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Brewers to open season with fans

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The Milwaukee Brewers will start the 2021 season with a 25% capacity of fans at American Family Field.  The team expects to have between 11,000 and 12,000 fans in the seats for the April 1st season opener against the Minnesota Twins.

The Brewers made the announcement Thursday morning after reaching agreement with the City of Milwaukee Health Department.  The team had requested 35% capacity in a report to health officials last month.

The announcement will be a welcomed change for the players, who played a pandemic shortened 60-game season in 2020 without fans.

The Milwaukee Health Department didn’t approve pre-game tailgating in the parking lot however.  That will certainly be a disappointment for fans.

Brewers Season Seat Holders and Suite Holders will be contacted about their options for attending games in the next week.  Information on tickets to individual games will be announced at a later date.

 

Report: Former Red Sox outfielder Jackie Bradley Jr. to sign with Brewers

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According to multiple reports, the Milwaukee Brewers are expected to sign center fielder Jackie Bradley Jr. to a two-year, $24 million deal that includes an opt-out after the first year.  The move was first reported early Thursday morning by the Boston Globe.

The 30-year-old Bradley has spent all eight of his Major League seasons with the Boston Red Sox, winning a Gold Glove in 2018.  He played on a one-year deal with the Red Sox last season and became a free agent after the 2020 season.

Bradley was an all-star in 2016, when he hit 26 home runs.  He is a career .239 hitter with 98 home runs, 376 RBI and 60 stolen bases with the Red Sox.

Bradley hit .283 with seven home runs, 22 RBIs, five stolen bases in 55 games in 2020.

How Bradley fits into the Brewers outfield remains to be seen.  Going into the spring, the Brewers appeared to be set with Christian Yelich in left field, Avisail Garcia in right field and Lorenzo Cain, returning to the club after an opt-out season, returning in center.

The Brewers could find a way to find enough games and at bats for those four, but Cain and Bradley make their living in center field.  You have four starting outfielders and three spots for them to play.  It’s a position of strength for the Brewers, but will Cain & Bradley be happy having to share time?  Could there be another move coming?

Brewers off to 2-0 Cactus League start

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Manny Pina clubbed a first-inning two-run homer and the Milwaukee Brewers improved to 2-0 in Cactus League play with a 7-1 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Monday.

Seven pitchers combined to limit the Diamondbacks to four-hits.  Corbin Burnes started and struck out two in his one-inning appearance.  Freddy Peralta followed with a three strikeout inning.

Arizona scored their only run off of Jordan Zimmermann, collecting three of their four hits.

The Brewers first round draft pick from last June, Garrett Mitchell, collected his first big league hit, a single in the seventh.

Josh Lindblom is scheduled to start against the Oakland A’s on Tuesday.

Brewers long ball to capture Cactus League opener

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Keston Hiura

Keston Hiura got Milwaukee off to a good start with a first inning, three-run homer and the Brewers went on to beat the Chicago White Sox 7-2 in their Cactus League opener on Sunday.

The Brewers also got home runs from Avisail Garcia, Tyrone Taylor and Dylan Cozens in a game that was limited to six innings.

The Brewers played before fans for the first time in more than a year, albeit a limited number.  The announced total was 2,347 for the game.

Eric Lauer gave up a pair of runs in the first inning.  The Brewers then got scoreless innings from Justin Topa, Angel Perdomo, Miguel Sanchez, Ethan Small and Aaron Ashby.  Perdomo and Small retired the side in order.  Ashby closed the game with three straight strikeouts..

The Brewers are back at it again on Monday, facing the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Brewers report to spring training headquarters today

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Brett Anderson

The Milwaukee Brewers have pitchers and catchers report to their spring training headquarters in Phoenix on Wednesday with official workouts set to begin on Thursday.

Ahead of the reporting date, the Brewers added a couple of veterans.

Milwaukee is adding left-handed pitcher Brett Anderson on a one-year deal worth $2.5 million.  Anderson could make another one-million in incentives after going 4-4 with a 4.21 ERA for the Brewers last season.

The Brewers are also working on a non-roster deal with infielder Travis Shaw, who had two good seasons in Milwaukee before a bad offensive slump led to his release in 2019.  Shaw will try to win the wide-open third base job after playing for Toronto last season.

Brewers miss out on Turner, who resigns with Dodgers

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The Milwaukee Brewers will head into the start of spring training this week without some added help at third base.

According to reports, the Brewers reportedly made a competitive multi-year offer to free agent Justin Turner before he agreed to return to his former team, the Los Angeles Dodgers.  Turner gets a two-year deal worth $34 million with a $14 million club option for 2023 and an $8 million signing bonus.

MLB’s Jon Heyman reported the Brewers also offered Turner about $34 million over two years and also made a bid for three years at a lower annual salary.

The Brewers have some internal options, including middle infielder Luis Urias, as well as utility players Daniel Robertson, Mark Mathias and Tim Lopes.

Turner hit .320 during the World Series against Tampa Bay, helping the Dodgers claim their first title since 1988.

Pitchers and catchers start workouts for the Brewers in Phoenix on Thursday.

 

Brewers add second baseman Kolten Wong

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St. Louis Cardinals Kolten Wong – Photo by Bill Greenblatt/UPI

The Milwaukee Brewers have agreed to a two-year deal with free-agent second baseman Kolten Wong.  The Athletic was first to report the deal, which is expected to pay Wong $18 million over two years with an option for a third year.  The deal is pending a physical.

Wong broke in the Major Leagues with St. Louis and played all eight years with the Cardinals.  He won the National League Gold Glove at second base each of the last two seasons.  The Cardinals declined a $12.5 million club option for 2021, instead paying him a $1 million buyout.

Adding Wong at second base will most likely move Keston Hiura to first base.  Hiura was the Brewers first-round draft pick in 2017 and has had throwing issues at second base.  He committed six errors in 49 games there last season and 22 total errors during his first two seasons in the majors. [Read more…]

Brewers announce 2021 Player Development Staff

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The Milwaukee Brewers today (Thursday) announced their Minor League player development and training staffs for the 2021 season.

New to the organization are former players Junior Spivey and Quinton McCracken.  Spivey, who played second base for Milwaukee from 2004-05 and was an All-Star in 2002 with Arizona, joins the Brewers as coordinator – baseball diversity initiatives.  McCracken, a veteran of 12 Major League seasons, comes to the organization as special assistant – baseball operations/player development after spending 2019-20 as the first base and outfield coach with the Durham Bulls, the Triple-A affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays.

Sara Goodrum is the organization’s new minor league hitting coordinator after previously working as coordinator – integrative sports performance.  She becomes the first woman in baseball history to serve in that role.  Her official title is “Coordinator – Hitting Development Initiatives.”

Goodrum played Division-1 college softball at Oregon before getting a Masters Degree in Exercise and Sports Science from the University of Utah.  She had worked in the Brewers Sports Service lab for nearly the last four years. [Read more…]

Legendary Hank Aaron passes away

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Henry Aaron posing for a photo with WRN Brewers reporter Jeff Miller.

Wisconsin lost another one of its all-time great sports legends when Hank Aaron passed away in Atlanta at the age of 86.

Aaron debuted with the Milwaukee Braves in 1954 at the age of 20.  He played 21 seasons for the Braves in Milwaukee and Atlanta.  He returned to Milwaukee ton finish out his career with the Brewers in 1975-76.

In 1957, Aaron was named the National League’s MVP.  His two-run home run off of St. Louis’ Billy Moffett in the bottom of the 11th clinched the pennant and sent the Braves to the World Series, where they beat the New York Yankees in seven games.

Aaron passed Babe Ruth’s home run mark of 714 in 1974.  Number 715 came off of Dodgers lefty Al Downing, during a game in Atlanta.  That would be Aaron’s final season with the Braves.

His return to Milwaukee helped the Brewers set a club record for attendance.  He finished out his career with 755 home runs.

Aaron made 21 all-star appearances and won three Gold Gloves for his play in right field.  His home run record was eventually topped in 2007 by San Francisco’s Barry Bonds, who finished with 762 for his career.

Aaron is the only player to hit at least 30 home runs in 15 seasons.  He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York, having received 97.8% of the votes cast by baseball writers in 1982.

The Atlanta Braves made Aaron a vice president and director of player development.

 

Brewers avoid arbitration hearings with Hader, Woodruff

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The Milwaukee Brewers avoided salary arbitration hearings by agreeing to one-year deals with reliever Josh Hader and top starter Brandon Woodruff on Friday.

According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Hader’s deal will pay him $6.675 million for the 2021 season after the left handed closer earned $4.1 million last season.

The Brewers also avoided an arbitration hearing with starter Brandon Woodruff.  As a “Super 2” player, Woodruff goes from $633,100 last season to $3.275 million this season.

Hader led the National League with 13 saves in the pandemic shortened 2020 season.  He started the season with a major league record 12 hitless outings.

Woodruff was the opening day starter for the Brewers and went just 3-5 in 13 starts.  But he compiled a 3.05 ERA with a 0.991 WHIP and 91 strikeouts in 73 2/3 innings.

The Brewers now have 14 players under contract for the upcoming season.