The Milwaukee Brewers made the obvious decision to exercise catcher William Contreras' $15.5 million option, according to MLB.com's Adam McCalvy.

Milwaukee exercising Contreras' club option should come as no surprise. The 28-year-old catcher is a three-time All-Star coming off one of the best seasons of his career, and he played a major role in the Brewers' first-ever World Series title, earning World Series MVP honors. Contreras is one of the best defensive catchers in the league while also contributing at a high level offensively, slashing .270/.341/.417 this season with 18 home runs and a career-high 94 runs batted in.

One of the biggest questions facing the Brewers this offseason is how the team plans to handle Contreras' contract situation. The star catcher is set to hit free agency next winter, and Milwaukee has a history of trading top players before it has to pay them in free agency. Despite the cost, the Brewers shouldn't be willing to trade Contreras this offseason, especially considering how difficult it'd be to replace a talented catcher like him.

Contreras should be a key part of the Brewers' future

"One big reason for that success is the Brewers kept basically every key contributor during that period," Bleacher Report's Adam Wells wrote on Sunday. "The only significant departure was Freddy Peralta, who was traded to the New York Mets in January before ending up with the Rays in August. The Peralta trade came as he was entering the final season of his contract. Milwaukee picked up his $8 million team option for 2026 in November 2025, then traded him two months later.

"Contreras is in the exact same position with a $15.5 million team option for 2027 before he hits free agency next winter. There's no doubt the Brewers will pick up that option, but their modus operandi is to trade a player who is likely to be priced out of their market a year ahead of time to bring back maximum value. There would certainly be a huge trade market for Contreras as one of the few high-level defensive catchers who can also hit. He was the only catcher with at least 500 plate appearances in 2026, posting a .270/.341/.417 slash line. Contreras would be more difficult than Bauers to replace because of positional scarcity."

Contreras has spent the past four seasons with the Brewers, and the team has been dominant, winning the division each year and finally winning the World Series. Milwaukee only has four key free agents this offseason, so the team will look pretty similar to how it did this year.

The Brewers won a record 103 regular-season games. If they pretty much plan to field a similar roster, why not keep Contreras to run it back and go for another World Series next year?