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4 big questions for the Brewers: Will Milwaukee trade Freddy Peralta? Will they upgrade the offense?

Owners of MLB’s best regular-season record and a franchise-record 97 wins in 2025, the Milwaukee Brewers crashed out of last year’s postseason in fairly humiliating fashion. It’s one thing to be eliminated by the eventual World Series champions — and it’s no secret that the Los Angeles Dodgers wielded a particularly powerful roster — but the degree to which Milwaukee was outclassed in the NLCS undeniably began the winter on a sobering, sour note that made the rollicking success of the regular season feel like a distant memory. The Brewers were outscored 15-4 over the course of the four-game sweep. Worse, they hit a combined .118/.191/.193, amounting to a paltry .384 OPS that was the second-lowest mark ever by a team in a championship series.

After a summer filled with magical moments and an early-round playoff triumph over the rival Cubs, the Brewers fell short of what would have been just the second World Series appearance in franchise history. At the same time, their enormous sample of winning in the months prior was another reminder of the organization’s unique ability to remain ultra-competitive on a yearly basis, regardless of payroll or roster turnover. Still, Milwaukee repeatedly coming close over the past decade without actually reaching the Fall Classic raises the question of what this organization can do to ensure that final destination is finally reached.

To that end, the offseason represents an opportunity for contenders to make the necessary roster upgrades to advance further the following season. But the Brewers haven’t acted with any kind of urgency this winter — a sharp contrast to the transactional activity of another team that suffered postseason heartbreak against the Dodgers, the Toronto Blue Jays, who have responded to their World Series loss with multiple major signings. Meanwhile, the Brewers’ activity in free agency has consisted of retaining Brandon Woodruff via the qualifying offer and signing outfielder Akil Baddoo to a split deal that doesn’t guarantee a roster spot. That’s it. 

Of course, the difference in market size and spending power must be acknowledged when comparing Milwaukee’s offseason to those of their rivals, but the Brewers’ relative passivity still stands as an interesting organizational response to what occurred in 2025. They aren’t alone in this category, but the Brewers’ outsized regular-season success followed by a particularly unpleasant postseason exit make their timid hot stove strategy worthy of a deeper look. 

With pitchers and catchers reporting to Maryvale, Arizona, in a little more than a month, here are four big questions looming over the Brew Crew:

Amidst a starting pitching market that hasn’t really gotten moving this offseason, the Brewers have one of the most valuable trade chips in the league in Peralta, who is coming off the best season of his career and slated to make just $8 million in 2026 before reaching free agency. Most players in Peralta’s position and of his caliber would seem like the last player a team would entertain trading, considering his value, but the Brewers have consistently demonstrated a willingness to deal away key players before their contracts expire in an effort to recoup valuable future assets; Peralta’s former rotationmate Corbin Burnes is the most glaring recent example. 

Replicating the Burnes gambit now looms as a possibility as multiple teams inquire about Peralta, and there’s an argument that Peralta could fetch even more in a trade than what Burnes yielded from Baltimore (shortstop Joey Ortiz, left-hander DL Hall, and draft pick eventually used on first baseman Blake Burke, who reached Double-A in his first full professional season in 2025). Peralta isn’t quite as accomplished on the whole as Burnes was at the time of his trade, but he’s coming off a better season, and his modest salary is much more attractive than the roughly $16 million Burnes was projected to make in his final year of arbitration.

Assuming super-ace Tarik Skubal isn’t dealt, Peralta is arguably the best pitcher left on the free-agent or trade markets, comparing favorably not only to fellow trade candidates such as MacKenzie Gore and Edward Cabrera but also to the top free-agent arms such as Framber Valdez, Ranger Suarez and Zac Gallen. It’s not hard to see why teams would be willing to pay a hefty price to land Peralta, even for just one season, and such offers might prove too enticing for the Brewers to pass up.

That said, trading yet another longtime fan favorite is not a decision to be taken lightly, even if Milwaukee has done this dance before. And executing such a trade while meaningfully improving the roster for 2026 is a delicate balance to strike — if it’s possible at all.

Beyond whether Milwaukee can extract enough value in a trade for Peralta, the other key consideration when weighing such a move involves the strength of the rotation with or without him. Keeping Woodruff via the qualifying offer is one crucial piece of that puzzle, though his durability moving forward remains a serious question considering his ailments in recent years, including a lat strain that rendered him unavailable for the postseason. The Brewers have also demonstrated an ability to turn pitchers who failed to flourish with other organizations into impactful arms in Milwaukee, with Quinn Priester and Chad Patrick the latest examples fortifying the club’s rotation depth and Tobias Myers another relevant character in that regard.

However, few pitchers across the entire sport enter 2026 with as much intrigue as Misiorowski. The lanky right-hander, who will turn just 24 years old in April, enjoyed a supersonic ascent to stardom last season, a roller-coaster ride that also featured some notable points of adversity but finished on an encouraging note given how he looked in the postseason, when he struck out 16 batters while allowing just two earned runs in 12 innings across three appearances.

Fresh off his star turn in 2025 — and after a notable jump in workload to a career-high 129⅓ frames across the minors, majors and postseason — what is a realistic outlook for Misiorowski’s sophomore campaign? Will he continue striking out boatloads of batters with his otherworldly stuff, or will he ultimately prove too wild to be a reliable rotation option, validating a concern that has followed him throughout his trajectory as a prospect?

The degree of confidence that Milwaukee has in Misiorowski to develop into its next frontline arm could play a role in the team’s decision to trade or hold onto Peralta. And Peralta ramifications aside, Misiorowski’s development will be well worth monitoring in 2026.

[Get more Milwaukee news: Brewers team feed] 

Outside of Baddoo — an intriguing bounce-back target in the mold of some other reclamation projects who have thrived in Milwaukee but far from a sure bet to contribute — the most prominent addition Milwaukee has made to its offensive unit this offseason is a couple of new hitting coaches ( including former slugger Daniel Vogelbach). In fact, the Brewers have technically subtracted from their offense more than they’ve added, trading Isaac Collins to Kansas City coming off Collins’ unlikely breakout campaign in which he finished fourth in NL Rookie of the Year voting.

Left-hander Angel Zerpa — the return for Collins in that deal — might well make an important impact on the mound for Milwaukee, but he isn’t going to help the team’s run-production efforts, and that raises questions about whether there will be any offensive upgrades before Opening Day for an offense that ranked 11th in OPS and 22nd in home runs in 2025 and flamed out against the Dodgers in October.

Perhaps reinforcements could come in the return in a Peralta trade (or some other trade), or there are still a good number of free-agent bats available who could help the Brewers and won’t cost a ton, such as Miguel Andujar or Austin Hays. First base — depending how confident Milwaukee is in Andrew Vaughn’s renaissance — and left field are two spots to monitor for upgrades, especially if the Brewers are intent on sticking with Joey Ortiz at shortstop, as has been reported.

If Misiorowski represents the most tantalizing and critical pitcher to project for Milwaukee, Chourio is unquestionably the most important bat when assessing the overall strength of the position-player group. After flashing tremendous potential as a 20-year-old rookie, Chourio turned in a sophomore season with eerily similar surface-level totals — seriously, go look at how nearly identical his first two seasons were — but his underlying metrics regressed just enough to make Chourio’s second campaign a modest disappointment, albeit nothing that would dampen his outlook as a future star.

Now 2026 represents a pivotal opportunity for Chourio to demonstrate that he’s still on track to be a face-of-the-franchise type of player, and he’ll need to prove it on both sides of the ball. He has obvious potential as a power-speed dynamo, but his value to Milwaukee in the long term will be dictated even more by how he progresses as a defender.

Should Chourio prove he can play a capable center field — where he started 91 games in the regular season before exclusively playing corner outfield in the postseason — that would lessen the pressure on his bat to hit at superstar levels while enhancing Milwaukee’s roster flexibility. If he settles into left or right field instead, it will become paramount for Chourio the hitter to elevate his output.

There’s plenty of time for Chourio to make the necessary adjustments to upgrade his game with the bat and the glove — he turns just 22 in March, after all — but how quickly and how dramatically those improvements take place will play a big part in Milwaukee’s plans and ambitions for the foreseeable future.

4 big questions for the Brewers: Will Milwaukee trade Freddy Peralta? Will they upgrade the offense?

Owners of MLB’s best regular-season record and a franchise-record 97 wins in 2025, the Milwaukee Brewers crashed out of last year’s postseason in fairly humiliating fashion. It’s one thing to be eliminated by the eventual World Series champions — and it’s no secret that the Los Angeles Dodgers wielded a particularly powerful roster — but the degree to which Milwaukee was outclassed in the NLCS undeniably began the winter on a sobering, sour note that made the rollicking success of the regular season feel like a distant memory. The Brewers were outscored 15-4 over the course of the four-game sweep. Worse, they hit a combined .118/.191/.193, amounting to a paltry .384 OPS that was the second-lowest mark ever by a team in a championship series.

After a summer filled with magical moments and an early-round playoff triumph over the rival Cubs, the Brewers fell short of what would have been just the second World Series appearance in franchise history. At the same time, their enormous sample of winning in the months prior was another reminder of the organization’s unique ability to remain ultra-competitive on a yearly basis, regardless of payroll or roster turnover. Still, Milwaukee repeatedly coming close over the past decade without actually reaching the Fall Classic raises the question of what this organization can do to ensure that final destination is finally reached.

To that end, the offseason represents an opportunity for contenders to make the necessary roster upgrades to advance further the following season. But the Brewers haven’t acted with any kind of urgency this winter — a sharp contrast to the transactional activity of another team that suffered postseason heartbreak against the Dodgers, the Toronto Blue Jays, who have responded to their World Series loss with multiple major signings. Meanwhile, the Brewers’ activity in free agency has consisted of retaining Brandon Woodruff via the qualifying offer and signing outfielder Akil Baddoo to a split deal that doesn’t guarantee a roster spot. That’s it. 

Of course, the difference in market size and spending power must be acknowledged when comparing Milwaukee’s offseason to those of their rivals, but the Brewers’ relative passivity still stands as an interesting organizational response to what occurred in 2025. They aren’t alone in this category, but the Brewers’ outsized regular-season success followed by a particularly unpleasant postseason exit make their timid hot stove strategy worthy of a deeper look. 

With pitchers and catchers reporting to Maryvale, Arizona, in a little more than a month, here are four big questions looming over the Brew Crew:

Amidst a starting pitching market that hasn’t really gotten moving this offseason, the Brewers have one of the most valuable trade chips in the league in Peralta, who is coming off the best season of his career and slated to make just $8 million in 2026 before reaching free agency. Most players in Peralta’s position and of his caliber would seem like the last player a team would entertain trading, considering his value, but the Brewers have consistently demonstrated a willingness to deal away key players before their contracts expire in an effort to recoup valuable future assets; Peralta’s former rotationmate Corbin Burnes is the most glaring recent example. 

Replicating the Burnes gambit now looms as a possibility as multiple teams inquire about Peralta, and there’s an argument that Peralta could fetch even more in a trade than what Burnes yielded from Baltimore (shortstop Joey Ortiz, left-hander DL Hall, and draft pick eventually used on first baseman Blake Burke, who reached Double-A in his first full professional season in 2025). Peralta isn’t quite as accomplished on the whole as Burnes was at the time of his trade, but he’s coming off a better season, and his modest salary is much more attractive than the roughly $16 million Burnes was projected to make in his final year of arbitration.

Assuming super-ace Tarik Skubal isn’t dealt, Peralta is arguably the best pitcher left on the free-agent or trade markets, comparing favorably not only to fellow trade candidates such as MacKenzie Gore and Edward Cabrera but also to the top free-agent arms such as Framber Valdez, Ranger Suarez and Zac Gallen. It’s not hard to see why teams would be willing to pay a hefty price to land Peralta, even for just one season, and such offers might prove too enticing for the Brewers to pass up.

That said, trading yet another longtime fan favorite is not a decision to be taken lightly, even if Milwaukee has done this dance before. And executing such a trade while meaningfully improving the roster for 2026 is a delicate balance to strike — if it’s possible at all.

Beyond whether Milwaukee can extract enough value in a trade for Peralta, the other key consideration when weighing such a move involves the strength of the rotation with or without him. Keeping Woodruff via the qualifying offer is one crucial piece of that puzzle, though his durability moving forward remains a serious question considering his ailments in recent years, including a lat strain that rendered him unavailable for the postseason. The Brewers have also demonstrated an ability to turn pitchers who failed to flourish with other organizations into impactful arms in Milwaukee, with Quinn Priester and Chad Patrick the latest examples fortifying the club’s rotation depth and Tobias Myers another relevant character in that regard.

However, few pitchers across the entire sport enter 2026 with as much intrigue as Misiorowski. The lanky right-hander, who will turn just 24 years old in April, enjoyed a supersonic ascent to stardom last season, a roller-coaster ride that also featured some notable points of adversity but finished on an encouraging note given how he looked in the postseason, when he struck out 16 batters while allowing just two earned runs in 12 innings across three appearances.

Fresh off his star turn in 2025 — and after a notable jump in workload to a career-high 129⅓ frames across the minors, majors and postseason — what is a realistic outlook for Misiorowski’s sophomore campaign? Will he continue striking out boatloads of batters with his otherworldly stuff, or will he ultimately prove too wild to be a reliable rotation option, validating a concern that has followed him throughout his trajectory as a prospect?

The degree of confidence that Milwaukee has in Misiorowski to develop into its next frontline arm could play a role in the team’s decision to trade or hold onto Peralta. And Peralta ramifications aside, Misiorowski’s development will be well worth monitoring in 2026.

[Get more Milwaukee news: Brewers team feed] 

Outside of Baddoo — an intriguing bounce-back target in the mold of some other reclamation projects who have thrived in Milwaukee but far from a sure bet to contribute — the most prominent addition Milwaukee has made to its offensive unit this offseason is a couple of new hitting coaches ( including former slugger Daniel Vogelbach). In fact, the Brewers have technically subtracted from their offense more than they’ve added, trading Isaac Collins to Kansas City coming off Collins’ unlikely breakout campaign in which he finished fourth in NL Rookie of the Year voting.

Left-hander Angel Zerpa — the return for Collins in that deal — might well make an important impact on the mound for Milwaukee, but he isn’t going to help the team’s run-production efforts, and that raises questions about whether there will be any offensive upgrades before Opening Day for an offense that ranked 11th in OPS and 22nd in home runs in 2025 and flamed out against the Dodgers in October.

Perhaps reinforcements could come in the return in a Peralta trade (or some other trade), or there are still a good number of free-agent bats available who could help the Brewers and won’t cost a ton, such as Miguel Andujar or Austin Hays. First base — depending how confident Milwaukee is in Andrew Vaughn’s renaissance — and left field are two spots to monitor for upgrades, especially if the Brewers are intent on sticking with Joey Ortiz at shortstop, as has been reported.

If Misiorowski represents the most tantalizing and critical pitcher to project for Milwaukee, Chourio is unquestionably the most important bat when assessing the overall strength of the position-player group. After flashing tremendous potential as a 20-year-old rookie, Chourio turned in a sophomore season with eerily similar surface-level totals — seriously, go look at how nearly identical his first two seasons were — but his underlying metrics regressed just enough to make Chourio’s second campaign a modest disappointment, albeit nothing that would dampen his outlook as a future star.

Now 2026 represents a pivotal opportunity for Chourio to demonstrate that he’s still on track to be a face-of-the-franchise type of player, and he’ll need to prove it on both sides of the ball. He has obvious potential as a power-speed dynamo, but his value to Milwaukee in the long term will be dictated even more by how he progresses as a defender.

Should Chourio prove he can play a capable center field — where he started 91 games in the regular season before exclusively playing corner outfield in the postseason — that would lessen the pressure on his bat to hit at superstar levels while enhancing Milwaukee’s roster flexibility. If he settles into left or right field instead, it will become paramount for Chourio the hitter to elevate his output.

There’s plenty of time for Chourio to make the necessary adjustments to upgrade his game with the bat and the glove — he turns just 22 in March, after all — but how quickly and how dramatically those improvements take place will play a big part in Milwaukee’s plans and ambitions for the foreseeable future.

Trae Young Trade Rumors: Destinations, packages, ideas including blockbuster deal to Wizards

After more than seven seasons together, Trae Young and the Atlanta Hawks are ready to go their separate ways. It’s mutual, with Young’s agents working for the Hawks to find the best trade partner and new home for the three-time All-Star.

The challenge is actually finding a trade that works.

There is not much of a market for Young, league sources have told NBC Sports. On the surface, one would think a lot of teams would be interested in a 27-year-old in his prime who averages 25.2 points and 9.8 assists a game for his career. They are not. Part of the hesitation is that the league is deep with good point guards, and not many teams are looking for one (for example, Young used to be linked to the Spurs, but they now have De’Aaron Fox and Dylan Harper). For the teams that need someone at the point, the challenges are Young’s well-chronicled defensive shortcomings, his ball-dominant style and how that impacts team chemistry, and how those two items combine to put a ceiling on how good a team can be with Young. Add in the fact he makes a lot of money — $45.9 million this season, a $48.9 million player option for next season, and he is eligible for and wants a contract extension — and teams looking at tax aprons are hesitant. At best.

Which teams are interested? Who should be? Here are three teams to watch.

Washington Wizards

Washington is the clear frontrunner for a Young trade, with NBA insider Marc Stein first reporting their interest. The Wizards have a promising young core: Second-year center Alex Sarr is a defensive force who can shoot 3s and is the kind of big a lot of teams are trying to find; plus there is scoring on the wings with Tre Johnson and Kyshawn George, and the two-way potential of Bilal Coulibaly. Add Young to this group and suddenly the long-moribund Wizards — who have made the playoffs once in the last seven years and that will become eight this season — have an entertaining team with potential.

There are legitimate concerns that a trade could short-circuit the player development underway in Washington, but if owner Ted Leonsis just wants to get back into the postseason quickly, this is a path to it.

The Trade: Washington receives Trae Young; Atlanta receives C.J. McCollum, Corey Kispert and some picks.

McCollum is in this deal to make the money work, he has an expiring $30.6 million contract. That said, he is averaging 18.6 points per game this season, is a veteran leader, and could be a boost for the remainder of the season in Atlanta.

Kispert is a rock-solid rotation wing shooting 39.5% from beyond the arc this season — which is why the Hawks won’t want to give him up and instead will push for something like the combination of Malaki Branham and AJ Johnson in the deal. That could be a sticking point.

The draft picks get interesting — there are front offices around the league that feel Atlanta should have to send picks out with Young to get a team to take on that contract. The Hawks do not see it that way. Washington should not give up its own pick this year or anything of real value, but it does control Oklahoma City’s 2026 pick (technically, they get the worst of the Thunder, Rockets and Clippers, which will be OKC). That will very likely be the 30th pick, so the Wizards can throw it in and the Hawks can say they got a first-round pick. That’s the most valuable pick the Wizards should give up, other than just a second-rounder or two.

Minnesota Timberwolves

And we’re already into trades that I don’t like and/or don’t make much sense.

The argument for Minnesota to trade for Young is that they need shooting and a point guard, since Father Time quickly caught up with Mike Conley. The idea is that the team needs a boost if it is going to take a step forward from making the Western Conference Finals (as it has done the past two seasons), and Young could be that boost. Anthony Edwards, next to Young, has the potential to be explosive offensively, and with Rudy Gobert in the paint, they can cover up Young’s defensive shortcomings.

The problem is how much money Young makes and how much Minnesota has to give up in any trade.

The Trade: Minnesota receives Trae Young; Atlanta receives Naz Reid, Donte DiVincenzo, Mike Conley and a player on a minimum contract.

What has made Minnesota so dangerous the past few years is its depth and versatility, and this four-for-one trade sacrifices it. Minnesota is a good 23-13 this season, and while that is still sixth in the West the Timberwolves are a game out of the top four and hosting a round in the playoffs, and 2.5 games out of being the No. 2 seed. This is not a team in need of a dramatic shakeup of roster and style, and that’s what Young brings to the table.

While this trade can be manipulated to bring in a third team and maybe send out Julius Randle instead, the issue comes back to the reality that it’s hard to see how any of these trades would make Minnesota better. This is not a deal they should be involved in.

Milwaukee Bucks

Milwaukee is buying, not selling, heading into the trade deadline — it wants to enhance a team that believes it can still be a threat in a wide-open East and in doing so impress Giannis Antetokounmpo. The Bucks need more talent — more shot creation and shooting around Antetokounmpo — and Young is the biggest name on the board. Sure, the Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard pairing didn’t work, but the Bucks can try to convince themselves that this would be different, no matter how much they have to give up.

For Atlanta, they could get help along the front line and maybe a future first-round pick… is that enough?

The Trade: Milwaukee receives Trae Young; Atlanta receives Bobby Portis, Kyle Kuzma, another player (Gary Harris?), Milwaukee’s 2031 first-round pick.

That pick becomes a big inflection point: would the Bucks give it up? I’m not sure why Atlanta would want to do this deal and take on the added years of Portis and Kuzma unless that pick was in the mix. If I’m the Bucks is Young really enough to give up the one first-round pick I can still trade?

Portis would help the front line in Atlanta and Kuzma can fit in the rotation. For Milwaukee, already a very thin team, this would hurt its depth even more. Can Young alone fix the issue of the non-Antetokounmpo minutes?

This feels more like a trade born of desperation and is not a great deal for either side, but are both teams desperate enough to do it anyway?

Other Teams mentioned

Here are quick thoughts on other teams that come up in rumors:

• LA Clippers: The idea is that Young would help the team in the non-James Harden minutes, except that Kawhi Leonard is healthy and doing that much better than Young would already. Plus, the Clippers are focused on a 2027 pivot and wouldn’t want to extend Young.

• Toronto Raptors: Is Young really a fit with a team that is winning thanks to its defense and depth? The trade likely would require RJ Barrett and Immanuel Quickley plus a first-round pick or two going to Atlanta, and it’s hard to see why Toronto thinks this makes them better (taking the ball out of Brandon Ingram’s hands).

• Sacramento Kings: Let’s put aside the fact that this trade does not make much sense for either side (when has that stopped Sacramento in the past), instead focusing on the fact that Sam Amick at The Athletic has already reported the Kings have zero interest in such a trade. That’s smart by the Kings.

• Dallas Mavericks: Multiple reports out of Dallas say there is no interest in the team trading for Young. There will be no swap of problems with Anthony Davis.

Fantasy Basketball Waiver Wire: Aaron Nesmith’s time to shine

The New Year is here, and with it have come new injuries and new opportunities. The biggest storyline of the last week is Nikola Jokic’s hyperextended knee that will cause him to miss at least a month. Denver will have to fill the void with a committee approach, and multiple Nuggets appear in this week’s column.

Aaron Nesmith has played great since returning to Indiana’s lineup, and he tops the list. With key injuries in Chicago and Washington, Bulls and Wizards feature prominently here, too. Multiple frontcourt injuries in Detroit should mean plenty of run for Isaiah Stewart for at least the next week.

Here are the top fantasy basketball waiver wire adds for Week 12.

→ Watch the NBA Coast 2 Coast Tuesday on NBC and Peacock, as the Heat take on the Timberwolves at 8 p.m. ET before the Mavericks and Kings square off at 11 p.m. ET. Both games are available

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