Haase was elected to minor league free agency at the end of the season. Jansen returned to the open market when the Brewers declined their end of a $12 million mutual option. He officially signed a two-year, $14.5 million deal with Texas last week. That leaves Milwaukee with just two catchers on the 40-man roster: Contreras and 23-year-old prospect Jefferson Querowhose contract was selected for the 2023-2024 offseason to keep him out of the Rule 5 draft.
The Venezuelan-born Quero suffered a labrum tear in his throwing shoulder during a game in the ’24 Triple-A season. He underwent surgery and missed the rest of the year. Quero missed the first few months of the ’25 campaign due to a hamstring strain. He didn’t return to Triple-A action until early June. The right-handed hitter posted a league average of .255/.336/.412 in 250 plate appearances the rest of the way.
Right now, Quero is the default favorite for the No. 2 catcher job. Contreras is the only catcher in the organization who has played in an MLB game. Curt Hogg of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel writes that the Brewers have evaluated the market for a veteran backup, but aren’t closing the door on Quero potentially breaking camp in that role. Assistant director of baseball administration Brenton Del Chiaro told Hogg that the young catcher is “pretty close” to big-league readiness.
Quero showed promising contact skills against Triple-A pitching, albeit with a tendency to expand the strike zone. His combination of bat control and average pop gives him a fairly high offensive ceiling for a #2 catcher. Quero’s calling card as a prospect had been his defense, especially an arm that had been a weapon before the labrum injury. Baseball America scouting report notes that Quero’s pop times suffered in his first year post-surgery. That’s reflected in an 18.9% steal rate, which is well below the stellar 34.6% mark he posted in Double-A in 2023.
The Brewers can move Quero to Triple-A for at least one more season. He would also be a candidate for a fourth option year due to the missed time in 2024. If they think he would benefit from more minor league time to hone his approach (or if they want to see what his arm strength looks like another year post-injury), they should add someone from outside the organization. It’s not a position they’ll spend a lot of resources on given Contreras’ durability, but a player like Reese McGuire, Christian Vazquez or old friend Lucas Maile could sign for a little more than the league minimum. At the very least, they will land a veteran catcher on a minor league deal with a Spring Training invite.
Quero is not the only candidate looking to settle in the camp. Right-handed Logan Henderson impressed in his first five MLB starts but suffered a season-ending elbow injury in August. Henderson was able to resume throwing bullpen sessions by the postseason and did not require surgery. Adam McCalvy of MLB.com writes that he is following a normal offseason plan and will return to mound work in a few weeks.
Henderson will enter camp competing for a spot in the back of the rotation. Freddy Peralta And Brandon Woodruff are lined up for the first two places, barring an exchange of the former. Quinn Priester is locked into the #3 role. Jacob Misiorowski, Chad Patrick, Robert Gasser, Tobias Myers and potential Angel Zerpa could be in the mix for back-end jobs. Zerpa would be in the bullpen if he doesn’t win a rotation role. Everyone from that group except Woodruff and Peralta has minor league options remaining, so the Brewers have a lot of flexibility in moving pitchers up and down from Triple-A Nashville.
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