The Brewers are hoping to strike gold on another breakout from the Korea Baseball Organization, announcing on Monday that they’ve signed right-hander Josh Lindblom to a three-year contract. The GSI client will reportedly be guaranteed $9.125MM and has incentives baked into the deal that can bring it to a total of $18MM. MLBTR predicted he’d ink a two-year, $8MM guarantee at the beginning of free agency.
“We are pleased to sign Josh to a multi-year contract and welcome him and his family to Milwaukee,” Brewers president of baseball operations David Stearns said in a press release. “During his time in Korea — and most specifically over the past two seasons — Josh has been as dominant as any pitcher in the world. We believe his combination of stuff, execution and experience will allow him to have success at the Major League level.”
Brewers fans may know Lindblom best from his brief time with the division-rival Pirates in 2017, his most recent season in the majors. Lindblom, previously with the Dodgers, Phillies, Rangers and Athletics, had an unspectacular run as a major league reliever up to then. However, he truly reinvented himself as a starter in the KBO over the past two seasons.
Now 32 years old, Lindblom started in all 56 of his appearances in 2018-19 with the Doosan Bears, who were the beneficiaries of a career renaissance. Lindblom posted sub-3.00 ERAs with strikeout and walk rates hovering around 8.0 and 2.0, respectively, in both seasons, in which he combined for 363 1/3 innings. Lindblom was so effective in both seasons that he earned the Choi Dong-Won Award — the top pitching award in the KBO – in each campaign. He also took home league MVP honors in 2019.
So what changed for Lindblom? As MLBTR’s Steve Adams recently explained, Lindblom still doesn’t throw that hard (his fastball checks in around 91 mph), but he has excellent spin rates on his side. He also became far more reliant on his four-seamer (at the expense of his two-seamer), adopted a splitter that has turned into a significant weapon for him and did well limiting hard contact during his two-year run of dominance.
It’s anyone’s guess whether Lindblom’s success in Korea will carry over in his return to the majors, but the starter-needy Brewers are ready to take a fairly low-risk chance and plug him into their rotation. This is, of course, the second time in recent years the Brewers have signed a former unremarkable MLBer who turned into a star in Korea. They previously inked first baseman/outfielder Eric Thames to a three-year, $16MM guarantee entering 2017, and they got a good bang for their buck out of that decision.
For now, Lindblom looks like perhaps one of at least four set starters for the Brewers, Adam McCalvy of MLB.com observes. He’s currently slated to join Brandon Woodruff, while Eric Lauer and Adrian Houser look like the other leading candidates to begin 2020 in Milwaukee’s rotation. Further additions figure to be added to the fray, and the Brewers could of course deploy a nontraditional blend of pitchers given their penchant for blurring the lines between starters and relievers.
MLB Network’s Jon Heyman reported that the two sides were closing in on a three-year deal. ESPN’s Jeff Passan reported that an agreement had been reached.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
who?
Captain comedy
Josh Lindblom
Some guy that was a mediocre MLB reliever that is looking to prove that he can be a legit MLB starter after dominating the KBO.
sounds like Miles Mikolas
Funny guy. Funny guy, right here!
not a bad cost of things go sideways
Good signing by the BrewCrew.
Nice upside play here by Milwaukee hope he performs well
You are going to know in year 1
If it works I agree otherwise it’s 9mil down the drain
Deep thoughts!
That was my favorite Tupac track
by Jack Handy
He’s a class act. Great man and great humanitarian. Great move on the part of the Brewers.
can someone tell me how he is? know the name just not his talent
Coming back from Asia.
He added what seems to be a pretty devastating splitter while in Asia. Could be a great signing compared to what else is on the market.
I think cole and Strasburg will do better . Great signing or cheap signing ? Ford Focus is cheaper than a Lamborghini but doesn’t perform as well
Did you have a point with your comment? Of course a far more expensive investment should perform better. thats the entire reason it’s more expensive to begin with. That’s like saying a $20K house will give you everything a $2M house will.
No kidding. Good grief it’s looking like a crappy season ahead.
You do know only 1 team can sign Cole, 1 can sign Strasburg, 1 can sign Ryu, 1 can sign MadBum, and 1 can sign Wheeler, right? Why do you think Milwaukee would be in any of those talks? Foolish.
A Ford Focus gets better mileage and is far more practical. And gets you where you need to go. If your Ford Focus breaks down, you can always get another. Your Lambo breaks down, you don’t go anywhere for a long time.
But a Ford Focus RS, which on the surface, looks like a plain Focus, can perform like a super car, still deliver decent gas mileage, at a fraction of the cost of a Lamborghini. Under the radar performance, yet practical, car.
Milwaukee still has ~ 40M to spend before hitting 2019 OD payroll. They could easily sign Ryu or MadBum (and could have easily paid for Wheeler). I don’t doubt they’ve had extensive conversations with those players it’s just a matter of whether or not they can land them at the price they value them at
Where can you get a $20k live able house?
But what about a 32 year old Ford Focus which never ran well to begin with?
Detroit
I love this sign for the Crew. I think he will be a good starter for them.
He was once a mediocre relief pitcher, but is looking to prove that he can be a legit starting pitcher after dominating the KBO.
MVP/Cy Young (best pitcher) of the KBO last year. Filthy stuff. Brewers ownership ripped him off so hard.
Click on his name if it’s red It will link you to Baseball Reference. Tons of info.
He’s an international man of mystery….yeah baby!!!
Good low cost, low risk signing, with potential upside. The Brewers are one of the best organizations at doing more with less, so this will probably work in their favor yet again.
Ight bet
From Asia?
Was apparently a spin rate darling who might have a nice return the MLB. Had enough buzz I expected a larger deal to be signed, but oh well.
Clock is ticking Friedman… tick tick tick…
As a Brewers fan, I love this move. #InStearnsWeTrust
That’s plain silly.
I thought the cubs were close to a deal
Cubs talked to him a couple days ago but I don’t know if it went anywhere else. Brewers can promise him a starting gig, Cubs not so much.
Cubs could have promised him one with hamels gone. But unless they’re gonna sign someone better with money they don’t have…..
Cubs would have promised that he could compete with Chatwood and Alozay for the last starting spot. Clearer path in Mil, and probably more money.
Man the brewers are kinda screwed on pitching rn
rn, they have been for a while. haven’t you noticed the bullpen coming in by the end of the 5th inning?
Good luck doing that this year, particularly in September when it’s been the major reason they’ve made the playoffs the last two years.
And other teams haven’t expanded their rosters in September for the playoff push. You act like the Brewers were the only team that has done it. How’d Kimbrel do for you guys?
Haven’t you noticed that’s an intentional strategy and one that is being increasingly adopted by teams across MLB due to the thinking of Stearns and Counsell?
Haven’t you noticed that they are the best GM and Manager in the league and that MLB is so upset by what they did 2 years ago as a small market team that they are changing rules in a ludicrous manner over the last 2 years (both the length of option time when sent back to the minors and the 3 batter minimum by relievers are changes brought about by Stearns’ innovative approach). ?
Relatively low-risk move here — all things considered. Even if Lindblom performs like a back-end starter, this deal works out for the Crew.
This is a great signing.
Hope they’re not expecting Mikolas v2.0. There’s a 5mph difference between the 2.
Not that they’re expecting that, but Mikolas also took a turn for the worse this year and speed isn’t everything.
Mikolas’s 2019 numbers were still approximately that of a #3 starter. It’s not like he pitched terribly.
Poor man’s Merrill Kelly?
Huge bargain Mets should have signed him
“I have no idea who that is” – Homer Simpson
Have you heard of the Korean League? He just won MVP/Cy Young there. Ryu played in that league, and he’s good in MLB, and Lindblom already has MLB experience, so he knows the difference between the two. He finally was allowed to work on his stuff and now he’s pretty good. For no reason other than a bad agent he took a 3 year deal at 3 a year, instead of 1-2 years which would have helped him, as he might be really good in MLB now and able to get a longer term, higher dollar deal.
Breathe.
more like, sigh
Hello. I’m Mr Burns. I believe you have a letter for me.
Perfect fit for both sides. Their pitching strategy will maximize his performance.
Terrible deal for the player, 1/9 I’d get but 3/9?
How is a 1 year deal worth 9 million better than a 3 year deal worth the same guarantee? If he fails, the Brewers are stuck paying him 9 million regardless, but if he succeeds they get 3 years of cheap control.
How is it not? The player gets all the money in 1 year and gets to be a FA after a highly-likely chance he is much better in MLB than he was the first time around.
$9M is literally nothing to any team btw. There is no “stuck paying him”. Milwaukee cuts him if he stinks, which he most likely wont.
God, so many commenters here are so anti-player/pro-owner, its really gross.
I misread that you meant it was a bad deal for the player so calm down. Don’t act like supporting millionaires over billionaires makes you a righteous person either (unless you’re talking about support for minor leaguers who do need substantial raises).
People generally favor their *team* not individual players especially free agents/guys they aren’t vested in yet, so ownership/however rich they are is irrelevant.
1 year for 9 million is the better deal (I believe you are suggesting that 3 years for 9 million is of equal value).
Not true, even if both contracts are fully guaranteed.
Even if he’s pretty bad during the 1 year deal, he’s going to get work the next two years.
Which means he will get paid both of those years.
And, if he were to have had a huge year on that 1 year deal, he would have gotten a really huge deal the next time around.
The 3 year deal is not as good for him.
Oh boo hoo the poor millionaires get less millions…..where do I send the donations?
He said it was a bad deal for the player not the team.
If you have the same guaranteed money either way, wouldn’t you prefer to get is all in one year and then have the opportunity to make even more money the following year?
That’s why it sucks for the player.
$18M with incentives though.
That’s SUCH a Brewers signing!
True, but in the 1995-2005 era “such a Brewers signing” meant terrible things. Not it just means interesting things.
Thames was a pretty good signing. I was surprised they didn’t take on the last year of the deal given that 1B isn’t a strong point for them right now.
Picking up scraps like Gio, Lyles, Pomeranz… these days “such a Brewers signing” isn’t such a bad thing.
I didn’t mean that in a bad way, they’re good at finding pitching value
It is the best front office in all of professional sports.
Lol, best? Have to get more of a track record to best the A’s and the Rays.
Braves should have been in on him.
It is a strange contract regarding both the AAV and the length for a pitcher who has not even been mediocre in the ML.
It is a lot of money wasted if Lindblom has really not improved.
Strike Four and Halos are good at spending other people’s money.
If it was a bad contract Lindblom would not have signed it.
$9M is a lot of money to most people,including Lindblom.
It seems to me that it is going to be very good one way or the other but probably not both.He has never shown anything in ML baseball though so we shall see.
Well, Crew fans have to look at it this way – he clearly doesn’t have the pedigree of Cole, but he’s (hopefully) going to go out there every 5 days and throw as many pitches for about 8.3% of the cost ($36M/yr vs $3M/yr without factoring in the perf bonuses). I don’t think anyone expects the stats to be equal, but for Josh we’d probably be fairly satisfied with something under a 4.0 era, 180-ish innings, and 8Ks-2 walks/9. I don’t think the Yankees would be too excited for that out of Cole.
What are the incentives? Given the low amount, I kind of think they’d have ti be based on innings and starts. But if he goes 180, and even if the incentives are maxed at that level, it’s still a great bargain for the Brewers.
Another stellar Brewers signing. Certainly not a difference maker by any stretch. Yes I am sure his domination of Korean batters will translate well for 9 million bucks. Ouch. Stearns is losing it. Brewers continue their reputation as the Dollar Store of MLB.
Karl. I do not post very often here or at Brew Crew Ball but I have to here. Everyone is more than entitled to their opinions but I think your train of thought would be better aligned with another team like the Yankees or Dodgers. Tiny TV revenue compared to other teams. Concessions have also been brought up by many as a major revenue source also. I disagree on that point also as I enjoy tailgating so the Brewers will not make much money from me and thousands more each game (except for a beer or two inside). Cheer up as we have one of the best GMs in the MLB and he will not rest until he puts together a very competitive team. Some of us enjoy the last two years of playing more than 162 games. Right Twenty Four?
I love my crew, but you have to admit this offseason has sucked. Losing Grandal, Moose, Davies, Guerra, Shaw Thames, Grishem, Anderson, Nelson, and throw in Dubon, Perez, and Aguillar, and almost everyone we’ve been rooting for is gone. Some of whom are really good players. And they’re getting replaced with guys from the Korean league? And they’re talking about trading Hader! I’m not saying I don’t trust Stearns, but this feels a lot like Selig is suddenly controlling the payroll again.
Moose and Grandal, I understand the frustration. We traded Davies and Grisham for two solid players, its not like we let the walk. Are we really going to miss the rest of them? They’ve had solid stretches, but they’ve all been wildly inconsistent.
You spent way too much time rooting for guys that simply weren’t very good.
Aguilar was hot garbage. Nearly everyone was calling for Anderson to be demoted to batting practice pitcher (in ’18 and ’19). Sadly, Nelson just couldn’t make it back from injury.
Moose and Grandal’s contracts just don’t make sense. Moose couldn’t get a decent offer 2 years in a row, and then cincy throws 4/$64 at him..? And grandal got 4/$73.
Perez offense was bad no matter what position he played..except pitcher.
I’m almost surprised you didn’t mention Saladino or Spangenberg.
Oh, and that Korean league you’re bashing..you forget that’s where they found Thames? Speaking of Thames, he could still re-sign.
Grandal should have never been realistic in fans minds. Moose, sure. But for 4/64 that’s a hard pass. Davies/Grisham turned into our starting SS and backend starter (Davies replacement). Shaw, Nelson, Perez, Aguilar, Dubon did next to or absolutely nothing for the Brewers last year so it’s super easy to upgrade their 2019 spots. Guerra is a solid reliever but replaceable at 3.5M. Chase also easily replaceable at his price.
Stearns upgraded SS with Urias. Omar is one of the best offensive catchers in baseball. I personally think Lauer is a tick better than Davies. Lindblom will outperform Chase. Woodruff missed 2 months at the end so he’ll take back Lyle’s spot. Houser still in tact. Just need to replace Gio, who could also be resigned. (we also had Peralta/Burnes get rocked to start last year and Chacin released). Have Hiura for full season. Cain will hit 290-300 again with healthy wrist. Thames can still be resigned. Pomeranz, Guerra, Albers, Jeffress replaced by Knebel, Suter, Burnes, Black (+ Hader, Peralta, Claudio with Wahl, Faria, D Williams right there too).
Hader will need to be traded next offseason at latest. They’re not going to pay a pen arm 40M+ over 3yrs regardless of how good he is.
One of the best? In my opinion, the state of WI currently has the 3 best GMs in all of professional sports and Stearns tops the list by a wide margin.
The turn arounds for the Bucks last year and Packers this year have been nothing short of astonishing, yet Stearns is about to take his team to the play offs for a 3rd straight year because I think he still has something big up his sleeve (a major OF signing, a significant pitcher, Josh Donalson AND Eric Thames is a huge possibility now with the money available).
He can afford all of that easily now.
Don’t pay much attention to karlander. I’m not convinced hes even an actual brewer fan.
The downside is $3 mil per year. He could be an innings eating reliever and it wouldn’t be a disaster for the Brewers.
Yanks big sign is Cole, Brewers big sign Lindblom, shows you want is truly wrong in MLB. it’s a joke the big market teams can do that and brewers are signing turds and looking to potentially trade the likes of Hader or Yelich to rebuild
Called it. His name and career path just scream Brewers.
Brewers signing all the way. Cheap , no name, MLB wannabe. Just what us needed to replace Lyles, Poneranz, and Davies.
Lyles and Pomeranz are cheap, no name, bordering on MLB wannabe players. Same for Davies.
isn’t that exactly what he just said?
No. He’s saying the Brewers brought in no name players to replace “solid, fan favorite, productive players” such as Lyles, Pomeranz, and Davies. You have to look at his posts to get what I’m saying.
Surprised to see that he got a 3 year deal after 2 productive years overseas. Low AAV so worth it for the Brewers I guess
Good to see the Brewers beat out the Hiroshima Toyo Carp for Lindblom.
They also beat out the Cubs apparently.
Well, I wasn’t expecting a 3 year deal for Lindblom. I was expecting two years at a slightly higher AAV at $3.75 million.
“They previously inked first baseman/outfielder Eric Thames to a two-year, $16MM guarantee entering 2017”
Is this accurate?
No. It was 3 years. The $ amount is accurate though.
What a week it was for huge MLB signings. Cole,Rendon, Lindblom. Brewers broke the bank on this one but this is a cornerstone signing that will be a difference maker going forward. Dodgers and Yankees must be sick the Brewers scooped them on this one. No one was predicting the Brewers would actually land Lindblom.
Combining the KBO award with the current Rays’ first baseman, we have…
Ji-Man Choi Dong Won…..
Which leads to 2 questions:
(1) What did it win?
(2) Do I have too much time on my hands?
nice cheap, underrated sign Brewers!
Cheap risk. Could be a good signing.
Lindblom and Brett Anderson give the Brewers two under the radar signings that could become solid starting options. If you’re not enamored with strikeouts, Anderson’s numbers were very solid in Oakland last year and who knows maybe Lindlom becomes this year’s version of Mikolas.
Still I: think we’ll see Brewers checking in with D-Backs on Robbie Ray. One thing we do know, if they don’t add any big money deals now, they’ll be in position to bolster their team in July.
‘Under the radar’ = ‘mediocre’
Since the Brewers are back in penny pinching mode they should put Yelich on the block. They could get a haul for him.
The Brewers just love signing pitching hasbeens, cast offs and MLB wannabes. The Brewers starting pitching staff should be called Breaking Bad. Stearns said the Brewers will be competitive. He didn’t say with whom. Brewers starting pitching is on par with the Pirates.
I have been called three times by the Brewers about getting a ticket package for 2020. I ordinarily get something. Not this year. Fans have thrown a ton of cash at this organization in recent seasons and they decide to go cheap again.
Hopefully Stearns still adds some top talent to this roster after all the guys we lost. If not look for them to be very competitive– with the Pirates.
This jackhole thinks the Brewers should have a $200 M payroll.
I remember when he stunk it up for the Phillies…good times those years! That was the last time my wife spoke to me.
FIRE BILLY INEPT-PLER PLEASE……
The city of Milwaukee will be grateful for this signing. The Brewers are getting a good pitcher, a good man and humanitarian.