First look at the 2026 Milwaukee Brewers’ payroll

Free agency is fast approaching, though there’s still a little time until the countdown begins. The offseason will kick off in full five days after the end of the World Series, which will continue until Friday at a minimum. In preparation for this, let’s take a look at where the Brewers’ payroll stands heading into the offseason.

Before looking at the numbers, here are a couple of things to keep in mind.

Looking at the early payroll, the Brewers have some room to work with if they decide to keep the same payroll as 2025. However, it will not take much to push it to the level of 2025. For example, if Woodruff’s option is picked up on both sides, that would add $10 million into the projection alone (minus one minimum salary). It’s also possible that Woodruff declines the option, then either accepts a qualifying offer or signs a multi-year contract (in which case, he would be due the buyout and the new contract).

There are still questions to answer. The outfield situation will need to be addressed with two bench outfielders on it. Since the Brewers will keep an even split of 13 position players and 13 pitchers, one outfielder will likely not be on the team. The wild card there is Mitchell, who will be returning from shoulder surgery. He could either make the team and push another outfielder to the minors, or he could be non-tendered to save a little money.

Contreras’ salary also could vary slightly. While he has a $12 million option for 2026, the Brewers could choose to decline it and take him to arbitration instead. MLB Trade Rumors has a projection of $11.1 million for him, and he would be due a $100,000 buyout as well if his option is declined.

As for the Super Two cutoff, there are two players to watch. Brice Turang is the easiest of these cases. He entered the season at one year and 165 days of service time, so he will easily be a Super Two player (the latest cutoff for Super Two was 2 years and 146 days in the 2011 offseason). His projection is already factored into the payroll.

The other player to watch is Perkins. He entered the season at one year and 133 days of service time. Though he spent four days officially in the minors, he should still get credit for a full season. Looking through the cutoffs back to 2013, the only year Perkins would not have qualified was 2018 — that year, the cutoff was 2 years and 134 days. However, last season the cutoff was at 2 years and 132 days, which was a notable increase from previous years. This year’s cutoff is expected to be around the same mark. MLB Trade Rumors does not currently list an arbitration salary — they only list players who are guaranteed to receive that extra arbitration year.

The major question this offseason is whether the Brewers will be willing to spend more to build on the core that they have. Last offseason, they didn’t sign any free agents to significant deals until they were forced to sign a starting pitcher (Quintana) due to injuries in camp. However, it was also expected to be a rebuilding year. Will higher expectations yield a wallet that’s open a little wider? We won’t have to wait too much longer to find out.