MILWAUKEE – Two familiar faces appear to be returning to the Brewers, who allegedly agreed to a $ 2.5 million one-year contract to bring back southpaw Brett Anderson and a Minor League deal with third baseman Travis Shaw on Tuesday. market.
ESPN’s Jeff Passan reported the deal with Anderson. A source told Mark Feinsand of MLB.com that Shaw’s business would pay him $ 1.5 million with another $ 1.5 million in incentives if he made the club. He may cancel the contract on March 15, if he is not on the list. The club did not confirm any of the movements, which await physical examinations.
Anderson posted an ERA of 4.21 in 10 matches, spanning 47 entries during the short 2020 season, after signing with Milwaukee on a one-year contract. Bringing it back would make sense on several fronts, mostly to add depth as the Brewers and other teams navigate the leap from 60 games in the regular season to 162 scheduled.
The Brewers entered the week with a group of beginners led by 2019 All-Star Brandon Woodruff and the 2020 National League Cy Young Award candidate, Corbin Burnes. Veteran Josh Lindblom is a block to the rotation entering his second season with the Brewers, and others in the mix to start include Adrian Houser, Eric Lauer and Freddy Peralta, in addition to Brent Suter as a potential starter. The Brewers also recently signed former Nationals star Jordan Zimmermann for a Minor League contract with an invitation to the big league camp. He will report as a beginner.
Of these pitchers, only Lauer and Suter are left-handed. Anderson would provide additional balance.
Anderson, 33, has released parts of 12 Major League seasons for the A’s, Rockies, Dodgers, Cubs, Blue Jays and Brewers. He was effective when healthy, including a 2019 season with Oakland, in which he had an ERA of 3.89 out of 31 matches. Anderson was hampered by a bubble in his pitching hand at the beginning of last season and again at the end, costing him the chance to shoot in the NL Wild Card Series against the Dodgers.
Shaw, 30, was one of Milwaukee’s top producers in 2017 and 18, when he surpassed 30 home runs and 3.5 fWAR each season. But he dropped in 2019 and spent much of the year at Minors, then signed with Toronto and posted 0.717 OPS in 50 games in 2020. The Blue Jays did not bid on Shaw instead of taking him to arbitration.
“I’m looking forward to going back,” said Shaw. “It’s a group of talented guys, and the fit and the opportunity were something that really attracted me during the off-season. I’m looking forward to competing for that place on third base. I still feel like I have a lot of good baseball inside me and I’m excited to go out and prove it and win my way here. “
Shaw will have a good opportunity with the Brewers, who are unsure of third base with the team’s first Spring Training workout in a week.