Last nights trade of took baseball by surprise. With spring training le s than two weeks away and the Brewers having just spent $34MM to sign for the next two seasons, the general expectation had been that the team planned to hold onto top stars like Burnes, and , despite the trio inching closer to free agency. (Burnes and Adames are free agents next winter, Williams after the 2025 season.) The Orioles, however, clearly came through with an offer that Milwaukee general manager felt he couldnt turn down, and in the wake of the trade Arnold acknowledged that hes certainly open to more conversations and wouldnt shut any conversations down at this point in the offseason ( ). Thats a far cry from a declaration that the Brewers are open for busine s, but both and report that Williams, in particular, is also a po sibility to move. Rosenthal writes that the Brewers have already entertained the po sibility of moving the star righty. Williams, 29, is among the games most dominant relievers. Over the past four seasons, hes logged a 1.75 ERA while striking out a staggering 40.5% of his opponents. Williams 11.9% walk rate is well above the league average, but his prodigious strikeout ability, strong 49.5% ground-ball rate and knack for inducing weak contact (85.1 mph average exit velocity, 28.2% hard-hit rate) have all combined to help him mitigate that shaky command. Excellent as hes been, Williams isnt the prototypical power-armed closer we see so often in todays game. Thats not to suggest hes a soft-to ser, but he doesnt brandish the triple-digit heater thats become increasingly common in modern baseball. Williams averaged 94.2 mph on his fastball in 2023 an exact match with the league average for relievers and sits at 94.8 mph dating back to 2020. However, Williams has one of the games best pitches, an 80-grade changeup nicknamed the airbender. Nearly a quarter of the changeups Williams has thrown in his career (23.1%) have generated a swinging strike. Opponents have batted just .137 and slugged only .199 against the pitch in his career. Beyond his sheer dominance, Williams is eminently affordable. He agreed to a one-year, $7.25MM deal last month and tacked on a $10.5MM club option for the 2025 campaign, thus avoiding the need for an arbitration hearing this year or next. The value of that club option will likely increase based on some escalators that are baked into the contract. Pitching in 52 games would bump the option value by $200K, while reaching 57 and 62 appearances would add $250K each, plus another $300K for 66 games (which would establish a new career-high, topping 2022s 65 games). Even if Williams unlocks that full $1MM worth of escalators, an $11.5MM option on a reliever of this caliber would still be a clear bargain. It should be noted and emphasized that theres no indication Milwaukee is aggre sively shopping Williams or anyone else on the roster. This, however, is the manner in which the Brewers (and Arnolds former organization, the Rays) have continually operated: maintain an openne s on star players as their club control dwindles particularly those who are likely beyond the organizations comfort level in terms of asking price on D.J. Augustin Jersey an extension. Flexibility when it comes to moving short-term players with one to two years of club control is a driving factor in how the Brewers have remained competitive regularly despite perennially ranking in the bottom half of the league in terms of payroll. The trade of at the 2022 deadline netted the Brewers left-hander (one of their current top pitching prospects) and outfielder , who was subsequently flipped for , who won a Silver Slugger as Milwaukees starting catcher last season. Hader himself came to Milwaukee alongside in a trade sending to Houston. Right-hander , now the Brewers top starter, was acquired as a 19-year-old in a trade sending first baseman to Seattle. The list goes on. Any trade involving Williams will surely require a steep asking price arguably a comparable or even greater return than Burnes commanded, given his extra year of club control and more affordable contract status. And Williams, like Burnes, figures to be a qualifying offer candidate once hes able to reach free agency, meaning a new team would know that so long as he remains healthy, therell be some draft pick compensation to help recoup the value surrendered in order to acquire him in the first place. It stands to reason that with Burnes out the door and at least a willingne s to listen on Williams, the Brewers have similar thoughts on Adames. The 28-year-old broke out almost immediately after being traded from Tampa Bay to Milwaukee in 2021, when the Brewers sent righties and to the Rays in exchange for Adames and righty . In two and a half seasons as a Brewer, Adames has slashed .242/.319/.454 with 75 homers, 86 doubles and a pair of triples in 1668 plate appearances all while playing strong defense at a premium position. Hes walked at a 10% clip against a 26% strikeout rate and established himself as a power threat who can hit anywhere in the order, evidenced by 2022s 31-homer showing. Adames has turned in 17 Defensive Runs Saved and 26 Outs Above Average in the past two seasons alone. Hell earn a reasonable $12.25MM in 2024 before becoming a free agent ahead of his age-29 season. As with Burnes, Adames will be a slam-dunk qualifying offer candidate next season. Hes extremely likely to receive and reject a QO, and hed surely sign a contract worth more than $50MM in total with his next team. Thatd give Milwaukee a compensatory pick at the end of the first round of the 2025 draft. Any trade offers would need to eclipse that value and likely by a strong margin. That said, the acquisition of in the Burnes trade makes it easier for the Brewers to listen to offers. Ortiz himself is a shortstop and an MLB-ready one at that. He struggled in a tiny sample during last years MLB debut (34 plate appearances, .212/.206/.242) but is an accomplished upper-minors hitter whos considered a good defender at shortstop. The 25-year-old Ortiz spent the bulk of the 2023 season in Triple-A Norfolk, where he slashed .321/.378/.507. That marked his second stint in Norfolk, as he also finished out the 2022 season there and hit well in a sample of 115 plate appearances. Overall, in 504 trips to the plate at Triple-A, Ortiz is a .327/.383/.521 hitter with 13 homers, 37 doubles, six triples and 17 steals. Of course, as a plus defender at shortstop, Ortiz is more than capable of breaking into the big leagues as an everyday second baseman or third baseman. He and Adames can absolutely coexist on Milwaukees roster, and Ortiz could easily slide over to shortstop in 2025 if the team hangs onto Adames for the upcoming season. The Brewers surely dont feel they need to trade Adames, but as Arnold strongly implied, he also wont be turning anyone away on principle, either. That willingne s to listen could set the stage for another splashy trade or even two between now and Opening Day, but this isnt an As-esque situation where the Brewers will be selling everything thats not nailed down. Burnes commanded a pair of immediate big leaguers who both have six years of club control remaining. Any trades of Williams, Adames and/or anyone else on the roster would presumably need to afford similar near-term help. The Brewers recent signing of Hoskins and focus on MLB-ready talent even in trading away their ace highlights the fact that this isnt a team punting on 2024. Rather, theyre trying to thread the needle of remaining competitive on an annual basis without needing to undergo the exact type of teardown that Burnes new team underwent for a half decade prior to emerging as a powerhouse in the AL East. Teams will undoubtedly check back in on Williams, Adames and others in the wake of the Burnes blockbuster, but further trades arent nece sarily a given. Dwayne Bacon Jersey