Is this the Brewers' last chance with this core?

This story was excerpted from Adam McCalvy’s Brewers Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

MILWAUKEE -- For some of the core that has led the Brewers through the most successful stretch in franchise history, could this be the last hurrah?

“I think it kind of crosses your mind,” pitcher Corbin Burnes said. “Is this the last year that I’ll do it in a Brewers uniform? Is this the last year of [Brandon Woodruff]? Of Willy [Adames]? It’s always said that you never know when you’ve made your last start for a certain organization.

“You know, I’d like to think that I’ve left my stamp here, and hopefully I can continue to do it here. But if this is my last postseason run in Milwaukee, of course I’d like to win a World Series here.”

He paused again and added, “Of course, I’d like to win a World Series every year.”

The Brewers believe they have assembled a team capable of giving it a go, though they already suffered a big loss with Monday’s news that Woodruff will miss at least the opening round of the postseason with a right shoulder injury. That puts even more on the back of Burnes, who will start Game 1 of the National League Wild Card Series on Tuesday against the D-backs.

A deep postseason run would not only reverse recent disappointments -- since making it all the way to Game 7 of the 2018 NLCS, the Brewers have been eliminated in the first round in three straight postseason appearances -- but it would also delay some potentially franchise-altering decisions this offseason.

Manager Craig Counsell’s pending free agency is the most immediate matter, but not the only one. Burnes and Woodruff, the homegrown starters who cut their teeth as relievers at the start of Counsell’s run in 2018, and Adames, the high-energy shortstop who is the glue that binds the clubhouse, will all be going through their final cycle of arbitration this winter before reaching free agency at the end of 2024.

For a team like the Brewers, which must continuously cycle young, controllable talent for even younger, more controllable talent, it’s a critical juncture.

“It just depends on what route they want to take,” Burnes said. “Do you roll it over into all of the young guys? Who knows?”

There are any number of ways this could play out. The Brewers have broached extensions with Burnes, Woodruff and Adames, but so far there’s been no action. When Burnes switched representation to Scott Boras earlier this year, it probably increased the odds he takes his chances in free agency. For Adames, last winter’s spending spree on shortstops pushed up the price. For Woodruff, his shoulder injury clouds this postseason and potentially beyond.

If not extensions, the Brewers would be negligent if they didn’t at least consider a trade, whether this offseason or prior to next year’s Trade Deadline. The alternative -- playing out the year and then trying to re-sign players as free agents -- risks an outcome like the departure of Prince Fielder following the 2011 season. The Brewers had a different Opening Day first baseman each of the next 11 years until Rowdy Tellez finally started two in a row in 2022 and ‘23.

“I’m obviously aware of how many years we have left here under contract,” Woodruff said the other day, before his injury put a dent in Milwaukee’s postseason planning. “I do know we have a short window here where we’re got a chance to win.”

The Brewers’ chances begin with Burnes, who will join Mike Caldwell and Yovani Gallardo as the only pitchers in franchise history to start multiple Game 1s in the postseason. Every Game 1 is important but this one is critical. Last year, the first under this MLB postseason structure, the winner of Game 1 won all four Wild Card Series.

“Giving the ball to Corbin on day one is as good a feeling as you can have,” Counsell said.

Said Adames: “I think everybody knew he was going to be our first guy. He’s been our first guy all year.”

The Brewers were 18-14 in Burnes’ starts -- including a victory over the D-backs in Phoenix in April when Arizona hitters took a patient approach, and a loss to the D-backs in Milwaukee in June when Arizona hitters were particularly aggressive and touched up Burnes for a season-high seven earned runs on eight hits.

“We saw two completely different attack plans,” Burnes said. “That’s the fun of facing a team a third time now, seeing what they’re going to do. For me, that’s what I enjoy most about pitching -- finding different ways to get guys out. You have to have a couple of plans in place depending on what they do.”

That’s the focus on Tuesday.

The future can wait.

“To me, it’s like we’re going to be together forever,” Brewers pitching coach Chris Hook said. “I try to treat it that way. I don’t even want to think about the business part of it.”