The Brewers didn't make much noise at the winter meetings. Here's what it means going forward.

Curt Hogg
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Oakland catcher Sean Murphy is one of the most sought-after trade chips in all of baseball.

The St. Louis Cardinals signed the top catcher on the market. The Chicago Cubs dropped a chunk of change on a frontline starting pitcher and a bet that a former MVP outfielder would regain his old form. The rest of the league as a whole pushed its spending on free agents this offseason north of $2 billion.

The Major League Baseball winter meetings looked quite different for the Milwaukee Brewers, however.

The Brewers didn’t make any major-league free agent signings or strike any trades over the three days of meetings in San Diego which came to a close Wednesday. Of course, they weren't completely silent and did make one addition to their big-league roster by selecting pitcher Gus Varland from the Los Angeles Dodgers in the Rule 5 draft. But as one of only six teams remaining to not have signed a free agent with big-league experience this off-season, the Brewers remained one of the quieter teams this week.

Whether that approach was one of diligent patience or a miscalculated level of urgency will be determined a few months from now.

"This week, just because we’re here doesn’t mean something necessarily has to get done," Brewers general manager Matt Arnold said. "You’re laying the foundation for a bunch of things that can happen over the course of several months."

Arnold wouldn't go as far as to say the Brewers are "close" to any imminent major moves, but repeatedly asserted that the framework for many potential deals down the road was laid in San Diego.

Perhaps the team's greatest need is at catcher, where Victor Caratini would as it stands shoulder the everyday workload. The market at the position began to heat up Wednesday, though it did so at the benefit of Milwaukee's greatest competitor in the division as the Cardinals signed Willson Contreras to a five-year deal.

Christian Vázquez is the top remaining backstop on the free agent market, though Milwaukee has not been linked publicly to him yet. Gary Sánchez and Mike Zunino are other possibilities for the Brewers to sign, but what may be more likely is an acquisition via trade. Toronto, flush with catchers, is in a position to trade Alejandro Kirk or Wisconsin native Danny Jansen; Oakland holds one of the most valuable in the entire league in Sean Murphy; perhaps someone such as Tampa's Francisco Mejia or Arizona's Carson Kelly would be a fit as a cheaper option.

"As you guys know, we’re hoping to continue to improve at the catching spot," Arnold said. "I do think there’s been real movement in that market."

Brewers select Gus Varland in Rule 5 draft

Milwaukee found itself a part of a Rule 5 draft that saw 83 players swap organizations between the MLB and AAA portions of the event, the most since 1983.

Varland, 26, is a righthander who has spent the last two seasons pitching at Class AA in the Dodgers system. The numbers for the Maplewood, Minnesota, native at AA weren’t great – a 5.71 ERA in 34⅔ innings in 2021 and a 6.11 ERA in 70⅔ last year – but he showed flashes of his arsenal potentially playing up out of the bullpen as the 2022 campaign went on. 

"He’s a former starter. He’s got really good stuff," Arnold said. "We really like what he did in the second half, that’s something that really stood out to us. He was a starter and had converted and as he got more comfortable in his new role, he really pitched well. That was something that was really intriguing to us, plus his stuff, plus his command toward the end of the season got much, much better.

"We thought it was worth a shot to bring him in and see if he has a chance to make our club. "

Varland has a fastball that reaches as high as 98 mph and sits just a tick lower when working out of the bullpen, which he did for the final five months of the season with Tulsa. Over the final two months of the year, Varland struck out 31 with just five walks over 18⅓ innings while allowing seven earned runs. 

Varland also features a slider with plus movement, although it hasn’t generated all that many swings and misses during Varland’s time in the minors.

"I think everything played up a tick," Arnold said of Varland's switch to relief. "There were a lot of ingredients there that our scouts liked about this guy. In this family of guys we’re looking to continue to access good players that can help our major league team and he’s got the ingredients to do that. We’ll find out once he gets into spring training."

The Brewers must keep Varland on the active roster – or keep him on the 26-man roster for a minimum of 90 days if he is placed on the injured list – otherwise he must be offered back to the Dodgers for $50,000, or half of what Milwaukee paid initially to select him.

Milwaukee will likely utilize Varland in a relief role if he remains on the roster out of spring training. He is the latest hard thrower acquired for a potential bullpen role by general manager Matt Arnold this off-season, joining Javy Guerra and Elvis Peguero. 

The Brewers also made a selection in the AAA phase of the Rule 5 draft, selecting switch-hitting infielder Isaac Collins from the Rockies. Collins, 25, hit .221/.337/.347 and stole 30 bases in 110 games at Class AA Hartford last year.

Milwaukee didn't lose any players to another organization during either phase of the draft.

Cardinals sign Willson Contreras

Catcher Willson Contreras, who has spent his entire career with the Cubs since breaking into the big leagues in 2016, agreed to a five-year, $87.5 million deal with the Cardinals on Wednesday.

While the Brewers abstained from any other notable transactions, the rest of the NL Central picked up the pace Wednesday. 

The Cardinals signed former Cubs catcher Willson Contreras to a five-year contract worth $87.5 million, replacing longtime backstop Yadier Molina with the best-hitting catcher on the free agent market.

Contreras, 30, hit .256/.349/.459 since 2016 with the Cubs and is coming off a career-best offensive season. There is plenty of history between the Brewers and Contreras and it certainly isn’t going to disappear as he remains within the division. 

Contreras’ former team added starting pitcher Jameson Taillon earlier in the day, inking the righthander to a four-year deal worth $68 million. 

Taillon will headline the Cubs rotation alongside Marcus Stroman after a year in which he had a 3.91 ERA in 32 starts with the Yankees. 

Milwaukee's lone major-league contract signing is outfielder Blake Perkins, a minor-league outfielder who has yet to appear in the big leagues.

Though it hasn't been through free agency, the Brewers have made acquisitions, Arnold pointed out. They got Abraham Toro and Jesse Winker back in the trade for Kolten Wong and returned three pitchers in exchange for Hunter Renfroe. They also added Javy Guerra from Tampa right before the non-tender deadline.

The Brewers did not strike at the winter meetings but they insist that does not mean they won't strike at all.

"The markets all move at different paces," Arnold said. "We’ve been active in deals in spring training that have made our team better. Whether it’s this week or right before opening day, I’m excited about the opportunity to continue to make our team better. That’s what our aim is.

"If it happens this week, great. If it happens right before opening day, that’s just as good, too."

Movement may very well continue to be frenetic across the league in coming days, too, given the nature and intensity of talks between sides at the winter meetings.

Financially, the Brewers should find themselves in a position to execute on moves if they deem it the right fit. According to FanGraphs, they finished the 2022 season with $137 million in payroll but are projected for just $116 million for next year as it stands.

"I think we’ve talked about this: we’re prepared to be opportunistic here and if there are deals that we like, we have incredible support from our ownership to access those players," Arnold said. "Whatever that (payroll) number ends up being, I know that (team principal owner) Mark Attanasio will give us the ability to access the type of player we’re looking at that will help us in 2023."