GM: Brewers 'looking to build around' star trio

SAN DIEGO -- Brewers general manager Matt Arnold came a little closer Tuesday to declaring that co-aces Corbin Burnes and Brandon Woodruff and two-time club MVP Willy Adames are off-limits in trades.

“We get phone calls on these guys all the time, and that’s a great thing,” Arnold said during an appearance on MLB Network. “I think the fact you’re getting calls on your good players is really exciting.

“That being said, this is a group we’re excited about. We want to put a really good product on the field in 2023, and those guys have to be part of that if we’re going to do that.”

• Latest free agent and trade rumors

Adames, 27, Burnes, 28, and Woodruff, 29, were the Brewers’ three most valuable players in 2022, combining for 12.8 WAR per Fangraphs. So why is Milwaukee’s new head of baseball operations being asked about trading them? Because all three have two seasons before reaching free agency, part of a long list of Brewers arbitration-eligible players whose future earnings figure into the club’s plans for this offseason and beyond. Closer Josh Hader was in the same position at this time last year, and he was dealt to the Padres in August for prospects plus closer Taylor Rogers.

And this offseason, the Brewers have already traded outfielder Hunter Renfroe and second baseman Kolten Wong, both one year from free agency, in exchange for more controllable talent.

There have been no known extension talks between the Brewers and Adames, Burnes or Woodruff, but one source said that could be more reflective of the calendar than any side’s interest. Often, teams are more focused on trades and free agency during the Winter Meetings, then turn their attention to high-profile arbitration-eligible players. Those talks sometimes gain steam ahead of the deadline for teams and arbitration-eligible players to formally file figures, which this offseason falls on Jan. 13.

When asked about navigating trade talks and free-agent negotiations during these Meetings with the looming cost to retain those stars, Arnold said, “That is a challenge, for sure. Right now, we have all of those guys, and they’re all really, really good. We are looking to build around that group. They’re really, really talented, and we don’t take that for granted, and so we’re trying to maximize it.”

• Matt Arnold, Craig Counsell work in step

Burnes addressed his status in September in a conversation with MLB.com.

“For anyone who isn’t on a long-term deal, once you get into your later years of arbitration, anything can happen,” Burnes said then. “We saw it with Hader. We might see it this offseason. I don’t know what route the front office is going to take. It’s one of those things you start looking at. You hope you’re here for the long term -- two more years, seven more years, eight more years, 10 more years, whatever it may be -- you hope to be in one jersey your entire career. But there’s other things that go into that.

“Who knows what’s going to happen this offseason? Who knows what’s going to happen at the next Trade Deadline? At this point, there’s a couple of guys remaining from our 2018 and ‘19 postseason teams, and it’s like, this could be maybe the last year. Maybe next year is the last year. Maybe we get two more years. We don’t really know. It’s hard to look at it like that, but you don’t know what’s going to happen.”

One agency happens to represent a significant swath of the Brewers’ remaining unsigned arbitration-eligible players: CAA Sports. Besides Adames and Burnes, that agency also handles negotiations for left-hander Eric Lauer and infielders Luis Urías and Keston Hiura, who are all among the Brewers’ 11 remaining arbitration-eligible players who were tendered contracts last month, but whose pay is still to be negotiated via MLB’s salary arbitration process. Arnold described the Brewers’ working relationship with CAA as “great.”

On a more immediate front at these Meetings, Arnold has described the club’s talks with free agents and other teams as wide-ranging. The Brewers are deep in starters but down relief arms after trading Hader, declining the club option of steady veteran Brad Boxberger, waiving Brent Suter and seeing Rogers leave in free agency.

Does that make bullpen a priority?

“That would be up there, for sure. We want to improve the pitching as a whole,” Arnold said. “Anytime you put a good team on the field, you have to have a good pitching staff, whether that’s the front end or the back end of the game. The bullpen would be a priority for us right now.”