe,\u00a0Bryan Hudson, and even\u00a0Nick Mears\u00a0if the \u201cpitching lab go\u00a0brrr.\u201d<\/p>\n

If the Brewers elect to trade Williams, don\u2019t expect a huge package. It\u2019s not like Milwaukee can get a\u00a0Samuel Basallo\u00a0from the Orioles, an\u00a0Aidan Miller\u00a0from the Phillies, or a\u00a0Dalton Rushing\u00a0from the Dodgers (although I wouldn\u2019t say no if they offered it).<\/p>\n

If anything, you should expect a trade package less that what the Brewers got for Burnes. At the time, the deal didn\u2019t seem like much, but look what Joey Ortiz has become for the Crew.<\/p>\n

Conclusion<\/strong>
\nIn this scenario, the signing of Gleyber Torres and a Devin Williams trade is a wash salary wise. While that is a bad thing for a team that is trying to at minimum hover around the $116 million salary from 2024, there\u2019s an argument made that it makes the team better.<\/p>\n

Williams, while a renowned relief pitcher around the league, doesn\u2019t exactly hurt the bullpen as much as it may seem. Adding Torres, on the other hand, gives the Brewers a young veteran upgrade to a lineup that needed some sort of help after Adames elects free agency.<\/p>\n

There are other avenues of saving money such as non-tendering the likes of\u00a0Hoby Milner\u00a0or\u00a0Bryse Wilson, signing players to backloaded extensions (William Contreras), or making other trades like the Devin Williams one listed above.<\/p>\n

Regardless, expect another busy offseason with trades and interesting \u201cdiamond in the rough\u201d type signings this winter.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Brewers remained competitive after cutting payroll last season. Could they replicate it again like their sign Rhys Hoskins, trade Corbin Burnes scenario? 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