Major news for the Milwaukee Brewers, and, by extension, the entire NL Central: Brandon Woodruff had to have shoulder surgery of enough significance that he’s expected to miss as much as the entire 2024 season.
We knew the shoulder was injured, but it was not necessarily clear that it was going to be THIS bad:
Oof. Bad. Bad. Since becoming a full-time big league starter in 2019, Brandon Woodruff has posted a 2.93(!) ERA for the Brewers over 595.0 innings. He’s been a stud, and losing him is a serious blow.
The implications here go far beyond the obvious fact that the Brewers will now not have one of their best starting pitchers available in 2024.
For one thing, Woodruff was heading into his final year of arbitration. So are the Brewers going to tender him an $11+ million contract to not pitch? I assume not, but I also assume they aren’t going to want to straight up non-tender him. So do they try to work out a two-year deal, so he rehabs in the organization he knows, and then they get him back for 2025 on a reasonable price? That is NOT an insignificant question for an organization with a tight budget.
For another thing, this kind of shoulder surgery is not one where you ASSUME a guy will return to his previous form. I don’t know if anyone can say for sure what Woodruff will be long-term now.
For still another thing, Brandon Woodruff isn’t the only key Brewer who was heading into his final season of team control. There is also Willy Adames and Corbin Burnes, and especially on Burnes, I can’t help but wonder if this means they will NOT be trading him, as many had speculated. Losing Woodruff for 2024 is bad enough, but could the Brewers seriously compete without both Woodruff and Burnes?
And one more thing: if the Brewers are concerned about competing in 2024, does that make it even less likely that Craig Counsell returns? He will also be very expensive to retain, and maybe between the money and other opportunities (either the Mets or just taking time off), Counsell doesn’t stick around? We’ll see. That one, obviously, was already on the table. But I think this is probably another wrinkle to the story.