Headlines

  • Latest On Tigers, Tarik Skubal
  • Phillies Expected To Trade Or Release Nick Castellanos
  • Nestor Cortes Undergoes Arm Surgery
  • Aaron Judge Will Not Require Elbow Surgery; Rodón, Volpe Expected To Start 2026 On IL
  • Anthony Volpe Undergoes Shoulder Surgery
  • Alex Bregman Will Opt Out Of Red Sox Contract
  • Previous
  • Next
Register
Login
  • Hoops Rumors
  • Pro Football Rumors
  • Pro Hockey Rumors

MLB Trade Rumors

Remove Ads
  • Home
  • Teams
    • AL East
      • Baltimore Orioles
      • Boston Red Sox
      • New York Yankees
      • Tampa Bay Rays
      • Toronto Blue Jays
    • AL Central
      • Chicago White Sox
      • Cleveland Guardians
      • Detroit Tigers
      • Kansas City Royals
      • Minnesota Twins
    • AL West
      • Athletics
      • Houston Astros
      • Los Angeles Angels
      • Seattle Mariners
      • Texas Rangers
    • NL East
      • Atlanta Braves
      • Miami Marlins
      • New York Mets
      • Philadelphia Phillies
      • Washington Nationals
    • NL Central
      • Chicago Cubs
      • Cincinnati Reds
      • Milwaukee Brewers
      • Pittsburgh Pirates
      • St. Louis Cardinals
    • NL West
      • Arizona Diamondbacks
      • Colorado Rockies
      • Los Angeles Dodgers
      • San Diego Padres
      • San Francisco Giants
  • About
    • MLB Trade Rumors
    • Tim Dierkes
    • Writing team
    • Advertise
    • Archives
  • Contact
  • Tools
    • 2025-26 MLB Free Agent List
    • 2026-27 MLB Free Agent List
    • Projected Arbitration Salaries For 2026
    • Contract Tracker
    • Transaction Tracker
    • Agency Database
  • NBA/NFL/NHL
    • Hoops Rumors
    • Pro Football Rumors
    • Pro Hockey Rumors
  • App
  • Chats
Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Brewers Designate Joel Payamps, Select Bruce Zimmermann

By Mark Polishuk | September 20, 2025 at 2:08pm CDT

The Brewers announced that right-hander Joel Payamps has been designated for assignment.  Left-hander Bruce Zimmermann’s contract was selected from Triple-A in the corresponding move, and he’ll replace Payamps on both the 28-man and 40-man rosters.

This is the second time Payamps has been DFA’ed this season, and his first designation resulted in Milwaukee outrighting the reliever off the 40-man roster and down to Triple-A Nashville.  The Brewers selected Payamps’ contract back up to the big league roster at the start of September, and while he posted a 3.38 ERA over 5 1/3 innings after his return, it wasn’t enough to keep Payamps from being sent back to the waiver wire.

Payamps was one of the more underrated relief arms in baseball in 2023-24, recording a 2.78 ERA and 48 holds over 129 2/3 innings out of Milwaukee’s bullpen.  Payamps appeared in 137 games over those two seasons plus three more appearances in the playoffs, and it is possible this workload simply caught up to the righty in 2025.

Over 23 2/3 frames and 28 games this year, Payamps struggled to a 7.23 ERA, 20.4% strikeout rate, and 8.3% walk rate.  A 4.24 SIERA is a more flattering look at Payamps’ performance, as he received some bad luck on both the strand rate (58.7%) and batted-ball luck (.361 BABIP) fronts.

However, these caveats weren’t enough for the Brewers to keep him around, and Payamps’ status is complicated by his lack of minor league options.  The Brew Crew have therefore been forced to DFA the reliever rather than just send him to Triple-A, and because Payamps has been outrighted once, he can now elect to reject any future outright assignments in favor of free agency.

Should he clear waivers after this DFA period, Payamps could leave the Brewers organization altogether.  A parting of the ways this winter seems likely anyway, as Milwaukee will probably decline to tender Payamps a contract.  He is earning $2.995MM in 2025, and is eligible for arbitration for the third and final time this offseason.

Zimmermann signed a minor league deal with the Brewers back in December, then opted out of that contract in July only to sign a fresh new deal with the club a few days later.  After almost a full season in Nashville, Zimmermann now gets a chance to log his first big league innings since the 2023 season, when he was a member of the Orioles.  All four of Zimmermann’s MLB seasons came in a Baltimore uniform, as the southpaw posted a 5.57 ERA over 158 1/3 innings and 38 games (27 stars) for the O’s from 2020-23.

The left-hander spent the entirety of the 2024 season in the Orioles’ farm system before moving to the Crew, and Zimmermann has a 4.11 ERA and an impressive 5.2% walk rate across 138 innings in Nashville.  Zimmermann has worked as both a starter and as a long reliever this year, so the Brewers could use him to soak up some late-season innings to keep other pitchers fresh for the playoffs.

Share Repost Send via email

Milwaukee Brewers Transactions Bruce Zimmermann Joel Payamps

Orioles Claim Dom Hamel
Main
Tomoyuki Sugano Plans To Play In MLB In 2026
View Comments (8)
Post a Comment

8 Comments

  1. cheesemanforever

    4 weeks ago

    Payamps actually pitched well in his last three appearances including last night. Is this a return to AAA or an outright release!

    Who is Zimmerman, and where’s Gasser?

    Reply
    • Russell Branyan

      4 weeks ago

      Brewers have tba listed for tomorrow, thats likely Gasser. With Miz’s short start, they could need another arm today. Zimmerman covers that, and is likely dfa’d tomorrow to make room for Gasser

      3
      Reply
      • Jgwi2az

        4 weeks ago

        Hopefully Fedde goes first

        Reply
      • cheesemanforever

        4 weeks ago

        Yes, Gasser called up and starts Sunday, although probably not more than 2-3 innings. Finally!

        2
        Reply
  2. ib6ub9

    4 weeks ago

    Hopefully Anderson is next.

    Reply
  3. Rsox

    4 weeks ago

    What a difference a couple of years make. Two years ago Payamps was the most wanted guy on the waiver wire and today he is DFA’d for the second time this season, by the same team…

    1
    Reply
    • tangerinepony

      4 weeks ago

      I think it has more to do with his overall attitude? Or maybe he’s lost velocity and command of his pitches ? Overall he’s completely done with the brewers

      Reply
  4. stevetampa

    4 weeks ago

    I highly doubt he clears waivers. Someone with his upside and at a reasonable expense would seemingly interest one or more teams?

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Please login to leave a reply.

Log in Register

    Top Stories

    Latest On Tigers, Tarik Skubal

    Phillies Expected To Trade Or Release Nick Castellanos

    Nestor Cortes Undergoes Arm Surgery

    Aaron Judge Will Not Require Elbow Surgery; Rodón, Volpe Expected To Start 2026 On IL

    Anthony Volpe Undergoes Shoulder Surgery

    Alex Bregman Will Opt Out Of Red Sox Contract

    Mike Shildt Steps Down As Padres Manager

    Tigers Extended Manager A.J. Hinch Earlier This Season

    Munetaka Murakami To Be Posted This Offseason

    Cody Bellinger To Opt Out Of Contract With Yankees

    Angels, Albert Pujols Discussing Managerial Deal

    Projected Arbitration Salaries For 2026

    Rangers Hire Skip Schumaker As Manager

    Albert Pujols To Interview For Angels’ Managerial Vacancy, May Be “Leading Choice”

    Bill Schmidt Will Not Return As Rockies’ GM

    Brian Snitker Will Not Return As Braves’ Manager In 2026

    Angels To Have New Manager In 2026

    Rays Sale To Patrick Zalupski’s Group Officially Completed

    Guardians Promote Chase DeLauter For Wild Card Series

    Bruce Bochy Will Not Return As Rangers Manager Amid Financial Uncertainty

    Recent

    Latest On Tigers, Tarik Skubal

    Phillies Expected To Trade Or Release Nick Castellanos

    Nestor Cortes Undergoes Arm Surgery

    Angels Planning To Interview Torii Hunter, Kurt Suzuki For Manager

    Offseason Outlook: Arizona Diamondbacks

    Joey Loperfido Replaces Anthony Santander On Blue Jays’ Playoff Roster

    Poll: Will Anthony Volpe Be The Yankees’ Shortstop In 2026?

    Coaching Notes: Varitek, Ramirez, Molina

    Rays Re-Sign Kodi Whitley To Minor League Deal

    Kevin Alcántara Undergoes Sports Hernia Surgery

    MLBTR Newsletter - Hot stove highlights in your inbox, five days a week

    Latest Rumors & News

    Latest Rumors & News

    • Every MLB Trade In July
    Trade Rumors App for iOS and Android App Store Google Play

    MLBTR Features

    MLBTR Features

    • Remove Ads, Support Our Writers
    • Front Office Originals
    • Tim Dierkes' MLB Mailbag
    • Front Office Fantasy Baseball
    • MLBTR Podcast
    • 2025-26 MLB Free Agent List
    • 2026-27 MLB Free Agent List
    • Projected Arbitration Salaries For 2026
    • Contract Tracker
    • Transaction Tracker
    • Extension Tracker
    • Agency Database
    • MLBTR On Twitter
    • MLBTR On Facebook
    • Team Facebook Pages
    • How To Set Up Notifications For Breaking News
    • Hoops Rumors
    • Pro Football Rumors
    • Pro Hockey Rumors

    Rumors By Team

    • Angels Rumors
    • Astros Rumors
    • Athletics Rumors
    • Blue Jays Rumors
    • Braves Rumors
    • Brewers Rumors
    • Cardinals Rumors
    • Cubs Rumors
    • Diamondbacks Rumors
    • Dodgers Rumors
    • Giants Rumors
    • Guardians Rumors
    • Mariners Rumors
    • Marlins Rumors
    • Mets Rumors
    • Nationals Rumors
    • Orioles Rumors
    • Padres Rumors
    • Phillies Rumors
    • Pirates Rumors
    • Rangers Rumors
    • Rays Rumors
    • Red Sox Rumors
    • Reds Rumors
    • Rockies Rumors
    • Royals Rumors
    • Tigers Rumors
    • Twins Rumors
    • White Sox Rumors
    • Yankees Rumors

    Navigation

    • Sitemap
    • Archives
    • RSS/Twitter Feeds By Team

    MLBTR INFO

    • Advertise
    • About
    • Commenting Policy
    • Privacy Policy

    Connect

    • Contact Us
    • Twitter
    • Facebook
    • RSS Feed

    MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com

    Do not Sell or Share My Personal Information

    hide arrows scroll to top

    Register

    Desktop Version | Switch To Mobile Version