Brewers sign Burnes, Adames and Williams to avoid arbitration with all 3 players

Updated Jan. 12, 2024 12:38 a.m. ET

Associated Press

MILWAUKEE (AP) — The Milwaukee Brewers reached deals with 2021 NL Cy Young Award winner Corbin Burnes, two-time All-Star closer Devin Williams and shortstop Willy Adames on Thursday to avoid going to arbitration with all three players.

Burnes agreed to a one-year contract for $15,637,500, and Adames gets $12.25 million next season. Williams and the Brewers formally exchanged 2024 salary proposals, putting the sides on track for an arbitration hearing, but then quickly agreed to a one-year deal with a 2025 club option.

The reliever requested $7.3 million, while Milwaukee offered $6.65 million. After that swap, they settled on a $7.25 million, one-year contract in a deal that could be worth $18.5 million for two seasons plus award bonuses.

The right-hander made $3.35 million last season.

The Brewers also signed right-handed pitchers Joel Payamps ($1.65 million) and Bryse Wilson ($1,025,000) and first baseman Jake Bauers ($1.35 million) to one-year deals.

The 29-year-old Williams was selected the National League reliever of the year after going 8-3 with a 1.53 ERA, 36 saves and 87 strikeouts in 58 2/3 innings last season. He also was chosen the NL reliever of the year and Rookie of the Year in 2020.

Burnes lost his arbitration hearing last year and said afterward “there’s no denying that the relationship is definitely hurt."

The 29-year-old right-hander agreed to his latest deal after going 10-8 with a 3.39 ERA and 200 strikeouts in 193 2/3 innings to help the Brewers win the NL Central title.

Last year, Burnes was awarded $10.01 million rather than his $10.75 million request.

“You think you work hard for seven years in the organization, and five years with the big-league team, and you get in there and basically they value you much different than what you thought you’d contributed to the organization,” Burnes told reporters at spring training after the hearing. “They won it. But when it came down to winning or losing the hearing, it was more than that for me.”

Adames, 28, received a raise from $8.7 million after batting .217 with a .310 on-base percentage, 24 homers and 80 RBIs in 149 games. That followed a 2022 season in which Adames homered 31 times, the most by a Brewers shortstop.

The Milwaukee chapter of the Baseball Writers' Association of America selected Adames as the Brewers’ most valuable player in 2021 and 2022.

Adames and Burnes are both eligible for free agency after this season.

Williams gets a $7 million salary this year, and the Brewers have a $10.5 million option for 2024 with a $250,000 buyout. The option price can escalate by up to $1 million for games pitched this year: $200,000 for 52, $250,000 each for 57 and 62, and $300,000 for 66.

Williams would get $100,000 in any year for winning the Cy Young Award, $75,000 for finishing second in the voting and $50,000 for third. He would get $50,000 each for making the All-Star team, winning the Hoffman/Rivera Reliever of the Year Award or Comeback Player of the Year, or World Series MVP, and $25,000 for a Gold Glove or League Championship Series MVP.

___

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb