Brewers GM Matt Arnold laid 'a lot of foundations' for potential deals at winter meetings

NASHVILLE – The Milwaukee Brewers closed up shop Wednesday afternoon at Major League Baseball's annual winter meetings at the Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center having failed to complete a transaction for the second straight day.

They certainly weren't alone in that regard, as one could almost hear the crickets chirping in the cavernous complex. The hot stove, someone forgot to turn it on until the New York Yankees reportedly were on the verge of acquiring Juan Soto from the San Diego Padres before leaving town.

But from the Brewers' perspective, that doesn't mean they head back to Milwaukee having not accomplished anything.

Quite the contrary.

They were the story of the gathering at the outset, locking up Jackson Chourio to a long-term extension and not much later left-hander Wade Miley to another one-year deal to bolster their starting-pitching depth.

And then there were the conversations that were had and the groundwork that was laid over the ensuing 48 hours or so that could set the stage for deals in the days and weeks to come.

General manager Matt Arnold said on more than one occasion during the meetings that interest from other teams in right-hander Corbin Burnes was high.

And although he's also said repeatedly since the end of the season that the Brewers are planning on having him back at the front of their rotation in 2024, chances are many of their internal discussions were about what teams have been offering and what scenarios might make sense should they decide to go the trade route.

Arnold pointed back to last year right around this time, when Milwaukee left the winter meetings in San Diego having acquired only one player, Rule 5 pick Gus Varland.

But less than a week later Arnold & Co. took part in a blockbuster three-team trade that landed the Brewers catcher William Contreras, right-hander Joel Payamps and minor-league right-hander Justin Yeager while giving up only outfield prospect Esteury Ruiz.

"We lay a lot of groundwork here, but you don't always get deals over the line," Arnold said. "We're not trying to win the winter meetings. We're trying to win the World Series. You can make headway on deals like that, but they don't always get done."

Needless to say, the trade was an incredibly savvy and important move for the Brewers.

Contreras, as the team's everyday catcher, became the Brewers' best offensive player, developed into one of the best defensive catchers in the game according to the metrics and eventually was named Milwaukee's MVP.

Payamps, meanwhile, became the Brewers' setup man in front of closer Devin Williams and delivered a career year. Yeager remains a wild card, but even if he doesn't pan out, the deal was a steal for the Brewers.

The lesson there was that sometimes it pays to be patient and play the long game.

"I would say fundamentally the teams involved were working on smoothing it out for all sides," Arnold recalled. "It would be fair to say the framework (Contreras to Milwaukee, Sean Murphy going from Oakland to Atlanta and Ruiz going to Oakland) was in place. I think we ended up working on the other pieces, pulling sort of from all sides to get it over the line."

With all that in mind, Arnold was then asked if he thought some similar framework could have been established over the past three days for a deal that come to fruition in the coming days, or weeks.

"Yeah, we have a lot of foundations, I think, in the works," he said. "Whether these things get over the line, I don't know. We obviously want them to benefit us, and whether it helps us in 2024 or beyond, I think we just have to balance that.

"But yeah, we certainly have talked about a lot of different frameworks."

Rickie Weeks continues to navigate the learning curve

Rickie Weeks attended baseball’s winter meetings a couple of times for a couple of reasons during his playing days – once as part of negotiations for a contract extension he signed with the Brewers and the other time to help his sister navigate her way as she sought a job in the industry.

Now 41, Weeks is putting the wraps on his first trip to the game’s biggest offseason gathering as Milwaukee’s associate manager.

“That switch is flipped,” Weeks said. “Now, let’s just get down to what I’ve got to do.”

Hired to be Pat Murphy’s right-hand man in the dugout, Weeks will have a variety of highly important duties.

To that end, he’s not only been in regular contact with Murphy but also has been familiarizing himself with MLB’s rulebook and how instant replay works.

“Baseball is baseball,” Weeks said. “But it’s the intricacies – the details of the duties and how you’ve got to do it. Obviously, replay. Rules. It’s stuff you know, but stuff that wasn’t really told to you (as a player). These things are in a book, actually, so it’s reading rules.

“But until you get into the dugout and it’s go time, that’s when it really comes out.”

Weeks did get some sense of the top-down view of baseball during his years with the organization in his player-development role.

But this week in Nashville, Weeks jumped head first into all that occurs over the three-day span, a whirlwind of activity that can overwhelm those who haven’t experienced it first-hand.

“I’ve kind of always had this – listen first. And when you speak, it should be something of substance,” he said. “A lot of times if you’re quick to speak, you come across as somebody who has all the answers. So for me, it’s been sitting back and taking it all in.

“I’ve been going through my processes and kind of piggybacking off some other people and seeing what works and how they do things. That’s the best way to kind of go about things.”

Murphy has been encouraging Weeks to use his voice, which carries a great deal of weight considering his decorated playing career with the Brewers that spanned from 2003 through 2014 and 14 total years in the majors.

“I'm trying to encourage Rickie. Like, ‘Rickie, you're impactful, man. People trust you and believe in you. So, let's use that gift,’” Murphy said. “He's got such a gift. A tremendous gift. A lot of our staff does. I'm just trying to encourage them to use it.

“It's impactful.”

Brewers pass on making a pick in the Rule 5 draft

The Brewers were one of 20 teams that passed on making a pick in the major-league portion of the Rule 5 draft, and then they also declined to make one in the Class AAA portion that followed.

"We talked about it a lot," Arnold said. "The Rule 5 is so tricky in ways because it costs you the roster spot – an opportunity for somebody else, really – and then you're locked into that for the entire winter.

"There certainly are a lot of stories of guys that go on and do really well in the Rule 5 draft, but the odds seem to be typically low. And then hanging onto these guys for the entire season, it's hard.

"We talked about a lot of different guys and strongly considered some – even guys that went off the board before we picked – but ultimately we didn't get anybody today."

Milwaukee did lose one player, and a former prospect at that in outfielder Joe Gray Jr., the team's second-round pick in 2018 who went first to the Kansas City Royals in the minor-league portion.

He was selected 60th overall that year – three picks ahead of Alek Thomas, an outfielder who's developed into a starter for the Arizona Diamondbacks – and signed for $1,113,500.

In five seasons, Gray played only 10 games above the advanced Class A level while being dogged by injuries, eyesight issues and inconsistency. He was a .218 hitter with 51 homers and 222 RBI with an OPS of .694 in 399 games.

Gray appeared to be on the verge of breaking out after hitting .252/20/90/.854 in 110 games split between Class A Carolina and advanced Class A Wisconsin but didn't come close to replicating those numbers again.

"He still is very talented," Arnold said. "But it was just one of those things with our depth and, probably, a good change of scenery for him. He did a great job for us and we hope he does well in the future."