The Brewers officially added depth behind the plate today, signing catcher Wil Nieves to a non-guaranteed deal worth $775K. In addition to the base salary, Nieves can earn $45K in incentives.
The Nationals non-tendered Nieves last week, making him a free agent. Milwaukee has been looking for a backstop to pair with Jonathan Lucroy, though George Kottaras and Mike Rivera may also be in the mix.
Nieves, 33, has spent parts of seven seasons in the majors, posting a .227/.273/.297 line overall. He hit .203/.244/.310 in 172 plate appearances for the Nationals last year and threw out 24% of would-be base stealers, matching his career mark. If the Brewers are thrilled with his performance, they can control Nieves for 2012 as an arbitration eligible player.
Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports first tweeted the Brewers were close to a deal with Nieves, Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reported (on Twitter) that the sides had an agreement and MLB.com's Adam McCalvy reported the financial details (on Twitter).
