Brewers exercise William Contreras’ option, extend qualifying offer to Jake Bauers in start of offseason moves
· Yahoo Sports
Yesterday was the fifth day after the conclusion of the World Series, which means that free agency has fully started as players can now sign with other teams. With the offseason underway, the Brewers made a series of roster moves to begin it.
That includes all of their option decisions, and the one option they picked up was for William Contreras. Even though Contreras would have remained under club control if they declined his option, the Brewers chose to pick up the $15.5 million option for 2027. Contreras was projected by MLB Trade Rumors to make $14.6 million, so his salary would not have been much different had they gone to arbitration. Contreras is under club control for one more year before he becomes a free agent.
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None of the other options that the Brewers had were exercised. The options for Gary Sánchez ($8.5 million) and Antonio Senzatela ($14 million) were both declined, making both players free agents. Also, Dustin May declined his side of the mutual option last week, making him a free agent.
Meanwhile, Jake Bauers is headed towards free agency, but the Brewers decided to extend the qualifying offer to him following his successful 2026 season. The qualifying offer for 2027 is valued at $23.15 million, and Bauers will have to decide if he wants to take that or test free agency. Bauers will have under November 17 to accept the qualifying offer. On MLB Trade Rumors, their experts predict that Bauers will accept the qualifying offer, though also see him receiving a three-year contract if he officially enters the free agent market. FanGraphs also projects a two-to-three-year deal with an average value between $17 and $19 million. Bauers is one of eight players across the majors to receive the QO this year.
The Brewers also placed Akil Baddoo, Jared Koenig, and Bryse Wilson on waivers following the end of the regular season. Baddoo was claimed by the Pirates, while Koenig and Wilson both passed through waivers. Both were assigned to Triple-A Nashville, but Koenig has elected to become a free agent. Wilson will likely also enter free agency but has not officially elected to do so yet.
Also joining the free agent pool are JoJo Romero and Brandon Woodruff. Both of their contracts have ended and they will test out the market this offseason. Romero is projected to receive a two-year, $13 million contract this offseason by MLB Trade Rumors, with FanGraphs puts him in the same range. MLB Trade Rumors doesn’t have a projection for Woodruff, who accepted the qualifying offer last offseason and will now fully enter the free agent market for the first time. FanGraphs has him in their top 50 free agents, projected for a one-year contract of at least $10 million.
With the CBA expiring in less than a month, there could be a flurry of activity before the deadline. The next big deadline in free agency is November 20, when teams have to tender contracts to their players under control. Here are the players that are arbitration-eligible for the Brewers, along with their projected salary by MLB Trade Rumors:
- 5-plus years
- Andrew Vaughn: $8.5 million
- Trevor Megill: $8 million
- 4-plus years
- Garrett Mitchell: $2.7 million
- Angel Zerpa: $1.3 million
- 3-plus years
- Brice Turang: $9.5 million
- Sal Frelick: $2.4 million
- Joey Ortiz: $2.4 million
- DL Hall: $1 million
- David Hamilton: $1.6 million
- Bo Naylor: $1.5 million
- Grant Anderson: $1 million
- 2-plus years (Super Two)
- Quinn Priester: $1.3 million
Also, the following players are pre-arbitration and would need to be tendered contracts, though some could be released or traded:
- Tyler Black
- Coleman Crow
- Shane Drohan
- Brian Fitzpatrick
- Robert Gasser
- Colton Gordon
- Kyle Harrison
- Logan Henderson
- Brandon Lockridge
- Jacob Misiorowski
- Chad Patrick
- Jeferson Quero
- Brandon Sproat
- Garrett Stallings
- Abner Uribe
The Brewers also activated their three players on the 60-day IL — Fitzpatrick, Priester, and Zerpa. Following these roster moves, the Brewers’ 40-man roster sits at 33 players. That roster space can be used to add free agents or protect prospects from the Rule 5 draft later this offseason. The deadline to protect prospects from the Rule 5 Draft is also on November 17.