Kirsten Schmitt/Brewers
While the ink is barely dry on the final page of the 2019 Milwaukee Brewers’ story, work is already underway on the opening paragraphs for 2020. Next year, however, general manager David Stearns and company will almost certainly need to introduce some new characters to replace those that have moved on. All told, eight players that had a significant role in 2019’s final week could become free agents in the month ahead:
First, the Brewers have a pair of decisions to make on club options, and both decisions became significantly more interesting this season. Eric Thames is one of the two, coming off a season where he unseated incumbent and 2018 NL All Star Jesus Aguilar as the Brewers’ regular first baseman. Thames has had three very distinct years in Milwaukee: His 2017 breakout, his 2018 step back and a 2019 resurgence to 2017 levels. He’ll turn 33 in November, but the Brewers do not have a clear candidate to replace him at first base, so his $7.5 million option seems likely to be exercised.
A year ago, at this time Chase Anderson was left off the Brewers’ postseason roster, a remarkable fall from grace for the team’s Opening Day starter. He accepted a somewhat lesser role in 2019 and experienced some success there, although his season numbers are marred by one disastrous outing where he gave up ten runs in 2 1/3 innings in August. Anderson did a nice job to put himself back in position where exercising his $8.5 million club option is something the Brewers must consider.
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The Brewers got everything they could have hoped for from their one-year deal with Yasmani Grandal, their new single season record holder for home runs, walks and runs scored by a catcher. Grandal also played more often in 2019 than he ever had before and remained effective through the grind of a long season behind the plate. Both he and the Brewers would have to agree on a mutual option to bring him back for $16 million again in 2020, and it could be tough for him to turn down the opportunity to test the free agent market following his big year.
Mike Moustakas knows a thing or two about testing free agency: He’s been on the open market with underwhelming response each of the last two winters and could go back there again next month. He was excellent in a full season as a Brewer in 2019, posting a career-high .845 on-base plus slugging, making his third All Star appearance and demonstrating some positional flexibility by playing second base. His status is something of a wild card: His $11 million mutual option seems like a bit of an underpay, but his previous experiences on the free agent market may make him a candidate to accept it.
Beyond those option decisions the Brewers also have four more pitchers due to become free agents in a few weeks, and it’s possible none have done more to increase their value than Jordan Lyles. The 28-year-old had a 5.36 ERA he came over from the Pirates in July, but the Brewers almost certainly would not have made the postseason without him, as he had a 2.45 mark in eleven starts and accumulated more value in that partial season than any full season of his career. The Brewers would almost certainly like to bring Lyles back, but the possibility that he “found something” probably raised the price a bit.
Similarly, Drew Pomeranz had pitched parts of nine seasons in the majors, but his best years appeared to be behind him when the Brewers acquired him from the Giants in July. What followed was a transformation into one of the game’s best relievers, as he struck out 15.4 batters per nine innings over 25 appearances as a Brewer. His dominant finish to the 2019 season, including two perfect frames in the Wild Card game, may make him one of the most attractive relievers on the market this winter.
Gio Gonzalez had a tough time finding work on the free agent market last winter despite a strong finish in Milwaukee. He ended up accepting and opting out of a minor league deal with the Yankees. Gonzalez eventually found his way back to the Brewers and provided some stability for them again, posting a 3.50 ERA across 19 appearances (17 starts) and posting rate stats that roughly line up with his solid-if-unspectacular career work. He turned 34 in September , but still looked like a pitcher with something left to contribute during the stretch run. He could be an interesting test case for the state of the free agent market: He’s the kind of player that should have no issue finding work, but that was also true last winter.
Finally, 2019 may be the end of the line for Matt Albers, who just wrapped up a two-year deal that doesn’t look so good in retrospect. His tenure in Milwaukee got off to an excellent start (1.93 ERA over his first 24 appearances in 2018) but he sputtered down the stretch in both 2018 and 2019, where opposing batters had a .463 on-base percentage and .519 slugging in his final 20 appearances. Albers has logged over 600 relief appearances across 14 MLB seasons, but he’ll be 37 in January and it seems unlikely that he’ll find much demand for his services this winter.
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