We’ll highlight some of the more high-profile cases in separate posts with more in-depth breakdowns, but the majority of today’s dealings will be smaller-scale increases that don’t radically alter a team’s payroll or a player’s trade candidacy. As such, we’ll just run through most of today’s agreements in this post.
I’ve embedded MLBTR’s 2021 Arbitration Tracker in the post (those in the mobile app or viewing on mobile web will want to turn their phones sideways). Our tracker can be sorted by team, by service time and/or by Super Two status, allowing users to check the status on whichever groups of players they like. You can also check out Matt Swartz’s projected arbitration salaries for this year’s class, and we’ll do a quick sentence on each player’s agreement at the bottom of this post as well, with the most recent agreements sitting atop the list.
Today’s Agreements (chronologically, newest to oldest)
Peterson, 30, spent the 2020 season with the Brewers organization as well, appearing in 26 games and tallying 61 plate appearances. He went just 9-for-45 in that time but also drew a whopping 15 walks and slugged a couple of home runs, resulting in a .200/.393/.356 batting line. Peterson saw time at second base, third base, first base and in both outfield corners with Milwaukee but was non-tendered earlier this winter.
The Brewers were Peterson’s fifth organization, and he’ll have the opportunity to earn a bench role with them once again in 2021. He becomes the second utility option added by Milwaukee in as many days after yesterday’s signing of Daniel Robertson to a non-guaranteed, Major League contract. Peterson is a career .227/.317/.331 hitter in just shy of 1700 plate appearances split between the Braves, Orioles, Padres, Yankees and Brewers.
]]>12:57PM: The Brewers have agreed to a one-year deal with infielder Daniel Robertson, FanSided’s Robert Murray reports (via Twitter). The contract, a Major League pact, will be official once Robertson passes a physical. Robertson will earn $900K in guaranteed money, according to MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand (Twitter link), with another $400K available in incentives. He’s represented by the MVP Sports Group.
After being designated for assignment by the Rays last August, Robertson was acquired by the Giants and ended up appearing in 13 games for San Francisco, posting a .750 OPS over 24 plate appearances. Robertson was non-tendered in December, as the Giants chose to let him go rather than pay a projected arbitration salary of roughly $1.2MM.
Selected 34th overall by the A’s in the 2012 draft, Robertson went to Tampa Bay as part of the January 2015 trade that sent Ben Zobrist and Yunel Escobar to Oakland. Robertson was garnering some attention on top-100 prospect lists at the time, and it seemed like he would be yet another shrewd Rays pickup after he broke out with a .262/.382/.415 slash line over 340 plate appearances in 2018.
That season was cut short by thumb surgery, however, and Robertson couldn’t get on track in 2019, hitting only .213/.312/.295 over 327 PA. With injuries also playing a factor in these struggles, it seemed like Tampa Bay moved on to other infield options, as Robertson didn’t receive any playing time for the Rays last season before his DFA.
While Robertson’s right-handed bat isn’t necessarily the best platoon fit within Milwaukee’s current infield mix (Keston Hiura, Orlando Arcia, and Luis Urias all swing from the right side), his ability to play second base, third base, and shortstop make him an ideal candidate for a backup infielder role. The Brewers are always prioritizing utility types, and Robertson has also played a handful of games at other positions in the big leagues, appearing as a first baseman and both corner outfield slots.
]]>Reyes didn’t play during the 2020 season due to an 80-game PED suspension issued in February. He elected to become a free agent after the season, ending a nine-year stint as a member of the Pirates organization. After initially signing as a minor league free agent with the Bucs in 2012, Reyes hit .278/.351/.421 over 2587 plate appearances in Pittsburgh’s farm system.
This solid bat and the ability to play all over the field (though Reyes was mostly a shortstop and second baseman in the minors) got Reyes a look at the MLB level in both 2018 and 2019. Debuting with a strong .832 OPS over 63 PA in 2018, Reyes struggled at the plate in 2019, hitting only .203/.274/.322 in 157 plate appearances while also missing about a month of action due to an ankle injury. Reyes spent much of his time on the Pirates’ active roster as an outfielder.
The Brewers often prioritize multi-positional players, so the Reyes signing gives the team another versatile option to consider heading into Spring Training. Reyes is a right-handed hitter, which could make it a bit of an uphill battle for him to break camp considering the Brewers already have quite a bit of right-handed depth.
]]>Pirates (219 runs scored, 73 wRC+):
Rangers (224 runs, 67 wRC+):
Cardinals (240 runs, 93 wRC+):
Reds (243 runs, 91 wRC+):
Brewers (247 runs, 89 wRC+):
Nottingham, who was injured during the postseason, will have just over two months to heal up before camp opens. The hope is that he’ll be a full go at or near the start of Spring Training.
This malady likely won’t have a big impact on the Brewers’ plans, particularly given the promising prognosis. If anything, it could nudge the organization to gather up a bit more catching depth.
Nottingham, 25, hit for enough power (.458 slugging percentage) to make up for a miserly .278 OBP in a twenty-game stretch with the Milwaukee organization in 2020. He stepped into the MLB fold after Manny Pina went down with an injury.
The Brewers ultimately elected to tender Pina a contract, making him the odds-on favorite to serve as the #2 backstop. Presumptive starter Omar Narvaez scuffled with the bat in his first season with the club, but seems sure to get a chance to redeem himself.
That leaves the out-of-options Nottingham with a need to make an impression in camp. If he shows well enough, and/or there are cracks in the Narvaez/Pina pairing, the Brewers could carry three backstops. If not, Nottingham may end up being dangled in trade or placed on the waiver wire.
]]>Lopes made his MLB debut in 2019 and saw quite a bit of action for the Mariners last season, appearing in 46 of 60 games as part of Seattle’s unsettled corner outfield mix. Over 279 career plate appearances at the big league level, Lopes has hit .252/.315/.362, and he has also stolen 11 bases in 14 attempts.
The large majority of Lopes’ playing time at the Major League level has come as an outfielder, though unusually, he spent almost no time playing outfield in the minors, playing mostly as a second baseman with significant amounts of experience also at third base and shortstop. As such, the 26-year-old Lopes can bring quite a bit of versatility to a Brewers roster that has a lot of unanswered questions around the diamond. The Brewers have valued multi-positional bench types in the past, and Lopes could be seen as a potential super-utility candidate for Milwaukee’s bench.
]]>Milner, 30 next month, put up a strong 2.01 ERA but questionable peripherals through 37 1/3 innings as a rookie with the Phillies back in 2017. He’s yet to come close to replicating that level of run prevention; in 24 1/3 frames since that debut effort, he’s been rocked for a 7.77 ERA.
That sky-high ERA is an eyesore, but Milner excels at limiting hard contact (career 83.4 mph opponents’ exit velocity and 27.9 percent hard-hit rate). He also comes with a terrific minor league track record, having tallied 146 innings of 3.08 ERA ball with 11.5 K/9 against 2.3 BB/9 in four seasons out of the bullpen at the Triple-A level. He’s seen big league time each year since 2017, so there are clearly some clubs who believe there’s another level possible despite the overall lackluster results.
Cozens, meanwhile, was once one of the more promising prospects in the Phillies organization. The 2012 second-rounder is now 26 years old and four seasons removed from a 40-homer campaign at the Double-A level. Cozens hasn’t played in an official game since May 2019 thanks to surgery to remove bone spurs and repair torn cartilage in his left foot that year. He’s a career .252/.329/.473 hitter in the minors with prodigious power but far too much swing-and-miss in his game, evidenced by a 36 percent strikeout rate in parts of three Triple-A seasons.
Cozens does have a handful of MLB plate appearances (45) but has managed just a .154/.267/.282 slash with 24 punchouts in that tiny sample. He’ll give the Brewers some left-handed-hitting depth in Triple-A, but with a full outfield in Milwaukee, he’s likely to open the year in the minors and shake off some of the injury rust as he awaits an MLB opportunity.
]]>The 27-year-old Perdomo had been cut loose recently by the Padres. He’s expected to miss all of the upcoming campaign while recovering from Tommy John surgery.
It isn’t clear just yet whether the accord has any special provisions (such as an option) for future seasons. If nothing else, Perdomo will be eligible for arbitration once again at season’s end, so the Brewers could decide to add him to their 40-man roster and tender him a contract if his rehab progresses well.
If he can fully recover from his elbow woes, Perdomo will be looking for a chance to prove that he can deliver consistent results at the MLB level. He has a standout, mid-nineties sinker that reliably produces gaudy groundball numbers, but owns only a 5.19 ERA in his 444 1/3 career frames at the game’s highest level.
]]>Latest Moves
Earlier Today
Dec 2: The Dodgers announced that they’ve acquired right-hander Corey Knebel from the Brewers in exchange for a player to be named later or cash. The trade comes after Knebel was reportedly set to be non-tendered, but it appears that the Brewers instead found an eleventh-hour trade for the former All-Star closer. He’ll still be eligible for arbitration with the Dodgers.
Knebel, 29, struggled this past season in his comeback from 2019 Tommy John surgery. The 2017 All-Star was rocked for a 6.08 ERA with a 15-to-8 K/BB ratio in 13 1/3 innings — his first action on a big league mound since the end of the 2018 campaign.
There were plenty of red flags for Knebel in 2020, most notably a 94.4 mph average fastball velocity that sat three miles per hour shy of its 2017 peak. That said, Knebel’s velocity began to trend upward late in the season, which could have been enough to give the Dodgers hope that he’ll regain some of the life on his heater next year when he’s another season removed from surgery.
Knebel’s struggles in 2020 should prevent him from taking home much of a raise on his $5.125MM salary from this past season, so he’ll be an affordable, high-upside roll of the dice for a Dodgers club that hasn’t been afraid to take chances when it comes to buying low on formerly elite relievers.
From 2017-18 with the Brewers, Knebel racked up 55 saves while pitching to a 2.54 ERA and 2.74 FIP over the course of 131 1/3 innings. Along the way he emerged as one of the game’s premier strikeout artists, averaging an obscene 14.7 K/9 and punching out 40.2 percent of the hitters he faced on the whole.
Obviously, that was two years and one major surgery ago, but the Dodgers will hope for a return to form in what will be Knebel’s final season prior to free agency. If they can successfully round him into form, he’ll join a late-inning mix featuring Kenley Jansen, Brusdar Graterol and Joe Kelly, although the Dodgers figure to further supplement that group between now and Opening Day.
]]>DECEMBER 1: The Brewers have agreed to sign catcher Luke Maile to a major league contract, pending a physical, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic tweets. Details are unknown. Maile is a client of Meister Sports Management.
The 29-year-old Maile saw major league action with the Rays and Blue Jays from 2015-19. Maile then signed a major league deal with the Pirates last winter, but he didn’t play at all in 2020 after suffering a fractured right index finger that required surgery in July. He’ll bring a .198/.252/.304 line and 10 home runs in 657 plate appearances to Milwaukee.
The Brewers relied on Omar Narvaez, Manny Pina and Jacob Nottingham at catcher in 2020, but they might not bring all three back next year. Narvaez and/or Pina could be non-tendered before Wednesday’s deadline, which makes the timing of the Maile addition especially interesting.
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