Brewers Sign Zack Godley To Minor League Deal

The Brewers have signed right-hander Zack Godley to a minor league contract, Steve Adams of MLBTR reports. The non-roster invitee’s deal comes with an $800K base salary in the bigs, $800K more in incentives and a mid-May opt-out date.

Godley, who will turn 31 next month, was an effective starter at times for the Diamondbacks from 2015-18. At his best, he combined for 333 1/3 innings of 4.10 ERA pitching with a 51.6 percent groundball rate and a 24.7 percent strikeout rate during the final two of those four seasons. Unfortunately, Godley’s career has taken a major turn for the worse since then. In 120 2/3 frames since 2019, Godley has recorded a 6.49 ERA – last among 139 pitchers who have thrown 120-plus frames dating back to then – with below-average strikeout and walk percentages of 17.8 and 10.2, respectively.

After Godley opened 2019 with a rough few months, the Diamondbacks designated him for assignment. While Godley then found a new team  in the Blue Jays, they let him go after the season. Godley landed with the Red Sox last year, but a flexor issue limited him to 28 2/3 innings of 8.16 ERA ball. Godley dealt with a velocity drop then, as his fastball went from the low 90s to the high 80s, but he threw for about 12 teams a couple weeks ago and his velo returned to normal.