Brewers general manager Matt Arnold met with reporters (including MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy and The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel’s Curt Hogg) for the season wrap-up press conference today, and addressing several major topics facing his team as the offseason begins. One question left open was the status of Brandon Woodruff’s right shoulder, as Arnold said more will be known once Woodruff has another visit with doctors.
“He’s going to be looked at this week. We’re optimistic,” Arnold said. “We won’t know until the reports come out, but we’re going to wait until he gets another opinion on his shoulder at this point.”
Woodruff suffered a capsular injury to his throwing shoulder just prior to the start of the Brewers’ Wild Card Series with the Diamondbacks, and it was unclear if Woodruff would’ve been able to pitch during any part of a postseason run even if the Brew Crew had made it as far as the World Series. Losing one of their top pitchers to injury proved to be a harbinger of bad news for Milwaukee, as the D’Backs swept the NL Central champions in two games.
Between this latest injury and the shoulder problems that caused Woodruff to miss four months of regular season action, it seems possible that surgery might be on the table as an option, which could threaten Woodruff’s availability for 2024. It also adds another layer of intrigue to the longstanding expectation that at least one of Woodruff, Corbin Burnes, or Willy Adames could be traded.
The three players are entering their final year of arbitration eligibility and will be free agents next winter. Given Milwaukee’s modest payroll, extending even one of the players might not be feasible, and keeping all three beyond 2024 seems out of the question barring a major change in the Brewers’ spending approach.
Arnold acknowledged this financial situation Tuesday, noting “We can never close the door on any [trade] conversations, as you guys know. That’s just the reality of where we are.” However, the GM unsurprisingly also didn’t tip his hand in forecasting any moves, saying “the short answer is that we’re extremely comfortable having” Woodruff, Burnes, and Adames on the roster.
“The foundation is that they’re here and they’re really good players,” Arnold said. “Obviously, anything can happen over the course of an offseason. We’ll certainly have to entertain a lot of different discussions but we recognize the value of these players and how much they mean to our franchise.”
Burnes in particular has seemed like the top trade candidate of the group ever since his disappointed reaction to his arbitration hearing back in February, though Arnold stressed that Burnes “means a ton to what we’ve done here. He’s been a warrior on the mound….We’ll see how it plays out over the course of the offseason, but I would expect him to be here next year.”
In terms of other winter priorities, the Brewers are hoping to boost offense, particularly at first and third base. Acquiring Carlos Santana and Mark Canha at the trade deadline helped solidify the first base spot down the stretch, though Santana is a free agent and Canha will hit the market as well if the Crew don’t exercise their $11.5MM club option on his services. Arnold’s comments might imply that Canha and Santana could be let go if the Brewers want more pop out of the first base position, though Canha isn’t only a first baseman, as he can also play in either corner outfield spot.
Andruw Monasterio seems like a candidate to be a third-base regular since Arnold said the team “liked” his work at the hot corner, though the GM also cited top prospect Tyler Black as a candidate at either infield position, “potentially early on” in the season. If Milwaukee is prepared to give Black a look out of Spring Training, that could mean the team might not pursue an everyday type of veteran corner infielder, in order to not block Black or Monasterio.
There weren’t any new updates on Craig Counsell’s status, as Arnold said management had yet to sit down with the skipper to discuss a new contract. Counsell’s deal is officially up at the end of October, and he previously told owner Mark Attanasio that he wanted to wait until the season was over to explore an extension. Given the October 31st expiry date on his current contract, the Brewers will have a few weeks of exclusive negotiating time to explore possibilities with Counsell, before becomes a free agent and open to pursuits from other teams — such as the Mets, who now have David Stearns as president of baseball operations and a managerial vacancy after firing Buck Showalter.
Milwaukee-2208
Not trading burnes is a mistake. You need to optimize his value and get back impact bats. You can’t wait until the deadline and get a so so package. Brewers need multiple power hitting bats before anything else. Sorry brewer fans but he’s not signing an extension
Louholtz22
I thought trading Burnes was a no brainer until Woodruff’s injury. Shoulder capsular injuries can require 6 to 18 months after surgery. If Burnes is gone, gonna be pretty thin in the rotation
Curly Was The Smart Stooge
Impact bats, like Donaldson?
Stormintazz
They won’t get much back for Burnes anyway. He’s basically a rental for one year. He’s a Boras guy and Boras tells all his clients to file free agency. So next year would only be one year for a team trading for him.
bdpecore
It all depends on if the team acquiring Burnes is willing to offer him and market value extension before next season. The Dodgers gave up a decent haul for Mookie Betts who was going into a contract year.
Stormintazz
That is the difference between Steve Veltman and Scott Boras. All Boras clients test the free agent market.
kirkydu
that’s just silly. They’ll get 2 top prospects and 1 or 2 flyer types. Burnes is an ace, they’ll get plenty.
kirkydu
if, big IF, Adames will take $90m over 6 years the Brewers should do it. He’s slowly becoming a better hitter, has power and is a slight plus SS who could slide to 3b. And, as far as we know, he like MKE.
kirkydu
I agree, 2024 will be a reload year. Might even see Yelich traded in July.
kirkydu
agreed all around, reload year and extend Contrares and Adames if possible.
AlBundysFanClubPresident
I think its very possible all 3 get moved this winter. We all know how last year’s Arb situation played out with Burnes, Woodruff is unfortunately a serious injury risk, and Adames just..isn’t..that good IMO. Certainly not for what he’ll probably fetch in his final trip through arbitration.
I’m not against bringing Santana back if both sides want a reunion. I get wanting more power, but there’s something to be said for just being a good hitter, getting on base and driving the guys ahead of you home. Canha seems like a no-brainer to hang on to, but his salary is in that range where I can see them picking up the option, then trading him.
It’s time for Rowdy, Winker, and all these “bounce back candidate” guys they bring in and hang onto for 3 years without getting a bounce back to go. Just bring up more youngsters and give them time to prove if they can play.
I’m probably in the very small minority on this, but I’d also bring back Caratini to spell Contreras. He may be a near automatic out, but it worked well sliding 24 to DH every 5th game or so.
Louholtz22
What will the Brewers get for Adames? He’s solid defensively but his bat hasn’t been that good. I agree with moving him, but the problem is that Turang can’t hit.
AlBundysFanClubPresident
I don’t have a clue honestly. My personal opinion is he’s not that good, but I keep getting told otherwise. It seems like he has 2 hot..and I mean HOT..streaks at the plate every year, but it only accounts for about 6 weeks of the season, and the rest of the time he’s lucky to hit .200.
Stormintazz
I like Santana but sooner or later that age will catch up with him.
30 Parks
Here’s hoping Woodruff is back healthy in the Spring.
tangerinepony
Burnes will be traded. His arb number will be just under 20 Mil No way will the cheapskate owner allow that too happen. Get max value for him we need a young 1B and more pitching depth
mad1
Not sure why the brewers are letting Counsell lead them around by the nose? He either wants to stay or not. Just move on at some point.
Big whiffa
Brewers window is shut. Stern put together a good roster but couldn’t sustain it. He needed to unload burnes and woodruff for close to mlb ready talent before last season began. He failed to do so and now they may have to pay an injured woodruff all season and trade burnes at his lowest value point.
Pretty sure counsell will see this writing on the wall too.
Tough times ahead !
solaris602
Brewers match up well with SD on an Adames trade. Padres need a 6th SS, and while they don’t have a 1B or 3B to send the other way, I don’t doubt Preller can sell them on a Trent Grisham reunion.
This one belongs to the Reds
Feel bad for Brewers fans as we just went through what they have upcoming. Curse of the small markets in this fouled up system.
acoss13
Burnes is looking to get paid, and he’s a Scott Boras client. I’d say trade him now while he is at a great value and get some MLB-ready bats. Trading him at deadline next year won’t bring as good of a haul as he would with a full year of control.
Stormintazz
One year rental for Burnes. He won’t bring much this off season either.
Chris Koch
Tough spot the Brewers are in. Black and Chourio are exciting bats the team can add during next season. Mitchell-Frelick-and Wiemer can hopefully see some improvement to their bats. With Black he makes it easier to part with Adames and slide Turang to SS. The Brewers would need a backup utility for SS when making that move. You hold on to Burnes-Woodruff-Peralta and hope for Ashby to return as a talented #4 in rotation. Misiorowski can come in later next season. Contreras is a stud catcher. I dunno technically Chourio came up at SS but was moved due to talent. They keep the nucleus adding the youth and Mitchell it’s a 92win team with upside. Trading Burnes or Woodruff removes the pitching talent you want for the playoffs. You mist be staring at a longer team controlled not yet stud SP when trading away 1 of the 2 so it feels like a side ways move. What team has the Brewers version of Ashby that would extend Burnes upon acquiring him? Probably include one the Brewers glut of OF.
Chris Koch
Forgot to address Black for 3b. I think what I’ve heard/read is his arm is below avg if at 3b. I’m thinking he jumps to 2b when Turang takes over SS for Adames. With Black being an option for 1b.
DonOsbourne
My advice for the Brewers would be trade all three. Go through a year of possible mediocrity next season, using the time to evaluate several young players, then form a decisive plan for 2025 and beyond.
Use the money to lock up Contreras.
The Brewers have been able to coax innings out of all kinds of different pitchers. I have confidence they could do the same next season.
I don’t see trading these three as an end to their competitive window. They have a lot of young talent and more on the way. They could hang around and surprise some people even without their duel aces. They just need to nail the trades.
AlBundysFanClubPresident
Isn’t Contreras under control for 4 more years? Unless they can get a deal more like the Freddy Peralta or Ashby ones, as in VERY team friendly in terms of dollars, I can’t see them rushing to do anything with him. And with as good as he was this year, I don’t see him or his agent wanting to do that.
GarryHarris
The Brewers don’t have an IF