Story by
Brewers' May Declines $20 Million Mutual Option
- Story by
- Brewers' May Declines $20 Million Mutual Option
(IMAGN Images via Reuters Connect)
If it feels like Dustin May's contract decision came roughly 24 hours after the Milwaukee Brewers won the World Series, that's because it did.
The New York Post 's Jon Heyman broke the news on Thursday, Oct. 29, that May has declined his mutual option and will be a free agent going into the 2027 season.
Advertisement
Remember, when the Brewers made this deal at the trade deadline, they knew this was a very real possibility.
It wasn't cheap to bring in May, and while he wasn't perfect in the regular season, he was able to do well enough in the playoffs to put this team in a position to win .
At the end of the day, were the Brewers ever really going to pay May $20 million next year? Probably not.
While it hurts to lose a player this soon after winning the World Series , baseball remains a business and, for the Brewers, this was a move that will free up some serious money.
Brewers save $20 million with May declining
No exact details were revealed other than the fact that May declined, so who knew if there were some conversations behind the scenes where the Brewers said they were going to decline anyway, but just wanted to give May the benefit of the doubt.
Advertisement
Mutual options could obviously go either way, but more often than not, players like May who are set to make this much money become free agents for one reason or another.
Thankfully for the Brewers, that trade deadline move also included JoJo Romero, who has been absolutely fantastic.
Romero was hurt when the trade first came together, but upon his return, he was lights out. Romero made that trade worth it, but he's another name to monitor going into free agency.
May, at this stage in his career, just is not worth $20 million. This ended up being a necessary move for the Brewers to not only make the playoffs, but win the entire thing, but when looking ahead to 2027, that $20 million can be used elsewhere as they're now set to go back-to-back.
Advertisement
The 29-year-old was a -0.3 WAR player during his 10 regular season starts with the Brewers. He posted a 5.73 ERA in the postseason, which saw him start two of the five games he pitched in.
His best performances were a pair of one-outing bullpen appearances, but at the end of the day, that's not what the Brewers brought him here to do, and they're much better off paying someone else, or a combination of players, $20 million to do that.
