The Brewers and catcher William Contreras have avoided arbitration, reports Curt Hogg of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. He and the Brewers have signed a one-year deal with a club option for 2026. Per Mark Feinsand of MLB.com, the backstop will make $6MM this year and there’s a $100K buyout on the $12MM option, so he’s guaranteed $6.1MM. He will still be under club control if that club option is eventually turned down.
January 15 was the deadline for teams and arbitration-eligible players to exchange filing figures. The majority of players agreed to terms with their respective clubs ahead of that deadline but Contreras was one of the 17 that did not. He filed at $6.5MM and the club at $5.6MM. This agreement puts him slightly beyond the midpoint of those two figures. MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz had projected the backstop for $7.6MM.
After the filing deadline, teams and players are free to continue negotiating. However, most clubs adopt a “file and trial” policy, meaning that they refuse to negotiate one-year deals after the deadline. It’s quite common to see deals emerge after the deadline but before a hearing, though a club or mutual option will be involved. That’s a technicality since the option means the deal can’t be used as a comparable for future arb cases. That has come to pass in this case.
This is the first of three arbitration chances for Contreras, who is under club control through 2027. His subsequent raises will be based off his base salary in 2025, making this a significant case for player and club. As mentioned, the option is mostly a technicality. Even if the club eventually turns it down, he will still be under club control by the Brewers via arbitration.
Contreras came to the Brewers from Atlanta prior to the 2023 campaign, part of the three-team deal that sent Sean Murphy to Atlanta. In his two seasons in Milwaukee, he has slashed .285/.366/.462 for a wRC+ of 128. His defensive metrics also greatly improved relative to his time in Atlanta. He’s been worth 11.2 wins above replacement over those two campaigns, in the eyes of FanGraphs.
Sweet
Hopefully the Brewers learned something when messing up with Burnes
They didn’t mess up. Burnes was just a cry baby attention boar and Milwaukee was trading him whether they agreed to a offer or went to arbitration. And they could not would not sign him as a free agent. And if they somehow could and wanted to he would have gladly signed with them for a significant amount of more money. And if they gave him his number in arbitration he wouldn’t give them any home team discount. These guys are mercenaries. Just like the teams. Obviously there are few exceptions different tiers of shrewdness.
You hit it on the head. The Brewers have changed the atmosphere and the clubhouse attitude, with guys who want to be part of this organization. Everybody who has left has always had big money in mind, and honestly didn’t do extra stuff to get to the next level or made enough sacrifices. They had the me first type attitude. Now I get they have to look out for themselves to a point. But none of them were like Sabathia, Yount, Molitor, Braun, Fielder, Hart, and numerous others. Keep it real Burnes, CC, Adames, Hader have all been overpaid.
Burnes didn’t do extra stuff to get to the next level??? You brewers fans are delusional. Burnes is known for a maniacal work ethic, which made him into one of the 5 best pitchers on the planet. Went from a so-so reliever starting only 13 games total the first 3 years to act Young winner. But, yeah he totally didn’t do the extra stuff he just woke up year 4 as a 5 WAR pitcher that won the CY Young.
Burnes has talent no question about but when he is off he is homerun prone big time and the only way he gets out of that is coaches. He doesn’t figure it out on his own and make adjustments during a game. Not like a guy like Woodruff. Now you better have the right coaches in Arizona or this guy becomes the new Patrick Corbin
He was actually a very good reliever early on
Cry some more. Just b/c you owner chooses not to pay stars and cries broke doesn’t mean the mindless fans need to adopt said strategy.
@16. Burnes said repeatedly that he was going to free agency even before he made the mistake of attending his own arbitration case. We now have 3 players that we wouldn’t have now had we not traded Burnes. You sound like just another “pay them what they want” MLB Players Union Rep. Good for you.
@blueboy
You’re pretty high and far out. What kind of kick are you on, son?
What was it they could learn from the Burnes experience?
Kind of suprised they didn’t go to hearing and see if they could save an extra 50 cents
Still love the fact that the Brewers were an afterthought in the Sean Murphy trade, yet they were able to acquire 3 players by giving up 1 prospect and so far, it seems they’ve won the trade by a landslide. Justin Yeager hasn’t shown much in the minors but both Joel Payamps and Contreras have been stars for the Brewers.
An afterthought? I don’t think so, Contreras was a highly regarded piece, it’s just that the A’s already had 2 great catching prospects and wanted a CF instead. The Brewers were always considered a winner on the trade just for getting Contreras. I don’t think anyone knew just how favorable the trade would end up being for them, but they were never an “afterthought”
Agree with this SoCal. Contreras was very highly rated block was young and inexperienced. Braves wanted a win now, manage a championship rotation catcher. The A’s are, well the A’s so there was no way they’d be getting the right prospects in this or any deal.
I disagree with both of yall….Brewers / Contreras were definitely an afterthought in that trade that ultimately worked out for them the best. They were reported as the ‘3rd team’ in that trade with little fanfare or news. Brewers won that trade on speculation alone smh…
This is absolutely false. Doesn’t matter if they were mentioned as the “3rd team”. Contreras made the All-Star team the year he was traded. The Brewers were never an afterthought in a trade in which they acquired a young all-star, pre-arb player. I for one was an unhappy Braves fan when the deal was made because I knew Mil got a stud. Nothing at all to do with Murphy but I just felt it was a lateral move at best and one that made no sense. Also Contreras fit so well on the Braves and loved being a Brave. No doubt in my mind AA could have offered him a team friendly extension instead of trading him and he would have jumped at it. I’m an AA fan but this trade was bad from the jump and Mil was never an afterthought.
1 of our mlbtr community members seems to have called it pretty accurately from day 1. I won’t say which one as they are extremely modest.
“Can be a big win for MIL. Ruiz the only piece? Could be Pache 2.0 I like him much much better but MIL knows what they are doing.
For the A’s this isn’t close to their fantasy baseball Cardinals trade. They got a lot of potential but are going to have to finish developing it themselves if they want anything special. Id rather went younger high upside prospects if available. A’s shouldn’t have boxed themselves in to mlb ready.
Braves parted with quantity to get quality in a win now move.”
I never understood this trade. Like you said a lateral move at best. You can’t win all trades but it seemed like AA was making a trade just for the sake of making a trade…hated seeing Contreras go
Attanasio is a penny pincher and that’ll never change.
Get a clue!! Try being an owner of the smallest media market in baseball
Will someone explain to me how the entire league essentially going with the “file & trial” policy isn’t collusion in the eyes of the MLBPA?
Attanasio is NOT a penny pincher. He got to where he is by carefully analyzing the whole picture and making a decision based on the facts. As much as it would be nice to have the financial resources of teams like the Dodgers and Yankees, the reality is we are not those two markets. We’ve been pretty successful under Attanasio’s ownership and there are plenty of other teams that wish they could be based on the results.
Contreras is at the top of his profession at catcher. Few are more clutch and have improved their defense like he has.. The Brewers are getting a deal with today’s salaries and what they’re getting at such a premium position. I wouldn’t trade him for Soto in what he brings all-around. Hmmm? Maybe Soto at the same salary as William. He adds stability to our everyday line-up. Love him!
All of these accounts sticking up for the brewers owner is funny. Didn’t he just threaten to leave Milwaukee until he got $500 million in taxpayer money? Poor guy can barely run his business without welfare
Although I largely agree with your take, I will say this, the government still owns the property Am Fam Field is on and us taxpayers were told it was for upgrading the stadium. It extended the lease until 2050 which was the selling point to the public. Our owner does suck, that’s for sure but there’s nothing wrong with being fiscal in this age of players union wage gouging. The Brewers may be just below the middle of the pack in payroll yet we seem to make the playoffs often. Weak division? Maybe but we always seem to surprise those who can’t find Milwaukee on a map.