The Milwaukee Brewers, despite winning 92 games and the NL Central crown in 2023, appeared headed for a tough offseason with a lot of roster churn. According to the rumor mill, the Brewers are looking for prospective trade partners that would give them pitching prospects for some of their veterans who are approaching free agency, with one of those players being the injured Brandon Woodruff. Evidently, the Brewers couldn't find a willing taker for Woodruff with the team deciding to non-tender him instead, making him a free agent.

The difficulty of finding a trade partner for Woodruff isn't too hard to understand; after all, it is common expectation that Woodruff won't be able to pitch during the 2024 season after undergoing surgery to repair the anterior capsule in his right shoulder. For the Brewers, they clearly didn't think it was worth holding onto Woodruff and paying him whatever amount he would have gotten in arbitration to wait for his return in 2025.

Still, according to the Brewers GM, letting go of Brandon Woodruff, who's been incredible during his six-year stint in Milwaukee, was not an easy decision to make at all, and that the door is always open for the 30-year old right-hander to return to the franchise should he decide to do so.

“It was tough. It was emotional. He's been awesome for us in so many ways,” Arnold said, per Todd Rosiak of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. “[But] I still think he could be part of our team in the future.”

At this point, it's unclear whether or not Brandon Woodruff is open to a return to the Brewers, perhaps under more palatable financial circumstances for the team. Woodruff was set to make around $11 million in his final year of arbitration, so if the 30-year old is willing to take a smaller deal, perhaps the Brewers can be open to re-signing him.

But in the past, for injured pitchers, they have tended to take two-year deals, with the second year of the contract being a chance to play their way into a bigger contract. That may be the path Woodruff takes, although whether he does so with the Brewers or with another team remains to be seen.