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Brewers make first round of Spring Training roster moves

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The Milwaukee Brewers made their first round of roster reductions, including prospects Corey Ray and Trey Supak who are both on the team’s 40-man roster.

The Brewers reassigned to minor-league camp were right-handers Jesus Castillo, Thomas Jankins, Drew Rasmussen and Miguel Sanchez, left-handers Clayton Andrews and Ethan Small, catchers Mario Feliciano and Payton Henry and third baseman Lucas Erceg.

“This is a group that, in our meetings, kind of knew they were on this path,” manager Craig Counsell said.  “They’re  here to help during spring training.  It’s a performance thing for a lot of these guys…just go have great years and then put (yourselves) on the radar.

“Obviously guys that are on the (40 man) roster are a little bit closer.  But for the rest of those guys, that’s the message, performance gets our attention.  I think we had a more extreme case of that last spring with Trent Grisham, who wasn’t even in our big-league camp at the start of spring and made a pretty big impact on us.”

Brewers win

The Brewers got solo home runs by Lorenzo Cain and Luis Castro to pull out a 2-1 win over the Seattle Mariners in Cactus League play.  The Brewers will face the Kansas City Royals on Tuesday.

Brewers close to deal with Yelich

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Christian Yelich – Photo Courtesy of Scott Paulus/Milwaukee Brewers

The Milwaukee Brewers are close to locking up all-star outfielder Christian Yelich to a big deal.

Ken Rosenthal of the Athletic first reported that the Brewers were close to a deal with Yelich on a seven-year, $188.5 million contract extension that would run from 2022 through 2028.  Added to the two years of his current deal, the total value of Yelich’s contract would be worth $215 million.

Yelich has said in the past that he likes Milwaukee and preferred to stay there as long as possible.  Brewers principal owner Mark Attanasio reportedly had interest in a long-term deal but which side stepped forward first is not known.

Yelich is owed $12.5 million this season and $14 million in 2021 with a club option year in 2022 being ripped up.

In two seasons with the Brewers, Yelich hit .327 with 80 home runs and 207 RBI with 52 stolen bases.

The Brewers had trimmed their payroll from $125 million at the start of last season to about $95 million, which drew the ire of many of their fans.  Now we know why the payroll was trimmed down, with Yelich’s new deal that could be signed by Friday in Arizona.

Brewers sign Peralta to contract extension

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Freddy Peralta – Photo Courtesy of Scott Paulus/Milwaukee Brewers

The Milwaukee Brewers have reached agreement on a five-year contract extension with pitcher Freddy Peralta that guarantees him $15.5 million with team options for 2025 and 2026 that could take the deal to $30 million.

The deal was first reported by Ken Rosenthal of the Athletic and Jon Heyman of MLB Network.

The 23-year-old Peralta came to spring training with a slider added to his pitch repertoire.

Brewers manager Craig Counsell said Peralta and left-hander Eric Lauer are competing for the fifth spot in the starting rotation behind Brandon Woodruff, Adrian  Houser, Brett Anderson and Josh Lindblom.

The five-year deal would reportedly buy out all three of Peralta’s arbitration years.  The club options, if the Brewers choose to exercise them, would buy out the first two years of free agency.

Peralta finished last season with a 7-3 record and a 5.29 ERA.  He made eight starts and 39 appearances in relief.  In 55 career games, Peralta is 13-7 with a 4.79 ERA.  He recorded 211 strikeouts in 163 1/3 innings.

Brewer players Urias and Taylor slowed by wrist injuries

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Newly acquired Milwaukee Brewers infielder Luis Urias and outfielder Tyrone Taylor are both recovering from surgery that is expected to slow their start to the upcoming season.

Urias, who was acquired from the San Diego Padres in a four-player trade in late November, has surgery on Tuesday for a broken hamate bone in his left hand.  He’s expected to be out for eight weeks.

That will likely mean Urias won’t be ready to start the regular season with the Brewers, opting for a minor league rehab start to the season instead.

Taylor had off-season surgery in November on his left wrist and is expected to be restricted from baseball activity when training camp opens in a couple of weeks.  He’ll be working his way back into baseball activities as the spring goes on.

The 26-year-old Taylor hit .269 in 92 games at Class AAA San Antonio, adding 14 home runs and 59 RBI.  He later appeared in 15 games with the Brewers as a September call-up, going 4 for 10 with one RBI.

Cubs sign Jeffress to free agent deal

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Jeremy Jeffress (File Photo)

Former Milwaukee Brewers reliever Jeremy Jeffress signed a free agent deal with the rival Chicago Cubs on Tuesday.

The 32-year-old Jeffress had three separate stints with the Brewers before they finally released him on September 1, 2019.  He reportedly signed a major-league contract worth $850,000 and has games-pitched incentives that could add as much as another $200,000.

Jeffress started the 2019 season on the injured list after experiencing shoulder weakness.  He ended up appearing in 48 games, posting a 5.02 ERA.

Jeffress was a first-round draft pick of the Brewers in 2006 and was traded to Kansas City in the 2010 deal that brought Zach Greinke to Milwaukee.  His best season came in 2018 when he went 8-1 with a 1.29 ERA in 73 games with 15 saves.  He also made the all-star team that season.

Jeffress is the second former Brewers player to sign with the Cubs.  They also added utility infielder Hernan Perez.

Brewers to have new ballpark name in 2021

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Miller Park

The home of the Milwaukee Brewers, Miller Park, gets a new name starting in 2021.

Miller Park becomes American Family Field starting January 1, 2021.

The name change is part of a long-term sponsorship agreement between American Family and the Brewers, announced one year ago.  The agreement includes American Family having naming rights for the ballpark beginning in 2021 and continuing for 15 years.

The ballpark logo and other branding elements will be announced later this year.

As part of the sponsorship agreement, American Family also acquired naming rights to the Brewers spring training complex in Maryvale, Arizona.  That complex, which completed an extensive renovation last year, is named American Family Fields of Phoenix.

Brewers, Hader to swap salary figures today

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Josh Hader File Photo by Bill Greenblatt/UPI

The Milwaukee Brewers and their ace closer Josh Hader are scheduled to swap salary figures today.  Hader is in his first year of arbitration as a “Super 2” player (ranking among the top 22% of players with between two and three years of service time).

Hader hit the cutoff date at 2 years, 115 days, which gives him four years of arbitration instead of the customary three.

In 151 games in the majors, Hader is accumulated a 11-9 record, 2.42 ERA, 49 saves and a 0.845 WHIP.  He’s won the National League’s Reliever of the Year award the last two seasons.

Hader is expected to make between $4 million and $5 million in his first year of arbitration.  The figure [Read more…]

Thames signs one-year deal with Nationals

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Some thought that Eric Thames would eventually find his way back to Milwaukee, but the slugging first baseman instead, signed a one-year deal worth a reported $3-million with the defending World Series Champion Washington Nationals.

According to the Athletic, Thames will earn $3-million this season with a mutual option for 2021 worth $4-million and a $1-million buyout.

The Brewers added free agent first baseman Justin Smoak, making Thames somewhat expendable.

In three seasons with the Brewers, Thames hit .241 with 72 home runs and 161 RBI in 383 games.  He’s expected to share time in Washington with returning veteran Howie Kendricks.

Brewers sign outfielder Avisail Garcia to free agent deal

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The Milwaukee Brewers  have signed free agent outfielder Avisail Garcia to a two-year contract with a club option for 2022.

The 28-year-old Garcia hit .282 with a career high 20 home runs and 72 RBI in 125 games with the Tampa Bay Rays this past season.  Garcia made 122 starts overall, 89 in right field, 23 games as a DH and 10 games in center field.  He hit .294 (42-for-143) with runners in scoring position.

“Avisail provides an impactful right-handed hitting force in our lineup,” said President of Baseball Operations and General Manager David Stearns.  “Adding him to our current group of outfielders strengthens what was already one of the strongest outfields in baseball.”

Garcia owns a career batting average of .273 with 96 home runs and 374 RBI in 763 games with Detroit (2012-13), Chicago-AL (2013-18) and Tampa Bay (2019).  His best season came with the White Sox in 2017 as he hit a career-high .330 with 18 home runs and a career-high 80 RBI in 136 games.  He was named to his only All-Star Game that season.

The native of Anaco, Venezuela was originally signed by Detroit as a non-drafted free agent on July 6, 2007.  He was a member of the 2012 American League-champion Tigers during his rookie season.

 

Brewers sign Anderson to free agent deal

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The Milwaukee Brewers signed left-handed free agent pitcher Brett Anderson to a one-year deal on Friday.

Anderson becomes the second starting free agent addition this offseason after adding Josh Lindblom to the roster after a stay in the Korean Baseball Organization.

Anderson went 13-9 with a 3.89 ERA in 31 starts for the Oakland A’s last season.

The Brewers now have a starting rotation of Brandon Woodruff, Adrian Houser, Eric Lauer, Anderson and Lindblom, barring any further moves during the offseason.