12:02pm: Nicholson-Smith tweets that Albers will have a $2.5MM base salary in each season of the contract, and his incentives begin kicking in with his 35th appearance. He’d max out his incentives by appearing in 65 games in each season of the contract.
11:50am: The Brewers and free agent righty Matt Albers have reached an agreement on a two-year deal, reports Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic (Twitter link). Albers, a client of SSG Baseball, will be guaranteed $5MM on the contract and can earn another $1MM each year based on total appearances, according to Sportsnet’s Ben Nicholson-Smith (Twitter link). The deal is pending a physical.
Albers, who turned 35 last week, was the most consistent member of the Nationals’ bullpen in 2017, pitching to a pristine 1.62 ERA with 9.3 K/9, 2.5 BB/9, 0.89 HR/9 and a 51 percent ground-ball rate through 61 innings of work. It represented a terrific bounce-back campaign for Albers, who’d limped to a 6.31 ERA in 51 1/3 innings with the White Sox in 2016.
There are, it should be noted, some indications that Albers had his share of good fortune in 2017, as well, though. His 8.7 percent swinging-strike rate was below the league average and not what one would expect from a pitcher that whiffed better than a batter per inning — a feat he’d achieved in only one season prior to 2017 (with the Red Sox way back in 2011). Albers also benefited from a minuscule .203 BABIP, though while that mark is in for some regression, the extent of said regression may not be as great as one might think at first glance.
Albers posted a hefty 15.9 percent infield-fly rate in 2017, and his batted-ball profile was among the most encouraging of any reliever in the game. Albers allowed a measly 22.8 percent hard-hit rate against him, which was the third-lowest mark in MLB among qualified relievers. He also induced 30.9 soft-contact rate, which was good for the fourth-best in the bigs.
Since establishing himself as a regular big league reliever back in 2009, Albers has been a rather durable asset, appearing in 55+ games in seven of those nine seasons. He was limited to 37 1/3 innings in 2015, though that year was truncated by a broken finger rather than any sort of arm injury. Shoulder trouble kept him out of action for all but 10 innings of the 2014 season, but that’s been the only instance of a notable arm injury keeping him on the shelf for a prolonged period in nearly a decade’s time.
[Related: Updated Milwaukee Brewers depth chart]
Albers won’t factor into the closing mix in Milwaukee, where Corey Knebel is fresh off a breakout season in which he stepped into the spotlight as one of the game’s top strikeout artists. However, the veteran Albers will join lefty Boone Logan as a newly signed addition to manager Craig Counsell‘s relief corps, where he’ll pair with Jacob Barnes, Jeremy Jeffress and Josh Hader to help bridge the gap from the team’s rotation to Knebel at the end of the game.
It’s been an aggressive week for Milwaukee, of course, as GM David Stearns and his staff have also signed Lorenzo Cain and pulled off a blockbuster to acquire Christian Yelich within the past four days alone. Brewers owner Mark Attanasio gave signals over the weekend, too, that the Brew Crew still has the payroll capacity to add a top starting pitcher if Stearns & Co. feel the right deal presents itself.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Good signing. Brewers needed pen help.
Just when everything was looking up for the crew…
Dang, how was he still available?
Teams probably offered 1 year given his age 35 and he was holding out for two.
Layed a huge egg in 2016. His K/9 numbers spiked pretty significantly last season as well. Probably a lot of teams had concerns giving him a multi year pact. Fairly old as well. It should help the brewers though.
I like the Albers signing by the Crew. Just the kind of decent relievers they need to need to add. Hopefully they sign one or two more. He’s pretty cheap too.
I think they’re done with the pen. They have Knebel, Albers, Jeffress, Barnes from the right side and Hader and Logan from the left side. The 7th guy will come from Suter, Gallardo, or Guerra. Albers makes up for the loss of Hughes.
On paper the Crew looks like it’s gonna bring some extra excitement to 1 Brewers Way. Miller Park should have some great moments this year and to come. #seeyouinoctober
Rotation still needs improvement/depth. Lots of young arms that will probably lack durability later on in the season. I do think they’ll sign one of the top four FA arms though
They really need some starting pitching, but this was a solid pickup.
Now deplete the farm and go get fulmer and archer!
You signed Cain, traded for Yelich, and itd be a shame to waste any years of them cause of the rotation.
They don’t have enough of a farm left to get both of them. Probably not even enough to get Archer alone.
The brewers still have 4 top 100 prospects. Hiura, Woodruff, Burnes, Phillips.
Its not impossible to offer Hiura #47 Burnes #74 and 3 b/b+ level prospects for archer and offer woodruff phillips santana and 2 guys like ortiz and peralta for fulmer
the brewers may not have elite prospects, but elite prospects mean the secondary pieces arent as good. I.e. the quintana trade where they got jimenez #8, cease who was in the 90s and two guys not even in the top 30 of the cubs system in flete and rose.
In the fulmer scenario while woodruff and phillips clearly arent jimenez elite- phillips santana ortiz peralta are clearly better secondary pieces than cease flete rose in the quintana deal.
how about we trade for one of those and sign a guy? i cant see the front office dealing away all our depth… mind you, guys like gallardo (who are on the chopping block after the albers signing) wont likely accept a AAA assignment
But why wouldn’t the Rays just wait for a team with one of those top ten talents to come calling. If your not getting back a pitential superstar just dont trade him. They can just wait another year or till the deadline and snag someone like Robles or Acuna.
Nats and Braves arent trading those two.
Braves have like 10 pitchers coming up the system they dont need archer.
Nationals wouldnt part robles for sale, why would they for archer or fulmer?
I don’t see either of them being enough.
Sure Hiura is #47 and Burnes is #74, but Burnes is still a bit of a question as to if he stays in the rotation long term for some people and Hiura, while a pure hitter, doesn’t project to play good defense or hit for a lot of power. Those 2 plus some more mid level prospects doesn’t get it done if I’m Tampa. They would hold onto him and hope for a big first half and a bigger offer at the deadline.
The Fulmer one may be closer to working for Detroit, but no way I could see Milwaukee giving up all 5 of those guys. You’re pretty much proposing that they sell off the top 12 guys in their system which leaves them nothing to make a move at the deadline and zero room for injuries.
ESPN had Burnes at #24 their is no question anymore about his roll he is going to be a sp with a floor of a #4 starter and ceiling of a #2.
Keith Law does have him at 24 and Law is obviously a believer. MLB has him at 69 and writes that they believe he can stay as a starter. BA has him at 74 and still questions how repeatable his delivery is a 3/4 and if he’ll be able to keep velocity up over the course of a season. I like Burnes. He’s just not yet at that kind of can’t miss that makes him a headliner in a major trade.
Hiura hasnt even had a chance to play in the field as a pro because he was stuck at dh while he rehabbed an injury. I dont think he gets moved until everyone gets a chance to see him in the field and see how well he takes instruction at second.
good sign now let’s sign Lyne or Alex Cobb for the rotation
I remember this guy with the Tribe. Was pretty good, and at least he had the opportunity to wear the soon-to-be eliminated Chief Wahoo gear.
Yeah, that’s a dig at the Tribe and Manfred.
One of the best relievers in baseball last year? Count me in. Even if he regresses a bit from an admittedly lucky year and posts an ERA around 2.5-2.75, that’s pretty fantastic for a middle inning guy. Hardly a scratch Attanasio’s pocketbook as well.
Paying for last years performance is insane. His track record is much more miss than hit. Career year last year. Milwaukee will be booing him by May.
That’s not even close to true. A guy who pitched to a 1.62 is only with 2yr/5-7M? If we were paying only on last years performance he would’ve landed 2yr/15-18M like the norm for relievers this offseason.
Good riddance, Wahoo is disgusting to look at and always has been.
Doesnt bother me 1 bit. And hasnt seemed to bother people until the 90s.
People want to find things to complain about. Clearly the indians mascot is more important than other issues in this country.
I’m not sure about the 90s, but the Indians logo has been on the chopping block for years now.
sure, there are other more important issues in the country, but that doesn’t mean you can’t fix other things too. the people making the decision on the Indians logo aren’t the same people who are trying to cure cancer, fixing immigration issues, solving healthcare, etc.
Decision making they arent the same.
But the people complaining about the logo are typically the ones who care more about social justice issues than they do actual issues in the country.
I mean, typically youll get responses like free healthcare! Open boarders! Let weed be legal! As solutions to your examples of things more important than the mascot issue from most people who complain about the mascot issue. The two go hand in hand a lot of times.
Bachman-Turner was great. You? Not even.
Justin-Turner does have the hit..Being a Tool…
If Cleveland wants to max out on merchandise sales and eliminate the Wahoo logo, they could revert to the mascot they had before they were known as the Indians – the Cleveland Spiders.
Elimination of their name is the next step, exactly for the reason you mention. But I can’t see it being the Spiders. But you never know, stranger things have happened.
So why is everyone going on about the Indians
and Redskins, but not the Braves
and Chiefs
The spiders would be a good name. Back to theirs origins. If it were up to me though, I’d just get rid of Wahoo. The name isn’t that bad
Needed bullpen help, so who’s going to get the boot from the 40 man roster? Guessing Drake or Webb.
Susac brewers don’t need him and he will probably pass thru wavers and go down to AAA
susac still has options, bandy would be my guess, though the team probably gets a WAR boost from dumping drake
The kind of sneaky good pickup typical of Stearn’s moves the past couple of years.
and then they grab a 2.5 bWAR reliever last year, fantastic move.
Hey, Hey, Hey, Matt Albers!
Brewers the only ones singing players?
Maybe that’s how theyre getting them to sign.
So the Brewers are the only team that is going to do anything before spring training apparently… cool!
How about they change the name of the site to “Brewers Trade Rumors??”
Only for this week
It seems like early on the padres made moves
Now it’s brewers
Cubs and cards need to step up their game again
Albers slots into Swarzak’s role last year. Hader-Albers-Knebel, I’d definitely take that over the Cards 7th through 9th guys, and probably the Cubs too.
I hope that’s the case but I can see them trying to throw Barnes in the eighth way too often
This is why the Marlins stink (well, among the reasons). Coming off crappy seasons in Boston, Miami gave Ziegler $16M for two years and $12M to Tazawa. Why would any front office do that?
Brewers are going for it
They really need a front line starter though
I guess he’ll fill the void Jared Hughes left in the pen. This is a solid signing, if he can reproduce the numbers he had in 2017.
Even if he regresses a bit from last year, at 2 years 5-7 mil it’s a great low risk signing.
I never thought there would come a time when a Matt Albers signing would be the most exciting thing going on.
Solid low-risk but high upside guy. Even if he regresses to a 3,00-3.50ERA with decent peripherals he is a steal for the money.
Don’t know if it was a fluke or not but he was excellent last year for the Nats. For that price I’m surprised they didn’t resign him.
Great pickup for the brewcrew.
Total bargain if you ask me. Granted Albers was a little shaky when asked to close for WAS last year, but otherwise he was rock solid. Many teams are in need of his services and could afford him at that price tag. It’s possible they all got hung up on his age.
Well to be fair not many players go from an average to dumpster fire range player after how many teams and seasons hes been around. But maybe he has it figured out at 35.
Don’t get why the Brewers signed Cain and traded for Yelich? Now they can’t afford a top starter. If they had a trade in place then ok, but where is the trade for a starter?
I honestly am fine with what the Brewers are doing. I think they have plenty of guys in the minors that will help the team and be good then forking lot of money over to guys that aren’t that much better. Remember anyone can make a player look amazing on paper
Where have you seen that they can’t afford a top starter?
I’m not saying the Brewers can’t afford signing players at all. I just believe they have guys in the minors that are ready to be very good contributors
dbec72 Mark Attanasio and David stems talked at the brewers on deck event yesterday and said they still have money budgeted to bring in a starting pitcher
Good signing. Brewers mean business!
Keep Santana and sign Lance Lynn and Chris Tillman and save the prospects
Like the pickup. Low cost contract and can always trade him if he doesn’t perform. Brewers making moves and it’s so nice to see. In stearns we trust!