Wednesday, November 19

During a break at the GM Meetings on Tuesday, Brewers president of baseball operations Matt Arnold sounded much more like a baseball man ready to make a deal.

“We try to evaluate ourselves as hard as anybody,” Arnold said. “Like, we want to make sure we're turning over every rock we possibly can to do better, and sometimes that requires making really tough decisions. We've had to do that in the past, and we're prepared to do the same thing this year.”

Arnold’s most valuable chip is right-hander Freddy Peralta, the 29-year-old coming off a season in which he led the National League with 17 victories while making 33 starts, posting a 2.70 ERA and striking out 200 or more for the third straight season.

A couple of weeks ago in the immediate wake of the Brewers’ season-ending loss to the Dodgers in the NL Championship Series, Arnold said he hadn’t yet thought about trading Peralta. Now that tone has shifted, with the offseason underway and Peralta going into his final year of the contract extension he signed in 2020, when he was 23 and just starting his big league career.

The Brewers do not have to trade Peralta this offseason. They could keep him and count on him to lead a young rotation with Quinn Priester, Jacob Misiorowski, Robert Gasser (their No. 18 prospect per MLB Pipeline) and Logan Henderson (No. 5), then consider whether to deal him at the Trade Deadline or hold him to the end of his contract. Milwaukee took the latter strategy with shortstop Willy Adames last offseason, and it wound up with the No. 32 overall Draft pick in 2025 as compensation when he departed after he signed with the Giants last December.

But the club’s history suggests that it’s different with pitchers, given the value and volatility of the position.

The Brewers traded closer Devin Williams to the Yankees last December when he was on the cusp of his final season prior to free agency, and they dealt 2021 NL Cy Young Award-winning starter Corbin Burnes to the Diamondbacks the offseason before that when he was in the same contractual position. In 2022, Milwaukee dealt elite closer Josh Hader when he had a year and a half of control remaining, lest it miss a chance to deal him at peak value.

In 2020, the Brewers traded Corey Knebel, another All-Star closer, to the Dodgers when he was going into his final year of control. And before that, they dealt steady starters Chase Anderson and Zach Davies when they were one and two years, respectively, from free agency.

For one of the rare examples of holding a healthy All-Star-caliber pitcher going into his final year of control, you have to go all the way back to Zack Greinke in 2012. In that instance, the Brewers dealt him to the Angels for prospects at the Trade Deadline.

In every instance, the Brewers received players in return with multiple years of control. That’s one way they have stacked up seven postseason appearances in the past eight years while maintaining modest payrolls.

“Every situation is really unique,” Arnold said Tuesday when asked specifically about Peralta. “Certainly, every team in the league is interested in Freddy Peralta, but he means a lot to us, too. I would anticipate he's part of our team.”

Arnold conceded that could change, however.

“Look, I think in all these cases, it's a tough decision for all of us,” Arnold said. “We've had to make tough decisions on the Haders of the world and Corbin Burnes and things like that, and Freddy is certainly in that conversation. We’ll never close the door on anything, just because we're the smallest market in the league and we have to make tough decisions like that. But, you know, we think he can certainly help us next year.”

Peralta proved valuable to the Brewers on and off the field, working with catcher William Contreras as a mentor to some of the team’s young Spanish-speaking stars like closer Abner Uribe and outfielder Jackson Chourio.

Coming off a demotion and a suspension during a lost 2024 season, Uribe proved he’s Milwaukee’s closer of the future by logging a 1.77 ERA in 80 games between the regular season and postseason. And Chourio avoided a sophomore slump by becoming the youngest player to secure consecutive 20-20 seasons.

Both credited Peralta for helping to guide the way.

“Watching him go from like he's a teenager to this, Freddy's the best, man,” Arnold said. “He's just great. He lights up a room every time, and then when he pitches, he lights up the radar gun and everything else. I mean, he's just great in every way. I love Freddy a lot.”

Brewers skipper Pat Murphy joined an elite fraternity of skippers to win the Baseball Writers' Association of America’s Manager of the Year Award in consecutive seasons. Before Tuesday, there was just the Braves’ Bobby Cox (2004-05) and the Rays’ Kevin Cash (2020-21). Now there are two more, with Murphy and his friend and Guardians manager Stephen Vogt each winning for the second straight year.

Being associated with Cox was particularly meaningful, since one of his early managing jobs was with the Triple-A Syracuse Chiefs in the Yankees’ farm system. Murphy grew up in Syracuse, and he recalls lingering beyond the right-field wall at Douglas MacArthur Stadium to retrieve baseballs hit during batting practice, only to be chased away by Cox and his coaches. Years later, when Murphy was head coach at Arizona State, he approached Cox in an empty dugout before a Braves-Diamondbacks game in Phoenix to tell that story, along with how much he idolized Cox for so many years. As Cox stared back silently, Murphy said, “I’ve always wanted to meet you.”

“And now you have,” Cox replied.

Murphy laughs at the memory. It’s exactly the sort of deadpan response he’s become known for in the years since. 

He talked about that and much more here: Read more >>

No matter the results of National League Rookie of the Year Award balloting, Brewers third baseman Caleb Durbin considered 2025 a win.

“There’s a sense of confidence,” Durbin said during a phone conversation last week. “It’s like, I know I can do it.”

The 25-year-old infielder did it well enough to finish third for the Baseball Writers’ Association of America’s top rookie honor in the NL, behind winner Drake Baldwin of the Braves and runner-up Cade Horton of the Cubs. Durbin was one of four Brewers players who garnered votes, ahead of outfielder Isaac Collins (fourth) and pitchers Chad Patrick (seventh) and Jacob Misiorowski (11th). Durbin and Collins each finished as high as second on a pair of ballots.

It’s a rewarding way to begin the offseason for Durbin, who already underwent a minor surgery on his right elbow, which you can learn more about here: Read more >>

MLB’s Awards season isn’t over. The Brewers didn’t have any finalists for the NL MVP Award, but Brice Turang and perhaps Christian Yelich have a chance to show up on some ballots when results are unveiled during what will be a busy Thursday evening. 

That’s also when MLB will reveal its 2025 Executive of the Year Award. Milwaukee’s Matt Arnold won that honor last year and is a candidate again after the Brewers won 97 games and a third consecutive NL Central crown. He has a chance to be the first multi-time winner of that award, which debuted in 2018. 

Also on Thursday, the league will name the Hank Aaron Award winners, Comeback Players of the Year, Mariano Rivera & Trevor Hoffman Relievers of the Year, Edgar Martinez Outstanding Designated Hitter of the Year and selections for the All-MLB First and Second Teams during the MLB Awards presented by MGM Rewards at The Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas. The event will air live on MLB Network and can be streamed on MLB.com, MLB.TV and the MLB App beginning at 8 p.m. CT. 

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