It’s Been a Busy Season for Free Agents

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Photo via Wikimedia Commons

While the Milwaukee Brewers’ pitchers, catchers and early-reporting position players have settled into lockers at American Family Fields of Phoenix, the offseason hasn’t wrapped up for everyone.

For the most part this winter’s free agent market was both busier and more competitive than expected. Despite a fair number of teams sending clear signals that they’re cutting payroll or not prioritizing winning in 2021, 46 of MLB Trade Rumors’ Top 50 free agents have settled in with new teams and are preparing for the season ahead. If recent history is any indication, the Brewers may be one of the teams kicking the tires on the others.

Within the last decade the Brewers have demonstrated a clear willingness to continue to tinker with their roster and make late additions well into spring training. Just two years ago, for example, they capitalized on an underwhelming market and re-signed Mike Moustakas to a one-year deal after camp was already underway. That deal worked out well for all involved: Moustakas was an All Star on his “pillow contract” with the Brewers, and a big part of the reason they were able to return to the postseason for the second consecutive season. That winter he parlayed his success into a four-year contract with the Reds.

Looking back a few years further, in 2013 Kyle Lohse’s free agency had extended so long that he was pitching exhibition games against college teams just to stay in shape. The Brewers signed him to a three-year contract, and he opened the season in the starting rotation despite pitching in just one Cactus League game. Among a group of similar free agent contracts during that era of Brewers history (Lohse, Jeff Suppan, Randy Wolf, Matt Garza), Lohse’s contract was arguably the biggest success as he started 63 games with a 3.45 ERA across his first two seasons in Milwaukee.

If the Brewers are still considering making late free agent additions to the roster this winter, a few potential contributors are available:

RHP Jake Odorizzi

The Brewers have a bit of a history with the top remaining pitcher on the free agent market: They drafted Odorizzi with the #32 overall pick in the 2008 draft and he pitched his first three professional seasons in the organization, including a 2010 campaign where he participated in a combined no-hitter for the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers. Following that season, he was traded to the Royals in the Zack Greinke deal.

Still only 30 years old, Odorizzi has pitched parts of nine seasons in the majors with the Royals, Rays and Twins and experienced some notable success, including making his first All Star team in 2019. He pitched just four times in 2020, however, and was not effective in those outings. He was reportedly seeking a multi-year deal coming into the winter but clearly hasn’t received an offer to his liking yet. He’s entering the point in the offseason where settling for a one-year offer has to be a consideration and an opportunity to re-establish his value before trying free agency again next winter.

Odorizzi, who MLB Trade Rumors ranked as the winter’s 11^th best free agent, is one of three pitchers remaining on the list. The other two, Rick Porcello (#46) and Cole Hamels (#47), are also bounce-back candidates, but it’s been longer since Porcello was effective, and Hamels is 37 years old and pitched just once in 2020.

OF Jackie Bradley Jr.

A key contributor to Boston’s 2018 World Series victory, Bradley is a former All Star and Gold Glove-winning center fielder who had a big year offensively in 2020’s small sample size, setting new career highs with a .283 batting average and .364 on-base percentage. He’ll turn 31 in April but has been durable, playing in 90% of the Red Sox games over the last five seasons.

Bradley would be an odd fit for the Brewers: First, it’s unlikely he’d find significant playing time in center field in Milwaukee unless Lorenzo Cain is willing to move to a corner or opts out of the season again. Having Cain and Bradley in the same outfield would be a remarkable defensive setup, but barring injury the Brewers also don’t have much playing time available in the corners with Christian Yelich and Avisail Garcia returning.

The Brewers, however, do have a history of acquiring talent first and worrying about position later: This spring they’ll be trying out Keston Hiura at first base after signing Kolten Wong to play second, and the aforementioned Moustakas signing required him to (temporarily) move to second base, a position he’d never played in the majors.

As always, making a late addition requires the player to be willing to accept an offer that may have been less than what they originally sought. It also requires the Brewers to have payroll flexibility, and they haven’t and likely won’t publicly discuss their budget. With that said, their recent history suggests that it might be a mistake to assume they’re done adding talent.