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Colin Rea

Brewers Re-Sign Colin Rea

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The Brewers are retaining one of their starters, signing Colin Rea to a one-year deal with a club option for 2025. The right-hander is guaranteed $4.5MM — a $3.5MM salary for next season and a $1MM buyout on the option, which is valued at $5.5MM. The deal also contains up to $500K annually in innings-based incentives. Rea is represented by Joe Speed.

Rea, 33, signed a minor league deal with the Brewers coming into 2023 and was added to the roster in mid-April. The club dealt with multiple injuries to its rotation throughout the year, with each of Brandon Woodruff, Eric Lauer and Wade Miley missing significant time. While the starting staff was fronted by Corbin Burnes and Freddy Peralta, Rea was able to step in and support them with some serviceable innings. He made 26 appearances, 22 starts, logging 124 2/3 frames with a 4.55 earned run average. He struck out 21.3% of batters faced while walking 7.4%, and kept the ball on the ground at a 43.8% rate.

Though Rea is shy of the six years of service time required for automatic free agency, it was reported in September that his contract would allow him to return to the open market. That’s a common contractual clause for players who spend time in foreign leagues. Rea pitched in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball in 2022, throwing 100 innings for the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks with a 3.96 ERA. When he signed with the Brewers, he was able to secure himself a return to the open market in the language of his deal. He became a free agent today but the Brewers have quickly locked him up for another season.

Rotation depth could be a question for the club yet again in 2024. Woodruff recently underwent shoulder surgery and is expected to miss most of the upcoming season. He is heading into his final arbitration season and might wind up non-tendered, given that injury uncertainty and a projected $11.6MM salary. Burnes is also headed into his final arb year and has long been a speculative trade candidate due to the club’s low-spending ways and his rising salary, projected for $15.1MM next year.

Even if the club hangs onto Burnes, there are questions behind him and Peralta, with Miley now a free agent again. Adrian Houser will likely be in the mix while Janson Junk is on the 40-man and could earn himself a spot after posting a 4.18 ERA in Triple-A last year. Robert Gasser is the club’s best pitching prospect and should be in line for a promotion in 2024, though he’s yet to make his major league debut.

Perhaps the Brewers find room in there for Rea or he ends up in the bullpen or a swing role. Although it’s possible Burnes and Woodruff stick around for 2024, both are slated to be free agents after that. Rea’s 2025 option gives the Brewers a bit of extra depth for that season as well.

Curt Hogg of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel first reported that Rea would make a $3.5MM salary and was guaranteed a $1MM buyout on the $5.5MM option. MLBTR’s Steve Adams reported the incentive value.

Brewers’ Colin Rea Will Be A Free Agent This Winter

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After signing a minor league deal with the Brewers last winter, Colin Rea ended up pitching 119 2/3 innings at the big league level, starting 21 of his 25 games.  The right-hander will now look to build off that resume on the open market, as MLB Trade Rumors’ Steve Adams (via X) reports that Rea’s contract contains language that will allow him to enter free agency this winter, even though Rea is still well short of the six full years of MLB service time usually required to become a free agent.  Rea entered 2023 with three years and 90 days of service time, and after having his contract selected by Milwaukee in April was shuttled back and forth several times between the active roster and Triple-A Nashville.

Rea spent 2022 with the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks of Nippon Professional Baseball, posting a 3.96 ERA in 100 innings of work.  As Adams notes, it isn’t unusual for players returning from playing in Japan or other international leagues to have some kind of free agent-related clause in their contracts, giving them a bit more flexibility to seek out a larger deal (whether in MLB or abroad) than they would receive as an arbitration-eligible player still under their team’s control.

Rea turned 33 in July, so it makes sense that he would want to maximize his earning potential now since he could be nearing the end of his career by the time he banked six years of service time.  Prior to 2023, Rea had totaled 154 1/3 career MLB innings with the Padres, Marlins, Cubs, and Brewers, pitching in the 2015-16 seasons and then not appearing in the majors again until 2020 and 2021.  In the three years between those two stints, Rea pitched in the minors but spent a big chunk of the time recovering from Tommy John surgery.

Rea had a 4.90 ERA over his first 154 1/3 Major League frames, and his numbers in 2023 were pretty similar.  The righty had a 4.74 ERA/4.46 SIERA for Milwaukee this season, with strikeout and hard-hit ball rates that were well below the league average.  On the plus side, Rea’s 7.6% walk rate and 44.2% grounder rate weren’t necessarily spectacular, but they were both in the 62nd percentile of all pitchers.  As has been the case for a lot of his career, home runs hampered Rea’s performance, as he allowed 23 homers in his 119 2/3 innings.

The statistics may not jump off the page, yet Rea was a valuable fill-in arm for the Brewers, getting the call to eat innings and cover starts while Milwaukee dealt with numerous rotation injuries this season.  Since teams are forever in need of pitching, Rea has a shot at landing a guaranteed Major League contract in free agency, as he can provide rotation depth or work as a swingman out of the bullpen.

Brewers Place Elvis Peguero On Injured List

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The Brewers announced that they have recalled right-hander J.B. Bukauskas and reinstated righty Julio Teheran from the 15-day injured list. In corresponding moves, righty Colin Rea was optioned while righty Elvis Peguero was placed on the 15-day IL, retroactive to September 17, with right elbow effusion. Adam McCalvy of MLB.com relayed the news prior to the official announcement.

Peguero, 26, got some brief major league looks with the Angels in 2021 and 2022 before coming to the Brewers in the offseason trade that sent outfielder Hunter Renfroe to the Halos. Peguero was optioned to the minors at the start of the year but was recalled a couple of weeks into the campaign and has emerged as a key piece of the Milwaukee bullpen.

Over 59 appearances this year, he’s logged 61 1/3 innings with a 3.38 earned run average. Neither his 21.4% strikeout rate nor his 10.3% walk rate are especially strong, but he’s gotten grounders on 56% of balls in play. His strong results have allowed him to move into a higher-leverage role, earning 21 holds and one save this year.

He won’t be eligible to return during the regular season, even with the move being backdated, since there’s only 11 days left after today. But the Brewers are a virtual lock for the postseason, currently holding a six-game lead over the Cubs in the Central. That perhaps give Peguero a window to return in October, though that’s only if his health cooperates. Manager Craig Counsell tells McCalvy that they anticipate Peguero being ready for the Wild Card series, which suggests he could be in line for a minimum stint on the IL.

Even if he’s unable to return this year, he seems to have set himself up for a role on next year’s club. He surpassed one year of major league service here in 2023 and can potentially be retained by the Brewers for five more seasons before qualifying for free agency.

Brewers Recall Colin Rea, Place J.B. Bukauskas On 15-Day IL

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The Brewers placed right-hander J.B. Bukauskas on the 15-day injured list due to a cervical strain (or whiplash), with the placement retroactive to May 17.  Colin Rea has been called up to take Bukauskas’ spot on the active roster.

It would seem as if Rea is Milwaukee’s choice to replace Wade Miley in the rotation, as Miley will miss the next 6-8 weeks due to a posterior serratus strain.  Rea has already made six starts (out of seven total appearances) for the Brew Crew this season, and the results haven’t been stellar, with a 5.52 ERA and a lot of below-average secondary metrics over 31 innings.  Rea’s old problems with the long ball have again surfaced, as he has allowed six homers over those 31 frames of work.

Even if Rea isn’t an ideal rotation replacement, the Brewers don’t really have many other options, with injuries to Miley, Brandon Woodruff, Jason Alexander, and Aaron Ashby depleting the team’s once-enviable starting depth.  The starting five now consists of Corbin Burnes, Freddy Peralta, Eric Lauer, Adrian Houser, and Rea — still a decent group overall, though obviously far from ideal for a Brewers team that has traditionally relied on its pitching.

Bukauskas was claimed off waivers from the Mariners in April and the Brewers selected his contract to the MLB roster on Tuesday.  Unfortunately, he’ll now head to the IL before officially making his Brewers debut, with something of an unusual injury that doesn’t have a strict timeline.  Bukauskas might only miss the minimum 15 days, or he could face a longer absence if his neck issue continues to linger.

The 15th overall pick of the 2017 draft, Bukauskas’ career has been hampered by injuries, and he has shown only 236 1/3 total innings in the majors and minor over six pro seasons (naturally with the canceled 2020 minor league season also playing a role).  At the big league level, Bukauskas tossed 17 1/3 innings with the Diamondbacks in 2021, and then one inning of work with the Mariners this season.

Brewers Sign Darin Ruf, Place Luke Voit On IL

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The Brewers announced they have signed first baseman/outfielder Darin Ruf to a one-year contract. Right-hander Brandon Woodruff was transferred to the 60-day injured list to open a spot on the 40-man roster while first baseman Luke Voit was placed on the 10-day injured list with a strained neck to get Ruf onto the active roster. Additionally, the club optioned righty Colin Rea and recalled fellow righty Trevor Megill.

Ruf, 36, has had some success as a lefty-mashing specialist in his career, though he’s been struggling a bit over the past year. After a successful stint in the KBO League from 2017 to 2019, he returned to North America by signing with the Giants prior to 2020. In that shortened season and the subsequent campaign, he hit .272/.381/.519 in 412 plate appearances for a 142 wRC+, including a .275/.390/.579 line and 156 wRC+ against southpaws.

Last year, his overall line dipped to .216/.328/.373, which led to a passable 104 wRC+ but that was obviously not as strong as his previous work. After a trade to the Mets, his production cratered, as he mustered a paltry .152/.216/.197 line the rest of the way. The Mets held onto him through the winter but designated him for assignment at the end of Spring Training. Ruf then returned to the Giants and hit a solid .261/.370/.348 in a tiny sample of nine games before landing on the injured list due to wrist inflammation. He was later reinstated from the IL and designated for assignment when the club selected shortstop prospect Casey Schmitt.

Ruf cleared waivers and elected free agency. Since the Mets initially released him, they are still on the hook for the majority of Ruf’s salary, which is $3MM this year along with a $250K buyout on a 2024 option. The Brewers will only owe him the prorated league minimum for any time Ruf spends on the roster, with that amount subtracted from what the Mets pay. That makes it a fairly low-risk move, at least from a financial perspective, as the Brewers see if Ruf can get back to the excellent form he showed a few years ago.

He will effectively be replacing Voit on the roster as the club’s right-handed hitting first baseman/designated hitter. Voit was signed to a one-year, $2MM deal for this season but has slumped to a .221/.284/.265 showing so far this year for a wRC+ of just 55. Once one of the most potent power hitters in the league, he led the league in homers in the shortened 2020 season before various injuries seemed to slow him down. He hit an average-ish .230/.314/.412 for a wRC+ of 105 over 2021 and 2022 while bouncing from the Yankees to the Padres and Nationals, going on the injured list for an oblique strain and ongoing knee problems. The Brewers gave him a shot this year but he hasn’t been able to capitalize on it just yet and he might have to battle Ruf for his roster spot whenever his neck strain subsides.

As for Woodruff, his transfer to the 60-day IL doesn’t come as a surprise. He was diagnosed with a Grade 2 subscapular strain in his right shoulder in April and isn’t expected back until late June. He’ll now be ineligible to return until 60 days from his initial IL placement of April 8, which would be early June. Since he wasn’t expected to return until after that point anyway, this transfer was an inevitable formality.

Brewers Activate Adrian Houser

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The Brewers have activated right-hander Adrian Houser, who will start today’s game against the Giants, as noted by Curt Hogg of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. To make room for Houser on the active roster, the Brewers have optioned right-hander Tyson Miller to Triple-A.

Houser, 30, has been a staple of Milwaukee’s pitching staff since the start of the 2019 season, working primarily as a member of the rotation but with occasional appearances out of the bullpen as well. Over the past four seasons, Houser has paired strong campaigns in 2019 and 2021 (where he posted excellent ERA+ marks of 120 and 128, respectively) with difficult campaigns in 2020 and 2022 (with below-average ERA+ marks of 86 and 83, respectively). Overall, that leaves him with a 4.02 ERA, 5% above average by measure of ERA+, and a 4.24 FIP in 412 1/3 innings of work since the 2019 campaign began.

Houser was forced down Milwaukee’s depth chart over the course of this past season, with Corbin Burnes, Brandon Woodruff, Eric Lauer, Freddy Peralta, Wade Miley, and Aaron Ashby all seemingly preferred rotation options headed into the season. Unfortunately for the Brewers, Ashby was sidelined before the season began by shoulder surgery, while Houser himself struggled with groin tightness and began the season on the IL as well.

That left the club with little depth behind the five regular members of the rotation, and when Woodruff was sidelined by a shoulder strain the club was forced to turn to temporary solutions such as Colin Rea, who has posted a 4.73 ERA and 5.27 FIP in five starts for Milwaukee this season. With Houser now off the IL, he figures to step into the rotation and provide stability behind Burnes, Lauer, Peralta, and Miley while Woodruff is on the mend.

As for Miller, the 27-year-old right-hander posted a solid 1.93 ERA in three appearances as a multi-inning reliever with the club and figures to act as pitching depth for the Brewers going forward, able to work both out of the bullpen and the rotation. Meanwhile, Rea seems likely to move to the bullpen with Houser joining the rotation, filling Miller’s role as the bullpen’s long man.

Brewers Select Colin Rea, Designate Payton Henry

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The Brewers announced that they have selected the contract of right-hander Colin Rea. Fellow righty Janson Junk was optioned to Triple-A Nashville to open a spot on the active roster. To get Rea onto the 40-man, catcher Payton Henry was designated for assignment.

Rea, 32, has 36 games of scattered big league action with the Padres, Marlins, Cubs and Brewers. Most of that came back in 2015 and 2016, as he’s only tossed 20 innings in the bigs since then. He has a career ERA of 4.90 in 154 1/3 innings overall.

He spent last year pitching for the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks in Japan, posting a 3.96 ERA over exactly 100 innings. He returned to North America this winter by signing a minor league deal with the Brewers. He’s already made a couple of starts in Triple-A, throwing seven innings without allowing an earned run.

The Brewers needed to address their rotation when Brandon Woodruff was placed on the injured list earlier this week with shoulder inflammation. They also intended to give their regular starters a breather by pushing them back a day, per Curt Hogg of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, meaning they needed a couple of fresh arms. Junk was recalled to make a spot start yesterday but has now been quickly optioned to make room for Rea.

Henry, 26 in June, has spent most of his career in the Brewers’ organization, having been drafted by them in 2016. He was dealt to the Marlins in July of 2021 but then was traded back to Milwaukee in November of last year. He has 20 games of major league experience, all of it with the Marlins in between those two trades. He hit .186/.314/.209 in 51 plate appearances, which is a tiny sample but it tracks with his reputation as a glove-first catching prospect. He’s hit .200/.294/.267 in five Triple-A games so far this year.

The Brewers will now have one week to trade Henry or pass him through waivers. Catching depth tends to be in demand throughout the season given the high number of injuries at the position. Since Henry has options remaining, he doesn’t even need to be given an active roster spot. The Brewers now have just two catchers on their 40-man roster in William Contreras and Victor Caratini. They have some non-roster depth with players like Alex Jackson and Brian Navarreto, though Henry would join them if he clears waivers. He doesn’t have a previous career outright or three-plus years of service time, meaning he won’t have the right to reject an outright assignment.

Brewers Sign Skye Bolt, Colin Rea To Minor League Contracts

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The Brewers have signed outfielder Skye Bolt and right-hander Colin Rea to minor league deals, tweets Adam McCalvy of MLB.com. Both players will get non-roster looks in major league camp.

Bolt joins the third organization of his professional career. He’s spent most of the last eight years with the A’s, joining the pro ranks as a fourth-round draftee in 2015. Bolt debuted with Oakland briefly in 2019, getting into five games. He didn’t appear in the big leagues in 2020, then split the 2021 campaign between Oakland and the Giants. Returning to the A’s late in that season via waiver claim, he held his 40-man roster spot until last September.

The 29-year-old has played in 81 major league games in his career. More than half came last season, as he tallied 116 plate appearances over 42 contests with Oakland. After missing the first couple months of the season thanks to an oblique strain, he got some run as the A’s primary center fielder. The switch-hitter managed only a .198/.259/.330 line with four homers and a slightly elevated 25.9% strikeout rate before being outrighted off the 40-man roster.

Bolt hasn’t hit well in limited MLB time thus far. The UNC product owns a .313/.399/.526 line through parts of three Triple-A campaigns, and while that’s no doubt aided by the Pacific Coast League’s favorable hitting environment, that’s still above-average production at the top minor league level. Bolt’s a quality runner who can play all three outfield positions, so he doesn’t need to make a huge offensive impact to carve out a depth role.

Milwaukee has Christian Yelich locked into left field, while top prospect Garrett Mitchell is the favorite for center field run. Tyrone Taylor is the top right fielder, with recent signee Brian Anderson set to bounce between third base and right field. Jesse Winker is the primary designated hitter but could see some corner outfield action, while Blake Perkins secured a major league contract this offseason despite having no prior MLB experience. Top prospect Sal Frelick doesn’t seem far off MLB readiness after reaching Triple-A last season, though he’s not yet on the 40-man roster.

Bolt will try to crack the group in exhibition play but could open next season with Triple-A Nashville as a depth option. He’s out of minor league option years, so the Brewers would have to keep him in the big leagues or designate him for assignment if he earns a promotion at any point.

Rea has some familiarity with the Milwaukee organization. His most recent big league appearance was a six inning relief outing for the Brew Crew in 2021. The 32-year-old has pitched for four different clubs over parts of four big league campaigns. His most extended work came in a 2016 season divided between the Padres and Marlins, where he pitched to a 4.82 ERA through 102 2/3 innings.

An Indiana State graduate, Rea has just 20 big league frames since the conclusion of that 2016 season. He made seven starts in Nashville during the 2021 campaign, posting a 2.27 ERA over 35 2/3 innings. Last year, Rea pitched for the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks in Japan, logging an even 100 innings through 23 outings. He allowed just fewer than four earned runs per nine with a fairly modest 19.6% strikeout rate but a solid 7.8% walk percentage. He’ll offer some rotation or multi-inning relief depth in camp.

Colin Rea Signs With Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks

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The Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks have announced the signing of right-hander Colin Rea (as per Yahoo Japan).  Rea will return to the Hawks for the second straight season, and after something of a rushed departure last summer.

After initially signing with the Japanese club last winter, Rea pitched quite well (2.03 ERA, 25.33% strikeout rate) over 40 innings before he left the Hawks in August to be with his family, following the premature birth of his child back in the United States.  Rea ended up catching on with the Brewers on a minor league contract, resulting in 35 2/3 innings at Triple-A and then a single game in the big leagues, tossing six innings of bulk-pitcher duty in the Brew Crew’s second-last game of the regular season.

It was enough to put a fourth MLB season on Rea’s professional resume, as Rea tossed 134 1/3 innings with the Marlins and Padres in 2015-16 before Tommy John surgery interrupted his career.  He returned to throw 14 innings with the Cubs in 2020, and while the two sides worked out a one-year deal to avoid arbitration heading into the 2021 season, Rea was allowed to pursue that deal with the Hawks since he ultimately wasn’t in Chicago’s long-term plans.

Rea’s performance last season bodes well for more success in NPB, and his chances of re-establishing himself as a solid rotation candidate either in Japan or potentially for another return to a Major League team.  Originally a 12th-round pick for the Padres in the 2011 draft, Rea has worked as a starter for the majority of his career.  The 31-year-old isn’t a particularly hard thrower or a big strikeout pitcher, but he has a solid 3.68 ERA over 742 2/3 career innings in the minors, as well as a 4.90 ERA over his 154 1/3 frames at the big league level.

Devin Williams Fractures Hand, May Return In World Series

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October 5: The Brewers announced Williams underwent successful hand surgery today (as reported by Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s Tom Haudricourt). The star reliever is currently in a splint and will rehab in the Brewers’ Arizona facility. Provided rehab goes as expected and the Brewers advance past their NL competition it’s possible Williams will be an option for the team during the World Series.

September 29: Brewers reliever Devin Williams is going on the 10-day injured list with a right hand fracture, the team informed reporters (including Adam McCalvy of MLB.com and Will Sammon of the Athletic). The injury is expected to require surgery and is likely to end his season, although Milwaukee isn’t completely ruling out the possibility he could return for the World Series if the club were to win the National League pennant.

It’s an incredible blow to the Brewers’ postseason plans, as few relievers in baseball have been better than Williams over the last two years. The right-hander broke into the majors late in 2019, but he logged few enough innings to retain rookie eligibility in 2020. Last season, Williams absurdly allowed just one earned run (four runs total) over 27 innings while striking out a laughable 53% of opposing hitters. That showing earned him the National League’s Rookie of the Year and Reliever of the Year awards.

It’d have never been reasonable to expect Williams to continue to dominate at quite that level again, but he’s posted another phenomenal season for the Brew Crew. Over 54 innings, he’s worked to a 2.50 ERA with a 38.5% strikeout rate that checks in seventh among the 249 relievers with 30+ frames. Williams had been expected to pair with Josh Hader to log the club’s highest-leverage postseason innings, but they’ll now have to navigate the playoff field (at least the first couple series) without one of their top bullpen weapons.

That’d be a crushing enough blow on its own, and the manner in which Williams got hurt only adds to the shock. He told reporters he suffered the injury after punching a wall on Sunday (video via Todd Rosiak of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel). He learned about its severity when he was unable to warm up before last night’s game. Williams’ dejection and disappointment in himself is obvious in that clip, and his potential season-ending absence was certainly similarly deflating news for the rest of the clubhouse.

The Brewers have already clinched the NL Central title, where they’ll meet up with the NL East winner (the Braves, in all likelihood) in the first round. In addition to Hader, manager Craig Counsell will have Hunter Strickland, Jake Cousins and Brent Suter as key end-of-game options. It’s also likely a productive member or two of the Brewers’ vaunted starting rotation (Adrian Houser, Brett Anderson and/or Eric Lauer) will work out of the pen as Milwaukee shortens the rotation to maximize the number of innings logged by Corbin Burnes, Freddy Peralta and Brandon Woodruff. It’s still a very strong group of arms, but there’s no sugarcoating that losing Williams deals a significant blow that’ll force most of the rest of the staff up a peg in the pecking order.

To replace Williams on the active roster, Milwaukee selected veteran righty Colin Rea from Triple-A Nashville, designating utilityman Tim Lopes to clear a 40-man roster spot. Rea signed a minors deal last month and has performed well over seven starts. Through 35 2/3 frames with the Sounds, the 31-year-old has a 2.27 ERA with a solid 24.6% strikeout percentage and a minuscule 2.8% walk rate.

That earns Rea his first big league look of the season. The former Padres and Marlins hurler didn’t appear in the majors at all from 2017-19, but he made it back for a brief look with the Cubs last season. He tossed fourteen innings of nine-run ball with Chicago, striking out ten while issuing just a pair of walks.

Rea was in the organization by August 31, so he would be eligible for the Brewers’ postseason roster. Players in the system but not on the 40-man roster at the start of September can still be added to the playoff roster via petition to the Commissioner’s Office for teams with players unavailable due to injury. Considering Rea is coming up as a direct replacement for Williams, the Brewers should have no problem getting him onto the postseason roster if they’re impressed enough with his current form to want to do so.

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