After coming to agreement on a one-year, $1.35 million contract for 2025 with backup catcher Eric Haase on Friday morning, the Milwaukee Brewers announced later in the evening they'd tendered contracts to six other players.
Highlighting the group were team MVP William Contreras and closer Devin Williams, followed by right-handers Aaron Civale, Nick Mears, Trevor Megill and Joel Payamps.
The lone player to be non-tendered was left-hander Hoby Milner, making him a free agent.
"Today, we were on the phone a lot - both with our own players but also with other clubs," said Matt Kleine, assistant general manager. "We're making sure that we understand and have a feel for the market and what players may or may not become available as the day unfolds, and also just maintaining contact with the agents of the players where we may have to make a decision prior to the tender deadline."
The Brewers and the six tendered players now will continue to work toward agreement on contracts. If that doesn't happen by Jan. 11, the two sides exchange figures and head to arbitration.
The case of Williams, in particular, is interesting in that the Brewers held a $10.5 million team option on the right-hander that they declined earlier in the month.
Kleine detailed how that process unfolded.
"It's strong, it really is," Kleine said of the Brewers' relationship with Williams, who will be a free agent following the 2025 season and therefore has been the frequent subject of trade rumors. He's certain to be a hot name with the MLB Winter Meetings kicking off in Dallas in just over two weeks.
"There are administrative processes and contractual processes that we have to go through behind the scenes, and this one in particular was relatively straightforward," he continued. "It was completely non-adversarial. I mean, look, the club option value is priced at a level commensurate with full-season performance. And because Devin missed most of the season, his arb value will fall well below where the club option value would have been.
"I maintained contact with his agent early on in the offseason. This was not a surprise to Devin. This was not a surprise to his agent, and that's just because of the fact that we have really strong communication with him and with that group.
"So, it was really just an exercise in the fact that the option value was priced in such a way that was going to reward the player for a full season of performance, and because that did not happen, he will simply remain in the arb system."
Projections have Williams ending up with a deal somewhere around $7.7 million.
Civale, acquired via trade in early July, tops the list of projected salaries in the group at $8 million, although he and others could ultimately wind up as trade pieces.
Contreras, meanwhile, is expected to receive somewhere around $7.6 million. There's no question the Brewers would love to lock him up long term (Contreras turns 27 on Dec. 24) but based on what Contreras has said previously he is willing to wait for free agency in 2028 in hopes of landing a mega contract.
"It would be really premature to speculate on anything of that nature, given where we are in the calendar," Kleine said. "It's still November. I think once we get on the horn with his agency to hammer out his 2025 contract, that's where our focus will be. It'll be reaching an arb agreement.
"Obviously, he's a huge part of this club and if it's something that he and his agent have interest in discussing, we're always happy to have those discussions. But right now we're focused on building out the rest of our roster and we're really excited about putting his name into the lineup next year, surrounded by guys like (Jackson) Chourio and the rest of the gang."
Milner, who turns 34 on Jan. 13, may have reached the end of a solid four-year run in Milwaukee's bullpen.
After Milner's lights-out performances in 2022 and 2023 his ERA ballooned to 4.73 in 61 appearances, although many of his peripherals remained solid.
"These are always tough decisions," Kleine acknowledged. "One thing to point out specifically on Hoby is just what a total pro he is and what a tremendous teammate he's been since the time that we originally brought him into the organization on a minor-league contract (in December of 2020).
"But it's also important to point out that this certainly doesn't close the door on Hoby's tenure with the Milwaukee Brewers. Just last year we lived through this a little bit with (Brandon Woodruff), where he was not tendered and then we were able to reach an agreement to bring him back. And several years ago, we did something similar with Alex Claudio, where we ended up non-tendering him and then bringing him back.
"So, this certainly does not shut the door on Hoby's Brewers tenure by any means."