Brewers make big decision on two-time All-Star

This came as a bit of a surprise. Woodruff was expected to make around $11 million in arbitration but the Brewers decided to save the money and will let him hit free ageny this offseason. The 30-year-old pitcher has shown to be a dominant starter when healthy as he is 46-26 in 130 games (115 starts) with a 3.10 ERA in 680.1 innings over the course of seven seasons.

Woodruff pitched well this season before suffering the injury, making 11 starts and going 5-1 with a 2.28 ERA and 0.821 WHIP in 67.0 innings.This has not been the only non-tender move the Brew Crew have made. They also non-tendered first baseman Rowdy Tellez earlier in the day. 

What teams will be interested in Brandon Woodruff?

There are going to be teams that want to have a solid pitcher in their rotation for the future and sign him to a two-year contract with the idea of letting him rehab with their doctors and medical staff. With teams needing pitching, there will be a handful of teams ready to do a deal like that.

The New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox, St. Louis Cardinals and Los Angeles Dodgers immediately jump to mind. However, do not completely rule out the Brewers wanting to keep him but at less than $11 million for 2023 while he recovers from injury. Woodruff is a great pitcher but having $11 million on the Injured List for the entire season is not great when you can get rid of that money a year earlier to free up for more moves.

What does the Milwaukee Brewers starting rotation look like now?

Because Woodruff has been injured and was recovering from surgery that repaired the anterior capsule in his right shoulder, the Brewers are familiar with having some starting pitchers out of the rotation. Below is how Fangraphs lists the team’s 2024 rotation but obviously things can change as the offseason progresses: Corbin Burnes, Freddy Peralta, Adrian Houser, Colin Rea, Robert Gasser.