The Brewers have avoided arbitration with right-hander Jimmy Nelson by agreeing to a one-year contract for 2019, according to Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (Twitter link). Nelson will earn $3.7MM in the deal, The Athletic’s Robert Murray tweets, which was Nelson’s salary from 2018 and the number that Haudricourt figured the righty would receive, given that Nelson missed all of last season recovering from shoulder surgery. MLBTR’s Matt Swartz projected the same $3.7MM figure for Nelson.
Before going under the knife in September 2017, Nelson was enjoying a breakout season, posting a 3.49 ERA, 10.2 K/9, and 4.15 K/BB rate over 175 1/3 innings for the Brew Crew. It was originally believed that Nelson would return at some point in 2018, though delays in his rehab kept him off the mound and he missed out on contributing to Milwaukee’s run to the NLCS.
Nelson’s expected return in 2019 is a “true wild card” for the Brewers and their rotation, as Haudricourt notes. The club has been checking in on available pitchers in free agency and trade talks, though a healthy and in-form Nelson would certainly be a major internal boost.
The Brewers now reached deals with four of their 10 arbitration-eligible players. The club has now avoided hearings with Nelson, Hernan Perez, Tyler Saladino, and Erik Kratz.
Having a healthy Jimmy Nelson is almost like adding an impact arm. Hopefully he can stay healthy and be a solid arm like he was before the injury.
Asking a lot; but you never know
they arent asking him to be an ace though. Just eat up innings. I still do think they will get an impact arm this winter. Stearns always seems to do something, even though he says they will be quiet for the most part
As of right now they would be asking him to be their guy. He’s the only one in the rotation with the experience and results of anything close to a TOR arm. He’s their #1 starter.
Crew fans should be hopeful, but realistic w/ Jimmy Nelson. Nelson’s labrum, rotator cuff and shoulder capsule ALL were surgically repaired. Labrum repair alone is challenging. (ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28203588), add in rotator cuff and all bets are off. That is very serious and a large % of pitchers suffering similar injuries never make it back. Any contribution, however minimal would be a bonus. Hoping for the best for Jimmy Nelson.
Ump missed an easy strike 3 call, the batter popped out to CF on the next pitch. Nelson ended up w/ 199K’s in ’17. He should have had 200 k’s. Wonder if he will approach those numbers in the future
Now all they need is to sign Tulo, trade for Mad Bum and 2019 will be the year of the Brewer.
So two pitchers with shoulder problems and a SS that can’t walk is what you need?
LOL, that’s hilarious. On a more serious note, Madbum’s numbers were still pretty damn good with a 3.26 ERA and 1.24 WHIP with 109 punchouts over 129.2 frames. Certainly less dominate than usual, but still hardly bad by any stretch.
Well the Tulo sure and resign Moose then trade Shaw for Bauer
Why are you so intent on trading Shaw. I’d much rather have Shaw than Moose.
Because Shaw is at peak trade value and Moose could handle third for 2 years until Erceg is ready to take over plus Mooses presents in the clubhouse was a very major impact in August and September.
Erceg is not the the type of prospect about whom one should use the phrase “until he is ready.”
Shaw might be close to peak value, sure, but unless he actually is used as a centerpiece for someone like Bauer, they’re better off with his surplus value. And Shaw isn’t going to net Bauer, I’m guessing.
Yeah your probably right now that I think about it and it would probably need to be a third team involved
Shaw is much cheaper, younger, a better fielder and arguably a better hitter than Moose. He also can play 2B and 1B if needed. Yes, Moose had some clutch hits and plays at third in September and October, but he also had some terrible errors and a below average OBP. Also Erceg is a average prospect, not a prospect an MLB contender would rely on playing regular innings in two years. If he turns it around and starts posting crazy numbers in AA/AAA than you have a good problem on your hand and you move shaw to 1B or then trade Shaw or Erceg.
He had shoulder surgery correct? I wish him all the luck in the world and hope he can return to form. I hope one day they can be as accurate with the shoulder as they are with Tommy John. It’s been the downfall of some amazing careers like Doc Halladay, Johan Santana and Brandon Webb (right as he was establishing himself as an ace). Scary stuff.
Maybe it’s just me because I watched Webb pitch a ton of times against the Giants and NL West, but Webb was already looked at as a bonafide ace.
I think Big Country is going to work hard and it will only help the atmosphere in this clubhouse. A very tough guy mentally cant think of a better guy to help these young guys like Peralta, Burnes, Woodruff, Brown, and Houser. If they can add Will Smith to the bullpen I think this team can get to the next level. Last year this team gained a lot of valuable experience. Now if we can make some minor tweaks to this roster and try and lock up some young players early. Would like to see if we can find another catcher but after that the team has some young players we should go ahead and trust in them
Ok I know this isnt part of article but I’m saying it. These guys get paid millions and there are teams who can spend more then others. With that said unless they want to put a hard salary cap in baseball then leave the shift alone it isnt cheating, it’s just an equalizer is all. You want more action in baseball then start letting the contact players have a chance in majors then these all or nothing hitters. If you have more homeruns than singles that is on the player
Do you need you parking validated after this session?
Re-signing Wade Miley would be a smart move, too, even if the team is still in search of their #1 guy. (Although Chacin came pretty close to filling that role last year.)
What they should do is land the best catcher to come along in years Realmuto, a decent pitcher and a 2nd baseman. The bottom of their lineup is terrible. But none of that will happen because he won’t give up prospects and there’s never any money
I don’t think we should put any expectations on Nelson. Lets wait and see what happens come spring training. Stearns even mentioned he could begin the season on the DL. Lets hope he can contribute this year at all. We have plenty of depth among starting pitchers, especially if we bring Miley back. I compare Nelson to Braun — keep him healthy so he can contribute in the stretch run. He’d be like a major trade dedline pick up. As for needing an ace, our ace is the bullpen.