The Milwaukee Brewers enter the 2026 season with a familiar yet unfamiliar look. Familiar, because they remain a team that operates on discipline, depth, and long-term planning. Unfamiliar, because for the first time in years, their rotation no longer has a name that’s automatically placed at the top of the roster.
Freddy Peralta is gone. Tobias Myers is also gone. The “default” innings the Brewers once relied on are now questionable. And although Jett Williams and Brandon Sproat were brought in from the Mets as part of a long-term strategy, the reality remains unchanged: the current rotation lacks a reliable arm.
Brandon Sproat could go straight into the starting lineup. Jacob Misiorowski and Quinn Priester have both shown signs of readiness. But for a team so accustomed to pitching deciding the fate of the season, Milwaukee can’t just rely on potential.
It is in this context that the name Jose Quintana… hasn’t disappeared.
It’s not that the Brewers lack big-name options. They know that names like Framber Valdez or Zac Gallen are outside their usual spending range. And they have no intention of disrupting their financial structure just for short-term peace of mind. What they need is something else: just enough certainty.
Quintana, 37, is no longer a pitcher building the future. But the 2025 season showed he’s still someone the Brewers can rely on. Signed late, just before Spring Training, Quintana still pitched 24 games, achieving an 11–7 record with a 3.96 ERA. Not dominant. Not perfect. But consistent enough to keep the team in the game — and more importantly, durable enough to rack up innings.
In a season where the Brewers progressed deep into the NLCS, Quintana played more than just a technical role. He set the rhythm for the rotation, bridging the gap between the young pitchers and the postseason pressure. That’s a value not immediately apparent in the statistics, but the coaching staff understands it well.
Now, with Spring Training just weeks away, Quintana is still unsigned. That’s no coincidence. The market for “veteran innings eater” pitchers is always slow-moving. But for the Brewers, the fact that his name is still on the table shows they haven’t closed the door.
Bringing Quintana back isn’t a flashy move. But it solves several problems at once. He doesn’t demand a long-term contract. He doesn’t usurp the role of the younger pitchers. He doesn’t create pressure to “win immediately.” He’s simply a safety net—something the Brewers lacked right after Peralta left.
With Misiorowski and Priester emerging, a rotation with Quintana will allow the Brewers to manage their workload more intelligently. Reduce risk. Reduce pressure. And most importantly: prevent the season from being ruined by a lack of a reliable backup option.
Milwaukee doesn’t need Jose Quintana to return and replicate his peak performance. They just need him to do what he did last year: pitch, keep the game under control, and give the team a chance to win.
Sometimes, in a turbulent offseason, the best option isn’t to find something new—but to keep what has proven to be a good fit. And for the Brewers, the fact that Jose Quintana hasn’t been cut speaks volumes about their understanding of what they’re missing.
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