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American League Non-Tenders: 11/21/25

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Every American League team has officially announced their non-tender decisions. It was a quiet evening in terms of subtractions, with only the Rangers parting with any marquee players. All players who were non-tendered are free agents without going on waivers. A few teams dropped pre-arbitration players from the back of the 40-man roster. It’s possible they preferred not to expose them to waivers and are hopeful of re-signing them to non-roster deals.

Here’s a full list of today’s activity in the AL, while the National League moves are available here. All projected salaries are courtesy of MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz.

  • The Angels announced they’ve non-tendered outfielder Gustavo Campero and catcher Sebastian Rivero. Campero is a depth outfielder who has hit .202/.272/.346 over the past two seasons. Rivero operated as the club’s third catcher for most of the season but spent the final few weeks on the active roster. Neither player had been eligible for arbitration. All their arb-eligible players were easy calls to retain.
  • The Astros technically made one non-tender, dropping infielder Ramón Urías after he was designated for assignment earlier in the week. He’d been projected at $4.4MM.
  • The Athletics officially non-tendered outfielder JJ Bleday, the club announced. He’d been designated for assignment on Tuesday, so this was inevitable unless they found a trade partner. Bleday had been projected at $2.2MM.
  • The only non-tenders for the Red Sox were first baseman Nathaniel Lowe and reliever Josh Winckowski, each of whom had been designated for assignment on Tuesday. Lowe was projected at $13.5MM, while Winckowski was at $800K.
  • The Guardians non-tendered outfielder Will Brennan and relievers Sam Hentges and Nic Enright. The latter had been designated for assignment on Tuesday. Hentges hasn’t pitched since undergoing shoulder surgery in September 2024. He underwent a right knee procedure a few months ago and will be delayed this offseason. Brennan only appeared in six MLB games this year and underwent Tommy John surgery while in the minors in June. He’d been projected at $900K.
  • The Mariners non-tendered reliever Gregory Santos, reports Francys Romero. He’d only been projected at $800K, narrowly above the MLB minimum, so the move was about dropping him from the 40-man roster. Seattle acquired the 26-year-old righty from the White Sox over the 2023-24 offseason. He has only made 16 MLB appearances with a 5.02 earned run average over the past two years because of lat and knee injuries. Seattle also non-tendered relievers Trent Thornton and Tayler Saucedo (the latter of whom was designated for assignment on Tuesday). Thornton had been projected at $2.5MM and is coming off a 4.68 ERA through 33 appearances. He suffered a season-ending Achilles tear in August.
  • The Orioles non-tendered swingman Albert Suárez, the team announced. Everyone else in their arbitration class was offered a contract, surprisingly including first baseman Ryan Mountcastle (as first reported by ESPN’s Jeff Passan). Suárez, 36, was a solid depth starter in 2024. He was limited to five MLB appearances this past season by a flexor strain but is not expected to require surgery.
  • The Rangers non-tendered each of Adolis García, Jonah Heim, Josh Sborz and Jacob Webb. MLBTR covered those moves in greater detail.
  • The Rays only non-tendered outfielders Christopher Morel and Jake Fraley, each of whom had been designated for assignment earlier in the week. Marc Topkin of The Tampa Bay Times reported last night that the Rays were open to bringing back Fraley at a lower price than his $3.6MM arbitration projection.
  • The Royals non-tendered outfielder MJ Melendez and reliever Taylor Clarke, per a club announcement. Melendez, who’d been projected at $2.65MM, was an obvious decision. The former top prospect never developed as hoped and is a career .215/.297/.388 hitter over parts of four seasons. Clarke isn’t as big a name but comes as the more surprising cut. He’d been projected at just $1.9MM and is coming off a 3.25 ERA with a 21.4% strikeout rate over 55 1/3 innings out of the bullpen.
  • The Tigers are non-tendering utility player Andy Ibáñez, according to Romero. He’d been projected at $1.8MM. The righty-hitting Ibáñez had been a solid short-side platoon bat for Detroit between 2023-24. His production against southpaws dropped this year (.258/.311/.403), limiting his value. The Tigers optioned the 32-year-old to Triple-A in early June and kept him in the minors until shortly before the trade deadline. Detroit also dropped the six pitchers they’d designated for assignment earlier in the week: Tanner Rainey, Dugan Darnell, Tyler Mattison, Jason Foley, Jack Little and Sean Guenther.
  • The only Twins non-tender was outfielder DaShawn Keirsey Jr., who’d been designated for assignment this morning to make room for the Alex Jackson trade. Everyone in the arbitration class was brought back.
  • The White Sox non-tendered outfielder Mike Tauchman, as first reported by Bruce Levine of 670 The Score. The lefty hitter turned in a solid .263/.356/.400 line in 93 games this past season. Tauchman has gotten on base at plus rates in three straight years but was also non-tendered by the Cubs a year ago. The 34-year-old (35 next month) had been projected for a $3.4MM salary. The Sox also announced they’ve dropped lefty reliever Cam Booser and first baseman Tim Elko. Neither had been eligible for arbitration. The former posted a 5.52 ERA in 39 appearances after being acquired from the Red Sox last winter, while the latter hit .134 in his first 23 MLB games despite a 26-homer season in Triple-A.
  • The Yankees announced five non-tenders. Relievers Mark Leiter Jr., Scott Effross, Jake Cousins and Ian Hamilton were all cut loose, as was pre-arbitration righty Michael Arias. Leiter, who’d been projected at $3MM, never clicked in the Bronx after being acquired at the 2024 deadline. He posted a 4.89 ERA in 70 innings as a Yankee. Hamilton, Effross and Cousins were all projected just above the MLB minimum but are cut to clear roster space. Hamilton was on and off the active roster and posted a 4.28 ERA in 40 big league frames this year. Effross was limited to 11 appearances and has been plagued by various injuries for the past three and a half years, while Cousins is working back from Tommy John surgery. Arias has never pitched in the big leagues and could be brought back on a minor league deal.

The Blue Jays tendered contracts to all unsigned players on the 40-man roster.

Royals Outright Luke Maile

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May 24: The Royals announced this afternoon that Maile has cleared outright waivers and accepted an assignment to Triple-A. The 34-year-old will remain in the organization going forward to serve as non-roster catching depth behind the club’s tandem of Perez and Fermin.

May 19: The Royals announced that right-hander Taylor Clarke has been reinstated from the paternity list. Catcher Luke Maile has been designated for assignment as the corresponding move. The club’s 40-man roster count drops from 39 to 38.

Maile, 34, signed a minor league deal with the Royals in the offseason and was selected to the big league roster on May 2nd. The Royals already had two catchers on the roster in Salvador Perez and Freddy Fermin but Perez was dealing with some hip tightness at the time. Perez didn’t start on May 2nd or 3rd but was back in the starting nine by May 4th.

That didn’t leave a lot of playing time for Maile. Though he was on the roster for almost three weeks, he only got ten plate appearances over three games. He certainly made the most of those, with two walks and three hits, including a home run, creating a gargantuan .375/.500/.750 slash line.

His career offensive output is far more modest. He has a .209/.276/.322 batting line over 1,260 big league plate appearances. His 63 wRC+ indicates he’s been 37% worse than average overall. However, despite that lack of punch at the plate, he’s been in and out of the big leagues for most than a decade. That’s thanks to his solid reputation for his defense and work with a pitching staff.

He has been squeezed off the Royals’ roster and into DFA limbo. He will likely end up on waivers in the coming days. It’s possible he could attract interest from clubs looking for veteran catching depth.

Photo courtesy of Gregory Fisher, Imagn Images

Royals Select Taylor Clarke, Option Noah Cameron

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The Royals have selected the contract of righty Taylor Clarke from Triple-A Omaha and optioned lefty Noah Cameron back to Triple-A after yesterday’s MLB debut, per a team announcement. Righty James McArthur was transferred from the 15-day IL to the 60-day IL to open a spot on the 40-man roster for Clarke. McArthur has been on the IL all season while recovering from surgery to repair an olecranon fracture in his elbow — a procedure that saw two screws installed to help stabilize the joint.

Clarke, 32 in a couple weeks, pitched for Kansas City from 2022-23. That stretch marks the last time he took the mound in the big leagues. The Royals traded him to the Brewers in the 2023-24 offseason, and he spent last year with Milwaukee’s Triple-A club in Nashville, pitching to a 4.90 ERA in 68 frames.

Clarke was solid for the Royals in 2022 and struggled in 2023. He’s had something of a rollercoaster career between the D-backs and Royals, which has evened out with a 5.03 ERA, 21.4% strikeout rate and 8% walk rate in 279 1/3 innings of major league experience. The lanky 6’4″ righty returned to the Royals on a minor league contract over the winter and has enjoyed decent performances both in spring training and in Omaha. In 14 1/3 innings of Triple-A work this year, he’s logged a 4.40 ERA with a rough 15.3% strikeout rate but a respectable 8% walk rate. The vast majority of his struggles in Omaha came in one particularly rough appearance, wherein the Orioles’ Triple-A squad trounced him for four runs.

Cameron is considered to be one of the Royals’ top pitching prospects. The 2021 seventh-rounder fired 6 1/3 shutout innings during yesterday’s debut and even took a no-hitter into the seventh inning, although he did so while issuing five walks against only three strikeouts. It was a nice debut all the same, and he was rewarded with his first big league win in his first day on the job.

That was always known to be a spot start, however, so it should come as little surprise to see Cameron sent back to Omaha. He was filling in for ace Cole Ragans, who’s nursing a minor groin injury, but the Royals have (at least thus far) opted not to even place Ragans on the injured list. He’s slated take the mound for Kansas City on Sunday after being afforded some extra downtime with Cameron’s spot start. With Ragans, Seth Lugo, Michael Wacha, Kris Bubic and Michael Lorenzen all healthy, Cameron will head back to Omaha. He’ll be a top option for the club, should a need in the rotation arise in the weeks ahead.

Cavan Biggio Expected To Make Royals’ Roster

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The Royals announced a wide slate of cuts this morning. Infielder Harold Castro, righty Taylor Clarke, catcher Brian O’Keefe and infielder Tyler Tolbert were all reassigned to minor league camp. All were non-roster invitees. Meanwhile, infielder Nick Loftin and outfielders Drew Waters and Joey Wiemer were optioned to Triple-A Omaha. That leaves just 26 players in camp — one of whom is non-roster utilityman Cavan Biggio. Barring an injury in today’s final Cactus League game, he’ll be selected to the 40-man roster and break camp with the team. The Royals already have a pair of 40-man vacancies, so a corresponding move won’t be necessary.

It’s been a strange spring for Biggo. The longtime Blue Jays infielder is hitting just .194 in his 46 plate appearances, but he’s struck out only six times (13%) and drawn a whopping 11 walks (23.9%). He’s sitting on an oddball .194/.457/.355 line overall. Biggio has long been renowned for his patience at the plate, having drawn a walk in 13.5% of his career plate appearances in the majors.

Biggio’s keen eye and the small-sample improvement in his contact skills — he’s fanned in 32% of his plate appearances — coupled with his defensive versatility to put him in position for an Opening Day spot in Kansas City. He can feasibly mix in at second base, third base and in the outfield corners.

The Royals will also cycle Jonathan India, Michael Massey, Maikel Garcia, MJ Melendez and Hunter Renfroe through those spots and at designated hitter. Garcia is coming off a rough year at the plate. Massey hasn’t quite cemented himself as a regular. India will play multiple positions. Melendez still hasn’t hit in the majors. Renfroe struggled in 2024. Each of those players has some level of uncertainty, and Biggio will add a typically serviceable, OBP-focused backup or complement to the group.

The 29-year-old Biggio (30 in April) is looking for a rebound of his own. He’s coming off an ugly .197/.314/.303 batting line (84 wRC+) in 224 plate appearances between the Jays, Dodgers and Braves last year. He turned in a solid .235/.340/.370 line in 338 trips to the plate as recently as 2023 in Toronto, however.

Royals, Taylor Clarke Agree To Minor League Deal

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The Royals agreed to a minor league contract with right-hander Taylor Clarke last week, according to the MLB.com transaction log. The 31-year-old returns to the organization after spending one season in the Milwaukee system. He’s represented by the Ballengee Group.

Clarke, a former Diamondbacks draftee, pitched with Kansas City in 2022 and ’23. The former was the best season of his career. Clarke turned in a 4.04 earned run average with stellar command across 49 relief innings. He struggled in his follow-up campaign, allowing nearly six earned runs per nine over 59 frames. The Royals dealt him to the Brewers last offseason for a pair of minor leaguers. Clarke suffered a meniscus injury in his right knee during Spring Training.

That required surgery, leading Clarke to begin the season on the minor league injured list. He struggled in Triple-A upon his return and lost his spot on Milwaukee’s 40-man roster in July. Clarke spent the entire season with their top affiliate in Nashville before qualifying for minor league free agency.

The Brewers used Clarke mostly out of the rotation in the minors. He started 15 of 22 outings, tallying 68 frames of 4.90 ERA ball. He’d pitched exclusively as a reliever or opener over his two seasons in Kansas City (and in his final year in Arizona). The Royals have more need for bullpen depth than they do for a starter, so they’re presumably targeting Clarke as a candidate for middle innings work.

Clarke has strong command and posted roughly average strikeout rates over his two seasons in K.C. He sat in the 95-96 MPH range with his heater in short stints. That dropped to around 93-94 in Triple-A this year, which is to be expected since he was working deeper into games. Clarke has struggled with the home run ball throughout his five MLB seasons, the biggest reason his career ERA sits narrowly above 5.00.

10 Players Elect Free Agency

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As the offseason nears, a number of players elect minor league free agency each week. These players are separate from six-year MLB free agents, who’ll reach the open market five days after the conclusion of the World Series. Eligible minor leaguers can begin electing free agency as soon as the regular season wraps up. These players were all outrighted off a team’s 40-man roster during the year and have the requisite service time and/or multiple career outrights necessary to reach free agency since they weren’t added back to teams’ rosters.

Electing free agency is the anticipated outcome for these players. There’ll surely be more to test the market in the coming weeks. We’ll offer periodic updates at MLBTR. These transactions are all reflected on the MiLB.com log.

Outfielders

Pitchers

Brewers Outright Taylor Clarke

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July 10: Clarke went unclaimed on outright waivers and was assigned to Triple-A Nashville, per the team’s transaction log at MLB.com. As previously noted, he’ll likely accept. Clarke picked up 48 days of service earlier this season while on the major league injured list, bringing him to 4.168 years of service — just four days shy of the five years he’d need to reject the outright but retain his salary. (Clarke did not receive big league service time during his DFA window, as he was in Triple-A at the time he was designated.)

July 3: The Brewers have designated right-hander Taylor Clarke for assignment to open a spot on the 40-man roster for newly acquired right-hander Aaron Civale. The right-hander did not pitch in the majors for Milwaukee after coming over from Kansas City in an offseason trade sending minor league right-hander Ryan Brady and minor league infielder Cam Devanney back to the Royals.

The 31-year-old Clarke pitched in the big leagues for the 2019-21 D-backs and 2022-23 Royals. He had a nice showing with Kansas City in 2022, tossing 49 innings of 4.04 ERA ball with a solid 23.6% strikeout rate and pristine 3.9% walk rate. He couldn’t sustain that production into the 2023 campaign, however, evidenced by a 5.95 ERA in 59 frames. Clarke punched out an even better 24.4% of his opponents but also walked 9% of the batters he faced and yielded considerably more hard contact en route to a bloated 1.83 HR/9 mark.

Milwaukee, likely intrigued by Clarke’s 95 mph average heater, ability to miss bats and remaining minor league option, sent a pair of minor leaguers to Kansas City after the Royals had designated Clarke for assignment themselves (to make room for the signing of Seth Lugo). He opened the season on the minor league injured list and has been stretched out as a starter since returning, though the results haven’t been encouraging. Clarke has pitched in 11 games, nine of them starts, and been tagged for a dreary 5.30 earned run average. He’s back to showing strong command (5.2% walk rate) but has seen his strikeout rate dip to 19.5% while last season’s home run troubles persist (1.77 HR/9)

The Brewers will either trade Clarke or place him on outright waivers within the next five days. (Waivers themselves are an additional 48 hour process.) He has enough service time to reject an outright assignment to the minors in the event that he goes unclaimed, but doing so would require forfeiture of the remainder of this season’s $1.25MM salary. Given that arbitration salary and his struggles in the upper minors, it seems likely that Clarke will clear and remain with the Brewers in Triple-A Nashville. If he’s not added back to the 40-man roster before season’s end, he’d be eligible for minor league free agency, as is the case with all players who possess three-plus years of service but have been removed from a team’s 40-man roster.

Brewers Notes: Mitchell, Williams, Clarke, Wilken

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Brewers outfielder Garrett Mitchell has been on the injured list all season thus far after suffering a hand fracture during the spring. Reporting in early April suggested he was facing a timeline of about four to six weeks but it may end up being more than that. General manager Matt Arnold informed reporters this week, including Todd Rosiak of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, that the club is expecting a return around June 1.

It’s the second straight year where Mitchell has been prevented from getting into regular action. He debuted late in 2022 and hit .311/.373/.459 in his first 28 major league games, setting himself up for a prominent role on the 2023 club. But he suffered a left shoulder subluxation in April last year and required surgery, ultimately only playing in 19 games during that campaign.

Mitchell has provided above-average outfield defense and has stolen nine bases in ten tries while hitting .278/.343/.452 in his limited action. That has come with a concerning 38.3% strikeout rate that he and the Brewers would surely love to drop, which likely makes it even more frustrating that he keeps missing out on key development time.

So far this year, the Brewers have been using a regular outfield rotation of Christian Yelich, Jackson Chourio, Blake Perkins and Sal Frelick. During the spring, the club was experimenting with the idea of moving Frelick to the infield but Mitchell’s injury allowed him to go back to his regular outfield job.

Arnold also relayed that reliever Devin Williams is looking at a return around the All-Star break. That roughly aligns with the three-month estimate given when it was reported in March that the closer had been diagnosed with two stress fractures in his back. Taylor Clarke, meanwhile, is looking at a late May return from the meniscus surgery he underwent on his right knee a few weeks ago.

Today, Arnold provided an unfortunate update about prospect Brock Wilken, per Curt Hogg of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Wilken was playing for Double-A Biloxi last night when he was hit in the face by a pitch, suffering multiple fractures but no concussion. Once the swelling subsides, Wilken will likely undergo surgery.

Wilken, who turns 22 in June, was the club’s first-round pick last year. Selected 18th overall, the Brewers sent the third baseman through the Complex League, High-A and Double-A last year after drafting him. Baseball America ranked him as the club’s #10 prospect coming into this year while FanGraphs had him at #5.

This news is obviously a bit scary but Arnold says the long-term prognosis is good. Given his potential importance to the club’s future, the Brewers will likely be cautious in getting Wilken back onto the field.

Brewers Notes: Outfield, Gasser, Clarke

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The outfield mix in Milwaukee took a major hit earlier this week when the Brewers announced that center fielder Garrett Mitchell will open the season on the shelf due to a hand fracture. Mitchell, who the club selected 20th overall in the 2020 draft, was expected to be the club’s regular starter in center to open the season but now is ticketed for what could be an extended absence, his second in as many years after shoulder surgery wiped out the majority of his 2023 campaign.

Franchise face Christian Yelich and top prospect Jackson Chourio were slated to handle the outfield corners when it appeared that Michell would be the club’s starting center fielder, and Todd Rosiak of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel relays that, per manager Pat Murphy, that’s still the plan. Chourio, 20, has made the overwhelming majority of his outfield appearances in center during his time in the minors and has just eight games of minor league experience in right field, but Murphy confirmed that the club will not change course and move Chourio to center while Mitchell is on the shelf. Instead, Murphy suggests (as relayed by Rosiak) that the Brewers will rely on a platoon featuring Sal Frelick and Blake Perkins in center while Mitchell is unavailable, with Frelick getting the lion’s share of playing time against right-handers while Perkins starts against southpaws.

Both Frelick, 24 in April, and Perkins, 27, made their big league debuts with Milwaukee last season and held their own in limited action with the club. The switch-hitting Perkins appeared in 67 games with the club while splitting time between all three outfield spots and slashed a decent .217/.325/.350 (88 wRC+) in 168 trips to the plate. Meanwhile, Frelick drew 223 plate appearances across 57 games with the Brewers and slashed .246/.341/.351 (92 wRC+) during that time while also going a solid 7-for-7 on the basepaths. The youngster took reps at third base this winter to create a possible path to additional playing time outside of the club’s crowded outfield, though it appears those plans are on hold in the wake of Mitchell’s injury.

The plan to platoon the two youngsters makes plenty of sense for Frelick, who posted a paltry 59 wRC+ against southpaws last year. With that being said, Perkins is somewhat of an odd choice for a platoon partner as he also struggled against southpaws last year with a 65 wRC+ from the right-handed side of the batters’ box in the majors. Should Perkins struggle in the role to open the season, it wouldn’t be a shock to see the club pivot to Joey Wiemer as Frelick’s platoon partner in center, as the 25-year-old played strong defense in the outfield last year and batted an impressive .267/.298/.517 in 121 trips to the plate against lefties last year. For now, however, Wiemer is ticketed to begin the season at Triple-A as the club’s primary depth option in the outfield.

Along with his comments on the outfield, Murphy also discussed injuries sustained by a pair of organization’s pitchers. Rosiak relays that right-hander Taylor Clarke is set to undergo meniscus surgery on his right knee, while lefty Robert Gasser will open the season on the injured list due to a bone spur in his left elbow. Clarke, 31 in May, was already expected to open the 2024 campaign on the shelf due to the injury but now faces a significantly longer absence, though no timetable for his return was discussed by Murphy. The right-hander came over to the Brewers in a trade with the Royals back in December on the heels of a difficult 2023 season in Kansas City that saw him post a 5.95 ERA and 5.07 FIP in 58 appearances.

As for Gasser, the left-hander has yet to make his major league debut but was a key component in the trade that sent Josh Hader to the Padres at the 2022 trade deadline. His first full season in Milwaukee went quite well as he pitched to a 3.79 ERA in 135 1/3 innings as a member of the club’s Triple-A rotation, striking out an impressive 28% of batters faced along the way. An intriguing talent that Baseball America placed 98th on their preseason top 100 prospects list this year, Gasser figures to contribute to the club’s rotation at some point this season, but his big league debut will have to wait until he’s healthy. Fortunately, Rosiak notes that the Brewers are currently expecting Gasser’s absence to be a matter of weeks, suggesting that he could still have plenty of time to impact the big league club later in the year if he manages to maintain his performance from last season.

Brewers Notes: Clarke, Woodruff, Arroyo

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Right-hander Taylor Clarke suffered a right meniscus injury and is getting a second opinion to see if surgery can be avoided, Brewers manager Pat Murphy told MLB.com and other media.  Clarke will certainly start the season on the 15-day injured list, and the hope is that he can avoid a significantly longer amount of downtime.

Milwaukee acquired Clarke in a December trade with the Royals, hoping that Clarke could bounce back from a rough 2023 campaign.  The righty posted a 5.95 ERA in 59 innings for Kansas City, as big spikes in Clarke’s barrel and home run rates resulted in 12 homers out of the park over those 59 frames.  His 24.4% strikeout rate was slightly above average, but his walk rate increased sharply to nine percent, after Clarke had posted a very impressive 3.9 BB% in 2022.

Surely the Brewers are hoping Clarke pitches closer to that 2022 form (when he had a 4.04 ERA in 49 innings for K.C.), but for now the priority is just getting him healthy and onto the mound.  Meniscus-related injuries carry a wide range of potential timelines based on the extent of the damage, and whether or not Clarke needs surgery.  If he does have to go under the knife, an absence of 4-6 weeks is probably the best-case scenario for a meniscus surgery.

Turning to another injured Brewers hurler, Brandon Woodruff’s recovery from shoulder surgery will prevent from pitching during the 2024 season, the right-hander told Curt Hogg of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.  The right-hander was already expected to miss most of the year rehabbing, which was reflected in both the Brewers’ decision to non-tender Woodruff and in the backloaded nature of the two-year, $17.5MM deal he signed to rejoin the Crew last month.  Woodruff will earn $2.5MM in 2024 and a $5MM salary in 2025, plus a $10MM buyout of a $20MM mutual option for the 2026 season.

The rehab process seems to be going well in these early stages, and Woodruff has started to lightly throw from 30-foot distances.  The two-time All-Star is confident that he’ll be able to return to his old form when he returns to the mound in 2025, and that his knowledge of pitching will allow him to overcome any potential loss of velocity.

“Honestly, I’m going be the strongest I’ll ever be at any point in my career because I’m going have a year and just basically get my body ready for pitching….I’m just going to learn so much more about my body,” Woodruff said.  “I’m learning a new shoulder.  But as far as everything goes, I expect to be the same guy.  And you know what?  God forbid if anything else happened, like, I ain’t going to forget to pitch. So I can go out there and still figure it out.”

Despite the injury, several teams reportedly had interest in trading for Woodruff before Milwaukee non-tendered him, and also inquired about signing him after the righty hit the open market.  Woodruff ultimately chose to return to the Brewers due to the trust and comfort level built from his career-long stay in the organization.

“Why don’t I keep betting on myself?  Money is not the issue.  I want to win.  I’m comfortable here,” Woodruff said.  “I know the medical staff and they know my shoulder inside and out.  I think I’m just in a good spot in terms of coming back here.  There was a lot of stuff that I weighed out, but I’m able to kind of do – I wouldn’t say do what I want – but I kind of dictate and help run this rehab the way I want.  I’m not learning new people and that was a big part of it.”

In other Brewers news, Christian Arroyo was reassigned to the team’s minor league camp earlier this week, thus giving Arroyo an opt-out decision since he didn’t make the Opening Day roster.  Murphy told Hogg and other reporters that he doesn’t think Arroyo will opt out, plus the infielder also has a minor wrist injury.

This issue could hamper Arroyo’s chances of quickly catching on with another team in free agency, on top of his underwhelming .182/.217/.227 slash line in 23 plate appearances this spring.  Arroyo could take some time at Triple-A to get healed up and then perhaps weigh his options, or simply see if an opportunity might still emerge in Milwaukee.  The Brewers’ projected candidates for second base, third base, and utility infield roles (Brice Turang, Joey Ortiz, Sal Frelick, Andruw Monasterio) are all rather inexperienced, and in Frelick’s case, learning an infield position for the first time.  Arroyo could therefore represent some veteran depth should any of the youngsters struggle, or need more seasoning in the minors.

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