MILWAUKEE -- The Brewers struck agreements with five of their six remaining arbitration-eligible players on Thursday, according to a source, but were unable to come to terms with catcher William Contreras and will continue towards a hearing with their two-time and reigning club MVP.

Thursday afternoon was the deadline for teams to either agree to 2025 contracts with players eligible for arbitration or formally file one-year salary proposals through the league. That means Contreras, coming off a season in which he led the Brewers with a 5.4 fWAR, finished fifth in NL MVP Award balloting and started the All-Star Game behind the plate, remains under contractual control with Milwaukee at a salary still to be determined. He filed for $6.5 million and the Brewers countered at $5.6 million, making him one of 17 players across MLB to exchange figures on Thursday, including stars like the Cubs’ Kyle Tucker and Nationals’ Nathaniel Lowe.

If the sides cannot reach a middle ground in the coming weeks, the case will go before a panel of arbitrators during Spring Training. Contreras, 27, is eligible for arbitration for the first time.

The Brewers were successful in avoiding the prospect of a hearing with all of their other eligible players by agreeing to terms for next season. They were starters Aaron Civale (who will earn $8 million, a source told MLB.com) and Nestor Cortes ($7.6 million), and relievers Joel Payamps ($2.995 million), Trevor Megill ($1.94 million) and Nick Mears ($963,000). The club has not confirmed financial details.

Civale and Cortes are each heading into their final season of club control, and each came to the Brewers via trade. Civale was 6-3 with a 3.53 ERA in 14 Brewers starts after coming to Milwaukee from Tampa Bay in early July last year, and Cortes came to the Brewers last month with infield prospect Caleb Durbin via a swap with the Yankees for closer Devin Williams.

The fact that the Brewers and Contreras were unable to find common ground by Thursday’s deadline does not necessarily mean a hearing is inevitable. Every team has its own policy about negotiating after the filing deadline, especially when those talks involve contracts beyond one year. As recently as last year, the Brewers and Williams agreed to a one-year contract with a club option for a second season, hours after the sides formally exchanged figures.

Thanks to that agreement, they didn’t have any arbitration hearings with players last year. The team’s most recent hearings were with right-hander Corbin Burnes in 2023, right-hander Adrian Houser in ’22 and, before that, with closer Josh Hader in ’20. In all three of those cases, the club’s position prevailed.

There’s also the possibility of a longer-term contract, though for Contreras that would almost certainly require a significant commitment, if he and his representatives are open to it. The most recent long-term deal for an All-Star catcher went to the Dodgers’ Will Smith, who was on the eve of his 29th birthday when he landed a 10-year, $140 million deal last March, when Smith was two years older than Contreras is today, and one year further into the arbitration process, with two remaining years of club control compared to Contreras’ three as of today. Smith had compiled a 15.8 career fWAR at the time of his signing; Contreras has a 13.1 career fWAR, mostly compiled during the past two seasons since a trade from Atlanta to Milwaukee.

Whatever the outcome, Contreras is expected to be Milwaukee’s frontline catcher for the third straight season in 2025. The club earlier avoided arbitration with his likely backup, Eric Haase, and remains high on top prospect Jeferson Quero (No. 1 Brewers prospect, No. 43 overall according to MLB Pipeline), who is coming back from a ‘24 season lost to surgery on his throwing shoulder.

In another move Thursday, the Mariners claimed left-hander Tyler Jay off waivers. The Brewers had DFA’d Jay last week after acquiring right-hander Grant Anderson in a trade with the Rangers.