Pending free agents and more offseason questions for Brewers

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After exiting in the National League Wild Card Series for the second year in a row, the Brewers have some questions to answer this winter. Here are four prominent ones.

1. Who will play shortstop?

Brewers officials have been upfront about not expecting to be in the running for 29-year-old Willy Adames, who led the team with 32 homers and 112 RBIs in a contract year while delivering only the fifth 30-homer, 100-RBI, 20-steal season for a primary shortstop. Part of the calculus is that the Brewers have two other defensively gifted shortstops on the infield, albeit at other positions, in second baseman Brice Turang and third baseman Joey Ortiz.

“It depends on who we acquire. That's the job that the front office does, but the great understanding is Turang and Ortiz could both do it,” manager Pat Murphy said. “Let this thing play out. So we'll see what happens. I want them both on the field next year, so hopefully they do enough in the offseason and come back again with the right mentality to get themselves on the field again.”

2. Will Devin Williams be the closer?

The Brewers will exercise Williams’ $10.5 million club option for 2025, but then what? The club hasn't had a $10 million-plus reliever since Eric Gagne in 2008, opting instead to build excellent bullpens on a modest budget and allowing for flexibility in the volatile world of relief pitching.

Notably, Williams -- a two-time NL Reliever of the Year -- is going into this offseason in the same contractual position as the one former NL Cy Young Award winner Corbin Burnes went into last offseason, when he had one final year of control and was dealt to the Orioles.

“We have to stay open-minded,” Brewers GM Matt Arnold said. “We're the smallest market in the league, so that's something that's required in the place that we are. But as far as Devin Williams goes … I still believe he's the best closer in baseball and I'm happy to have him.”

If the Brewers were to trade Williams, they'd have a number of potential replacements -- including right-hander Trevor Megill, who logged 21 saves while Williams was sidelined with a back injury.

3. What will the starting rotation look like?

The Brewers have Freddy Peralta and Tobias Myers coming back, followed by many moving pieces. Aaron Civale is arbitration-eligible after earning $4.9 million last season, and he seems like a good bet to return. Frankie Montas’ contract has a $20 million mutual option, making his return much less likely. The club will decline its half of Wade Miley’s $12 million mutual option because he’s coming back from Tommy John surgery. Colin Rea’s $5.5 million club option is a question mark. Joe Ross is a free agent.

It keeps going. Left-hander Robert Gasser won’t be fully recovered from Tommy John surgery until late next season at best. Left-handers DL Hall and Aaron Ashby are options to start, but Ashby in particular had terrific success as a reliever. Ditto for top pitching prospect Jacob Misiorowski. Longtime Brewer Brandon Woodruff is a wild card coming back from right shoulder surgery.

“It starts with some tough decisions we have upcoming with certain players,” Arnold said. “We’re going to assess all that in the coming days and weeks. I want to spend time with Murph. I want to spend time with our staff talking through that. A lot of guys have certainly put themselves in consideration, and we have a lot of good young players in the system as well that’ll certainly be in consideration going into the spring.”

Ashby is a particularly interesting case. He had a 1.37 ERA and 28 strikeouts in 19 2/3 innings after coming back as a reliever down the stretch last season.

“If you're asking me today, 'Does he belong in that late-inning role?' I would say no. I'd say he's more of a candidate to throw more innings, because the stuff is pretty special and there's a variety there,” Murphy said. “But that's going to be discussed. And it also has to be a little bit player-driven, you know? The player has to want certain things or see themselves [in a certain role], or at least be in a healthy discussion about it.”

4. Who are comeback candidates to watch?

They are plentiful:

• The best-case scenario for Gasser, according to Arnold, is a return late next season to boost the pitching staff for another pennant push.

• Abner Uribe, the Brewers’ closer at the start of last season before he suffered a knee injury that required surgery, is on track to have a normal offseason and be ready for Spring Training. Whenever Uribe returns, he will still have to serve a four-game suspension for his role in a fracas with the Rays last April.

• Woodruff was throwing off the mound by the end of the season, but everyone is well aware that shoulder surgeries are tricky. Woodruff underwent a labrum repair in October 2023.

• Christian Yelich -- who underwent back surgery in August -- resumed some activity by season’s end, and he is on track to be ready for the start of next season. Yelich will continue to play the outfield, Murphy suggested, despite a relative roster crunch that includes Jackson Chourio, Garrett Mitchell, Sal Frelick and Blake Perkins. The DH spot will help. So could Frelick’s ability to play third base -- something Murphy said the Brewers would try again in Spring Training after a similar project in 2024.

“[Yelich] is a pretty good outfielder and he's a great player, and he's still very capable out there,” Murphy said. “If you're talking Yeli to first base, I don't think that's in the cards anytime soon. Chourio to the infield -- because he's an infielder at heart, and if you watch him take ground balls, he's really good at it? I don't think that's going to happen. Frelick to third, he was making great progress and this kid might be able to pitch before it's all said and done. Yes, that's on the table for sure -- depending on if we acquire anyone, if we don't, if we lose somebody else, injuries. But to have that in our pocket, that versatility is crucial.”