Matt Arnold did not leave the 2024 MLB Winter Meetings without the Milwaukee Brewers acquiring a few new faces. Connor Thomas joined the team by means of the Rule-5 Draft and Grant Wolfram was signed to a MLB deal. These two additions bring the 40-man roster count up to 39 and the left-handed pitching options available up to eight.
“He’s a little more of a jackknife;” Matt Arnold says regarding Connor Thomas
Connor Thomas mostly developed as a starting pitcher in the St. Louis Cardinals farm system, but last year he primarily made multi inning appearances out of the bullpen with a few starts sprinkled in. Matt Arnold envisions him being used in a similar role in 2025 as he described him as “a little more of a jackknife.” On the mound, Thomas works primarily low in the zone that includes heavy sinker, slider, and changeup usage, but he also has a cutter and four seam fastball. Thomas is coming off a breakout 2024 season that consisted of a 2.89 ERA in Triple-A.
Hello there, Connor Thomas slider & changeup.
Brewers still have two more spots available on their 40-man as Thomas will be factored in for the 2025 bullpen.
He must make the roster or be sent back to the Cardinals. He cannot be optioned. pic.twitter.com/ZqHvdsUemf
— Dominic Cotroneo (@Dom_Cotroneo) December 11, 2024
“We’ve had success with these profiles in the past;” Grant Wolfram draws comparisons to Jared Koenig
At a towering 6’8″, Grant Wolfram joins a list of tall and lengthy left-handed relievers in the Milwaukee Brewers bullpen as Bryan Hudson also stands at that same height and Jared Koenig comes in at 6’5″. Matt Arnold is very excited about what Wolfram brings to the table as he said, “Big, athletic lefty. You know we’re into that. I think probably in the Jared Koenig kind of mold. We’ve had success with these profiles in the past. Really good ingredients to work with.” Wolfram received offers from six other MLB teams, but chose the Brewers given their history of pitching development.
What’s next for the Milwaukee Brewers this off-season?
With Winter Meetings concluding, there really is not a big date to circle on the calendar until players report to camp in February. From here, Matt Arnold will continue to monitor the market with a Devin Williams trade likely coming at some point. Arnold said regarding the remainder of the off-season, “I think we did a lot of work this week, and we have a much better sense of understanding the market. There’s also different windows that happen throughout the offseason, right? But as the free agent market shifts, dynamics can change. … I think some of those have a chance to be favorable for us.”
Follow me on X @tylerkoerth. Follow us @WiSportsHeroics for more great up to date sports content. To read more of our articles and keep up to date on the latest in Wisconsin sports, click here!. We cover the Milwaukee Brewers, Green Bay Packers, Milwaukee Bucks, Wisconsin Badgers, numerous other professional sports, and Wisconsin High School Sports. Additionally we provide the latest news coverage on the NFL, MLB, and NBA in which you can follow Gridiron Heroics, Hardwood Heroics, and Homeplate Heroics.
