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The Brewers officially announced the re-signing of on Wednesday evening. Its a two-year pact with a mutual option for the 2026 season. The McKinnis Sports client is reportedly guaranteed $17.5MM on a backloaded deal. Hell be paid $2.5MM for the upcoming season and a modest $5MM salary in 2025. The bulk of the money is concentrated in a $10MM buyout on the mutual option, which is valued at $20MM. Woodruff receives full no-trade rights. Milwaukee placed the righty on the 60-day injured list within a couple hours of announcing the deal. That created the nece sary 40-man roster spot for , who also on Wednesday. Woodruff, 31, has spent his entire career with the Brewers but it seemed like that relationship was perhaps going to end at some point. Not too long ago, the Brewers had three key players that were all on track to make eight-figure arbitration salaries in 2024 before reaching free agency. Woodruff was one of those, along with fellow righty and shortstop . Given the way the club operates, it was expected that at least one of that group would be traded for salary relief and to restock some future talent. But Woodruff dealt with shoulder i sues throughout 2023 and wound up requiring surgery in October, which put his 2024 season in jeopardy. projected the righty for a salary of $11.6MM, a hefty amount for a pitcher who may not throw at all this year, especially for a lower-budget club like the Brewers. They reportedly explored some trade scenarios but ultimately just non-tendered Woodruff, sending him out to free agency. That gave every club the chance to sign him, with the Mets having reported interest at one point. Their new president of baseball operations David Stearns is plenty familiar with Woodruff, as his time with the Brewers began the year after the righty was drafted. But in the end, Woodruff will be returning to Milwaukee to continue his tenure as a Brewer. A two-year deal was always the most likely scenario for Woodruff. Pitchers facing lengthy layoffs like this, usually due to Tommy John surgery, often sign such pacts. That time R.J. Raymond Jersey frame allows the player to collect a paycheck while injured, while also giving the club a chance to potentially get a healthy full season at a relatively discounted rate. Woodruffs situation is slightly different since hes coming back from shoulder surgery rather than elbow surgery, but the logic is the same. When healthy, Woodruff has been one of the better pitchers in the game. He has a 3.10 earned run average in his career, having struck out 28.9% of batters faced, walked just 6.5% of them and kept 42.8% of balls in play on the ground. Among pitchers with at least 650 innings pitched since the start of the 2017 season, that ERA ranks sixth in the majors. But staying on the mound has been a bit of an i sue for him, as hes yet to hit 180 innings pitched in any big league season. In his big league career, hes gone on the injured list due to a strained left oblique, a right ankle sprain and the aforementioned shoulder problems from last year. Regardle s, the Brewers are surely happy to get Woodruff back into the fold, as his results have clearly been excellent when hes been able to take the ball. They have subtracted Burnes from this years rotation, having traded him to the Orioles, leaving as the de facto ace. They also acquired in that Burnes deal, with the lefty hoping to earn a rotation spot this year. They also re-signed and while adding and into the mix via free agency. If Woodruff can get healthy by the end of the year, hell jump into that mix and help the club for the stretch run. Looking ahead to 2025, theres not a lot of certainty for the Milwaukee rotation. Peralta is entering the final guaranteed year of his contract, though he has $8MM club options for next year and the year after, with those a virtual lock to be triggered as long as hes healthy. Miley and Junis have mutual options for next year, with those almost never picked up by both sides. The club has a 25 option for Rea at a modest $5.5MM salary and $1MM buyout, making it a net $4.5MM decision, but its not a lock they would trigger that with his inconsistent track record. Hall still isnt established as a capable big league starter. Taking all of that into consideration, theres very little that can be written in ink for next years rotation. There are some prospects near the majors who could step up, such as and , but it makes a lot of sense to bring Woodruff back into the fold and hopefully have him come back healthy and effective by then. If that comes to pa s, he and Peralta would give the club a strong front two next year, with three spots available for younger guys or future additions. first reported the Brewers were signing Woodruff to a two-year deal. reported the financial details and the no-trade clause. Tucker Nordman Jersey |
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