After making their remaining option decisions and releasing their spring training schedule yesterday, we have more Brewers offseason news for you today. The first is pretty big: Brandon Woodruff was one
of 13 players to recevie a qualifying offer before Thursday’s deadline.
The Brewers already paid Woodruff a $10 million buyout when he declined his end of the mutual option that he and the Brewers had in place for the 2026 season. The qualifying offer is worth $22.025m, so if Woodruff were to accept, Milwaukee would effectively be paying him $32.025 to pitch for the team in 2026—a guy who finished the season unhealthy and who has appeared in just 23 games in the last three years.
I like Woodruff, and I’m more optimistic than some about his ability to be a good pitcher moving forward, but that’s a huge amount to pay for a guy with the question marks that Woodruff has. Now, I understand that $10m of that was already out the door no matter what, but that extra $22m is certainly a huge chunk of whatever money the club has available after raises for the in-house guys to improve the team this offseason, whether that’s via free agency or taking on salary in trades.
It’s a short-term risk: if Woodruff accepts the qualifying offer, he’ll be under contract for only a year. If he declines the offer, the Brewers would then get a compensatory draft pick if and when Woodruff signs elsewhere. I think Woodruff will be able to find a free-agent deal that’s worth at least a couple of years, but given his injury history and the attached draft pick, things might get a little sketchy, which is why I wouldn’t be shocked if Woodruff took the QO. We’ll see what happens; Woodruff has until November 18th to make a decision.
The second bit of news regards the Brewers coaching staff. Matt Arnold confirmed on Thursday a report from Wednesday that hitting coach Connor Dawson has left the Brewers to join the Kansas City Royals. Dawson is from Kansas City, so it’s a homecoming move for him. The bigger coaching staff news, though:
Rickie Weeks is leaving his on-field role as associate manager and moving into the front office as “Special Assistant for Baseball Operations and Domestic/International Scouting.” The Brewers will not replace Weeks as associate manager, but they will presumably hire or promote someone to the role of bench coach, which they did not have with Weeks as associate manager.
