With the NL Central wide open, the Brewers made a pair of late free agent strikes to solidify their roster for another run at the playoffs.
Major League Signings
- Jackie Bradley Jr., OF: Two years, $24MM (Bradley can opt out after the 2021 season)
- Kolten Wong, 2B: Two years, $18MM (includes $2MM buyout of $10MM club option for 2023)
- Brett Anderson, SP: One year, $2.5MM
- Daniel Robertson, IF: One year, $900K
- Luke Maile, C: One year, $825K
- Total spend: $46.225MM
Trades & Claims
- Acquired SP Leo Crawford from the Dodgers for RP Corey Knebel
- Acquired OF Derek Fisher from the Blue Jays for cash considerations or a player to be named later
- Claimed OF Tim Lopes off waivers from the Mariners
Notable Minor League Signings
- Travis Shaw (contract selected, Shaw will earn $1.5MM in guaranteed money), Brad Boxberger, Jordan Zimmermann, Blaine Hardy, Luis Perdomo, Jace Peterson, Zack Godley, Pablo Reyes, Hoby Milner, Dylan Cozens, Dustin Peterson
Notable Losses
- Alex Claudio, Ben Gamel, Eric Sogard, David Freitas, Shelby Miller, Jedd Gyorko (unsigned), Ryan Braun (retirement?)
Defense wasn’t a strength for the Brewers in 2020, as they posted lackluster finishes in such league-wide categories as Outs Above Average (ranking 16th of 30 teams), Defensive Runs Saved (22nd), and UZR/150 (24th). These numbers were going to improve anyway with former Gold Glover Lorenzo Cain back in action, but glovework may now become a real plus now that Kolten Wong and Jackie Bradley Jr. are on the roster.
After eight seasons in St. Louis, Wong became a free agent after the Cardinals declined their $12.5MM club option on the second baseman for 2021. Several teams had interest in Wong over the course of the winter, and he was able to parlay that interest into a two-year contract and at least $18MM in guaranteed money, moving from the Cards to a division rival that is very familiar with what Wong brings to the table.
If Wong comes close to his career .261/.333/.384 slash line (94 OPS+, 96 wRC+), the Brewers won’t mind such slightly below-average production as long as Wong keeps providing elite-level defense. The signing may also have the secondary impact of helping Keston Hiura’s game, as the defensively-challenged former second baseman now moves from the keystone to first base. Such a position switch will lessen Hiura’s defensive responsibility and possibly allow him to focus more on his hitting, as Hiura went through a sophomore slump after his big 2019 rookie season.
The Brew Crew had three established outfield starters in Cain, former NL MVP Christian Yelich, and Avisail Garcia, yet signing Bradley made a lot of sense. It has been over two years since Cain has been a productive regular, as he struggled through an injury-riddled 2019 and then opted out of much of the 2020 season. Garcia (signed to a two-year, $20MM deal last offseason) at least provided passable center field defense filling in for Cain but suffered through a rough year at the plate. Even Yelich had a down year by his standards, never quite looking on track over 247 plate appearances while posting a .205/.356/.430 slash line with 12 homers.
Into this mix comes Bradley, who joined Wong as another defensive standout hitting the open market after eight seasons with his original team. It seemed like there was at least some chance Bradley could end up back with the Red Sox considering how long he remained a free agent, though Boston made other moves to replace Bradley in the Fenway Park outfield. As the winter wore on, many of the other teams linked to Bradley also addressed their outfield needs with other players, perhaps just because clubs preferred these other options, or maybe because Bradley’s rather hefty contract demands might have immediately lost the interest of some suitors.
Bradley will earn $13MM of his $24MM guarantee in 2021, and the outfielder then has an $11MM player option to either rejoin the Brew Crew in 2022 or re-enter free agency. The contract seems pretty palatable for both sides — Bradley gets an extra year of security, and even if he does struggle in 2021 and end up exercising his option out of necessity, $24MM isn’t so big a sum that it would significantly hamper even a smaller-market team like Milwaukee.
That said, the Brewers didn’t necessarily act like most other smaller-market franchises operated in the wake of 2020’s revenue losses. The team was originally slated for a payroll of roughly $102.5MM in 2020 prior to the pandemic and the league shutdown, and as we approach Opening Day 2021, the Brewers have (according to Cot’s Baseball Contracts) approximately $96.9MM committed to this season’s payroll. There are some sizeable deferrals within the 2021 salaries for both Bradley and Wong, but in terms of money on the books, the Brew Crew could certainly match or surpass their projected 2020 payroll figure depending on any in-season additions.
Since the Brewers didn’t do much of anything transaction-wise until February, president of baseball operations David Stearns might not have known exactly how much of a budget he had to work with for much of the offseason, or it was perhaps something of a tactical move to wait out the market in search of potential bargains. Even after signing Wong, Milwaukee still made a strong attempt to sign Justin Turner before the longtime Dodger third baseman ended up re-signing with his old team.
Turner wasn’t the only bigger free agent bat under consideration, as the Brewers reportedly looked into Marcell Ozuna, Marcus Semien, and Eddie Rosario during the winter. Whether the team was doing due diligence on available free agents or had a more serious interest in any of these other names isn’t known, but it does represent an interesting alternate picture of Milwaukee’s offseason. The Brewers, after all, didn’t produce much offense last season, but their two biggest additions were defensive stars with middling offensive track records, whereas the likes of Ozuna or Rosario would have been clear bat-first additions.
Had Turner been signed instead of Bradley, it’s fair to assume Milwaukee looks to add a veteran outfielder on a minors contract or a low-cost MLB contract to fill that void in the outfield. However, with Turner back in Los Angeles, that left third base as the position in need of some veteran reinforcement.
Milwaukee brought back an old friend in Travis Shaw, whose minor league deal has already been guaranteed by the team. The Brewers parted ways with Shaw after he struggled through a miserable 2019 season, but he did rebound to some modest extent in hitting .239/.306/.411 over 180 PA with the Blue Jays last year. If Shaw can at least get back to producing against right-handed pitching, the Brewers can deploy a third base timeshare of Shaw and right-handed hitters Daniel Robertson and Orlando Arcia.
That duo could also factor into the shortstop picture if Luis Urias isn’t get ready for regular big league work. Arcia was seen as a possible non-tender candidate heading into the offseason, but the Brewers chose to retain him as insurance in the wake of Urias’ forgettable 2019 season, which was hampered by both a wrist injury and a case of COVID-19. Robertson was signed to a one-year, $900K deal as further utility depth, as the former Tampa Bay Ray first-round pick can play any infield position and has some experience at a corner outfielder.
Tim Lopes and Jace Peterson were also signed as utility candidates, yet the Brewers went another direction in tendering a contract to Dan Vogelbach. This decision was made before Hiura was moved to first base, and before it became apparent that the National League wasn’t going to adopt the DH again for the 2021 season. Vogelbach is out of minor league options and without a real position on the roster, so he stands out as a potential trade candidate in the final days of Spring Training. Conversely, the Brewers could simply cut him before Opening Day and only owe him around $339K of his $1.4MM salary for the 2021 campaign.
The lack of a universal DH might have also closed the book on Ryan Braun’s career, as the longtime Brewers fixture recently said he hasn’t been doing any offseason training and is “strongly leaning” towards hanging up his glove. Since nothing is yet official, Milwaukee fans can still hold out hope for a storybook late-season comeback scenario, but in all likelihood, the Brewers are already in the post-Braun era.
Rich Hill and Trevor Rosenthal were two of the Brewers’ targets for the rotation and bullpen this winter, but with neither hurler signed, Milwaukee’s pitching mix will look pretty similar to its collection of arms from the 2020 season. Brandon Woodruff, Corbin Burnes, and Adrian Houser join the re-signed Brett Anderson atop the rotation. While it sounds odd to refer to the oft-injured Anderson as an innings-eater, the grounder specialist has been mostly healthy for the last two seasons and will provide some veteran experience at the back of the rotation.
Freddy Peralta won the fifth starter’s job over Josh Lindblom, but in a season that will require as many pitchers on hand as possible, the Brewers will likely be even more flexible than usual with its pitching plans. A six-man rotation, piggybacked starters, openers — nothing seems off the table in 2021. With this in mind, veteran minor league signings like Jordan Zimmermann, Zack Godley, Brad Boxberger or Blaine Hardy could perhaps stick around (and not exercise any opt-out clauses) even if they don’t crack the Opening Day roster, since there should be plenty of opportunity for big league action throughout the season.
And, it probably bears mentioning that Josh Hader is still a Brewer. Despite some rumors during the winter, it didn’t appear as though the Brewers ever strongly considered moving their relief ace (or maybe co-ace, considering Devin Williams’ emergence). Hader is earning $6.675MM in his first year of arbitration eligibility and he is still under control through the 2023 season, so while a trade might eventually happen down the line, it doesn’t appear the southpaw is going anywhere in the near future.
While much of the offseason chatter in the NL Central focused on the players the Cubs, Reds, and (prior to the Nolan Arenado trade) Cardinals were letting go, the Brew Crew somewhat quietly flew under the radar and didn’t part ways with any major pieces. As flawed as the 2020 team was, it was still able to squeak into the expanded playoff bracket, and now the Brewers will return with Bradley, Wong, Cain, and what they hope are several bounce-back candidates in the lineup.
How would you grade the Brewers’ offseason? (Poll link for app users)
C
I quite like the Crawford get. good sleeper prospect.
i give them b they improved there overall d, where i think they fell short is they need 1 more big bat and a solid #3 sp but wasn’t like they were available this offseason.
i like my birds chances to win the div but i’m keeping my eye out on mil and chc. imo i think the nlc race is going to be a good one
The bottom 85% of cardinals roster is weak. That’s where Brewers have the advantage. They are a much deeper team.
That’s what happens when u build your roster from free agency and trade vs home grown prospect talent. StL has had to many top prospects not pan out
Bot-please explain the bottom 85% of the cardinals roster and how it is weak lol…then please explain how the Brewers bottom 85% is better…I like how you just throw out a number without explaining…It will be a good race this year but don’t fool yourself…the Cardinals have way better depth than the Brewers, position and pitching depth…actually what happens when you build on home grown talent you succeed like the Cardinals do…please don’t act like the Brewers have had more success than the Cardinals…plus the Cardinals have traded a lot…you know, Goldschmidt and Arenado just to name few…the Brewers wish they had the Cardinals farm system…but hey the cardinals top 50% is better than the Brewers…you see how silly that sounds
Which is why this off season is a clear A++++.
Most competitive spring training roster they’ve had in the last 20 years (and maybe going all the way back to the beginning).
It’s hard to go higher than a B for a team with no qualified #3 hitter (viewing Yelich as ideal at #2). But the Brewers did about as well as they could without increasing the budget.
Yes, but the #2 slot is the most important and it IS filled by Hiura (who actually has far better barrel rates than Yelich and ranks top 10 in MLB since his debut).
Which is why Yelich is #3.
It’s an A+ off season for no other reason than the depth and competition that will lead to a far better offense than is projected.
The pitching was already the best in MLB.
Nah, Hiura is vlean-up at best. Barrel rate is fine but not so impressive when contact rate is so low. Right now Kedton is your classic high homer, middling OBP hitter. Not a #2
Keston is someone that I think has been hurt by the “launch angle” craze. In college and early in his minor league career, he was a line drive hitter. Screaming missiles, gap to gap. A doubles hitter, not a home run hitter, which is the perfect number two hitter. He’s hitting the ball in the air too much now.
Wong has an .855 lifetime OPS at Miller Park. That signing could make Stearns look like a genius (again).
Brewers fans overrate Stearns so much. He’s a solid GM but he’s made some very bad trades since the Yelich deal (Grisham/Lauer) and hasn’t developed any draftees into legit MLB hitters yet. Let’s not call him a genius. 2018 was a good year but kind of fluky; they made it to the postseason with Jhoulys Chacin as their top starter…
How many GMs have had legit MLB players from the 2016 draft til now. Huira has been a solid pick as was Burnes (both are producing) plus Mitchell and Turang look like solid late 1st gravs as well. I wouldn’t say drafting has been a strength but its far from terrible. Also, the Brewers have made the post season 3 straight years (1st time in franchise history). He is certainly a top 10 GM in the lg right not and arguably top 5. Lets also give that trade of grisham a little more time than one 61 game season before we announce it a bust.
I’ve waited a few minutes…. Yeah it’s a bust.
It was actually Davies for Lauer (we lost).
Grisham for Urias (Crew probably wins that in the long run).
Every GM is going to make poor trades. (Check the White Sox on that one) And it’s too early either way to judge a player like Urias, although I do agree it doesn’t look good at this point. A small budget, low market team has to find unique ways to win and the Chacin/Miley moves were what makes Stearns impressive. Plenty of questions right now in their development, but if I’m given a competitive team that actually makes moves each year…I’ll take it.
I don’t think Stearns is overrated as much as he will forever be hamstrung by Attanasio’s decision not to tank when the Crew bottomed out in 2015. He’s done a great job keeping the franchise competitive (and more so in 2018), but the result remains a franchise that presently lacks stud prospects and financial flexibility.
The one problem with judging a farm at this point is we haven’t had solid data to look at for over a year. We are judging prospects right now based on their 2019 seasons
They made the Gomez deal to the Astros at the deadline in 2015, along with getting Davies for Gerardo Parra. Then were back in contention in 2018. I seriously doubt a complete tank job at that point would have put the Brewers in contention that soon.
No Small-market GM has been able to do what Stearns is attempting to do—win, while at the same time creating/re-building organizational structures with-out tanking or re-building.
When he took over for old school Doug Melvin, he had the worst IFA department in baseball since the mid-nineties by cumulative WAR. Arguably the worst 8-10 year stretch of drafting, zero farm depth, no analytics to speak of, on and on. He flipped all within 2-3 years, and with superior drafts of the last 4 years and with superior IFA classes the last 3 years, combined with not having to trade any prospect capital of substance since acquiring Yelich in 2018, has stacked the farm with lots of talent, albeit too young to insert until 2022. But plenty for Stearns to start trading starting at this years deadline.
Most important of all, Stearns/Arnold have created a pitching development system that rivals Cleveland, Tampa and LA. Astute drafting, combined with development has now produced the best, prime-aged, longest controlled pitching staff in the game, that outside of knowledgeable fans scattered about, have no clue that this staff should become one of the best staffs not only in the game, but one of the best staffs in memory. And while an admittedly optimistic statement, this staff is going to shock the baseball world.
The offense needs some work to match up with the pitching, and might take another trade deadline or even two plus an offseason, but with the aforementioned farm system, Stearns finally has the ammo to get this done.
Pre-deadline, the offense is 16th-19th in baseball, with a top 3 run prevention, which should be good enough to have this team near the top of the Central, but look for Stearns to improve the offense at the deadline and for this team to get into the playoffs and once in, will be awful tough to beat with their pitching.
Stearns is the best GM in baseball, because he does it in Milwaukee. If he had the payroll flexibility of LA, or NY, or CHI, no one would even question it.
In Stearns We Trust. Be amazed!
Stearns was the Mets top pick for GM. Brewers ownership was forced to promote him to President this offseason. Must be alright at the job lol.
It’s sort of impossible to overrate the best GM in all of baseball for the last 6 years running.
The trade you refer to was actually Grisham for Urias, and Urias will be the starter at SS this year and very likely hit for better average than Grish (the other part of that trade was Davies for Lauer, and while Lauer is terrible and should be traded or cut, Davies has always done it with smoke and mirrors and is not that good either).
Jhoulys Chacin, far from being some mediocrity as you suggest, had an ERA+ well above 100 from 2010-17 when he pitched over 100 innings (including very high totals of 142, 126, 129, 123, and the 116 he posted with the Crew).
He was in the top 15 in all of MLB for that state during those years.
Oh, and Stearns got rid of him EXACTLY when he fell off the table (his last 4 seasons are his worst 4 in the majors).
They’ve now made the play offs 3 years running, a club record, with a minor league system that is ranked last for several years.
They have graduated some good players with many more to come–it’s their minors that is UNDERRATED–and most of the squad is a result of his moves.
I think you are projecting. YOU are the only one who is underrating him.
He’s the very best without question, perhaps in any sport (though the dude in OKC basketball is giving him a run for his money).
Spike Hyzer spot on. When Stearns wins a WS or two, the masses will finally understand his greatness as a POBO/GM. Only 1 minor quibble with what you said Spike Hyzer—Lauer’s torn shoulder capsule is the cause of his bad performance. Just prior to the injury last ST he was arguably the Brewers most impressive pitcher, sitting 94-96, with sharp breaking stuff and pinpoint command. Then the tear. And now a likely long road back if he can get back at all. I’m hopeful.
Hmmmm…..indubitably
My pick to win the NL Central.
Who was saying that Arcia was a non-tender candidate? He’s coming off his best season as a pro
The NLC is so weak it’s unbelievable.
Of the players that played the most last year, gone are Smoak, Gyorko, Sogard, Gamel and Braun. Replaced with Wong, Shaw, Cain and Bradley.
The offense is improved. Include an even somewhat return to normal for Yelich, Hiura and Narvaez and the offense will be fine.
Yeah I mean it can’t be worse… right?
Garcia looks like a prime bounce back candidate too
I think it will be the surprise offense in all of MLB, far outpacing all predictions.
A much better offseason for the Brewers than a year ago. More than likely will need to make a deadline deal for a 3B.
If Shaw and Robertson can’t do the job, I have a feeling Reyes will be glad to finally become a full time player.
He’s looked the best of the 3 so far.
If Nunez exercises his opt out from Detroit, Brewers should consider. Saw enough of Shaw last year along with Nunez to know who the better player is.