6:50pm: Murphy’s deal comes with $8.95MM in new money, reports Jeff Passan of ESPN.
5:50pm: The Brewers and manager Pat Murphy have agreed to a new deal, reports Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. It’s a three-year contract with a club option for 2029. Murphy was previously going into the final season of a three-year deal he signed ahead of the 2024 campaign. This deal reworks the final year of his previous pact, adds two more guaranteed seasons and the option.
It’s not at all surprising that the Brewers and Murphy have worked out a deal to keep their relationship going. Murphy took over two seasons ago after Craig Counsell surprisingly departed for the division-rival Cubs. The Brewers didn’t miss a beat, going 93-69 in 2024 and winning the National League Central division crown. Murphy won N.L. Manager of the Year honors in his first season at the helm. The club was eliminated in the Wild Card round but awards voting takes place before the playoffs.
It was more of the same last year. The Brewers increased their win total to 97, which was enough for them to repeat as division champs and was actually the best record in the majors. Murphy took home Manager of the Year honors yet again. The club advanced as far as the NLCS but were felled by the Dodgers.
As mentioned, Murphy had initially signed a three-year deal when taking over for Counsell and had already gone through two thirds of that pact. Teams generally don’t like their managers or executives to be serving in lame-duck status. Given Milwaukee’s success during Murphy’s tenure, it seemed highly likely that his contract status would change before the 2026 campaign kicked off.
While there is consistency in the manager’s seat, the roster has seen turnover. Most notably, Freddy Peralta and Tobias Myers were traded to the Mets for Jett Williams and Brandon Sproat. Another big deal saw Caleb Durbin shipped to the Red Sox as part of a trade including six players and a draft pick.
Murphy has had experience guiding the club through such changes. The Brewers traded Corbin Burnes to the Orioles ahead of Murphy’s first season. Ahead of the 2025 campaign, Willy Adames left for the Giants via free agency and Devin Williams was traded to the Yankees. Despite the notable departures, the club has continued to have success in the regular season.
Going into 2026, the club surely expects more success but the division will be tougher. The Cubs and Reds both snagged Wild Card spots last year and have made big moves to upgrade for 2026. The Cubs have added Alex Bregman and Edward Cabrera, among others. The Reds were able to add Eugenio Suárez. The Pirates have one of the best farm systems in baseball and have brought in Brandon Lowe, Ryan O’Hearn and Marcell Ozuna this winter.
Despite the stronger field, the Brewers will go into 2026 as one of the favorites for another strong performance. Murphy will look to get them back to the playoffs yet again and, ideally, take them farther into the postseason.
Photos courtesy of Kirby Lee, Mark Hoffman, Imagn Images
Good for Pat and the Brewers.
Very cool.
Hoped they would take Council back.
Wasting $ on a manager yikes. You can replace him with Murphy if he wants to be highest paid.
@Lime: Hoped you would spell Counsell right.
Well earned.
It’s great that a college coach has had this success. Hopefully it opens the door for more college coaches to coach in the MLB. There are some really good NCAA baseball coaches.
He’s a perfect coach for the team he’s on where the whole plan is bringing up young talent and getting the most out of them.
Good news for Dodgers fans
Yeah, he’s definitely the reason they lost.
It had nothing to do with the 3 times higher payroll and all star team the Dodgers can afford to trot out, and all came down to the brilliant tactician Dave Roberts skillfully outmaneuvering the numbskull 2 time reigning MOY.
Smart because he would’ve been headed to New York after they fire Boone this year
Boone has the job for life.
Part of the deal is unlimited waffles.
*pancakes
Nope, 2026 is the year of the waffle. You can easily break it into 4 pieces, making it easier to put in your pocket for later.
Big win for pocket pancake fans everywhere.
Awesome!
I’m happy for Pat Murphy, good for him. But, in general, how much value- added does any MLB manager have that justifies being paid a multi- million dollar salary? NFL, NBA, and NHL coaches have much more impact on their teams’ performance.
Ask the highest-paid(greatest EVER) MLB manager for the cubs.
He left for the $$ and hasn’t beaten the team he wanted to extort….hilarious.
For big spending teams like the Yankees and Dodgers that have experienced vets, maybe not so much of a difference. But for a franchise that depends on bringing up young talent, a former college coach teaching them at all times, it probably matters a lot.
Refer to Sparky ,when asked what makes him a great manager , he pointed to the locker room … “ I give Tom the ball “
Legendary Padres Manager
Nice work extending a very good manager. Pat appears as one of those old school managers that does not show a lot of emotion regardless what is happening on the field and appears to command respect by his players and coaches. Brewer fans everywhere should be happy with this decision.
please make him wear a conventional jersey. The short sleeved hoodie shirt makes him look like John Wayne in cuffed waders.
I’m curious about how long this whole “David versus Goliath “ shtick will play out . Hey Pat, the players are on to you !
It seems like every year the writers are talking about how weak the NL Central is, then come October they seem to have more representation than the other two divisions in the playoffs. If this was solely due to having a perennial couple of low expectation teams each season in the division (Which is every division outside the AL East) then this phenomenon should have ended when they balanced the schedule with more interleague games and series outside the division. The division does not typically have heavy spenders outside of Chicago so perhaps that is part of the diminished pre season expectations. Good on the Crew for this extension.
Yet again, more comma errors. “Murphy will look to get them back to the playoffs yet again and, ideally, take them farther into the postseason” is wrong. There should be a comma BEFORE “and,” not after.
Thank you, punctuation police. I feel like everyone understood what they were trying to say without the explanation.
I understand what toddlers are trying to say, doesn’t mean they’re always correct.