Daniel

Jansen

The deal is now official. Jansen takes over as the Rangers primary backstop after the club decided to move on from Jonah Heim earlier this offseason. The 30-year-old backstop hit just .215/.321/.399 with 14 round-trippers across 337 plate appearances between the Brewers and Rays this past season. He’s no longer a relevant fantasy option at this stage of his career but it’s a decent landing spot if he’s going to put together a bounce-back campaign.

The deal includes incentives that could take it as high as $15.5 million. The 30-year-old backstop slashed an underwhelming .215/.321/.399 with 14 homers and 36 RBI in 337 plate appearances between the Rays and Brewers in 2025. When he takes the field on Opening Day, he’ll be playing for his fifth different ballclub since the start of the 2024 campaign.

The Brewers also declined their half of Danny Jansen’s mutual option for 2026 making him a free agent. No surprises here. Peralta has been the subject of trade rumors since Milwaukee was bounced from the playoffs in the NLCS by the eventual World Series champion Dodgers. It wouldn’t be a surprise to see Woodruff return on a new deal, but he should have plenty of interest on the open market.

Since the Mets also lost, the Reds won the final NL Wild Card in spite of the defeat. Jansen’s homer off Brady Singer in the fourth gave the Brewers a 3-2 lead. They picked up one more run that inning, and neither team scored over the rest of the afternoon. Jansen is 5-for-9 with two homers and three walks in his last three starts, putting him at .254/.346/.433 in 25 games since being acquired by the Brewers. He didn’t figure to be someone who would start games in the postseason, but with the way he’s swinging, the Brewers might need to consider plugging him in against lefties.

Contreras gets a well-earned break for the second straight game to close out the regular season after playing through a left finger injury for most of the year. It’ll be Danny Jansen handling the catching duties in this one.

Contreras has been in a bit of a funk at the plate over the past week, so the Brewers will give him a night off to reset and clear his head. Danny Jansen will start behind the dish and will bat eighth for the Brewers against Reds’ left-hander Andrew Abbott on Saturday.

Jansen’s homer off Jeremiah Estrada in the top of the ninth upped the Brewers’ lead from one run to two. He’s gotten a little more playing time than expected since taking over as William Contreras’ backup and has hit .230/.314/.377 in 70 plate appearances.

The trade is now official. Jansen fortifies Milwaukee’s backup catching situation behind starter William Contreras heading into the final two months of the season. The 30-year-old figures to start regularly down the stretch, which allows the Brewers to give Contreras a break from catching as he plays through a lingering finger injury.

The deal should be official at some point shortly. The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal adds that the Rays are also on the verge of swinging an additional trade with the Marlins for veteran backstop Nick Fortes. He’ll split the catching duties in Tampa Bay with Matt Thaiss over the final two months. Meanwhile, Jansen provides Milwaukee with a reliable lefty-mashing option at catcher, allowing them to move William Contreras to DH with greater frequency down the home stretch.

The move would add some reliable catching depth behind William Contreras, who would likely be able to spend additional time at DH over the final two months. The 30-year-old backstop has split the catching duties this season for Tampa Bay along with Matt Thaiss.