Thursday, October 30

Here are the dates, names and decision points to know as the Brewers’ Hot Stove season kicks into high gear. 

What are the key dates? 

First day after the World Series: Eligible players become free agents. Also, the trade freeze is lifted and Major League players may be traded between clubs. 

Fifth day after the World Series: The deadline for teams and players to make decisions on contract options, the deadline for clubs to reinstate all players on the 60-day injured list and the deadline for clubs to tender qualifying offers (4 p.m. CT). Also, the “quiet period” ends and Major League free agents are free to sign with any club as of 4 p.m. CT.  

Nov. 10-13: General Managers Meetings in Las Vegas. 

Nov. 18: The deadline for players to accept a qualifying offer is 3 p.m. CT. Also the deadline to add players to the 40-man roster to protect them from the Rule 5 Draft is 5 p.m. CT. 

Nov. 21: Tender deadline. By 7 p.m. CT on the Friday before Thanksgiving, teams must formally tender a contract to all unsigned players for the following season, including their arbitration-eligible players. If a player is non-tendered, he becomes a free agent. 

Dec. 8-11: Winter Meetings in Orlando, including the MLB Draft lottery on Dec. 9 and the Rule 5 Draft on Dec. 10.  

Dec. 15: End of the 2025 international signing period. 

Jan. 8, 2026: Eligible players and clubs exchange arbitration figures. 

Jan. 15, 2026: Start of the new international signing period. 

Feb. 11, 2025: Brewers pitchers and catchers report to Spring Training. 

Who are the Brewers' free agents? 

Shelby Miller 

Jordan Montgomery 

The Brewers acquired both veteran pitchers in a Trade Deadline deal with the D-backs, essentially adding Miller in exchange for covering part of Montgomery’s remaining salary as he recovers from Tommy John surgery. Now Miller, too, is recovering from right elbow surgery and will be sidelined next season. 

What about contract options? 

C William Contreras ($12M club, $100,000 buyout)* 
1B Rhys Hoskins ($18M mutual, $4M buyout) 
C Danny Jansen ($12M mutual, $500,000 buyout) 
RHP Freddy Peralta ($8M club, no buyout) 
LHP Jose Quintana ($15M mutual, $2M buyout) 
RHP Brandon Woodruff ($20M mutual, $10M buyout) 

(*Contreras would be arbitration-eligible if option is declined) 

Will any of them get a qualifying offer? 

Maybe Woodruff, provided he becomes a free agent -- with a heavy emphasis on "maybe." This year’s figure is $22.025 million, the average of the top 125 salaries in MLB. Why would the Brewers decline a $20 million option and pay a $10 million buyout only to make a one-year offer north of $22 million? Because they would be banking on Woodruff declining the offer in order to seek a multiyear contract in free agency, in which case Milwaukee would be in line to receive a compensatory pick in next year’s MLB Draft, as laid out in MLB.com’s glossary entry on qualifying offers.

Last year, Willy Adames declined the Brewers’ qualifying offer and signed a huge contract with the Giants, netting Milwaukee the 32nd overall pick in the Draft as compensation. The club used that pick to select California prep infielder Brady Ebel, who ranks No. 11 on MLB Pipeline’s Top 30 Brewers prospects list. But that decision on Adames was a slam dunk; the call on Woodruff is a far bigger gamble. 

If you want to learn more about the system of qualifying offers, including who is eligible this year and who is not, my colleague Thomas Harrigan has you covered in this explainer. 

Who is arbitration-eligible? 

Jake Bauers 
Nick Mears 
Trevor Megill 
Garrett Mitchell^ 
Blake Perkins^ 
Brice Turang^ 
Andrew Vaughn 

(^ - first-time eligible) 

Are any of those players non-tender candidates? 

Probably not. 

Who needs to be added to the 40-man roster this offseason? 

The Brewers added right-handers Logan Henderson and Chad Patrick to the 40-man roster last November to protect them from December’s Rule 5 Draft, but left another righty -- Shane Smith -- unprotected, and came to regret it. The White Sox picked Smith first overall and he made the American League All-Star team on the way to a 3.81 ERA in 29 starts and 146 1/3 innings.  

So who must Milwaukee protect this year? It’s a short list that includes only one Top 30 prospect in 24-year-old right-hander Coleman Crow (Brewers' No. 25), who’d just earned a promotion to Triple-A Nashville when he suffered a left hip injury in July that turned into a season-ender when he developed a flexor strain in his right forearm.  

Other notable farmhands who are eligible include 2022 first-round Draft pick Eric Brown Jr., who has been besieged by injuries over the past two seasons with Double-A Biloxi, catcher and on-base machine Matt Wood (.372 OBP last season between High-A Wisconsin and Biloxi) and infielder Ethan Murray, who got through the Rule 5 Draft last year and delivered a .726 OPS between Biloxi and Nashville in 2025. 

On the pitching side, the names include Justin Yeager, who delivered a 2.04 ERA in 49 appearances at the top two levels of Milwaukee’s system last season, including 18 appearances for Nashville in which he surrendered only two earned runs in 21 1/3 innings. Right-hander Alexander Cornielle made 29 starts for Biloxi and Nashville, with a 3.81 ERA and 135 strikeouts in 137 innings. And 6-foot-7 left-hander Brian Fitzpatrick jumped from Wisconsin to Biloxi to Nashville in 2025 while striking out 62 batters in 57 2/3 innings over 38 relief outings. 

Who is on the trade block? 

During a season wrap-up press conference, newly promoted president of baseball operations Matt Arnold said trading ace Freddy Peralta with one year remaining before free agency was “not at the front of my mind.” But the Brewers’ recent history says they could flip Peralta this winter for young, controllable players in the coming months as part of Milwaukee’s ongoing effort to compete for the postseason year after year. They did it with Corbin Burnes going into the 2024 season and with Devin Williams last winter. 

Other possible trade chips include All-Star closer Trevor Megill, who has two years of club control remaining, and, if they're absolutely bowled over by an offer, Contreras. The All-Star catcher is controllable for 2026 and ‘27 before reaching free agency. The Brewers are likely to go into next season with No. 4 prospect Jeferson Quero as Contreras’ backup behind the plate. And if he can avoid the sort of injuries that plagued the past two seasons, Quero looks like a solid player for the future. 

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