What does 2025 have in store for the Crew?
Adam McCalvy
@AdamMcCalvyThis 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 -- The Brewers will have a new shortstop and a new closer but the same goal in 2025: make the postseason and see if they can get hot at the right time.
That¡¯s the philosophy that has carried Milwaukee through an unprecedented stretch of regular-season success, with six postseason appearances in the past seven years, including four division titles. No, the Brewers have not won a postseason series since 2018, when they swept the Rockies in the National League Division Series. But yes, they have put themselves in position to try, which is more than many clubs can say.
¡°We¡¯ve got some unproven guys, but we have to come up with those answers every year,¡± manager Pat Murphy said. ¡°It¡¯s the positive and the negative of a small market, you know?¡±
Here¡¯s a look ahead to 2025:
One (realistic) free agent who would be a perfect fit
INF Ha-Seong Kim
There¡¯s significant risk involved with Kim because a right shoulder injury will delay the start of his 2025 season. But there could also be significant upside in a one-year deal with the 29-year-old, who would have been a prominent free agent this offseason had he not been injured. Kim is coming off four years with the Padres in which he compiled 15.3 bWAR, and he won a Rawlings Gold Glove Award as a utility player in 2023 while starting games at second base, shortstop and third base. That sort of flexibility would come in handy as the Brewers decide how to configure their terrific infield in the wake of shortstop Willy Adames¡¯ departure.
One player poised to have a breakout season
LHP Aaron Ashby
Ashby has already had two mini-breakouts, one in 2022, when he signed a five-year contract extension, and another late last season when he returned from two tough years of injury to become a lights-out reliever. The Brewers hope that Ashby will build on the confidence of last year, when he delivered a 1.98 ERA and 20 strikeouts in 13 2/3 relief innings in September, and that he¡¯ll benefit from a normal, healthy offseason. Pitching coach Chris Hook has said he would love to see Ashby compete for a return to the rotation. As a fallback, the Brewers know they have a terrific lefty reliever who was so good he might even figure into the closer conversation.
One prospect to watch in 2025
SS Jesus Made (Brewers No. 4 prospect)
Made -- pronounced mod-AY -- already broke out within Milwaukee¡¯s system in 2024, earning Brewers co-Minor League Player of the Year honors in his first professional season after signing for $950,000 in January 2023. A switch-hitter who¡¯s still just 17, Made slashed .331/.458/.554 and stole 28 bases in 51 games in the Rookie-level Dominican Summer League while walking more times (39) than he struck out (28). It¡¯s tempting to compare his current prospect heat to Brewers phenom Jackson Chourio, who rocketed up prospect lists all the way to No. 2 on MLB Pipeline¡¯s overall Top 100 before his sensational MLB debut as a 20-year-old last season. Could Made crack that list next spring?
One prediction for the new year
Christian Yelich wins NL Comeback Player of the Year
During the Winter Meetings, Brewers general manager Matt Arnold told a rather gory story of Yelich handing over his phone to show images from his back surgery in August. Arnold was shocked by the volume of inflamed tissue that surgeons removed in the procedure, which ended a renaissance season for Yelich, the NL¡¯s leader in average and on-base percentage at the time. The upside is that after years of navigating occasional flare-ups, Yelich finally got a fix that could unlock some more good years as he goes into his age-33 season. With a back injury, there are no guarantees, but Yelich is worth betting on.
