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Brewers’ Blake Perkins Sidelined Through April Due To Shin Fracture

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Brewers outfielder Blake Perkins sustained a fracture in his right shin after fouling a ball off himself during batting practice, manager Pat Murphy told MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy and other reporters.  Perkins will miss the next 3-4 weeks in recovery, and Murphy pointed to May as a best-case scenario for Perkins’ return to the big league roster.

It’s a tough setback for the 28-year-old Perkins, who has established himself as a superb defensive player over his two MLB seasons (both with Milwaukee).  Perkins was a Gold Glove finalist in the NL center fielder category in 2024 after posting a +7.7 UZR/150, +10 Outs Above Average, and +8 Defensive Runs Saved over 956 1/3 innings up the middle for the Brewers.  He also put his elite speed to good use on the basepaths, swiping 23 bases in 28 attempts.

The stolen bases were Perkins’ chief offensive contribution, as he hit only .240/.316/.332 over 434 plate appearances.  This essentially matches his career line over 602 total PA at the big league level, translating to an 85 wRC+.  While not ideal, the switch-hitting Perkins at least had a decent .271 average against left-handed pitching last season, making him a solid platoon partner for the left-handed hitting Garrett Mitchell in center field heading into 2025.

With Perkins out through April, the newly-signed Manuel Margot now looks to step right as Milwaukee’s top backup outfielder.  Jackson Chourio will play every day in right field, and Margot (a right-handed bat) could spell either Mitchell or Sal Frelick in left field.  Christian Yelich figures to see some time in left field but will probably get more DH time in his return from back surgery.

Isaac Collins, Brewer Hicklen, and Jared Oliva are other outfield options further down the depth chart, but the Margot signing indicates that Milwaukee wanted more of an experienced hand to fill in since Perkins is facing a fairly lengthy absence.  It also wouldn’t be surprising to see the Brewers add another outfielder at some point this spring, either from the current free agent class or maybe later in March once other teams start making roster cuts.

Brewers, Manuel Margot Agree To Minor League Deal

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The Brewers and free agent outfielder Manuel Margot are in agreement on a minor league deal, per Jon Heyman of The New York Post. The Wasserman client will be in major league camp for the remainder of spring training. Todd Rosiak of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel first reported that Margot was in the Brewers’ clubhouse this morning.

Margot, 30, spent the 2024 season with the Twins after being twice traded in the 2023-24 offseason — first going from Tampa Bay to the Dodgers and then going from Los Angeles to Minnesota. The Twins deployed him as a platoon option for lefty-swinging corner outfielders Trevor Larnach and Matt Wallner, and they also gave him a handful of appearances in center field when Byron Buxton was out of the lineup. He posted an ugly .238/.289/.337 slash on the season (21% worse than average, by measure of wRC+), but the righty-swinging Margot was productive against southpaws. In 171 plate appearances, he hit .269/.332/.391.

Earlier in his career, Margot was a premium defensive player — one of the top outfield gloves in all of baseball. From 2016-21, he logged nearly 4500 combined innings across all three outfield slots and logged gaudy numbers there: 41 Defensive Runs Saved, 21.6 Ultimate Zone Rating, 53 Outs Above Average.

Margot’s career took a turn in 2022 when he suffered a partial tear in the patellar tendon of his right knee. He missed nearly half the season as a result. Margot hit .302/.365/.423 through the time of that June injury but mustered only a .240/.276/.318 line upon returning late in the year. In 849 turns at the plate since returning from that injury, he’s a .249/.295/.349 hitter. His once-elite sprint speed — Margot debuted with 99th percentile speed in 2016, per Statcast — has plummeted to roughly league-average (53rd percentile last year). The loss in sprint speed, unsurprisingly, is in direct alignment with that knee injury.

While he can still play all three outfield positions, Margot graded out slightly below average with Minnesota in 2024. It’s possible that he’ll regain some quickness as he further distances himself from that 2022 injury, but a return to his 70- or 80-grade speed as he enters his 30s isn’t going to happen.

The Brewers have a full outfield, with Jackson Chourio, Garrett Mitchell, Sal Frelick and Blake Perkins all vying for time. Christian Yelich will likely see at least some time in left field, but he’ll increasingly be deployed at designated hitter as his injury history continues to grow. (Yelich’s 2024 season ended in August due to back surgery.) Margot’s right-handed bat could complement lefties Mitchell and Frelick, but Chourio hits right-handed and the switch-hitting Perkins is a better hitter from the right side of the plate.

Margot will give the club some depth in the event of an injury, but he’s not a lock to make the club. He’s also an Article XX(b) free agent (i.e. six-plus years of service, ended the prior season on a major league roster/injured list), meaning he’ll have three uniform opt-out dates in his minor league contract: five days before Opening Day (March 22), May 1 and June 1. He can opt out and elect to become a free agent at any of those points if he’s not on Milwaukee’s 40-man roster.

Latest On Brewers’ Infield Alignment

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The departure of Willy Adames in free agency left the Brewers with a glaring hole at shortstop and multiple ways to address the issue. Given Milwaukee’s perennially low payroll, a costly acquisition to replace Adames felt every bit as unlikely as the team’s chances of retaining the former All-Star. Fellow infielders Joey Ortiz and Brice Turang are both shortstops who played different positions in deference to Adames last year; Ortiz at third base primarily and Turang at second base exclusively (save for one lone DH appearance).

While the final alignment will be contingent on health and spring performance, Brewers owner Mark Attanasio at least tipped his hand a bit with regard to his organization’s thinking. When asked about his lack of additions to the roster, Attanasio touted the young talent the Brewers have returning in 2025 and noted a desire to get prospect Tyler Black at third base, noting that Ortiz “can slide over” to shortstop (link via Todd Rosiak of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel).

A move to shortstop would only be natural for Ortiz, who spent the bulk of his minor league career there. He only moved off the position due to the presence of Adames in Milwaukee. Lining up as the Brewers’ regular third baseman in 2024, Ortiz ranked as one of the top defensive infielders in the sport. Defensive Runs Saved (8) and Outs Above Average (11) both credited him with excellent totals at third base despite “only” logging about 82% of a season there. (Ortiz also played 10 games at shortstop and made six appearances at second base.)

Both Baseball America and FanGraphs labeled Ortiz a 70-grade defender (on the 20-80 scale) in his prospect days; MLB.com tabbed him with a 65 glove. Plus to elite defense was always expected from the 2019 fourth-rounder. So far, he’s made good on that billing. Ortiz also at least held his own at the plate, slashing .239/.329/.398 in 511 plate appearances — good for a 104 wRC+. He popped 11 homers, 25 doubles and six triples last year.

Turang could presumably handle shortstop as well, but it’s hard to displace a player who just took home a Platinum Glove for his superlative work at second base. The former No. 21 overall pick won his first of what will likely be many Gold Gloves in 2024 and was named the NL’s top overall defensive player as well. Defensive Runs Saved credited Turang with an outrageous mark of 22. Statcast wasn’t quite so over-the-moon but felt he was a clear plus, pegging him at 6 OAA.

A middle-infield tandem of Ortiz and Turang might be the best defensive pairing in all of baseball. That’ll be important, as the rest of the infield faces more questions about its glovework. Rhys Hoskins will be back for a second season after exercising a player option valued at $18MM. The Brewers still owe him that salary and a $4MM buyout on a 2026 mutual option. Hoskins has negative career marks at first base and struggled again in 2024 — his first season back from an ACL tear that cost him the 2023 campaign.

At the hot corner, it seems like the 24-year-old Black will get the opportunity to run with the position, though Dunn and trade acquisition Caleb Durbin could also factor in. Black is a bat-first prospect who’s hit at every minor league stop but has had a nomadic journey in pro ball with regard to his defensive home. He’s played third more than any other position but also has ample experience at second base, first base and in the outfield — including center.

The Brewers have tried playing Black all over the field, because the bat and the speed play even with a below-average arm and questionable footwork/instincts in the field. Black’s ultimate home might be at first base, but Hoskins has that locked down for now thanks to the aforementioned contract and salary. Black might push across the diamond in 2026, but there’s no everyday role for him at first right now. Hoskins can’t slide to DH full-time, as Christian Yelich will see a decent bit of time there.

Dunn and Durbin offer some interesting alternatives, but neither has Black’s upside at the plate. Dunn didn’t hit much in a 104-plate appearance debut last year, but he has a big track record in the upper minors. He’s been far more strikeout-prone than Black in the minors and generally lacks the hit tool and swing decisions Black boasts. Durbin, acquired in the Devin Williams/Nestor Cortes trade, has yet to make his MLB debut. He’s a contact, speed and OBP-oriented infielder who’s best suited at second base but has 660 professional innings at third base as well. Durbin’s bat-to-ball skills, plate discipline and speed are all strong, but he’s light on power and posted bottom-of-the-scale exit velocity and hard-hit numbers in Triple-A last year.

Brewers Prospect Josh Knoth Undergoes Tommy John Surgery

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The Brewers revealed tough news for fans in Milwaukee today, as Curt Hogg of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel revealed today that right-handed pitching prospect Josh Knoth has undergone Tommy John surgery and will miss the entire 2025 season.

Knoth, 19,  was selected in the first round (#33 overall) by the Brewers in the 2023 draft out of high school and made his pro debut with the club’s Single-A affiliate last year. Despite a somewhat pedestrian 4.48 ERA, Knoth struck out an impressive 26.7% of opponents in his age-18 season but was held back by an 11.1% walk rate. Knoth’s solid strikeout rate and youth were enough to make him the #16 ranked prospect in the Brewers system according to Baseball America. The right-hander has a solid fastball that tops out at 96 mph and two plus secondaries in the form of a curveball and a slider, though BA writes that his changeup is somewhat lackluster and his control comes and goes.

The righty missed time late last year due to elbow soreness, making only 21 starts and pitching just 84 1/3 innings, so the surgery isn’t necessarily a surprise. Even so, it’s a disappointing development for the Brewers given Knoth’s mid-rotation potential. It would’ve been something of a shock to see the youngster make his big league debut with the club this year, but even reaching the Double-A level by the end of the 2025 season would’ve put him on the map for a possible debut with the Brewers in 2026.

That sort of timeline for Knoth reaching the majors appears to be all but impossible now, as rehab will essentially push Knoth’s develop timeline back an entire year. Fortunately, however, Knoth is young even by the standard of a recently-drafted high school prospect given that he was just 17 years old on draft day and won’t turn 20 until August. If Knoth manages to return from Tommy John surgery unimpeded in 2026 and move aggressively up the minor league ladder, he should still have the chance to make it to the majors in his early twenties.

Even with Knoth sidelined for 2025, the Brewers’ pitching development looks strong. Robert Gasser flashed exciting stuff in his debut for the club last year, and while he’s currently on the 60-day IL rehabbing from Tommy John surgery the southpaw figures to return and impact the big league club at some point later this year. Perhaps more excitingly, right-hander Jacob Misiorowski is a consensus top-100 prospect who reached Triple-A last year and appears likely to make his big league debut with the Brewers at some point in 2025.

Christian Yelich Says He’s “Ready For Opening Day” Following Back Surgery

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Christian Yelich’s 2024 season was prematurely ended by a back surgery in mid-August, and at the time, the Brewers outfielder said he hoped he’d be fully recovered for the coming 2025 campaign.  It appears that best-case scenario looks to be in play, as Yelich told MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy and other reporters today that “I don’t see any reason why I wouldn’t be ready for Opening Day….Unless something crazy happens here, I don’t see why I wouldn’t be ready.”

It was a busy winter for Yelich, who said he didn’t get “really any break period” in between his rehab work and then his usual ramp-up work in advance of spring camp.  “If anything, I probably did more baseball stuff this offseason than I would in a typical offseason just out of necessity and having to check those boxes.  I feel good and wasn’t really delayed in any preparation for Spring Training,” the former NL MVP said.

Back problems have plagued Yelich for several years, so hopefully last year’s procedure might finally allow Yelich some longer-term relief as he enters his 13th Major League season.  Even before the surgery, Yelich was looking like he’d turned a corner and returned to his past MVP-level form.  After hitting a decent but unspectacular .254/.362/.407 over 2025 plate appearances during the 2020-23 seasons, Yelich broke out to a .315/.406/.504 slash line and 11 home runs over 315 PA in 2024 (translating to a 151 wRC+).  A .366 BABIP certainly contributed to that success, but several above-average secondary metrics indicated that Yelich’s big year was no fluke.

Yelich, the Brewers, and Milwaukee fans might wonder forever how a healthy Yelich might’ve changed the club’s postseason fortunes, as the Brew Crew were eliminated in heartbreaking fashion during the NL Wild Card Series.  The Brewers have made the playoffs in six of the last seven seasons, but haven’t won a postseason round since 2018, Yelich’s first season in the organization.

Missing out on this playoff run was painful both physically and emotionally for Yelich, but he was left with no choice since “my body stopped working, basically, so I had to have surgery.  It wasn’t like I could finish the season or not, or get surgery….If I could’ve finished the year I would’ve loved to have tried to finish the year, but the silver lining in having to get surgery then was like I’d for sure be ready for Opening Day.  So that was a good thing, and fortunately there weren’t many setbacks in the rehab process or anything like that.”

Yelich’s spectacular 2018-19 seasons led the team to lock him up on a new contract in advance of the 2020 campaign.  With seven years and $188.5MM in new money added in that extension, it was the biggest contract in Brewers history, and a sizable vote of confidence from an organization not known for big spending.  The outfielder’s modest production in the four seasons following the extension raised some concerns, but Yelich’s 2024 performance renews some hope that the 33-year-old can still reach an elite level.

Yelich spent 402 1/3 innings in left field last season but also got a good chunk of DH time.  Milwaukee has enough outfield depth that Yelich should again receive plenty of work as a designated hitter, in order to give him a partial rest day while still keeping his bat in the lineup.

Brewers Sign Tyler Alexander

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The Brewers announced Wednesday that they’ve signed left-hander Tyler Alexander to a one-year, major league contract. He’s a client of SSG Baseball. Fellow southpaw Robert Gasser, who’s recovering from Tommy John surgery, has been placed on the 60-day injured list to clear space on the 40-man roster.

Alexander will earn a guaranteed $1MM on the contract, MLBTR has learned. He can earn an additional $1MM worth of incentives based on innings pitched. That breakdown is as follows: $50K for 40 innings, $100K for 60 innings, $125K for 80 innings, $150K for 90 innings, $175K for 100 innings, and $200K for both 110 and 120 innings.

Alexander, 30, has pitched in parts of six big league seasons between the Tigers and Rays. He owns a career 4.55 ERA over the life of 449 frames. That includes a 5.10 mark in a career-high 107 2/3 innings with Tampa Bay last year. The Rays non-tendered him back in November rather than pay a projected $2.8MM salary in his final season of club control (hat tip to MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz).

A second-round pick by the Tigers out of TCU back in 2015, Alexander has spent the bulk of his career in a swingman role, oscillating between long relief, occasional spot starts and some bulk work behind openers. He doesn’t throw hard, averaging just 89.6 mph on his four-seamer and 89.7 mph on his sinker in 2024, but he has excellent command and typically manages at least a passable strikeout rate.

Alexander has only walked 5.2% of the 1900 batters he’s faced in the majors. His 19.1% strikeout rate is about three percentage points shy of league-average, but that’s skewed a bit by a career-low 14.3% mark in 2022. He punched out 20% of his batters faced prior to that season and has fanned 21.1% of his opponents since that time. Back in 2020, Alexander made headlines and history by punching out nine consecutive batters against the Reds.

The veteran Alexander gives the Brewers some much needed depth in the rotation and a potential long man in the bullpen. That need was already clear even before today’s revelation that fellow lefty DL Hall will be shut down for several weeks due to a lat strain. Between that and the possibility that Brandon Woodruff, still building back up after major shoulder surgery in October 2023, may not be ready for Opening Day, the Brewers only had four clear-cut members of the rotation: Freddy Peralta, Aaron Civale, Nestor Cortes and Tobias Myers.

Alexander likely joins southpaw Aaron Ashby and inexperienced righties Elvin Rodriguez, Carlos Rodriguez, Logan Henderson and Chad Patrick as competitors for that final rotation spot. It’s always possible that the Brewers could add another more established arm to solidify the group, but Alexander is the first fully guaranteed free agent signing of the winter for GM Matt Arnold & Co. They’ve been up against an extreme payroll crunch and haven’t been able to spend anything to this point. That casts some doubt on the front office’s ability to further augment the group — at least via free agency. The trade market could open other avenues, either in the form of an inexpensive (likely pre-arbitration) starter or perhaps by shedding a contract from the current roster that’d free up some money for a different veteran pursuit.

DL Hall Shut Down For Several Weeks With Lat Strain

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As pitchers and catchers report to spring training, news is filtering out about injuries. Brewers manager Pat Murphy passed along a discouraging update about left-hander DL Hall, per Todd Rosiak of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and Adam McCalvy of MLB.com. The lefty has a lat strain and is going to be shut down for about the next two weeks before being re-evaluated.

That’s an uncertain path forward but it seems distinctly possible that Hall won’t be ready by Opening Day. Even if he gets some good news after this shutdown period, he will be weeks behind his fellow pitchers and might then be brought along slowly, if he and the club decide to proceed cautiously.

Murphy also recently said that Brandon Woodruff probably won’t be ready by Opening Day, as he works his way back from a shoulder surgery that wiped out his entire 2024 season. Robert Gasser had Tommy John surgery in June and will miss at least the first half of the 2025 season.

When discussing the Woodruff situation, Murphy identified Freddy Peralta, Tobias Myers, Nestor Cortes and Aaron Civale as the club’s likely front four in the rotation. MLBTR recently took a detailed look at the club’s rotation option behind those four, with Hall being one of the top candidates to fill a role in the short term.

If Hall ends up needing to miss time, Aaron Ashby could get an Opening Day nod, though there are some question marks there. Arthroscopic shoulder surgery wiped out his 2023 season. He returned last year but the results were mixed. In Triple-A, he worked mostly as a starter but didn’t fare well. He had an 8.24 ERA at the end of July when the club moved him to the bullpen. He had better results there, including a 1.37 ERA in 19 2/3 major league innings to finish the year. The club still wants to give him another chance to start but there’s plenty of uncertainty after his uneven 2024 and lost 2023.

He’ll have some competition, as Logan Henderson, Carlos Rodríguez, Chad Patrick and Elvin Rodríguez are also on the 40-man roster. However, Henderson and Patrick haven’t made their major league debuts yet, while the two Rodríguezes have less than 50 big league innings between them. Jacob Misiorowski is not on the roster but is one of the top prospects in baseball and has reached Triple-A. However, he walked 14.4% of batters he faced last year and still hasn’t hit 100 innings in a season.

Even if Hall were healthy, he would come with his own question marks. A knee sprain limited him to 84 innings last year, between the majors and minors. With the Orioles in 2022 and 2023, he was moved between the rotation and bullpen, as well as being sent to the minors and back. His workload stayed beneath 100 innings in each of those seasons as well.

As a former top 100 prospect, Hall would ideally take a step forward this year, both in terms of the quality and quantity of his results. He certainly still could, but this lat strain isn’t an ideal start to a key season for him. He is down to one option year and would be out of options going into 2026 if he gets sent to the minors for 20 days this year.

Adding an external arm to the mix could be an option but it doesn’t seem as though the Brewers are operating with a ton of payroll flexibility. RosterResource estimates them for a $116MM payroll this year. That’s already well beyond the $104MM figure they ran on Opening Day last year, per Cot’s Baseball Contracts. The only major league deals they’ve given out this winter have been for inexperienced arms like Elvin Rodríguez and Grant Wolfram.

Pitchers like Nick Pivetta, Andrew Heaney, Jose Quintana and others are still available on the open market. MLBTR recently took a look at some clubs that made sense for the remaining free agent pitchers, highlighting the Brewers even before this news about Hall’s setback, though the budgetary concerns were mentioned as an obstacle. Moving Rhys Hoskins and the $22MM he’s still owed would probably help, though that will be tough after he hit .214/.303/.419 for a wRC+ of 100 last year.

Which Teams Should Still Sign A Free Agent Starter?

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Spring training is beginning to kick off around the league, and as is perennially the case, there are a handful of notable free agents still looking for homes. That's of particular importance for the group of starting pitchers who still remain unsigned. Over the years, we've typically (not always) seen late-signing hitters struggle less than late-signing pitchers. Starting pitchers, in particular, seem to benefit from a full, gradual ramp-up rather than the sort of accelerated build that inherently comes with a mid-March signing.

Nick Pivetta stands as the most notable starter who's yet to find a landing spot. He's surely been impacted by the qualifying offer that's hanging over his head. Any team other than the incumbent Red Sox would need to forfeit at least one draft pick (possibly two, depending on CBT status) in order to sign the longtime Boston righty. Others still on the market include veteran mid-rotation or back-end starters Andrew Heaney, Jose Quintana, Kyle Gibson, Cal Quantrill, Ross Stripling, Lance Lynn and Patrick Corbin -- just to name some. (A full list can be seen here.)

This time of year, there's plenty of talk about teams that still need to add an arm. That can take different shapes, however. I wrote about the Mets' rotation for Trade Rumors Front Office subscribers last week, but the Mets aren't necessarily the type of team that needs to go out and add an innings eater to step into the fourth or fifth spot in the rotation. They have myriad options there already. Any addition for them, presumably, would be a clear-cut playoff starter. It's a similar situation with the Orioles, Cubs, Blue Jays and many other postseason hopefuls. Other clubs, like the Tigers and Pirates, have a mostly set group with a bevy of interesting young, MLB-ready top prospects knocking on the door. Signing Quintana or Gibson to eat innings likely isn't in the cards for teams in either of these groups.

At this stage of the offseason, some of those available free agents might need to wait for a spring injury or a trade to create the opportunity they seek. But there are still teams around the league that are rather clearly in need of some steady innings in the Nos. 3-5 spots in the rotation. Let's run through some clubs that have the need and, as crucially, the budget (or lack thereof) to add an established veteran arm to the back of the staff.

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Looking At The Brewers’ Rotation Depth Options

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The Brewers have won the National League Central two years in a row and three of the last four. They will be looking to defend that title in 2025 but might face a steeper challenge than in years past. The Cubs have had an aggressive offseason, adding Kyle Tucker, Matthew Boyd, Ryan Pressly, Ryan Brasier and more. The Reds added Brady Singer, Gavin Lux, Austin Hays and will be getting several players back from injury. The Pirates have had a quiet winter but have a rotation loaded with young talent, fronted by Paul Skenes and Jared Jones. The Cardinals planned to do a teardown but ended up standing pat, so they’re going into the year with a very similar roster to the one that finished above .500 last year.

Milwaukee hasn’t done a lot to remake its roster relative to last year. They have added Nestor Cortes and Caleb Durbin but lost Willy Adames, Devin Williams and others. Whether the team is better or worse than last year is debatable.

The rotation wasn’t a strength in 2024. Their starters put up a collective 4.09 earned run average, putting them 17th out of the 30 teams in the league. Their bullpen was one of the best, however. Their relievers had a collective ERA of 3.11, second only to the Guardians, which helped the team cruise to that division title. That was despite Williams being injured for much of the year.

Going into 2025, the rotation looks like it could be in a similar situation overall, though with some personnel changes. Of the seven players that made at least nine starts for the club last year, four of them are gone. Frankie Montas and Joe Ross hit free agency at season’s end, the former by declining a mutual option. Bryse Wilson was outrighted and Colin Rea had a club option turned down, so they also hit the open market as well.

Freddy Peralta, Tobias Myers and Aaron Civale are the three holdovers. Cortes was brought in from the Yankees as part of the Williams trade. In an interview this week with Todd Rosiak of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, manager Pat Murphy confirmed that those four make up his rotation core to start the season. Brandon Woodruff, who missed 2024 recovering from shoulder surgery, will be in there at some point but probably won’t be ready by Opening Day.

“I would think those four guys are [penciled in],” Murphy said, “and you can put Woody in there, too. But you can’t have him ready to start the season; he probably won’t be. But I think it’s pretty safe to say that those five guys are starters that, when healthy, are going to get opportunities.”

Taking things easy with Woodruff makes sense after his lost season, but that means the club will likely have to reach into its depth. Perhaps that will only be for a short time, but injuries are inevitable over the course of a season. For the long term, the need will be even greater. Civale and Cortes are both slated to be free agents after the upcoming season. Woodruff will certainly join them, as his deal has a $20MM mutual option for 2026 with a $10MM buyout. That was basically designed so that he would re-sign but with the club able to kick most of the payment down the line until the end of 2025. Peralta can be retained for 2026 via an affordable $8MM club option but is slated for free agency after that.

That means Myers is the only guy slated to still be on the roster when November of 2026 rolls around. Even he is not a lock to keep a spot going forward, as his strong 2024 season came after several years of poor minor league numbers. In short, the long-term rotation is wide open. Can the Brewers fill some of that in with guys already in the system? Let’s take a look at some of the options.

Aaron Ashby

Ashby, 27 in May, seemed like a potential rotation building block a few years ago. He tossed 139 innings in a swing role over the 2021 and 2022 seasons. His 4.47 ERA wasn’t especially impressive but his 27.1% strikeout rate, 9.7% walk rate and 57.8% ground ball rate seemed like a solid recipe for success.

The Brewers were intrigued enough to make a bet on the lefty, signing him to a five-year deal during the 2022 campaign which guaranteed him $20.5MM and also came with club options for 2028 and 2029.

Unfortunately, shoulder problems got in the way. Arthroscopic surgery wiped out his 2023 season. He returned last year and was kept mostly in a relief role, but with some good results. Down the stretch, he tossed 19 2/3 innings over 12 appearances with a 1.37 ERA, 36.8% strikeout rate, 3.9% walk rate and 51.1% ground ball rate.

With those numbers, it might be tempting to keep him in a bullpen role, but the club seems interested in stretching him out. Back in November, Murphy said the club still hopes to see what Ashby can do as a starter. He still has one option year and can be sent to the minors if the club would like.

DL Hall

Hall, 26, was a first-round pick of the Orioles in 2017 and went on to be a top 100 prospect. He came to the Brewers as part of the Corbin Burnes trade last offseason. He hasn’t lived up to that prospect hype just yet.

He has pitched in the past three seasons but logged only 76 innings. His 4.74 ERA doesn’t impress but his 25.1% strikeout rate, 9.4% walk rate and 46.5% ground ball rate make for a decent mixture. A left knee sprain hobbled him last year, limiting him to just 84 frames between the majors and minors. In 2022 and 2023, the Orioles shuttled him between the majors and the minors, as well as moving him between starting to relieving. He tossed 98 innings in 2022 between the majors and minors, then 71 1/3 in 2023. His minor league work has generally featured big strikeout numbers but also plenty of walks.

Hall is still a work in progress but the Brewers probably don’t want to give up on him, given the upside here. Like Ashby, he has one option year remaining, so pitching out of the Triple-A rotation isn’t off the table. He has one year and 74 days of service time, meaning he is currently slated for five years of club control, though a lengthy optional assignment could push that to six. Either way, he’s cheap and controllable for a long time to come.

Robert Gasser

Gasser, 26 in May, won’t be an option in the short term but is definitely part of the long-term plans. A former top 100 prospect, he debuted with a splash last year by posting a 2.57 ERA in his first five big league starts. Unfortunately, he required Tommy John surgery in June, wiping out the second half of his 2024. He’s now slated to miss most or perhaps all of 2025. He has less than a year of service time at the moment and the Brewers therefore have six years of club control over him.

Jacob Misiorowski

Misiorowski, 23 in April, is not yet on the 40-man roster but is one of the top pitching prospects in the league. He reached as high as Triple-A last year, though the club eased off his workload by having him pitch shorter stints out of the bullpen to finish the year. Between Double-A and Triple-A, he tossed 97 1/3 innings on the year with a 3.33 ERA. He struck out 30.5% of hitters and got grounders at a 45.8% clip but also gave out walks 14.4% of the time. Though the club eased off the gas, that innings total is still his personal high thus far.

The righty is clearly going to factor into the mix at some point, but there’s clearly still some development going on. 2025 will likely be about reining in the control and getting the workload beyond the 100-inning mark, but it’s entirely possible that he throws some big league innings this year.

Elvin Rodríguez

Rodríguez, 27 in March, is a wild card at the moment. He spent 2024 in a multi-inning role for the Yakult Swallows in Japan. He logged 45 innings over 32 appearances with a 1.80 ERA, 24% strikeout rate and 6.5% walk rate. Whether the Brewers view him more as a starter or a reliever is unknown.

Carlos Rodríguez

Rodríguez, 23, made a limited MLB debut last year. He tossed 12 1/3 innings over three starts with a 7.30 ERA. Over the past three years, he has logged 365 2/3 innings on the farm with a 3.49 ERA, 27.4% strikeout rate and 10.4% walk rate. Most prospect evaluators consider him a capable back-end starter but he’s still young and has a couple of options remaining, so he’ll likely be in the Triple-A rotation until circumstances change.

Chad Patrick/Logan Henderson

These two were each just added to the 40-man roster in November, to keep them out of the Rule 5 draft. Henderson, 23, is considered more of a legit prospect but he is still a question mark. Elbow surgery limited him to just 13 2/3 innings in 2022. He got that up to 78 2/3 in 2023 and then 81 1/3 last year. His minor league numbers are strong overall, with a 3.11 ERA, 34.1% strikeout rate and 6.9% walk rate. However, he mostly gets by with a fastball/changeup mix that leads some to predict he’ll end up in the bullpen. Patrick is considered more of a depth/spot starter.

Bruce Zimmermann/Thomas Pannone/Easton McGee

These three signed minor league deals with the club this offseason. They all have a bit of major league experience and give the club some non-roster depth. Zimmermann has a 5.57 ERA in 158 1/3 innings and Pannone a 5.46 ERA in 118 2/3 innings, while McGee hasn’t allowed a run in his 9 2/3 innings.

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Though the Woodruff timeline creates some uncertainty, there are plenty of intriguing options here for the short term. But as mentioned, the Brewers will likely see three starters departing at the end of the year and a fourth after 2026. Ideally, guys like Ashby, Hall, Misiorowski and Gasser would step up take those spots, because the club usually doesn’t have a lot of spending power for bringing in free agents. That makes 2025 a key season in Milwaukee, since their future rotation plans are completely in flux.

Poll: Who’s Winning The Offseason In The NL Central?

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The calendar has flipped to February and the start of Spring Training is just a matter of days away. While some notable free agents (including nine of MLBTR’s Top 50 MLB Free Agents for the 2024-25 offseason) remain unsigned, most clubs have already done the heavy lifting in terms of preparing their roster for the 2025 season. In the coming days, we’ll be taking a look around the league at which clubs have had the strongest offseason to this point. After the Mets decisively won yesterday’s poll on the AL East, the focus now shifts to the NL Central.

It was another down season for the Midwest’s NL teams, as they sent just one club to the postseason and were not represented in the NLDS for the third consecutive year. Three of the division’s teams haven’t made it to the postseason at all in a 162-game season this decade, and the pressure is on for those clubs to start winning again while the two that have found more recent success try to keep their windows open. Which team has done the most to set themselves up for success this winter? Teams are listed in order of their 2024 record.

Milwaukee Brewers

As is typical for Milwaukee, this offseason has seemingly been about balancing the club’s present against their future. The loss of star shortstop Willy Adames was an expected but nonetheless tough blow for the Brewers, and it spurred them to complete their lone major move of the offseason back in December. With a hole on the infield after losing Adames, Milwaukee traded longtime relief ace Devin Williams to the Yankees ahead of his final year of team control. In return, they added big league ready infielder Caleb Durbin as well as southpaw Nestor Cortes.

Cortes, also in his final year of team control, appears poised to join an impressive prospective playoff rotation in Milwaukee alongside Freddy Peralta and Brandon Woodruff. Durbin, meanwhile, will turn 25 later this month and has yet to make his big league debut but hit quite well both at Triple-A and in the Arizona Fall League. He could help solidify the club’s infield situation as soon as Opening Day. Outside of those additions, however, the Brewers have been extremely quiet: one-year pacts with depth arms Grant Wolfram and Elvin Rodriguez are the only two major league free agent signings they’ve made this winter.

St. Louis Cardinals

There isn’t much to say about the Cardinals’ offseason, as the club’s focus has been entirely consumed by their as-of-yet unsuccessful attempts to move on from veteran third baseman Nolan Arenado. That’s led the club to make zero big league free agent signings and trade for zero established MLB players, meaning the only roster changes of note to this point in the winter for St. Louis have been the losses of free agents like Paul Goldschmidt and Andrew Kittredge. Off the field, the biggest move of the Cardinals’ offseason to this point has been to announce the day the 2024 campaign ended that Chaim Bloom will take over for John Mozeliak as president of baseball operations following the 2025 season.

Chicago Cubs

It’s been a busy offseason for the Cubs. Most notably, they swung perhaps the biggest trade of the offseason when they acquired star outfielder Kyle Tucker from the Astros, though it cost them All-Star third baseman Isaac Paredes and young starter Hayden Wesneski from their big league roster in order to do so and they subsequently had to deal Cody Bellinger to the Yankees to make room for Tucker in the lineup. Paredes has not been replaced in free agency or via trade to this point, with that hole seemingly set to be addressed internally by top prospect Matt Shaw. A pair of solid bench moves round out the club’s activity on the positional side. Carson Kelly should help to improve things at catcher and the addition of Jon Berti could help make up for the loss of production on the bench created by the decision to non-tender Mike Tauchman.

The biggest reported goal of the Cubs’ offseason was to upgrade the pitching staff, but those additions have been far more modest as compared to Tucker. It’s not as flashy as the club’s reported interest in players like Max Fried, Jack Flaherty, and Tanner Scott may have suggested, but Matthew Boyd figures to be an upgrade over Kyle Hendricks in the rotation and Ryan Pressly should solidify things in the ninth inning after the club acquired him in a separate trade with Houston. Beyond those two more significant names, the club has added depth in the form of swing men Colin Rea and Cody Poteet as well as southpaw Caleb Thielbar.

Cincinnati Reds

Following a mixed bag of a 2024 season where Elly De La Cruz and Hunter Greene established themselves as star-caliber players but the rest of the roster largely struggled with injuries and/or ineffectiveness, the Reds have been quite busy in hopes of turning things around for 2025. They kicked off the winter by adding Terry Francona as their new manager, and traded Jonathan India and Joey Wiemer to land Brady Singer from the Royals not long afterwards. They also retained Nick Martinez (who accepted their Qualifying Offer) and brought back veteran lefty Wade Miley on a non-guaranteed deal to further deepen the rotation.

The only guaranteed free agent signing the club has made was signing non-tendered outfielder Austin Hays to a one-year deal, but Hays is joined by a number of trade acquisitions even beyond Singer. The Reds acquired Jose Trevino from the Yankees in order to pair with Tyler Stephenson behind the plate, and Gavin Lux was brought in to help replace India’s production in the lineup. Rounding out the club’s notable trade acquisitions this winter is southpaw Taylor Rogers, who comes over from the Giants to join Alexis Diaz and Emilio Pagan at the back of Cincinnati’s bullpen.

Pittsburgh Pirates

The Pirates’ biggest move of the offseason was its first one of significance, as the club traded right-hander Luis Ortiz to the Guardians alongside a pair of prospects in order to land infielder Spencer Horwitz, who figures to serve as the club’s everyday first baseman this year. In addition to adding Horwitz, the Pirates have retooled their bullpen following the departure of Aroldis Chapman in free agency by signing southpaws Tim Mayza and Caleb Ferguson while also working out minor trades for Chase Shugart and Brett de Geus. Reports have indicated that Ferguson will stretch out during Spring Training and could be a candidate to start, but the club has otherwise not added to a rotation that remains a strength even after losing Ortiz.

On the positional side of things, Horwitz is joined by the additions of Adam Frazier in free agency and Enmanuel Valdez via trade. Both Frazier and Valdez figure to help shore up second base for the club while adding some left-handed options to the club’s predominantly right-handed bench mix. Veteran and longtime franchise face Andrew McCutchen also re-upped with the Pirates on his third consecutive one-year deal as he plays out the twilight of his career as a veteran leader on a young Pirates team. For all the club’s additions this winter, however, right field remains a major question mark after the club non-tendered Bryan De La Cruz without replacing him to this point in the winter.

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The 2024-25 offseason has been one defined almost entirely by major trades for the NL Central’s five clubs, with four of the five clubs having worked out at least one major swap and the fifth still hard at work attempting to do the same. The Cubs, Pirates, and Reds have all supplemented those trades with notable but relatively modest free agent signings as they attempt to claw their way back into playoff contention, and Cincinnati also added a likely future Hall of Famer to the dugout in the manager’s chair to help guide their young ballclub. The Brewers and Cardinals have been quieter by comparison, with Milwaukee largely standing pat outside of the Williams trade while the Cardinals have been paralyzed by their efforts to trade Arenado but have opened up playing time for a number of notable young players like Alec Burleson and Ivan Herrera.

Of the five NL Central clubs, which one has had the strongest offseason so far? Have your say in the poll below:

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