FAQ: What to know about Brewers' offseason

This story was excerpted from Adam McCalvy's Brewers Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

Here are the dates, names and decision points to know as the Brewers head into an offseason of roster-building.

What are the key dates?

First day after the World Series (Thursday): Eligible players become free agents. That starts a five-day “quiet period” in which free agents may negotiate only with their own team. Also, the trade freeze is lifted and Major League players may be traded between clubs.

Fourth day after the World Series (Nov. 3): Last date to request waivers on Draft-excluded players until next spring.

Fifth day after the World Series (Nov. 4): The deadline for teams and players to make decisions on contract options, the deadline for clubs to reinstate all players on the 60-day injured list (the Brewers have six such players, including Christian Yelich), and the deadline for clubs to tender qualifying offers (4 p.m. CT). Also, the “quiet period” ends and Major League free agents are free to sign with any club as of 4 p.m. CT. Minor League players become free agents at 4 p.m. CT, if applicable.

Nov. 4-7: GM Meetings in San Antonio, Texas.

Nov. 19: The deadline for players to accept a qualifying offer is 3 p.m. CT. Also the deadline to add players to the 40-man roster to protect them from the Rule 5 Draft is 5 p.m. CT.

Nov. 22: Tender deadline. By 7 p.m. CT on the Friday before Thanksgiving, teams must formally tender contracts to unsigned players for the following season, including their arbitration-eligible players. If a player is non-tendered, he becomes a free agent.

Dec. 9-11: Winter Meetings in Dallas, including the MLB Draft lottery on Dec. 10 and the Rule 5 Draft on Dec. 11.

Dec. 15: End of the 2024 international signing period.

Jan. 10, 2025: Eligible players and their teams exchange arbitration figures.

Jan. 15, 2025: Start of the new international signing period.

Feb. 12, 2025: Brewers pitchers and catchers report to Spring Training.

Who are the Brewers' free agents?

Shortstop Willy Adames and right-hander Joe Ross.

Will any of them get a qualifying offer?

Yes, Adames. This year’s figure is $21.05 million, the average of the top 125 salaries in MLB. The Brewers will most likely extend that one-year offer to Adames, and he will most likely decline in order to seek a lucrative multiyear contract in free agency. If that's the case, the Brewers will be in line to receive a compensatory pick in next year’s MLB Draft, as laid out in MLB.com’s glossary entry on qualifying offers:

Revenue-sharing recipients: If the team that loses the player is a revenue-sharing recipient, based on its revenues and market size, then the selection -- if and only if the lost player signs for at least $50 million -- will be awarded a pick between the first round and Competitive Balance Round A. If the player signs for less than $50 million, the compensation pick for those teams would come after Competitive Balance Round B, which follows the second round.

If you want to learn more about the system of qualifying offers, including who is eligible this year and who is not, my colleague Thomas Harrigan has you covered in this explainer.

What about contract options?

• RHP Frankie Montas ($20 million mutual option, $2 million buyout)
• 1B Rhys Hoskins ($18 million player option, $4 million buyout)
• LHP Wade Miley ($12 million mutual option, $1.5 million buyout)
• RHP Devin Williams ($10.5 million club option, $250,000 buyout)*
• RHP Freddy Peralta ($8 million club option, $1.5 million buyout)
• RHP Colin Rea ($5.5 million club option, $1 million buyout)
• C Gary Sánchez ($7 million mutual option, $4 million buyout)
• C Eric Haase ($3.5 million club option, no buyout)*

* Williams and Haase will be arbitration-eligible if the club declines its option on them. The other players will be free agents if their contract options aren’t exercised.

Who is arbitration eligible?

First baseman/outfielder Jake Bauers, right-handers Aaron Civale, Nick Mears, Joel Payamps, Trevor Megill and Bryse Wilson, catcher William Contreras and left-hander Hoby Milner.

Are any of those players non-tender candidates?

Yes, for a variety of reasons.

Civale (who earned a $4.9 million salary in 2024) and Milner ($2.05 million) are going into their final year of arbitration. With Bauers ($1.35 million in '24), the Brewers’ decision could be impacted on Hoskins’ player option, along with their view of internal options for that spot, such as corner-infield prospect Tyler Black. And while Wilson ($1 million) served a valuable role as a swingman throughout the season, he was left off the postseason roster. But remember, tendering a contract to a player doesn’t preclude a future trade.

The Brewers non-tendered three players at last year’s deadline: right-handers Brandon Woodruff and J.C. Mejía and first baseman Rowdy Tellez. But they ended up re-signing Woodruff to a two-year contract.

Who needs to be added to the 40-man roster this offseason?

With my annual tip of the cap to Jim Goulart of the indispensable Brewer Fanatic forum, there are two members of MLB Pipeline’s Brewers Top 30 prospects list who would be eligible to be plucked away by a rival club in the Rule 5 Draft if not added to the 40-man roster: right-handers Logan Henderson (No. 11) and Coleman Crow (No. 30).

Henderson -- a 2021 fourth-round Draft pick whose career got off to a rocky start because of an elbow injury -- is back on track after reaching Triple-A Nashville in 2024. He’s a near lock to be added to the roster. Crow, acquired last winter in a trade that sent Tyrone Taylor and Adrian Houser to the Mets, spent the '24 regular season recovering from Tommy John surgery, but he has been pitching in the Arizona Fall League.

Other names of note include right-hander Chad Patrick -- acquired from the A’s in the Abraham Toro trade last November -- who had a 2.90 ERA in 136 1/3 innings at Nashville, as well as slugging first baseman and catcher Wes Clarke, who hit 21 homers between Double-A Biloxi and Nashville in '24 and right-handed swingman Shane Smith.

What's the payroll situation?

Yelich ($26 million), Woodruff ($5 million), Jackson Chourio ($4.25 million) and Aaron Ashby ($3.45 million) are the only players currently under contract for 2025, but that’s just the start of the Brewers’ commitments. The figure grows quickly with option buyouts and with salaries for arbitration-eligible players -- especially Contreras, Mears and Megill, the three players eligible for arbitration for the first time -- and pre-arbitration players once they sign. FanGraphs estimated the Brewers’ payroll at $116 million at the end of last season, and that’s probably a decent starting point for a '25 Opening Day projection.

One factor to bear in mind is the Brewers’ television situation. You’ll find an FAQ here with more information on the Brewers’ move to MLB producing and distributing games for 2025, including what president of business operations Rick Schlesinger said about potential impact on payroll.