With the Milwaukee Brewers’ 2025 season in the books after a crushing sweep at the hand of the Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League Championship Series, the attention can turn to 2026.
Here’s how things stand for Brewers players regarding contract status, salary arbitration and free agency entering the offseason.
These Brewers are locked up for 2026
Christian Yelich, outfielder (signed through 2028, with a mutual option for 2029. Makes $26 million in 2026)
Jackson Chourio, outfielder (signed through 2031, with team options for 2032 and 2033. Makes $7 million in 2026)
Brewers Playoff Tickets Buy tickets to see the Brewers in the MLB playoffs
Aaron Ashby, left-handed pitcher (signed through 2028, with a team option for 2029. Makes $5.5 million in 2026)
Yelich enjoyed a resurgent 2025 season, playing in 150 games coming off back surgery and hitting .264 with 29 homers, 103 RBI and an OPS of .795. He also accounted for 2.4 Wins Above Replacement as Milwaukee’s primary designated hitter, which will be his likely role moving forward as he enters his age-34 season.
Chourio showed progress in his second season in the majors, finishing with almost the exact same numbers he did as a rookie – .270 average, 21 homers, 78 RBI, 21 stolen bases with a .770 OPS despite missing a month with a hamstring pull late in the season (played in 131 games overall). The 21-year-old also added center field to his repertoire defensively, although it remains to be seen whether he’ll stick there long-term.
Ashby missed the first two months with an oblique strain then quickly assumed a role as one of manager Pat Murphy’s most trusted relievers, able to fill multiple roles from providing length to closing games. He appeared in a career-high 43 games and posted a career-best 2.16 ERA with a 1.17 WHIP and 76 strikeouts in 66⅔ innings. Ashby has indicated a desire to return to the starting rotation, so perhaps that’s a possibility moving forward.
Five Brewers players have pending options for the 2026 season
These players have an option in their contracts that must be exercised or declined. Both sides must exercise a mutual option for it to go into effect.
Rhys Hoskins, first baseman (mutual option)
Danny Jansen, catcher (mutual)
Freddy Peralta, right-handed pitcher (team)
José Quintana, left-handed pitcher (mutual)
Brandon Woodruff, right-handed pitcher (mutual)
Through no fault of his own – a thumb injury suffered in early July – Hoskins lost his job at first base to Andrew Vaughn, who went on to have an unexpectedly great final few months. To add insult to injury, Hoskins wasn’t even on either of the Brewers’ rosters in the postseason, but to his credit he remained professional about the situation. With an $18 million mutual option entering his age-33 season in 2026, Hoskins will receive a $4 million buyout on Feb. 1 and move on.
Jansen has a $12 million mutual option that will be declined with Milwaukee on the hook for a $500,000 buyout. It’s possible the Appleton West product could return if the sides agree on a number, but Jansen wasn’t overly impressive after being acquired before the trade deadline (granted, playing time with William Contreras as the starter is nearly non-existent) and the Brewers might be ready to see what they have in prospect Jeferson Quero.
Peralta is now 29 years old and in 2026 will be entering the final year of the incredibly team-friendly contract extension he inked in February 2020 that to date has paid him $22 million for nearly 18 Wins Above Replacement according to FanGraphs. The Brewers hold a team option for $8 million for 2026, wihich leaves them in an interesting spot. Do they trade him this offseason? Or do they hang onto him like they did with shortstop Willy Adames and accept what will be a very high compensatory draft pick? Or do they trade him at some point during the 2026 season?
Quintana saved the Brewers’ bacon in the early going after he signed in the midst of spring training when the team was experiencing a rash of injuries to its rotation. The 36-year-old held it together enough to finish 11-7 with a 3.96 ERA and WHIP of 1.29 in 131⅔ innings over 24 starts. Milwaukee has plenty of younger internal options moving forward, so Quintana, who has a $15 million mutual option, will receive a $2 million buyout.
Woodruff’s case will be an interesting one. It’s a certainty that his $20 million mutual option is declined, so the Brewers will buy him out for $10 million to conclude what ended up being essentially a two-year, $17.5 million contract that saw the right-hander make 12 starts before again being injured prior to the start of the playoffs. He’s a beloved figure in Milwaukee so maybe the sides can figure out something that’s mutually beneficial. But entering his age-33 season there’s no guarantee.
“We’ll see,” Woodruff said. “Those conversations will have to wait until the World Series is over. I still have a lot of baseball left in me; whether that’s here or somewhere else, I haven’t put too much thought into it. I’ve just tried to focus on being present and being a good teammate and we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it.”
William Contreras, Trevor Megill, Brice Turang, Andrew Vaughn and others are pending arbitration-eligible
Because of their service time and other factors, these players must be tendered contracts, or non-tendered, for the 2026 season. Non-tendered players immediately become free agents. Those tendered contracts enter the salary arbitration process, unless the sides come to an agreement on a new deal.
Jake Bauers, first baseman-designated hitter
William Contreras, catcher
Nick Mears, right-handed pitcher
Trevor Megill, right-handed pitcher
Garrett Mitchell, outfielder
Blake Perkins, outfielder (Super 2)
Brice Turang, second baseman (Super 2)
Andrew Vaughn, first baseman
Contreras deserves credit for playing all season with a broken left middle finger. While his offensive numbers dipped rather dramatically from his Silver Slugger season 2024, he still was solid enough while also catching the second-most innings in baseball. The Brewers will more than likely decline his $12 million club option, pay him a $100,000 buyout and try to find a number that works for both parties ahead of arbitration. He played for $6.1 million in 2025; perhaps a figure around $10-11 million will get it done this time.
Megill will be due a big bump in his $1.94 million salary after saving a career-high 30 games and earning his first all-star nod. He’s popular in the clubhouse and quite the character, but will be 32 in 2026 and is coming off a flexor strain that severely limited him over the final month. With Abner Uribe primed to take another step forward, perhaps Milwaukee seeks to sell high on Megill in hopes of addressing a deficiency elsewhere on the roster.
Turang is no doubt a player the Brewers would love to lock up to a long-term deal as he’s coming off a career season offensively and looking to be a middle-of-the-order hitter for years to come. He’s projected to receive $4.4 million in his first crack at arbitration heading into 2026.
Vaughn will be another interesting case for the Brewers in that they need to decide whether what he did for them over the course of 64 games – .308 average, nine homers, 46 RBI, .869 OPS, 1.3 WAR – is sustainable and worth the $7.8 million he’s projected to make in his penultimate crack at arbitration. They don’t currently have any obvious internal options at first base, but it wouldn’t be surprising to see the Brewers bring back Bauers for a third year ($2 million projected salary) considering how well he hit in the second half.
These Brewers players are pre-arbitration eligible
These players have less than three years of service time, meaning most on this list (which excludes members of the 40-man roster who were either minimal contributors or aren’t expected to return) will re-sign for or have their contracts renewed somewhere around the MLB minimum.
Grant Anderson, right-handed pitcher
Steward Berroa, outfielder
Tyler Black, infielder
Isaac Collins, outfielder
Caleb Durbin, third baseman
Sal Frelick, outfielder
Robert Gasser, left-handed pitcher
DL Hall, left-handed pitcher
Logan Henderson, right-handed pitcher
Jared Koenig, left-handed pitcher
Brandon Lockridge, outfielder
Easton McGee, right-handed pitcher
Jacob Misiorowski, right-handed pitcher
Andruw Monasterio, infielder
Tobias Myers, right-handed pitcher
Joey Ortiz, shortstop
Chad Patrick, right-handed pitcher
Quinn Priester, right-handed pitcher
Jeferson Quero, catcher
Carlos Rodriguez, right-handed pitcher
Anthony Seigler, infielder
Connor Thomas, left-handed pitcher
Abner Uribe, right-handed pitcher
Craig Yoho, right-handed pitcher
Rob Zastryzny, left-handed pitcher
Shelby Miller, Jordan Montgomery are the Brewers’ pending free agents
Both Shelby Miller and Jordan Montgomery were acquired at the trade deadline, with Miller blowing out his elbow after making just 11 appearances out of the bullpen and Montgomery not pitching at all as he recovered from Tommy John surgery.
Neither are expected to return.
Something else to keep an eye on
General manager Matt Arnold and manager Pat Murphy are entering the final years of their contracts. Arnold and Murphy were the 2024 MLB executive of the year and National League manager of the year, respectively, and are candidates to repeat in 2025.