Brewers, Cooper Pratt Reportedly Working On Extension
The Brewers and prospect Cooper Pratt are reportedly on the verge of finalizing an eight-year contract worth $50.75MM. There will also be two club options worth about $15MM per year, though the value of those options can increase via escalators. The Brewers will need to make a corresponding move to add the Boras Corporation client to their 40-man roster.
It’s a surprising out-of-nowhere extension. Pratt is 21 years old and hasn’t made it to the majors yet. He only just made his Triple-A debut a few days ago. He wasn’t even going to be eligible for the Rule 5 draft until December of 2027.
Extensions for players with no major league experience are becoming more common but this one feels even a bit more extreme than some of the others. Most pre-debut extensions have been for guys very close to cracking the big leagues. The Brewers themselves did one with Jackson Chourio just over two years ago, an $82MM guarantee, though that one was a bit less surprising. Chourio had finished the prior season at the Triple-A level and seemed highly likely to break camp with Milwaukee in 2024 as he was one of the top three prospects in the sport.
Pratt, on the other hand, mostly features on the back of top 100 prospect lists. Baseball America is the high outlet, putting him at #50. MLB Pipeline has him at #62, ESPN at #70, The Athletic at #99 and he’s not even on the FanGraphs list. He had an okay season at Double-A last year, with a .238/.343/.348 line and 107 wRC+, and only just cracked the Triple-A level to start this season.
Perhaps it speaks to the Brewers being quite high on Pratt’s future. Though his offense was middling last year, the plate discipline was clearly good. His 12.7% walk rate and 15.2% strikeout rate were both strong figures. He only hit eight home runs but could perhaps add more power in time. He stole 31 bags last year and is considered a solid defender at shortstop.
If the Brewers have faith in Pratt’s long-term future, there’s sense in locking him up now. That’s especially true with him being a Boras client. That agency isn’t quite as extension-averse as its reputation but the extensions they have done have almost always been for guys who have reached their arbitration years. According to MLBTR’s Contract Tracker, which has data going back to 2006, the Carlos González deal from back in 2011 is the only pre-arbitration extension for a Boras client.
In that context, perhaps the Brewers felt it was worth it to take a gamble on Pratt, even though he is still so early in his career. If they waited until he had been in the big leagues for a few years, the price would go up if he had any kind of success. From the perspective of Pratt, this is a chance for him to lock up some notable earnings and stave off any chance of a bust. Perhaps he will find himself underpaid if he becomes a star, but he’s not the level of surefire, can’t-miss prospect that Chourio was. He could play out this contract, including the options, and still reach free agency after his age-30 season.
What remains to be seen is how this impacts Milwaukee’s short-term plans. Even if Pratt is signed to a big league deal, he doesn’t need to be on the active roster, as he could still be kept in the minors on optional assignment. Joey Ortiz was their everyday shortstop last year. He put up a rough .230/.276/.317 line at the plate but stole 14 bases and was credited with 12 Outs Above Average. He is still in that job and has a massive .455/.500/.455 line so far this year but in a tiny sample of 12 plate appearances.
Ortiz is still under club control for many years but the club may pivot away from him at some point if he can’t post better offense over a sustained stretch of time. He does have options and could be sent to the minors, or perhaps be moved into a utility role since he has experience at second and third base. Pratt has fairly limited experience off the shortstop position but could presumably handle second or third if the Brewers asked him to. For now, Brice Turang is a strong option at the keystone. Third base is a bit more open, with David Hamilton and Luis Rengifo in the mix at the moment.
Looking further down the road, most of those guys still have lots of club control. Rengifo is on a one-year deal but Ortiz, Turang and Hamilton aren’t slated for free agency until after 2029. Prospects Jett Williams, Jesús Made and Luis Peña are generally considered top 100 guys who will be in the mix at some point. Williams has already played at the Triple-A level, Made at Double-A and Pena at High-A. At some point over the horizon, the infield could feel quite crowded, which could perhaps lead to a trade.
In the near term, the deal could have other notable impacts. With the deal in place, the Brewers may not worry about Pratt’s service time, since he would be under club control for the ten years regardless. The Prospect Promotion Incentive could also be interesting here. Pratt would be PPI eligible since he is on the aforementioned prospect lists. Even though he missed the first few games of the season, it’s still early enough for the Brewers to call him up for a full year of service time.
However, a player who signs an extension prior to his major league debut is not eligible to earn PPI picks for his team. Unless the two sides agree to the deal in principle and then don’t officially sign it until after Pratt’s debut, then PPI is off the table.
Altogether, it’s a surprising and curious extension, one that seemingly leads to more questions than it answers. Perhaps the coming days will provide some more clarity on the deal and what it means for all the other moving pieces in Milwaukee.
Bob Nightengale of USA Today first reported that the two sides were working on an eight-year deal worth more than $50MM, including those club options. Jon Heyman of The New York Post reported the specific guarantee. Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reported that there are escalators on the options. Photos courtesy of Dave Kallmann, Imagn Images.
Brewers Acquire Luis Matos
The Brewers announced that they have acquired outfielder Luis Matos from the Giants in exchange for cash considerations. San Francisco had designated Matos for assignment last week when setting their Opening Day roster. To open a 40-man spot for him, Milwaukee has designated left-hander Sammy Peralta for assignment. Matos is out of options, so the Brewers will also need to open an active roster spot for him when he reports to the team.
Milwaukee is buying low on a former top prospect. Matos was a fairly high profile international signing out of Venezuela and he performed well against lower-level pitching. Going into 2022, Baseball America ranked him the #73 prospect in all of baseball. In November of that year, the Giants added him to their 40-man roster to keep him out of the Rule 5 draft.
He hasn’t been able to click in the majors. Over the past three seasons, the Giants sent him to the plate 593 times. His 14.2% strikeout rate was quite low but he also drew a walk at a subpar rate of 6.1%. He hit 15 home runs but his 231/.281/.369 batting line translated to a wRC+ of 80, putting him 20% below league average. He may have been held back by a .247 batting average on balls in play but his batted ball data wasn’t popping off the charts. His defensive metrics have been quite poor, though he’s been better in the corners than in center.
His minor league offense has been better in that time. In 823 minor league plate appearances over the past three years, he has 33 home runs and a .290/.354/.495 line. Even though most of those numbers were put up in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League, wRC+ still considered him to have been 19% above league average in that time.
As he was shuttled between Triple-A and the minors, he exhausted his option years. That made it harder for the Giants to keep committing a roster spot to him. They preferred to use their bench spots to keep the power bat of Jerar Encarnación and the speed of Jared Oliva.
The Brewers will take a shot on him. They have recently gotten good results from a few guys that other clubs gave up on, with Andrew Vaughn and Jake Bauers being a couple of examples. Perhaps they can get a similar post-hype breakout from Matos. He has under two years of club control, so he can be retained through 2030 if that pans out. He will qualify for arbitration at the end of this year as a Super Two guy if he holds his spot all year.
For now, he’ll have to find some playing time in the outfield. For the moment, Milwaukee has Jackson Chourio, Steward Berroa and Akil Baddoo on the injured list. That leaves them with Sal Frelick, Garrett Mitchell, Brandon Lockridge and Blake Perkins, with Christian Yelich perhaps playing the field on occasion when he’s not the designated hitter. One of them could be optioned to the minors to open a spot for Matos. Perkins started the season on optional assignment and was recalled when Chourio got hurt, so perhaps he will be the move.
Matos is a righty bat and he has better numbers against southpaws, so perhaps he can carve out a short-side platoon role as Mitchell and Frelick are lefties. Matos has a .238/.302/.411 line against lefties in his big league career, compared to a .226/.267/.342 slash against righties.
Peralta, 28 in May, was just claimed off waivers from the Angels in October. He was optioned to Triple-A Nashville earlier this month and therefore hasn’t appeared in a big league game for the Brewers. He has 45 2/3 innings on his track record from the previous three seasons with a 5.12 earned run average, 17.3% strikeout rate, 11.2% walk rate and 40.8% ground ball rate.
The lefty tossed 70 2/3 Triple-A innings last year. His 4.33 ERA wasn’t especially impressive but that performance came in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League. His 24.1% strikeout rate, 4.8% walk rate and 45.5% ground ball rate were all decent figures. He still has an option remaining and could appeal to a club looking for some pitching depth. DFA limbo can last as long as a week but the waiver process takes 48 hours, so the Brewers could take a maximum of five days to explore trade talks.
Photo courtesy of Mark J. Rebilas, Imagn Images
Brewers To Recall Jeferson Quero For MLB Debut, Place Andrew Vaughn On IL
2:06pm: Vaughn has been diagnosed with a fractured hand and will miss four to six weeks due to the injury, as relayed by McCalvy. He figures to undergo hamate surgery in the coming days.
11:16am: The Brewers are set to recall catching prospect Jeferson Quero for his MLB debut, per Daniel Alvarez-Montes of El Extrabase. A corresponding active roster move has not been announced, though MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy reports that first baseman Andrew Vaughn is headed for the injured list due to a hand injury.
Quero, 23, was signed out of Venezuela by the Brewers as an international amateur and made his pro debut in the Arizona Complex League back in 2021. Since then, he’s climbed the minor league ladder fairly steadily but enjoyed a breakout season in 2023 that put him on the map as a prospect to watch. That year, he hit a very impressive .262/.339/.440 across 90 games at the Double-A level as a 20 year old while showing the ability to handle the catcher position. That was enough to make him a consensus top-40 prospect in the sport.
Since then, Quero’s star has lost some of its shine thanks to injuries. He played in just one game during the 2024 season due to a significant shoulder injury that wound up requiring surgery. He returned to the field of play last year, but a hamstring injury helped limit him to just 68 games, only 59 of which were at the Triple-A level. In the 250 plate appearances he did receive at Triple-A, the then-22-year-old Quero hit just .255/.336/.412. His 10.0% walk rate and 14.0% strikeout rate show solid plate discipline and contact ability, but he didn’t hit for much power to speak of with just 21 extra-base hits and six homers in that time. That 101 wRC+ showing, in conjunction with injury woes and questions about his arm strength following shoulder surgery, was enough to knock Quero off most top-100 prospect lists this offseason.
Still, it’s fair to remember that Quero hasn’t really struggled much at the plate throughout his minor league career to this point and has shown the skills necessary to be a quality catcher. It would surprise no one if he becomes an impressive partner to William Contreras in the Milwaukee catching tandem in the fairly near future. With that being said, that end goal appears relatively far off given the presence of Gary Sanchez on the club’s 40-man roster. He serves as Contreras’s primary backup and, as a veteran who has been a roughly league average offensive player for several years now, he should have a considerable leash in that role.
For now, however, the Brewers are going with a three-catcher roster due to Vaughn’s injury. Though only a league average hitter for his career, Vaughn slashed a sensational .308/.375/.493 in 63 games with Milwaukee last year after being acquired from the White Sox midway through the year. That showing was enough for the Brewers to hand Vaughn the keys to the first base job, but after he left yesterday’s game due to a hand injury he’s evidently now ticketed for a trip to the shelf. It’s unclear just how long Vaughn will be out of commission at this point, and while he’s gone adding Quero to the roster should free Sanchez up for some starts at first base. Quero, as another right-handed hitter, also keeps a righty bat in the club’s bench mix.
Of course, Sanchez isn’t likely to be the only one in the first base mix while Vaughn is out. Switch-hitting Luis Rengifo could see some time there, creating an opportunity to get more playing time as he shares third base with David Hamilton. Another option would be to get lefty-swinging outfielder Jake Bauers in at first base, which would then open the door for one of Rengifo, switch-hitter Blake Perkins, or righty hitter Brandon Lockridge in the outfield mix. Bauers is the most experienced first baseman on the roster at this point, with over 2000 innings at the position in the majors throughout his career.
Dodgers Trade Damon Keith To Brewers
The Dodgers are trading minor league outfielder Damon Keith to the Brewers for cash, reports Adam McCalvy of MLB.com. The 25-year-old is expected to begin his tenure in the Milwaukee organization in Double-A.
Keith played the entire 2025 season at that level. He struggled to a .226/.296/.386 line with 11 home runs across 362 plate appearances. Keith swung and missed too often and struck out a near-31% clip. Whiffs have been an issue for the 6’3″ outfielder going back to his selection in the 18th round of the 2021 draft.
Eric Longenhagen, James Fegan and Brendan Gawlowski gave Keith an honorable mention in their writeup of the Dodgers’ farm system in December. They praised his right-handed power while unsurprisingly flagging a lack of bat control that has led to the whiffs. Keith ranked among L.A.’s top 30 prospects at Baseball America a few seasons ago but has fallen off the list as his strikeouts climbed at the higher levels.
Keith hasn’t played center field since he was in High-A during the 2023 season. He’s a corner bat who’ll look to put himself on the radar for a Milwaukee organization with a lot of outfield depth. Keith has gone unselected in the past two Rule 5 drafts. He’ll be eligible again next offseason but won’t reach minor league free agency until the end of the 2027 season if the Brewers don’t put him on the 40-man roster before then.
Brewers Place Jackson Chourio On IL Due To Fractured Hand
Opening Day arrives on a sour note for the Brewers, who announced this morning that star outfielder Jackson Chourio has been placed on the 10-day injured list due to a fracture in his left hand. Outfielder Blake Perkins is up from Triple-A Nashville to take his spot on the active roster. The early estimate for his return to game action is two to four weeks, per Todd Rosiak of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, who adds that a recent MRI detected a hairline fracture at the base of his third metacarpal. It’s believed that the injury dates back to a March 4 exhibition ahead of the World Baseball Classic.
Chourio went for imaging at the time he was plunked by that pitch, but initial testing resulted in a diagnosis of a contusion. He played, presumably through a good bit of discomfort, for Venezuela during the WBC and for Milwaukee following the tournament and wound up delivering a solid spring line during Cactus League play (.267/.333/.400).
Milwaukee has five off-days in the next month, so it’s possible Chourio only winds up sidelined for around 10% of the team’s 162 games. Even a short-term absence from one of the roster’s most talented players stings, however, particularly in what most expect to be a tightly contested division.
Though Chourio is only 22 years old, he’s already entering his third big league season. He’s a .272/.317/.463 hitter (115 wRC+) through his first 279 major league games and has coupled that above-average production with plus baserunning and quality outfield defense. Chourio is better suited for corner work than center field, but he’s capable in all three spots and played primarily center last season. A healthy Garrett Mitchell could push him to the corners with more regularly this season, but for now his focus will shift to rehabbing his ailing hand.
With Chourio out, the Brewers’ outfield mix now includes Perkins, Mitchell, Sal Frelick, Christian Yelich, Jake Bauers and Brandon Lockridge. Frelick, one of the game’s top defensive players, will be locked into right field on a daily basis. Mitchell should handle center against right-handed pitching at the very least, and the switch-hitting Perkins is much better from the right side of the dish, making him a natural platoon pairing in center. The left-handed Bauers and righty-swinging Lockridge create a viable platoon in left field. Yelich can mix in some left field work but has been primarily a designated hitter in recent seasons.
That’s a tenable enough setup for the short term, but the Chourio injury already puts a strain on Milwaukee’s outfield depth. All of the outfielders on the Brewers’ 40-man roster are now in the majors. Milwaukee has begun getting former top prospect Tyler Black, a corner infielder, some reps in the outfield corners and could turn to him in the event of another injury. Current top prospect Jett Williams has plenty of outfield experience should the need arise, though he’s not yet on the 40-man.
Poll: Who Will Win The NL Central?
With the 2026 season set to begin today, the offseason is now complete for MLB’s 30 teams. Until the playoffs begin, teams will be focused on a smaller goal: winning their division. In the run-up to the start of the season, we will be conducting a series of polls to gauge who MLBTR readers believe is the favorite in each division. The Blue Jays came out on top in the AL East, and the Tigers did the same in our poll on the AL Central, and the Mariners were predicted to win the AL West. Yesterday, MLBTR readers overwhelmingly voted (66%) to predict the Dodgers would win the NL West. Today, we’ll be moving on to the NL Central. All teams are listed in order of their 2025 regular season record:
Milwaukee Brewers (97-65)
The Brewers were the best team in baseball by regular season record last year. While their close NLDS matchup against their division rivals from Chicago and a demoralizing sweep at the hands of the Dodgers in the NLCS did little to answer questions about the club’s viability in October, they’ve won three straight division titles and haven’t finished a 162-game season with fewer than 86 wins since 2016. At some point, it becomes hard not to reward that consistency, and even after a winter where the club traded away Freddy Peralta, Isaac Collins, and Caleb Durbin without making any obviously impactful additions to the roster, it’s easy to imagine Milwaukee’s run of success continuing in 2026. Jackson Chourio is certainly capable of a breakout, and Jacob Misiorowski could make Brewers fans forget Peralta in a hurry if the flamethrowing righty takes a step forward.
Chicago Cubs (92-70)
The Cubs failed to win the division last season, lost to their division rivals in the ALDS, and watched superstar outfielder Kyle Tucker walk in free agency over the offseason. Despite all of that, however, Chicago is viewed by some around the game as the heavy favorite in the NL Central. That’s thanks to a busy offseason where they brought Alex Bregman into the organization and landed right-hander Edward Cabrera in trade. Those external additions, larger contributions from up-and-coming youngsters Moises Ballesteros and Cade Horton, and the healthy return of Justin Steele to the top of the club’s rotation should all help the Cubs make up for the loss of Tucker. The true x-factor for Chicago’s hopes in the division this year, however, will surely be the recently-extended Pete Crow-Armstrong. If he looks anything like he did in the first half of 2025, he should be in the MVP conversation and help lead the Cubs to new heights. If he’s more like his second half, however, the Cubs could find themselves on the outside looking in for what should be a competitive NL Central race this year.
Cincinnati Reds (83-79)
The Reds shocked many fans and analysts when they managed to squeak into the postseason last year, and this offseason saw them bring old friend Eugenio Suarez back into the fold to add some thump to a lineup that was lackluster for most of 2026. It was a strong addition to be sure, but the loss of both Hunter Greene and Nick Lodolo for the start of the 2026 season will put a lot of pressure on young arms like Rhett Lowder, Chase Burns, and Brandon Williamson to carry the team in the early parts of the season. If the team’s youngsters can do that until Greene returns to his spot at the top of the rotation, perhaps Suarez and Elly De La Cruz can create enough offense to get the Reds to the postseason in more convincing fashion this year.
St. Louis Cardinals (78-84)
The Cardinals finally executed their long-teased rebuild this offseason, dealing away Sonny Gray, Willson Contreras, Brendan Donovan, and Nolan Arenado in the span of three months. The resulting team has plenty of reasons for hope in the future, including star prospect JJ Wetherholt, but for the time being, it’s hard to see this club as anything other than the obvious weak link in the NL Central. A banner rookie season from Wetherholt would need to be combined with big steps forward for players like Jordan Walker, Nolan Gorman, and Matthew Liberatore alongside a rebound for Dustin May if there’s going to be any hope of playoff baseball in St. Louis this year. That’s a tall order to say the least, but players like Masyn Winn and Ivan Herrera at least look like solid building blocks for the future.
Pittsburgh Pirates (71-91)
The Pirates may have finished fifth in the NL Central last year, but it would be a shock to see them do so again in 2026. They’re a popular darkhorse pick to even take the division this year, and it’s not hard to see why. Reigning NL Cy Young award winner Paul Skenes might be the best pitcher on the planet, and he’s backed up by a strong rotation that also includes Bubba Chandler and Mitch Keller headed into 2026. Those pitchers will be supported by a completely rebuilt offense this year, as Brandon Lowe, Marcell Ozuna, Ryan O’Hearn, and Jake Mangum are all in place to help boost a lineup that relied on Spencer Horwitz, Oneil Cruz, and Bryan Reynolds as its middle of the order bats last year. A bullpen that lost David Bednar at last year’s trade deadline but added Gregory Soto over the winter comes with some questions, and the team’s defense seems likely to leave something to be desired, but this is easily the most competitive the Pirates have been in a decade.
How do MLBTR readers think the NL Central will shake out this year? Will Milwaukee’s dominance continue despite dealing away Peralta and others? Will the Cubs take that extra step even after losing Kyle Tucker? Have the Pirates or Reds done enough to bridge the gap and push themselves into the conversation? Or will the Cardinals’ expected rebuilding phase end before it even begins? Have your say in the poll below:
Who will win the NL Central in 2026?
Brewers Acquire Jake Woodford
The Brewers have acquired right-hander Jake Woodford from the Rays, reports Adam McCalvy of MLB.com. It had been reported by Marc Topkin of The Tampa Bay Times that Woodford had triggered the upward mobility clause in his minor league deal with Tampa. The Rays receive right-hander K.C. Hunt in return. Milwaukee placed outfielder Akil Baddoo on the 60-day injured list to open a 40-man spot for Woodford, per McCalvy.
Woodford, 29, signed a minor league deal with the Rays in November. It was recently reported that the deal contained an upward mobility clause. When such a clause is triggered, a player has to be offered up to the other teams in the league. If any of them are willing to give the player a roster spot, the signing club must either trade him or add him to their own roster. In this case, it seems the Brewers were willing to add him, while the Rays preferred a trade to holding on.
The righty’s best seasons to date came in St. Louis. Over the 2021 and 2022 campaigns, he gave the Cardinals 116 innings, allowing 3.26 earned runs per nine. His 15.4% strikeout rate wasn’t good but he induced grounders on 45.8% of balls in play and limited walks to a 7.5% clip.
The past three years have been a struggle, with Woodford finishing all three with an ERA above 6.00. Unsurprisingly, he had to settle for a minor league deal this winter. He threw 7 1/3 innings in camp for the Rays, allowing one earned run while allowing four hits, two walks, hitting one batter while striking out five.
For what it’s worth, his velocity has ticked up slightly. He had mostly been around 92 miles per hour with his four-seamer and sinker in his career. With the Diamondbacks last year, he got both pitches above 93 mph. He’s been around 94 mph in spring training this year.
The Brewers will take a flier on him to see if that helps him unlock a new gear. Milwaukee has a huge amount of flexibility on the pitching staff. Prior to this deal, Brandon Woodruff and Rob Zastryzny were the only guys on the 40-man who can’t be optioned to the minors. The latter is going to begin the season on the injured list.
Woodford is out of options, so he will be on the active roster, perhaps holding a spot as other arms are shuttled on and off. The club has a reputation for helping pitchers find the best versions of themselves. If they can do that with Woodford and he holds a spot all year, he can be retained for next season via arbitration, though Woodford will obviously have to put up some good numbers before that becomes a consideration. If the club wants to remove him from the 26-man roster at some point, he’ll also have to be removed from the 40-man.
Hunt, 25, spent last year as a starter at the Double-A level. He made 26 starts and logged 121 1/3 innings with a 4.45 ERA, 23.8% strikeout rate, 8.4% walk rate and 45.7% ground ball rate. FanGraphs ranked him the #51 prospect in the system a few months ago, projecting him as likely to end up as a depth starter. The Rays presumably feel it’s a decent outcome to turn a veteran on a minor league deal into a somewhat notable prospect, even if he doesn’t project to be a future star.
Baddoo was signed to a major league deal this offseason but he suffered a left quad strain a little over a week ago. It’s evidently a pretty bad strain, as this transaction rules him out until at least late May. The Brewers will start the season with Jackson Chourio, Sal Frelick and Garrett Mitchell in the outfield. Christian Yelich will be out there occasionally, when he’s not the designated hitter. Brandon Lockridge will be on the bench. Blake Perkins has been optioned to Triple-A and will likely be the first man up if someone gets injured.
Photo courtesy of Mark J. Rebilas, Imagn Images
Reese McGuire Opts Out Of Brewers Contract
The Brewers announced that catcher Reese McGuire has become a free agent after exercising an out clause in his minor league contract. Rather than an Article XX(B) free agent situation, this was a specific clause in McGuire’s deal, and Curt Hogg of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel writes that McGuire can return to the Brewers if he doesn’t sign elsewhere within the next 72 hours.
William Contreras has Milwaukee’s starting catching job on lock, and Gary Sanchez was signed to a guaranteed big league deal in February. The Sanchez signing was a major roadblock to McGuire’s chances of winning the backup job, plus highly-touted catching prospect Jeferson Quero is at Triple-A and is likely to make his MLB debut before 2026 is over.
This crowded depth chart made it unlikely McGuire would be breaking camp with the team, which is probably why this interesting release clause was negotiated into his contract in the first place. McGuire has over five years of big league service time and can’t be optioned to the minors without his permission, so this 72-hour window gives him some time to access his options before deciding whether or not to accept a trip to the Brewers’ Triple-A affiliate.
Catching depth is enough of a need around baseball that McGuire could find another job on a team with a clearer path to MLB playing time. McGuire has a good reputation as a defensive catcher, and he has carved out an eight-year career with four different teams at the Major League level, including a 44-game stint with the Cubs last year that saw the backstop hit .226/.245/.444 with nine homers over 140 plate appearances. That little power surge in Wrigleyville was an outlier, as McGuire has hit only .242/.286/.352 over his last 1040 PA.
Brewers Option Logan Henderson, Blake Perkins
TODAY: Lockridge and Sproat have been told they’re making the Opening Day roster, as per Adam McCalvy.
MARCH 19: The Brewers made a few camp cuts on Thursday. Starter Logan Henderson, outfielder Blake Perkins, and corner bat Tyler Black were all sent out and will open the season with Triple-A Nashville.
Two weeks ago, Henderson had seemingly been well positioned for a spot in the Opening Day rotation. There are at least two jobs up for grabs after the Freddy Peralta trade and with Quinn Priester beginning the season on the injured list. The Brewers have rotation roles committed to Jacob Misiorowski, Chad Patrick and (assuming he’s fully built up) Brandon Woodruff.
The 24-year-old Henderson was firmly in the mix after impressing over his first five MLB starts a year ago. His odds of breaking camp were set back when he reported minor elbow soreness last week. Henderson had finished the 2025 season on the injured list with elbow inflammation. The team didn’t consider this recent flareup especially alarming — he’s already throwing again — but he hasn’t appeared in a Spring Training game in two weeks.
Skipper Pat Murphy indicated the demotion is largely about giving Henderson a chance to build his workload in the minors. “Part of this move is to make sure he can go post regularly,” Murphy told reporters (link via Adam McCalvy of MLB.com). “We’re not going to immediately build him up to five innings. We’re going to let him go two innings and see how he responds, two innings and see how he responds. Just make sure he’s responding each time because he’s had (an injury) history.”
This probably paves the way for Brandon Sproat and Kyle Harrison to round out the rotation. Harrison left yesterday’s appearance with a blister, but it’s not expected to be an issue moving forward. Robert Gasser and Shane Drohan are also still in the mix, with Drohan having the far more impressive camp of those two.
Acquired from the Red Sox in the Caleb Durbin trade, Harrison has allowed 12 runs (eight earned) across 9 2/3 spring innings. That’s obviously not ideal, but he has struck out 15 opponents while averaging 95 mph on his fastball. Sproat came over from the Mets as part of the Peralta return. He has allowed five runs with a 10:2 strikeout-to-walk ratio over nine innings.
In any case, the Brewers will lean heavily on their bullpen while frequently shuttling starters up and down from Nashville. There’s more clarity on the position player side, which is down to 14 a week before Opening Day. The final camp cut will almost certainly be third catcher Reese McGuire, a non-roster invitee.
McCalvy notes that the Perkins option means Brandon Lockridge is heading north with the club. The speedster won the fourth outfield role by hitting .314 with four homers and three steals in 12 games this spring. He’ll join Gary Sánchez, Jake Bauers and utility infielder David Hamilton on the season-opening bench.
Quinn Priester Dealing With Nerve Issue
TODAY: Priester told McCalvy and other reporters that he hopes to be back in “late April, May, but I certainly think I’m on the optimistic side as a player. I want to be back as quick as possible. Ultimately, I’ll trust whatever the scheduling is, to make sure we do it right.”
MARCH 12: Brewers starter Quinn Priester met with a specialist this afternoon after being nagged by wrist soreness. Testing revealed that the righty is dealing with a nerve issue in his shoulder, manager Pat Murphy told reporters (links via Curt Hogg of The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel and Adam McCalvy of MLB.com).
Murphy said the injury is “in that thoracic outlet syndrome family.” Any mention of TOS is concerning given how difficult it can be for some pitchers to overcome. The Brewers are still mostly downplaying their level of concern. Murphy expressed confidence Priester will be able to rehab without surgery. He’s continuing a light throwing program and is scheduled for a bullpen session next weekend.
The nerve pressure explains the recurring nature of Priester’s injury. He first felt the wrist discomfort in the second half of last season. He didn’t anticipate it being an issue this spring but battled it intermittently during his ramp-up period. Although it’s rooted in his shoulder, nerve pain can manifest throughout the arm. Max Scherzer, for example, battled an upper arm nerve injury between 2024-25 that mostly appeared as thumb soreness.
It was already apparent that Priester would open the season on the injured list. This diagnosis doesn’t inherently mean he’s facing an extended absence. However, it highlights the open-endedness of his recovery timeline. Brandon Woodruff, Jacob Misiorowski and Chad Patrick project as Milwaukee’s top three starters to begin the season — assuming Woodruff builds back fully from last year’s lat strain. Brandon Sproat and Kyle Harrison could round out the group if Logan Henderson’s minor elbow discomfort puts him behind schedule for Opening Day.
Murphy also provided an update on depth outfielder Akil Baddoo, who suffered a left quad strain this week. The injury is more serious than the Brewers initially anticipated. Baddoo will need multiple weeks before he’s able to resume baseball activity. He’s obviously going to begin the season on the injured list and could be a 60-day IL candidate. Baddoo wasn’t in line for an Opening Day roster spot, but the Brewers liked him enough to sign him to a big league split deal over the offseason.