Brewers Rumors

The Brewers have promoted general manager Matt Arnold to president of baseball operations, per Adam McCalvy of MLB.com. “Since joining our organization in 2015, Matt Arnold has been instrumental in developing a culture and process that has led to seven postseason appearances over the past eight seasons,” said Brewers owner Mark Attanasio, adding, “We are proud of what Matt has accomplished and even more excited for what the future holds under his leadership.” McCalvy notes that Arnold’s responsibilities atop the front office will not change, though he will now hold both the president of baseball operations and GM titles.

Arnold was hired in October 2015 by then-president of baseball operations David Stearns and was promoted to GM in November 2020. Stearns would step down from his role after the 2022 season, leading to Arnold being put in charge of the front office, but still with the GM title. Clearly, the club is impressed with his results in the years since for him to receive this promotion. Since the start of 2023, the Brewers have posted a record of 282-204 (.580) and finished in first place in the NL Central in every year. This year’s 97-65 (.599) record was the best in the majors. The club lost in the Wild Card Series in 2023 and 2024 but made it to the NLCS in 2025, though they were swept by the Dodgers in four games.

While Arnold’s responsibilities with the Brewers are unchanged, he will presumably get a raise to go with his new title. More importantly, his promotion also prevents other clubs from offering the president title to hire him away from Milwaukee. Teams generally allow their executives to interview with other teams if they are offered a promotion. By promoting Arnold themselves, the Brewers are signaling their confidence in his leadership and securing their front office as they look to continue their recent dominance in the NL Central.

This year, the Brewers finished ninth in the majors with a 107 team wRC+ while scoring 806 runs, which ranked third. As a group, the team succeeded by avoiding strikeouts and getting on base, with a 20.3% strikeout rate that was tied for fourth-lowest in the majors and a 9.1% walk rate that was tied for fifth-best. The team saw five qualified hitters – Brice Turang, Christian Yelich, Sal Frelick, William Contreras, and Jackson Chourio – finish with a wRC+ of at least 110. The last of them, Chourio, was signed to an eight-year, $82MM extension before he debuted in the big leagues, which was the largest pre-debut extension at that time. Chourio has rewarded the team’s faith with a 115 wRC+ and a combined 6.9 fWAR from 2024-25, and the contract looks like it will be a highlight of Arnold’s tenure atop the baseball ops department.

Of course, the Brewers are also known as a strong pitching team, and that strength was on full display in 2025. The team pitched to a collective 3.59 ERA, a mark only bested by the Rangers (3.49), while striking out opposing hitters at a rate of 23.7%, which was tied for sixth in the majors. In addition to missing bats, Brewers pitchers also excelled by limiting hard contact. The team allowed hard hits at a rate of just 38.6%, which was second-best behind the Reds, while opponents hit for an average exit velocity of just 88.9 mph, which tied for fourth-best. The rotation was led by ace Freddy Peralta, who posted a 2.70 ERA and struck out an above average 28.2% of hitters in 176 2/3 innings. Quinn Priester, Jose Quintana, and Chad Patrick all posted ERAs under 4.00, while Jacob Misiorowski showed promise in 15 appearances (14 starts). The bullpen also excelled in 2025. Headlined by Abner Uribe, Trevor Megill, and Aaron Ashby, Brewers relievers tied for sixth in the majors with an ERA of 3.63 and posted the ninth-best strikeout rate at 23.3%. Peralta, Uribe, and others had been in the organization before Arnold took over as head of baseball ops, but Priester, Quintana, and Megill (acquired in 2023) stand out as solid additions under his tenure.

Ultimately, the club’s sustained performance over 2023-25 was enough for the club to give Arnold his promotion. The team will surely be looking for more of the same in 2026. Yelich and Contreras are under club control through at least 2027, while Chourio, Turang, and Frelick are under control through at least 2029. The club should fare well offensively next year with those five in the lineup. The pitching is a little less certain. The team holds mutual options on Quintana and Brandon Woodruff, who did well upon his return from injury but is expected to depart this winter. Mutual options are almost never picked up anyway, though the club may look to retain Quintana for the back of the rotation on another one-year deal.

The Brewers have historically run a low payroll compared to other teams. RosterResource has them at $123MM in payroll in 2025, which ranks 22nd in the league. The club holds an $8MM club option on Peralta. That’s practically a bargain for a player of his caliber, but he has been floated as a trade candidate recently. For his part, Arnold downplayed the possibility of a Peralta trade in the club’s end-of-season presser. “To be honest, it’s not at the front of my mind,” he said during the conference. The club will also see the departures of Woodruff, Rhys Hoskins (assuming his own mutual option is not picked up), and Shelby Miller, who combined for $24MM in payroll in 2025. If Arnold retains Peralta and reinforces the rotation through trades or low-cost signings, the Brewers will look to win the NL Central and make another deep postseason run in 2026.