It's Not The Dodgers Ruining Baseball, It's The Milwaukee Brewers

The Milwaukee Brewers did it again. 

In what's become a yearly tradition, the Brewers traded one of their best players to a new team, demonstrating yet again that they do not intend to ever become a serious organization. Freddy Peralta, yet another successful starting pitcher found by the Brewers' impressive player development department, is now a member of the New York Mets. 

The trade, in the abstract, made sense. New York sent back two of their best five prospects, and two of the best prospects in baseball. Infielder Jett Williams and pitcher Brandon Sproat went to Milwaukee, and while the ceiling for both players isn't exceptionally high, they're both expected to be solid, average players who will play at cheap prices. Which is, of course, why the Brewers were interested. Cheap. 

RELATED: Steve Cohen Strikes Back: Mets Acquire Freddy Peralta After Dodgers Steal Kyle Tucker

Peralta was outstanding in 2025, yet again. He had a 2.70 ERA, the best of his career, was worth 3.6 wins above replacement, and made over 30 starts for the third straight year, an impressive feat of durability in the modern era. Sounds like exactly the type of player that fits on a team that won 97 games in 2025, had the best record in baseball, made the NLCS, and has a solid group of young players who are still in their primes. 

Except that assumes the team that won 97 games in 2025 actually cares about trying to win the World Series. But as the Peralta trade indicates, that is well, well down the list of priorities for the Brewers. 

Former Milwaukee Brewers pitcher Freddy Peralta. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)

Brewers Need To Actually Start Trying To Win

The Peralta trade isn't just a one-off, it's part of a pattern in Milwaukee that's continued under several different front office leaders. Which tells you it's an organizational philosophy coming from the top-down. They did it with Josh Hader, when he was traded to the San Diego Padres in 2022. Milwaukee got back Taylor Rogers, Dinelson Lamet, Estuery Ruiz and Robert Gasser. Superstars. 

They did it again with Corbin Burnes, getting Joey Ortiz, DL Hall, and a draft pick in return. Ortiz was good in 2024, but regressed in 2025, to the point where he was 36 percent worse than average offensively. Then they traded Devin Williams to the Yankees before the 2025 season for Nestor Cortes, Caleb Durbin, and cash. Durbin proved to be a useful utility player, but Cortes was bad, injured, then flipped to San Diego. 

Now Peralta's gone. And young star Jackson Chourio is sure to be next on the chopping block, as soon as he gets more expensive in the 2029-2031 timeframe. In fact, when factoring in options, the Brewers have just two players signed for the 2028 season. And one for the 2029 season.

Fans of small-market teams are quick to blame the Los Angeles Dodgers for "ruining baseball" by signing high-priced free agents. But this is what "ruining baseball" actually looks like. Not trying to win, as LA's doing, but actively trying to put saving money over maximizing your chances of winning a championship.

You can defend Milwaukee's trades for being rational. Essentially, they can't sign these players in free agency, so might as well get value in trades while you still can. But there's no case to be made that they're a better team for 2026 after the trade than they were before it. And that's where the logic falls apart. Trying to win has its own value, telling fans that the organization will put winning first, winning at all costs, ahead of marginal savings and an endless rebuilding project. And to be fair, obviously the Brewers have had success winning games, despite their trades. Their development staff has consistently turned out top prospects, with Jesus Made the latest example. 

But you know how you win? Surrounding those prospects with established quality talent. That's where Milwaukee's refused to even attempt to try. They don't sign big free agents, they rarely sign extensions, and they trade away their homegrown stars as soon as they can. And a salary cap won't fix that. 

Assume there's a $250 million cap and a $125 million floor. Fangraphs estimates that their final 2025 payroll was $123 million. The estimate for 2026 payroll? $126 million. Their 2024 payroll was $116 million. The 2023 payroll was $126 million. In fact, over the last six seasons, they've averaged $122 million on payroll. Even with inflation skyrocketing from 2022-2026, and as their revenues have increased, their payroll has gone down. 

If there's a $125 million salary floor, the Brewers would spend $125 million. Forcing salaries of players like Kyle Tucker down won't suddenly make the Brewers sign free agents. It won't make them keep their own players. Because they don't care about trying, they care about increasing their profits each year. That's fine, that's ownership's prerogative. But don't blame other teams because Milwaukee doesn't care.