Brewers reach agreement with Hoby Milner, the first arbitration-eligible player to settle on a deal

With seven players eligible for arbitration and the deadline to exchange salary figures coming up on Friday, it's going to be a busy week in the Milwaukee Brewers front office.

The first domino to fall came Wednesday as the Brewers settled with relief pitcher Hoby Milner on a $2.05 million contract for 2024 to avoid arbitration, according to Robert Murray of FanSided.

The final contract number is higher than MLB Trade Rumors' initial estimate of $1.7 million.

Milner is coming off a career year in 2023 in which he posted a 1.82 earned run average in 73 games out of the Brewers bullpen.

Milner didn't allow a run across his final 18 appearances and had a 0.95 ERA over the second half of the season, allowing him to finish with the fifth-best ERA of any reliever with at least 50 innings thrown.

Milner is the first reported Brewers player to avoid arbitration. Shortstop Willy Adames, starter Corbin Burnes, first baseman Jake Bauers and relievers Devin Williams, Joel Payamps and Bryse Wilson have yet to come to terms.

If the sides can't come to an agreement by Friday, then each one submits a salary figure proposal for 2024. From there, the sides are still able to negotiate and strike a deal somewhere in the middle, but many teams use the deadline for exchanging figures as a cutoff for settling on a deal.

After that, the sides go to arbitration, where a panel of arbitrators hears both sides' argument and decides on one of the two salary figures for the upcoming season.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Brewers avoid arbitration with Hoby Milner with $2.05 million deal