Brewers Sign Eric Haase, Non-Tender Hoby Milner, and Proceed with Arbitration Talks

The Brewers signed backup catcher Eric Haase to a one-year contract on Friday and cut loose left-hander Hoby Milner while pressing forward into the arbitration process with all of their other eligible players, including All-Stars William Contreras and Devin Williams.

Teams had until 7 p.m. CT on Friday to tender contracts to the unsigned players under club control, including arbitration-eligible players. Clubs have three choices for that situation: They can tender the player a contract, which means that the sides commit to proceeding in the arbitration process to determine a salary for next season, agree with the player on the terms of a new contract to avoid the arbitration process altogether, or “non-tender” the player and make him a free agent.

Even after previously cutting ties with three such players -- right-handers Colin Rea and Bryse Wilson and first baseman Jake Bauers -- the Brewers went into Friday’s deadline day with eight players still eligible for arbitration:

RHP Aaron Civale

Contreras

Haase

RHP Nick Mears

RHP Trevor Megill

Milner

RHP Joel Payamps

Williams

By day’s end, the fate of those players was clearer. Haase reached a deal in 2025, making him the second catcher's second leader. Civals, Contreras, Mears, Megill, Payamps and Williams, and Milner according to brewers' control 220 after 220 times playing in the last four seasons. Contreras, Mears, and Megill are qualified for the first time. At the other end, Civals and Williams are qualified to be qualified to inspire them to their last arbitration before arriving at free players. Milner falls into the same category with a 4.73 ERA in an unusually volatile year.

"The most important thing about Hobby is how good a player he's been since we first brought him into a minor league deal," Brewers assistant general manager Matt Klein said. What a professional player and what a great teammate. "It's also important to point out that this doesn't close the door on Hobby's tenure with the Milwaukee Brewers. We went through that last year with [Brandon Woodruff], where he wasn't offered, and then we were able to negotiate him back."

Asked about the negotiations with the players who were offered contracts, specifically Contreras and Williams, Kleine said, "We're in good shape. Generally in this caliber players, they didn't even disturb these people's calls at this time because there was no threat of interest. Today is more uncertain about the players. "

In the past two seasons, contributed, MVP for the Bruch Club, the fifth in the NL MVP Award vote on Thursday night. He may be a candidate for a contract extension, but those discussions would be more appropriate at a later date, Kleine said, once the sides start negotiating a deal for next season.

Williams, meanwhile, is a somewhat unique case in that he’s eligible for arbitration because the Brewers earlier this month declined his $10.5 million club option for 2025. Klein explained that it was purely a business decision, as Williams missed the first four months of 2024 with a back injury. Klein said the relationship between Brewer and the two-time National League Catcher of the Year remains "strong" even as Williams' name has been floated as a potential trade candidate approaching his contract year. “You see, the administrative processes that we have to go through behind the scenes, especially this process, are relatively simple,” Klein said. “It’s completely non-confrontational. The pricing of the club setup values ​​corresponds to the benefits throughout the season, and as German missed most of the season, his value will be much lower than the value of choice.

"I maintained contact with his agent in the first days of the season. This is not surprising in German, which is not surprising to his agent."

Players on the bid agreement on Friday can continue negotiations with the team until January. 9, where the unsigned exchange formal salary proposals with the team. Then, a hearing is scheduled at the beginning of spring training, where each side argues its case and a three-person panel of judges chooses one or the other.