Brandon Woodruff’s future with the Brewers is one of those decisions that sounds simple until you start putting numbers on it.
Milwaukee has had him in the organization since 2014, when he was taken in the 11th round of the Major League Baseball Draft. He’s been a franchise mainstay for years, and after the kind of 2026 he just put together, the case for bringing him back is obvious. The harder part is figuring out how much the Brewers should actually pay to keep him.
Woodruff played the 2026 season on the qualifying offer, making just over $22 million. He managed nine regular-season starts before being shut down with what was expected to be a season-ending issue, then made a triumphant return in the World Series and delivered the kind of moment that fit his comeback perfectly.
He entered the offseason healthy, and when he was on the mound in 2026, he still looked like an elite arm. His 2.98 ERA in those nine starts backed that up.
Still, availability matters, and that’s where the conversation gets complicated. Since the beginning of the 2023 season, Woodruff has made just 32 regular-season appearances. That reality has to be part of the Brewers’ thinking, even with everything he means to the franchise.
Spotrac currently projects his market value at just over $11.8 million on a one-year deal. If Milwaukee went that route, Woodruff would rank as the third-highest-paid player on the roster, behind Christian Yelich and William Contreras. That’s a meaningful number for a team that doesn’t usually hand out huge contracts.
A one-year deal at that level might not be the only path, though. A two-year contract in the $20 million range would make sense as another possibility, especially if the Brewers want to lower the annual number. A deal around $10 million per year would recognize both the talent and the status Woodruff brings as one of the pillars of the franchise.
The idea of him wearing another uniform feels remote. The more realistic question is where Milwaukee draws the line. Anything beyond that starts to get tricky for a club that rarely operates in that territory.
Woodruff should be back in 2027. The Brewers just have to make sure they don’t overdo it to get there.
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