Milwaukee Brewers Pitcher Brandon Woodruff Accepts $22 Million Qualifying Offer For 2026
Starting Pitcher Brandon Woodruff accepted the Milwaukee Brewers’ $22.025 million qualifying offer on Tuesday. With the offer, Woodruff will forgo free agency and remain with the only team he has played for in the MLB. Here is a look at the move.
Brandon Woodruff’s Value To the Brewers
Woodruff has battled injuries since his major league debut with the team in 2017, but when he has been healthy, he has been spectacular. The 2014 eleventh-round pick was 7-2 with a 3.20 ERA last season after returning in July from a 2023 anterior capsule surgery on his right shoulder. He pitched 64.2 innings spanning 12 starts and struck out 83 while walking only 14. He had a 0.91 WHIP, and opponents hit just 1.88 against him.
For his career, Woodruff has a 53-28 record and 3.10 ERA. He has averaged 10.5 strikeouts and 2.3 walks per nine innings over 142 games, 127 of which were starts. He is a two-time All-Star, and he finished fifth in the Cy Young voting in 2021. That season, he went just 9-10, but he had a 2.56 ERA and struck 211 in 179.1 innings. When he has been healthy, he has been an ace for the Milwaukee rotation.
The Brewers’ 2026 Rotation With Woodruff
With Woodruff returning, many baseball insiders have speculated that the Brewers would be likely to trade Freddy Peralta, whose contract expires at the end of 2026. However, the Milwaukee front office has stated that those two decisions are not interdependent. Peralta reached his second All-Star Game last season and finished fifth in last year’s Cy Young race. He finished with a 17-6 record and a 2.70 ERA with 204 strikeouts in 176.2 innings.
The Brewers won the NL Central for the fourth time in the last five years, and their rotation was a major part of the team’s success. If Peralta does indeed stay, the Brewers would open 2026 with Woodruff and Peralta atop a rotation of youngsters that should include some combination of Quinn Priester, Jacob Misiorowski, Chad Patrick, Logan Henderson and Robert Gasser.
Running the Numbers
Woodruff’s qualifying offer gives him the highest single-season salary of any Brewers starting pitcher ever. This has contributed to speculation about a Peralta deal, as Milwaukee is not known for having high payrolls. The team ranked 22nd in payroll in 2025. The Brewers may well need to trade Peralta if they don’t believe that they can afford to re-sign him. The New York Mets and several other teams are closely monitoring this situation.
