Heading into winter meetings, Brewers feel no sense of urgency to trade Corbin Burnes, Willy Adames

The lead-up to Major League Baseball’s winter meetings was highly fruitful for the Milwaukee Brewers, who were on the verge of locking uber prospect Jackson Chourio into a market-setting contract that could keep him in the fold for potentially the next decade.

Next on the agenda for the Brewers? Other possible opportunities to improve both in the short and long term.

To that end, expect general manager Matt Arnold’s suite at the Gaylord Opryland Resort and Convention Center in Nashville to be a popular destination for fellow team executives in the coming days.

With the Brewers holding a pair of highly sought-after players in right-hander Corbin Burnes and shortstop Willy Adames, there should be no shortage of teams checking in on one or both as baseball’s annual winter meetings get underway Monday.

But that doesn’t necessarily mean the team will be in a hurry to part with either of its two most established stars.

“I mean, we don't feel like there's any sense of urgency there,” Arnold said earlier this week. “They're really good players, and we like having them. We certainly appreciate the interest from around the league anytime that happens, but we feel like these guys are a huge part of what we're trying to do here.

“So, I think it just puts us in a position of strength no matter what we end up doing.”

And that is what everyone will be trying to figure out.

Will the Brewers try to contend in 2024 or start a rebuild?

So much has changed in the two months since the Brewers were unceremoniously knocked out of the playoffs that the shockwaves are still reverberating somewhat – Craig Counsell was hired to manage the Chicago Cubs, Pat Murphy was hired to replace Counsell, Rickie Weeks was hired as associate manager and Brandon Woodruff was non-tendered after undergoing shoulder surgery that could sideline him for all of 2024.

The Brewers could choose to try and contend in 2024 with Burnes heading a revamped rotation and Adames once again manning shortstop. Trading either or both at the deadline in August would still net Milwaukee nice returns if the team is out of the playoff race. The Brewers would at the very least land high 2025 draft picks if they hung onto both and extended them qualifying offers.

Or, if they’re presented with offers they can’t refuse either in Nashville or later in the offseason, the Brewers could opt to jump-start a rebuilding process by adding even more young talent to a core that already includes Garrett Mitchell, Sal Frelick, Joey Wiemer and Abner Uribe at the major-league level and those knocking on the door in Chourio, Jacob Misiorowski, Jeferson Quero, Tyler Black and Robert Gasser.

Milwaukee already has done some lighter work by trading for infielder Oliver Dunn and first baseman Jake Bauers, but there are still major holes to be filled at the corner infield positions as well as a need for a viable designated hitter.

The Brewers are in good shape at shortstop (Adames), second base (Brice Turang) and catcher (William Contreras), with infielders Andruw Monasterio and Owen Miller also in the fold and able to provide depth.

Finding more pitching depth, offense are priorities for Brewers

Then there’s the never-ending quest to add pitching depth, a mission that becomes even more crucial with Woodruff no longer in the picture. As things stand, the rotation has four pretty clear-cut members in Burnes, Freddy Peralta, Adrian Houser and Aaron Ashby with Colin Rea and Gasser in the mix.

“I think we'd like to see if we could add a little more offense in different ways, if we can,” Arnold said when asked about his checklist heading to the winter meetings. “There are a number of different ways to do that. We added a couple of guys just before (Thanksgiving) in Oliver Dunn and Jake Bauers, and we'd like to think they have a chance to help us this year. But certainly, adding more offense would be somewhat of a target.

“And then, just pitching depth in general. Anytime you lose somebody like Brandon Woodruff from your rotation, you're going to have to work hard to replace those innings and put good pitching on the mound every night.”

Backup catcher is another area that will need to be addressed, and it wouldn’t be surprising to see another veteran middle infielder added to the mix.

Otherwise, Milwaukee is well-stocked in the outfield with Christian Yelich, Tyrone Taylor, Blake Perkins and its gaggle of youngsters. The Brewers also have every major contributor returning to what was a terrific bullpen in 2023, led by NL reliever of the year Devin Williams.

Last year, the Brewers did some of their heavy transactional lifting in advance of the winter meetings, trading Hunter Renfroe for, in part, Elvis Peguero, and Kolten Wong for Jesse Winker and Abraham Toro.

The only acquisition they made during the meetings was selecting right-hander Gus Varland from the Los Angeles Dodgers in the Rule 5 draft.

Then their biggest move came a little more than a week after the meetings wrapped up, with the acquisitions of Contreras and Joel Payamps in a three-team trade with the Atlanta Braves and Oakland A’s. Then in early January, left-hander Wade Miley came aboard as a free agent.

New manager Pat Murphy will be heavily involved in all discussions

A major part of the team’s traveling party to Nashville this time will be Murphy, who Arnold said is going to be a key part of whatever discussions are held.

“We talk every day,” Arnold said. “And just like Craig, he's going to be involved in and actively a part of our discussions. He has a great perspective just like Craig and the other managers that I've worked with. We certainly want his input here on any decisions that we're making.”

Major moves notwithstanding, Arnold was asked what type of teams fans can expect to see under Murphy.

“That's a good question,” he said. “I'll be curious to see how that unfolds. A lot of it can be dictated by your personnel. But look, I think Murph learned a lot from Craig and frankly, I think Craig learned a lot from Murph over the years. And Murph has been a coach, a leader for a lot of years.

“I think he's going to have his own unique style, and I think it'll work and blend really well with the players, just because he knows them so well. And that was a big part of why we thought it was a great fit for us.”

While the Brewers have been penciled in as one of the teams to watch in Nashville, the major storylines will revolve around where Shohei Ohtani ends up, who will sign latest Japanese pitching sensation Yoshinobu Yamamoto and NL comeback player of the year Cody Bellinger, and whether the San Diego Padres will trade outfielder Juan Soto.

Within the NL Central, the St. Louis Cardinals already have drastically remade their starting rotation with the signings of Sonny Gray, Lance Lynn and Kyle Gibson, and the Cincinnati Reds have addressed their bullpen by adding right-handers Emilio Pagán and Nick Martinez.

“There are still a ton of really good players out there,” Arnold said. “I think the market will probably start to move sometime this week or next week and certainly could move quickly.

“We'll try to be ready to be in play in as many of those places as we possibly can.”

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Brewers feel no sense of urgency to trade Corbin Burnes, Willy Adames