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Brewers Acquire Bennett Sousa

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The Brewers have acquired left-hander Bennett Sousa from the Reds in exchange for cash considerations and international bonus pool space.  Both teams have announced the trade.  Milwaukee placed Aaron Ashby (who could miss the rest of the season due to shoulder surgery) on the 60-day injured list in order to create 40-man roster space.

The trade adds to a busy week for Sousa, who was designated for assignment by Cincinnati on Wednesday and then celebrated his 28th birthday on Thursday.  It also marks the second time in less than two months that Sousa will be changing teams, as the Reds just claimed him off DFA waivers from the White Sox back in February.

Sousa made his MLB debut last season, posting an 8.41 ERA over 20 1/3 relief innings for Chicago.  With only a 12.5% strikeout rate and an inflated 10.4% walk rate to go along with the rough ERA, there wasn’t a lot to like about Sousa’s first stint in the majors, apart from perhaps a 49.3% grounder rate.  Sousa’s ability to keep the ball on the ground has fluctuated over his five minor league seasons, but his overall grounder is over the 50 percent threshold.

He also showed a lot more aptitude for strikeouts in the minors, including a 32.24% strikeout rate over 50 1/3 Triple-A innings.  Control has been a bit more of an issue for Sousa since returning from the canceled 2020 minor league season, yet there’s enough in his skillset that it isn’t surprising why a team with a 40-man roster spot to spare might have interest.  The Brewers have had a lot of success with unheralded relief pitchers in recent years, so they might see some untapped potential in Sousa.

Tyrone Taylor Suffers Minor Setback

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  • The Brewers lost Tyrone Taylor to a sprained right elbow at the start of Spring Training. Milwaukee announced at the time that Taylor would be sidelined into May. Manager Craig Counsell informed reporters today the outfielder recently had a minor setback and is midway through a week-long shutdown before he resumes a throwing program (via Adam McCalvy of MLB.com). It’s unclear to what extent Taylor’s recovery timetable is delayed but it doesn’t seem a significant concern. Milwaukee turned to Brian Anderson in right field with Taylor sidelined. After the Brew Crew lost third baseman Luis Urías to an Opening Day hamstring strain, they moved Anderson to the hot corner and brought up top prospect Joey Wiemer to man right field.

Aaron Ashby To Undergo Arthroscopic Shoulder Surgery

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Brewers left-hander Aaron Ashby will undergo arthroscopic surgery on his left shoulder this week, manager Craig Counsell told reporters after this afternoon’s win over the Mets (relayed by Todd Rosiak of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel). Ashby will be out for “significant time,” in the words of the skipper, and might not return at all in 2023.

It’s a brutal development for one of the sport’s more promising young starters. Ashby, a fairly recent top prospect, threw 139 innings between 2021-22. The former fourth-rounder has only managed a 4.47 ERA but posted more intriguing underlying numbers. He’s punched out an above-average 27.1% of batters faced while keeping the ball on the ground on a huge 57.8% of batted balls. That rare combination of strikeouts and grounders led Milwaukee’s front office to invest in Ashby last summer.

The Brewers guaranteed him $20.5MM through 2027 on a deal that contained club options through ’29. While it’s still possible for that relatively modest deal to pan out, Ashby hasn’t been able to contribute because of shoulder issues. He made just three starts after the extension before landing on the injured list with shoulder inflammation. That ended his 2022 campaign early. The problems unfortunately cropped back up this spring, as he was diagnosed with a small labral tear in mid-February.

Ashby and the club initially downplayed the long-term severity of the injury. He was expected to miss the first six weeks of the season but his timeline now gets pushed back by another setback. The team hasn’t indicated whether Ashby suffered a more severe injury or if the initial issue simply hasn’t progressed as expected.

The Brewers will be able to transfer Ashby from the 15-day to the 60-day injured list whenever they have a need for a 40-man roster spot. Milwaukee still has a strong front five of Corbin Burnes, Brandon Woodruff, Freddy Peralta, Eric Lauer and Wade Miley. Depth options Ashby, Jason Alexander and Adrian Houser are all on the IL, though, leaving Milwaukee fairly thin behind their top group.

It’s an obviously suboptimal development early in the season and at least raises some question about Ashby’s ability to cement himself in the rotation over the longer term. Miley is only guaranteed to be around this year, while Burnes and Woodruff are on track for free agency after the 2024 season. There’s surely still hope Ashby can join Peralta as longer-term impact starters but he’s now in danger of missing his entire age-25 campaign.

Mark Attanasio Discusses Brewers' Payroll Situation

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Mark Attanasio, principal owner of the Brewers, spoke to reporters (including Todd Rosiak of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel) yesterday regarding a variety of topics. One of those topics was the club’s payroll which according to RosterResource took a haircut headed into the 2023 season dropping to $121MM entering the season compared to last year’s final $137MM figure.

Attanasio claims that the dip in payroll is in the interest of keeping the team competitive in the long term, telling reporters, “Nobody wants to hear this, but we haven’t really had a budget in a long time… if you do a case study on teams that lose too much money for too long, then they end up gutting the team. We’re trying to always compete.” Attanasio cited the Brewers standing at the bottom of the league in terms of media revenues as one reason the club’s payroll dipped this season, though he also noted the club has payroll space available for midseason additions should Milwaukee be in contention.

NL Central Notes: Reynolds, Williams, Senzel, Santillan

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Even with three games already in the books on the Pirates’ 2023 season, Bryan Reynolds’ contract status is still the biggest story in Pittsburgh baseball, given the reports from earlier this week suggesting the two sides had made a lot of progress towards an extension.  The deal in question appears to be an eight-year, $106MM pact, yet the sticking point appears to be the Pirates’ reluctance to include an opt-out clause for Reynolds following the 2026 season.

It isn’t clear if anything has changed in talks, as Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (Twitter links) hears from both sides that, essentially, they “haven’t heard anything” about any further progress.  Mackey notes that GM Ben Cherington didn’t mention anything about Reynolds or the contract talks during his weekly radio show today, though naturally it would’ve been a little surprising to hear an executive make any significant public comment on contract negotiations that (apparently) are still ongoing.  Opening Day was reportedly viewed as a deadline to get an extension finalized, and while that deadline was completely unofficial, it begs the question or whether or not Reynolds and the Bucs can solve the impasse soon or if the matter might be tabled until the offseason…..or, if Reynolds might be traded elsewhere before the deadline.

More NL Central items….

  • Devin Williams was hit in the arm by a Dansby Swanson line drive during the ninth inning of yesterday’s game, though Williams remained on the mound to close out the Brewers’ 3-1 win over the Cubs.  Williams told MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy and other reporters that the liner “glanced off” his right elbow and “it didn’t feel too good,” leading to a bit of lingering soreness today.  While the injury doesn’t appear to be serious, Williams and manager Craig Counsell said that the reliever’s availability for today’s game wouldn’t be known until Williams did some pregame warmups. [UPDATE: Williams didn’t pitch in Milwaukee’s 9-5 win over Chicago, but Counsell said the reliever was available if called upon.]
  • Nick Senzel and Tony Santillan are slated to begin rehab assignments at Triple-A Louisville on Tuesday, Reds manager David Bell told reporters (including Bobby Nightengale of the Cincinnati Enquirer).  Both were hampered by injuries that pushed back their Spring Training work, as Senzel underwent toe surgery during the offseason and Santillan was still recovering from a lower back issue that plagued him during the 2022 campaign.  Barring any setbacks, however, Senzel and Santillan appear to be on pace to join the Reds by around the middle of April, with Senzel perhaps moving into a utility role and Santillan stepping back into Cincinnati’s bullpen.

Luis Urias Out 6-8 Weeks With Hamstring Injury

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11:14am: Craig Counsell told reporters (including Todd Rosiak of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel) that Urias will miss 6-8 weeks of action.

9:47am: The Brewers announced a couple of roster moves this morning, placing infielder Luis Urias on the 10-day injured list retroactive to March 31 after he sustained a left hamstring injury on Opening Day. The team also announced that left-handed pitcher Justin Wilson has been transferred to the 60-day IL.

It opens the door for the Brewers to officially add prospect Joey Wiemer to their big league roster, as he’ll take the place of Urias, while Wilson’s move to the 60-day IL opens up a spot on the 40-man roster.

Urias hurt his hamstring in the ninth inning of Milwaukee’s 4-0 Opening Day loss to the Cubs, having gone 0-4 in the match. There’s no indication yet of how long Urias will be out for, but this opens the door for Brian Anderson to handle the hot corner in the meantime, with Wiemer taking over in right for the time being.

A fourth round pick in 2020, Wiemer has shot up the Brewers’ prospect charts in recent years, and his .287/.368/.520 line over 174 plate appearances at the highest level of the minors last season showed he was knocking on the door of his first big league call up. While scouts raised concerns over his strikeouts and swing mechanics dating back to the draft, Wiemer’s raw power and athleticism have shone through and he was placed near the back of Keith Law’s recent top-100 prospects in all of baseball.

The move to shift Wilson to the 60-day IL was likely an easy one for the Brewers. The veteran lefty underwent Tommy John surgery in June of last year, so he is expected to miss most, if not all, of the 2023 campaign. The Brewers signed him this winter to a one-year deal, but hold a club option on him for 2024.

Brewers To Promote Joey Wiemer

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The Brewers are bringing up one of their top prospects. Outfielder Joey Wiemer is getting his first major league call, reports Robert Murray of FanSided (Twitter link). The Brewers figure to finalize the move before tomorrow afternoon’s matchup with the Cubs.

Wiemer was Milwaukee’s fourth-round pick in 2020 out of the University of Cincinnati. Amateur scouts praised his power and athleticism but raised significant questions about his strikeouts and atypical swing mechanics. Wiemer’s .264/.379/.408 slash in college was hardly overwhelming, particularly outside a Power Five conference.

Milwaukee rolled the dice on his physical upside in hopes he could iron things out in pro ball. They have to be thrilled with how that decision has played out over the past couple seasons. Wiemer hit .296/.403/.556 during his first professional season, positioning him as one of the better prospects in the Milwaukee farm system. He took that to another level with continued production against upper level pitching last year.

Wiemer spent the bulk of the 2022 season with Double-A Biloxi, where he put up a roughly average .243/.321/.440 line over 374 plate appearances. Wiemer punched out 30% of the time but connected on 15 home runs and stole 25 bases while getting caught just once. The Brewers bumped him to Triple-A Nashville in August, and he caught fire at the top minor league level. In 174 trips to the plate, he mashed at a .287/.368/.520 clip with six longballs. Wiemer cut his strikeouts to a solid 19.5% rate in Triple-A while walking 12.1% of the time.

That firmly placed him among the sport’s most interesting outfield prospects headed into the winter. Both FanGraphs and Keith Law of the Athletic slotted him near the back of their offseason Top 100 prospect lists. Wiemer didn’t crack the Top 100 at Baseball America or ESPN but finished just outside that cutoff, ranking among the top three talents in the Milwaukee system at both outlets. Evaluators credit him with plus or better raw power, speed and arm strength. He’s regarded as a high-variance type but a potential impact player on the strength of those deafening physical tools.

The Brew Crew gave the 24-year-old an extended look this spring. He held his own, putting together a .262/.319/.429 line with two homers, four walks and ten strikeouts in 42 at-bats. General manager Matt Arnold indicated towards the end of Spring Training that both Wiemer and fellow top prospect Sal Frelick were being considered for season-opening roster spots. Neither ended up grabbing a job out of camp, as both were ticketed for Nashville to start the season.

Plans changed yesterday, as starting third baseman Luis Urías hurt his left hamstring in the ninth inning of an Opening Day loss. Urías was noticeably hobbled after the game, and Adam McCalvy of MLB.com reports that Urías is headed to the 10-day injured list. Brian Anderson, who’d opened the season as the right fielder, has a long track record as an MLB third baseman. He’ll now slide to the hot corner, with Wiemer stepping into the right field job.

That’ll presumably be the plan at least until a veteran is ready to return from injury. It’s unknown how long Urías will be out. Tyrone Taylor, who might’ve gotten the Opening Day right field nod, is expected to be sidelined into May with an elbow sprain. Wiemer should have at least a couple weeks to try to establish himself against big league pitching.

While one day of the schedule has already elapsed, players are credited with a full year of major league service if they’re in the majors for 172+ days of the 186-day season. Wiemer would still get to that mark if he’s up for good, which would put him on track to first reach arbitration after the 2025 season and qualify for free agency over the 2028-29 offseason.

Wiemer hadn’t been on the 40-man roster. Milwaukee will need to select his contract tomorrow. That’ll require a corresponding 40-man move, though players like Aaron Ashby (shoulder strain) and Justin Wilson (recovering from Tommy John surgery) are 60-day injured list candidates.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Adrian Houser To Begin Season On Injured List

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Brewers right-hander Adrian Houser recently departed a spring outing with some groin tightness and manager Craig Counsell provided an update on that situation to reporters today, including Todd Rosiak of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Houser will begin the season on the injured list with an estimated return timeline of three weeks.

Houser, 30, has made 76 starts for the Brewers over the past four years, in addition to some relief appearances. Overall, he’s tossed 428 innings in his career with a 3.97 ERA. His 18.8% strikeout rate is a few ticks below league average but he’s kept the ball on the ground at a strong 53.8% clip.

Being without Houser for a few weeks isn’t a devastating blow to the Brewers, as he was likely going to be their #6 starter behind Corbin Burnes, Brandon Woodruff, Freddy Peralta, Eric Lauer and Wade Miley. However, it’s still a notable development as their rotation depth has taken some other hits recently.

Aaron Ashby has a shoulder injury that is going to keep him out until roughly the middle of May. Jason Alexander has a shoulder strain and has already been been placed on the 60-day injured list, meaning he can’t return until late May at the earliest. The Brewers once looked to have so much starting pitching that a trade of Houser seemed plausible, but they will now have three fewer arms in the mix for the next few weeks at least.

As mentioned, the top five options are still healthy, though another injury will leave the club with diminished depth to choose from. Some options still on the roster include Ethan Small and Janson Junk. Bryse Wilson has plenty of starting experience but is out of options and seems ticketed for a bullpen job in the big leagues to start the year.

Brewers Sign Luke Voit To One-Year Deal

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MARCH 28: Voit signed a split deal that comes with a $2MM base salary for time spent in the majors, the Associated Press reports. Voit should reach five years of major league service a few days into the season, which would afford him the right to refuse an optional assignment to the minors at that point. The Excel Sports Management client would receive $500K apiece for reaching 250, 300, 350, 400, 450 and 500 plate appearances — potentially maxing the deal out at $5MM. The ’24 club option is valued at $12MM and doesn’t come with a buyout. He’d remain arbitration-eligible if Milwaukee declines the option.

MARCH 27: The Brewers announced to reporters, including Adam McCalvy of MLB.com, that they have signed first baseman Luke Voit to a one-year deal with a club option for 2024. The financial terms aren’t publicly known at this time. In a corresponding move, infielder Keston Hiura was designated for assignment. Additionally, infielder Abraham Toro was optioned to the minors and outfielder Sal Frelick was reassigned to minor league camp. The Brewers also announced that infielder Brice Turang has made the Opening Day roster.

Luke Voit | Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY SportsVoit, 32, has previously been in camp with the Brewers on a minor league deal, though it afforded him the ability to opt-out and pursue opportunities elsewhere. Though he initially agreed to kick that decision down the road, he eventually triggered his opt-out and returned to the open market. However, the Brewers didn’t want him to get away and have now brought him back aboard with a major league deal and an option for 2024. Even if they turn that option down, they could still retain Voit via arbitration since he will still be shy of six years’ service time at the end of the season.

The slugger has previously been one of the most potent bats in the league but is coming off a couple of years that weren’t quite as strong. He actually led the majors in home runs in the shortened 2020 season, going over the fence 22 times. His .277/.338/.610 batting line that year amounted to a wRC+ of 153, indicating he was 53% better than the league average hitter. But in 2021, he dealt with knee injuries for much of the year and struggled when he wasn’t on the IL. The Yanks eventually supplanted him at first by acquiring Anthony Rizzo, trading Voit to the Padres going into 2022.

Voit stayed healthy enough to get into 135 game last year, eventually hitting 22 home runs, but with lesser results overall. He struck out in 31.5% of his plate appearances and hit .226/.308/.402 for a wRC+ of 102. That included a midseason trade to the Nationals in the Juan Soto deal, after Eric Hosmer used his limited no-trade clause to take himself out of it. The Nats could have kept him around via arbitration, with MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projecting an $8.2MM salary, though they non-tendered him instead.

The Brewers have a left-handed hitter at first base in Rowdy Tellez and their outfield/designated hitter mix contains further lefties in Christian Yelich, Jesse Winker and Garrett Mitchell. Voit’s right-handed bat would seem at first glance to make a good fit for that group in a platoon role, though he actually has modest reverse splits in his career. He’s hit .262/.347/.491 against righties in his career for a 129 wRC+. Against southpaws, he’s hit .236/.329/.439, for a 110 wRC+, still above average but less than his work against righties. However he’s deployed, he’ll look to get back on track with his new club after a couple of trying seasons.

As for Hiura, 26, he made a big splash with his debut in 2019, hitting 19 home runs in just 84 games. He’s continued to hit for power in the seasons since but with mounting strikeout issues that have diminished his overall production. Last year, he hit 14 homers in just 80 games but was also punched out at a 41.7% rate. MLBTR’s Steve Adams recently took a detailed look of the Hiura situation, which put the club in an awkward spot because he no longer has options. A few days ago, Hiura was informed that he would not be making the roster.

The Brewers will now have a week to either trade Hiura or try to pass him through waivers. Despite his struggles, it seems possible that another team would be willing to give him a shot based on his huge power output. That could perhaps be a team that isn’t expecting to be competitive this year, though it’s also possible that injuries could create opportunities elsewhere. In the event that Hiura clears waivers, he would be able to reject an outright assignment, though it’s possible he accepts. Players with between three and five years of service time can reject outright assignments but they have to forfeit their salary. Hiura qualified for arbitration for the first time this offseason and agreed to a $2.2MM salary, meaning he’d have to leave that on the table to become a free agent.

As for Turang, 23, he’s one of the club’s top prospects. Selected in the first round of the 2018 draft, he spent last year in Triple-A. He hit 13 home runs and stole 34 bases, hitting .286/.360/.412 for a wRC+ of 108. Though he’s mostly been a shortstop in his time in the minors, he figures to take over the second base job in Milwaukee next to Willy Adames. Turang is already on the 40-man roster so a corresponding move won’t be necessary.

Keston Hiura Clears Waivers, Sent Outright To Triple-A

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The Brewers announced that infielder Keston Hiura, who was designated for assignment this week, went unclaimed on waivers and has been assigned outright to Triple-A Nashville. As a player with more than three years of service time, he has the right to reject the assignment in favor of free agency, but doing so would mean forfeiting his $2.2MM salary. As such, he’ll surely accept the assignment and open the season in Nashville, hoping to play his way back onto the big league club.

Hiura, 26, was a ninth overall selection of the Brewers in 2017 and was a top 100 prospect in the years after that. He burst onto the big leagues in 2019, hitting 19 home runs in 84 games. His 30.7% strikeout rate that year was on the high side, but that was just his age-22 season. It seemed reasonable to expect that he would be able to refine his approach as he aged and grew accustomed to big league pitching, allowing him to make better use of that tremendous power.

Unfortunately, the opposite has proven to be true, with Hiura’s strikeouts becoming even more of a problem. His rate ticked up to 34.6% in 2020, then 39.1% the next year and 41.7% last season. The power still remains, as he hit 14 home runs in 80 games last year, but the punchouts give back a lot of the value that comes from those homers. As those strikeouts continued to mount, the Brewers often sent him to the minors, eventually exhausting his option years.

The Brewers could have kept Hiura around as a right-handed bench bat to complement their many left-handed hitters, but he actually has fairly extreme reverse splits in his career. He’s hit just .201/.283/.323 against lefties for a wRC+ of 65, while slashing .253/.332/.508 against righties for a 122 wRC+. The Brewers also brought Luke Voit aboard on a minor league deal this winter and saw him perform well this spring. He also has reverse splits, but not nearly as extreme as Hiura. Voit opted out of his minors deal but returned to the Brewers on a one-year deal, at which point Hiura was designated for assignment.

Hiura reached arbitration for the first time this winter and was able to secure himself a $2.2MM salary for the upcoming season. As mentioned up top, he can leave that money on the table and become a free agent if he likes, but the fact that no team claimed him off waivers suggests that none of the 29 other clubs values him at that price point. He’ll likely report to Triple-A and try once again to earn another opportunity in Milwaukee.

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