As the regular season winds down, the Brewers are staring at one of their biggest offseason calls: what to do with William Contreras.
That question has become familiar in Milwaukee. The front office has a track record of moving star players when they get close to the end of team control, especially when it believes a trade can bring more long-term value than keeping the player in place. Contreras is approaching that same point in his Brewers run, which makes his future one of the franchise’s central decisions this winter.
For now, though, Milwaukee still has the leverage. Contreras signed a one-year, $9.4-million deal this past offseason, and that contract includes a club option worth $15.5 million for 2027.
Even if the Brewers turn down the option, Contreras would not immediately hit free agency. He would remain under team control and go through arbitration for 2027.
That setup is one the Brewers have used before, including with Contreras last offseason and Devin Williams. It gives the club a way to avoid a messy arbitration fight, pay a bit more in the short term, and keep an option for the following year. It also creates a ceiling on what the player can earn in the next arbitration cycle.
If Contreras were putting together an MVP-level season, the decision would be pretty straightforward. Pick up the option and move on. But his year has been uneven, which leaves Milwaukee with a real question: is he worth $15.5 million, or can the team get him for less by declining the option and sending him back through arbitration?
After hitting his 18th home run Sunday night in Baltimore, Contreras is heading into the final week of the regular season with a .271/.342/.423 line. He has been lifting the ball in the air more often, up to 16.2% this year from 11.1% in 2025, and he’s cut his strikeout rate well below his career mark, sitting at 14.5% this season compared with 20.3% overall.
Even with the up-and-down stretches, Contreras has been one of the Brewers’ most reliable players since arriving in Milwaukee. He has posted at least 3.0 fWAR and a wRC+ of at least 110 in all four of his seasons with the team. He’s 28, a three-time All-Star with two of those selections coming as a Brewer, and he has won two Silver Slugger Awards at catcher.
Moving on from a player like that would not be easy. But Milwaukee has done hard things like this before, and fans have seen it with players such as Freddy Peralta and Corbin Burnes. If the Brewers decide to go that route again, they do have some internal choices.
Gary Sánchez is the current backup catcher. He signed a one-year deal late last offseason with a mutual option for 2027, though that option is unlikely to be picked up.
Instead, it functions mostly as a way to push a small portion of his salary into next season through a buyout. A return is still possible, though, since this is already his second stint with the club.
Sánchez has hit .209/.352/.419 in 264 plate appearances this season, and while he is not a realistic answer as a starter, he would make sense as a backup catcher and occasional designated hitter.
Bo Naylor is the other catcher currently on the major-league roster. Milwaukee acquired him from the Guardians on August 1, then brought him up when rosters expanded at the start of September to serve as a third catcher.
He has barely played since then, collecting two hits in eight plate appearances. His career numbers are modest - .200/.280/.374 in more than 1,000 plate appearances - but the Brewers have reason to believe they might be able to shape his offensive profile into something useful.
He will enter his first year of arbitration in 2027, so he is likely to remain in the organization.
There are also outside options, with Ryan Jeffers, Carson Kelly and Tyler Stephenson listed among the top free-agent catchers this winter. But replacing Contreras that way would not make much sense. Those players would cost nearly as much and would require a multi-year commitment.
If the Brewers do trade Contreras, his replacement would likely have to come back in the same deal or from another move, such as one involving Trevor Megill.
So the path forward is there, even if none of the choices is simple. Milwaukee will have to weigh Contreras’s production, what he would cost in arbitration, and everything he brings beyond the box score - leadership, handling the pitching staff, and the toughness, work ethic and standards the organization values.
Right now, this looks more like a Willy Adames situation than a Peralta, Burnes or Williams case. But if the right offer comes along, that could change.
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