How were the Brewers, now 1 win from the World Series, able to dominate with the 17th highest tax payroll?
Let’s go position by position on how they’ve built the team, and determine if their status as a small market team has helped them. Yesterday the focus was position players. Today, it is pitching.
Starters
Jacob Misiorowski (7.0 bWAR)
Contract: $788k in 2026, not yet Arbitration eligible
Acquired: #63 overall picks (2nd round) in 2022 draft
Notes: Misiorowski was signed for $2.35M about $1.2M above his slot value in the second round, which required going under slot for several more of their picks. Their first pick, Eric Brown Jr, was $650k under slot, and is no longer in their top 30 prospects. But the risk was obviously worth it, as Misiorowski went from a flame-throwing rookie with shaky control to the best pitcher in the National League in one season. Here is a video talking about MIsiorowski before the draft. The Brewers must have been very high on him, and felt they could lure him away for going to college with a big signing bonus, similar to what the did with Brice Turang.
Logan Henderson
Contract: $660K in 2026. Pre-arbitration.
Acquired: Round 4 draft pick (#116 overall) in 2021
Notes: Signed just below slot at $495k. He’s been their 2nd best starter over the past few motnhs.
Dustin May
Contract: $3.5M in 2026. $20M Mutual option in 2027.
Acquired: Deadline trade from St. Louis with JoJo Romero for Alexander Frias and Josiah Ragsdale on 8/3/26.
Notes: Frias is the #5 prospect for St. Louis and Ragsdale is #11. So this was a fairly costly rental for Milwaukee. But neither was in the top-30 for the Brewers in 2025. And with the injury to Woodruff and Harrison’s struggles, it was a necessary trade.
Kyle Harrison (0.5 bWAR)
Contract: $786k in 2026. Pre-arbitration.
Acquired: Part of the Caleb Durbin. See notes from yesterday’s post under David Hamilton.
Notes: Harrison looked amazing for much of the season, but hit a wall and has been used sapringly in the playoffs.
Robert Gasser
Contract: $616K in 2026. Pre-arbitration
Acquired: Traded with Dinelson Lamet, Taylor Rogers and Estuary Ruiz from the Padres for Josh Hader on 8/1/22
Notes: How many teams would trade their closer during the season when they are contending? The day of this trade they were 6 behind the Cardinals in the Central and 2.5 behind the Padres for the final Wild Card. They finished 1 game behind the Phillies and 3 behind San Diego, just out of the playoffs. I suppose they got their revenge, with Gasser and Contreras (who was acquired for Ruiz) playing a big part in the Brewers series victory over San Diego.
Bullpen
Trevor Megill
Contract: $4.7M in 2026. TBD in 2027. FA in 2028
Acquired: Traded from Minnesota in 4/30/23 for cash considerations.
Notes: I did a whole post on how the Cubs let him go. Just so painful for a Cubs fan.
Aaron Ashby
Contract: $4.1M in 2026. 5yr/$20.5M extension until 2029 with 2 club options in 28 and 29.
Acquired: Taken by Milwaukee #124 overall in the 4th round of the 2018 Draft
Notes: From the same high school as Jacob Misiorowski, and is the nephew of former MLB pitcher Andy Ashby, and was in the same draft as Brice Turang. He got slightly above slot, but not by a significant amount, but appears to have been a steal.
Abner Uribe
Contract: $794k in 2026. Pre-arbitration
Acquired: Signed as an international free agent in 2018 for $85k
Notes: There were several good prospects from this class of International signings, but Uribe and Elly De La Cruz (signed by the Reds for $65k) stand out as the real bargains. Meanwhile, the Cubs top signee, Jose O. Lopez, who got $1.5M never even made it to A-ball. And the top signing from that class, Victor Victor Mesa (who is actually the brother of the Rays’ Victor Mesa Jr.) signed for $5.2M did not made it past AAA, and is out of baseball.
DL Hall
Contract: $788k in 2026. Pre-arbitration
Acquired: Acquired with Joey Ortiz for Corbin Burnes on 2/1/24
Notes: Hall has not had a great career with the Brewers, especially as a starter. But he seems to have found his niche in the bullpen for Milwaukee this year.
JoJo Romero
Contract: $1.25M in 2026. FA in 2027.
Acquired: Deadline trade from St. Louis with Dustin May for Alexander Frias and Josiah Ragsdale on 8/3/26.
Notes:
Antonio Senzatela
Contract: $3.52M in 2026. $14M club option in 2027.
Acquired: Deadline trade from Colorado on 8/3/26 for Mark Manfredi and Juan Martinez
Notes: There’s no way they pick up the option, but he’s given them som edecent innings this season.
Chad Patrick
Contract: $796k in 2026. Pre-arbitration.
Acquired: Traded from the Athletics on 11/16/23 for Abraham Toro
Notes: Toro played for the Athletics in 2024 before becoming a free agent. He played for Boston in 2025 and then spent 2026 on the Royals’ AAA roster.
Shane Drohan
Contract: $676k in 2026. Pre-arbitration
Acquired: Part of the Caleb Durbin trade
Notes: Another useful piece picked up in that trade.
Not on Postseason Roster
Grant Anderson
Contract: $793k in 2026. Pre-arbitration
Acquired: Traded from Texas on 1/2/25 for Mason Molina
Quinn Priester
Contract: $803k in 2026. Pre-arbitration
Acquired: Traded from Boston on 4/7/25 for Yophery Rodriguez, John Holobetz and a 2025 draft pick (Marcus Phillips)
Notes: A rare time when the Brewers mortgaged some of the future. Patrick has been OK, but the second two prospects they gave up are #9 and #15 in the Red Sox system.
Brandon Woodruff
Contract: $22M on Qualifying offer. FA in 2027.
Notes: Their highest paid pitcher has barely been able to go this season due to injury
Summary of how they’ve been built:
Via the Draft:
Jacob Misiorowski
Brice Turang
Aaron Ashby
Logan Henderson
Garrett Mitchell
Cooper Pratt
Sal Frelick
International Free Agents:
Jackson Chourio
Abner Uribe
Luis Lara
Trades of pending free agents or flipping players acquired from such trades:
William Contreras (Josh Hader->Estuary Ruiz)
Robert Gasser (Josh Hader)
DL Hall (Corbin Burnes)
Joey Ortiz (Corbin Burnes)
Kyle Harrison (Devin WIlliams->Caleb Durbin)
David Hamilton (Devin WIlliams->Caleb Durbin)
Shane Drohan (Devin WIlliams->Caleb Durbin)
Minor trades for diamonds on the rough:
Trevor Megill
Jake Bauers
Andrew Vaughn
Trades of prospects for a player:
Christian Yelich
Chad Patrick
Deadline Deals for 2026:
Dustin May
JoJo Romero
Anthony Senzatela
Free Agent Signings:
Gary Sanchez
Conclusion
The Brewers have built their team in several ways, with big free agent signings as the only way they have not built the team.
- They have found players in the draft, and all of them have been outside the top 14 of the first round.
- They have found some international free agents.
- They have traded three superstars who were going to leave via free agency — and then sometime traded players they traded for — to get 7 players on the roster.
- They have found diamonds in the rough that they traded for and produced for them.
- And this season, they saw they needed a few pitchers to solidify the team for a playoff run so they acquried them
It is a formula that feel like it should not work, but the right scouting allowing them to hit on the right players, plus however they are developing those players have turned the Brewers into the best team in baseball. But we have seen other small-market teams, like the Royals and Pirates, struggle to compete while trying to follow the same blueprint.
Would the Cubs have been willing to trade Seiya Suzuki at the deadline? Of couse not, and I did not want them to. But now they may lose him for nothing but a draft pick. In fact, the Cubs went the opposite way, trading young guys who might have been able to contribute in the future for Kevin Gausman, Clay Holmes, Tyrone Taylor and Ryan Zeferjahn, with only Zeferjahn under contract for 2027. But, fans will clamor for several big, free-agent signings, which is what a big club like the Cubs is expected to do.
I suppose the Dodgers have the best of both worlds, building out a strong farm system, and then signing all of the big-name free agents they want. But after two straight championships, it appears that formula is not going to work in 2026.
What will a new labor deal mean for 2027 and beyond? Will the Brewers method still be effective? Perhaps they will be forced to spend more money, which ight not be a good thing for them. Or maybe it propels them to even greater heights.
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