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36 Veteran Players With Looming Opt-Out Dates

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The 2022-26 collective bargaining agreement implemented a new series of uniform opt-out dates for players who qualified as free agents under Article XX(b) of said agreement and sign a minor league deal in free agency. More specifically, that designation falls on players with six-plus years of MLB service time who finished the preceding season on a major league roster or injured list. Some contracts for players coming over from a foreign professional league like Nippon Professional Baseball or the Korea Baseball Organization will also have language written into their contracts allowing them to qualify as an XX(b) free agent despite a lack of six years of service.

The three uniform opt-out dates on those contracts land five days before Opening Day, on May 1 and on June 1. With the regular season set to kick off next week, any Article XX(b) free agents who are in camp on minor league contracts will have the opportunity to opt out on Saturday, March 22. A player triggering one of these out clauses gives his current club 48 hours to either add him to the 40-man roster or let him become a free agent.

There are other ways to secure opt-outs in contracts, of course. Many players who don’t qualify for XX(b) designation will still have opt-out opportunities negotiated into their minor league deals in free agency.

The following is a list of 36 players who are in camp as non-roster invitees and will be able to opt out this weekend. Most were XX(b) free agents, but there are a handful of names who didn’t meet that requirement but had outs negotiated into their respective deals nonetheless. This is not a comprehensive list of all players with opt-out opportunities this weekend.

All spring stats referenced are accurate through the completion of games played Wednesday, March 19.

Astros: LHP Jalen Beeks

Beeks, 31, was a relatively late sign (March 7) who’s since tossed three spring frames — including two scoreless innings just yesterday. He logged a 4.50 ERA in 70 innings between the Rockies and Pirates last season. He struggled to miss bats last year but typically runs strong strikeout rates. Dating back to 2020, Beeks carries a 4.16 ERA in 192 2/3 innings. In Josh Hader, Bryan King and Bennett Sousa, the Astros already have three lefty relievers on the 40-man. Another veteran non-roster invitee, Steven Okert, has rattled off 8 2/3 shutout spring innings with a 14-to-2 K/BB ratio. Beeks might have long odds of cracking the roster.

Blue Jays: RHP Jacob Barnes, LHP Ryan Yarbrough

The 34-year-old Barnes logged a 4.36 ERA in a career-high 66 big league innings last season. He posted an ERA north of 5.00 in each of the five preceding seasons (a total of 115 1/3 frames). He’s been tagged for four runs in 5 1/3 innings this spring.

Yarbrough, 33, had a terrific run with the Jays to close out the 2024 season. Joining Toronto in a deadline swap sending Kevin Kiermaier to the Dodgers, the veteran southpaw posted a 2.01 ERA in 31 1/3 innings. He’s a soft-tosser, sitting just 86.5 mph with his heater, but Yarbrough can pitch multiple innings in relief and has a decent track record even beyond last year’s overall 3.19 earned run average (4.21 ERA in 768 MLB innings). He’s allowed three runs with and 8-to-1 K/BB ratio in 6 2/3 innings in camp.

Braves: RHP Buck Farmer, RHP Hector Neris

Farmer was already reassigned to minor league camp on Sunday, so there’d seem to be a good chance of him taking his out. The 34-year-old turned in a terrific 3.04 ERA in 71 innings for the Reds last year but was probably hampered by his age, pedestrian velocity and subpar command in free agency. With a 3.68 ERA in 193 innings over the past three seasons in Cincinnati, he should find an opportunity somewhere — even if it’s not in Atlanta.

Neris is still in Braves camp. He signed well into camp and thus has only pitched one official inning so far, which was scoreless. (Neris is pitching today as well.) He’s looking to bounce back from a 4.10 ERA and a particularly poor performance in save opportunities last year. Prior to his nondescript 2024, Neris rattled off a 3.03 ERA in 208 innings from 2021-23 between Philly and Houston, saving 17 games and collecting 67 holds along the way.

Brewers: 1B/OF Mark Canha, OF Manuel Margot

He’s had a brutal spring, but the 36-year-old Canha has been an above-average hitter every year since 2018, by measure of wRC+. He’s just 2-for-23 in Brewers camp, but he’s slugged a homer and walked as often as he’s fanned (four times apiece). Milwaukee has Rhys Hoskins at first base, but Canha could chip in at DH and offer a right-handed complement to lefty outfielders Sal Frelick and Garrett Mitchell.

Margot hasn’t hit well in a tiny sample of 35 spring plate appearances, but he’s outproduced Canha with a .250/.314/.375 slash. He’s coming off a dismal .238/.289/.337 showing in Minnesota, however, and hasn’t been the plus defender he was prior to a major 2022 knee injury. Like Canha, he could complement Frelick and Mitchell as a righty-swinging outfielder, but Canha has been the far more productive bat in recent seasons.

Cubs: RHP Chris Flexen

The Cubs reassigned Flexen to minor league camp after just 3 2/3 innings this spring. He was hit hard on the other side of town with the White Sox in 2024, though Flexen quietly righted the ship after an awful start. He posted a 5.69 ERA through nine starts but logged a 4.62 mark over his final 21 trips to the mound, including a tidy 3.52 earned run average across 46 innings in his last eight starts. Flexen may not bounce back to his 2021-22 numbers in Seattle, but he’s a durable fifth starter if nothing else.

Diamondbacks: INF/OF Garrett Hampson, RHP Scott McGough

The D-backs don’t really have a backup shortstop while Blaze Alexander is sidelined with an oblique strain, which seems to bode well for Hampson. He’s hitting .235/.333/.324 in camp and can play three infield spots and three outfield positions. He had a bleak .230/.275/.300 performance in Kansas City last year but was a league-average hitter for the Marlins as recently as 2023.

McGough was reassigned to minor league camp yesterday after serving up six runs in 4 2/3 innings of spring work. That wasn’t the follow-up to last year’s gruesome 7.44 ERA for which the 35-year-old righty or the team had hoped.

Giants: C Max Stassi, RHP Lou Trivino

Stassi is battling Sam Huff, who’s on the 40-man, for the backup catcher’s role while Tom Murphy is injured. The 34-year-old Stassi is hitting .300/.364/.700 with a pair of homers in 22 spring plate appearances. He’s a plus defender with a scattershot track record at the plate.

Trivino hasn’t pitched since 2022 due to Tommy John surgery and a separate shoulder issue. He also hasn’t allowed a run in 8 1/3 spring innings. (9-to-4 K/BB ratio). Trivino’s scoreless Cactus League showing, his pre-injury track record and his familiarity with skipper Bob Melvin — his manager in Oakland — all seem to give him a real chance to win a spot.

Mariners: RHP Shintaro Fujinami, RHP Trevor Gott, 1B Rowdy Tellez

Fujinami’s command has never been good, and he’s walked more batters (seven) than he’s struck out (four) through 5 2/3 spring innings. He’s also plunked a pair of batters. He’s looking to bounce back from an injury-ruined 2024 season but might have to take his first steps toward doing so in Triple-A.

Tellez has had a big camp and looks like he could have a real chance to make the club in a part-time DH/first base role, as explored more yesterday. Gott is on the mend from Tommy John surgery performed last March and won’t pitch until midseason. He’s unlikely to opt out.

Mets: RHP Jose Ureña

Ureña was torched for seven runs in his first 1 1/3 spring innings after signing with the Mets on Feb. 27. He bounced back by striking out all three opponents he faced in an inning this past weekend, but he hasn’t helped himself otherwise. Ureña’s 3.80 ERA in 109 innings with Texas last year was his first sub-5.00 ERA since 2017-18 in Miami.

Padres: 1B Yuli Gurriel, INF Jose Iglesias

Both veterans have a legitimate chance to make the club. Gurriel has had a productive spring (.296/.321/.519) at nearly 41 years of age, while Iglesias is out to a 5-for-18 start since signing in mid-March. Gurriel could split time at first and DH, lessening the need to use Luis Arraez in the field. Iglesias could see frequent work at second base, shifting Jake Cronenworth to first base and pushing Arraez to DH. The Padres probably wouldn’t have put a hefty (relative to most minor league deals) $3MM base salary on Iglesias’ deal if they didn’t see a real path to him making the roster.

Pirates: LHP Ryan Borucki

Borucki was great for the Pirates in 2023 and struggled through 11 innings during an injury-marred 2024 season. The 30-year-old southpaw has allowed one run in eight spring innings. His five walks are a bit much, but he’s also fanned 11 of his 33 opponents.

Rangers: SS Nick Ahmed, RHP David Buchanan, RHP Jesse Chavez, OF Kevin Pillar, RHP Hunter Strickland

Ahmed has more homers in 28 spring plate appearances than he had in 228 plate appearances in 2024 or 210 plate appearances in 2023. He’s popped three round-trippers already and slashed .286/.310/.607. With a crowded infield and versatile backups like Josh Smith and Ezequiel Duran, Ahmed might still have a hard time cracking the roster.

None of the three pitchers listed here has performed well in limited work. Buchanan had a nice run as a starter in the KBO in the four preceding seasons, while Chavez has been a mainstay in the Atlanta bullpen for much of the past few years. Strickland had a nice 2024 in Anaheim but signed very late and retired only one of the five batters he faced during his long spring outing.

Pillar may have the best chance of the bunch to make the team. He’s hitting .273/.333/.394 in 39 plate appearances. Outfielders Wyatt Langford and Adolis Garcia have been banged up this spring, so some extra outfield depth could make sense.

Rays: DH/OF Eloy Jimenez

Jimenez homered for the second time yesterday, boosting his Grapefruit line to .263/.300/.447. He’s coming off a dreadful season in 2024, but from 2019-23 the former top prospect raked at a .275/.324/.487 pace, including a 31-homer rookie campaign (admittedly, in the juiced-ball 2019 season). Durability has been a bigger factor than productivity. If the Rays can get Jimenez to elevate the ball more, he could be a bargain; he’s still only 28.

Red Sox: LHP Matt Moore, RHP Adam Ottavino

Moore signed on Feb. 20 and has only gotten into two spring games so far, totaling two innings. Ottavino has pitched four innings but allowed five runs. He’s walked five and tossed a pair of wild pitches in that time. Both pitchers have long MLB track records, but they’re both coming off lackluster seasons.

Reds: LHP Wade Miley

Miley underwent Tommy John surgery early last season and contemplated retirement upon learning his prognosis. He wanted to return to one of his former NL Central clubs in free agency, and the Reds clearly offered a more compelling minor league deal than the Brewers. He’s not going to be a realistic option until late May, and it seems unlikely he’d opt out while his rehab is still ongoing.

Rockies: RHP Jake Woodford

Woodford isn’t an Article XX(b) free agent, but MLBTR has learned that he still has a March 22 opt-out. He made his fourth appearance of Rockies camp yesterday, tossing 2 2/3 innings with an earned run. Woodford has allowed seven runs on 11 hits and three walks with five punchouts and a nice 47.2% grounder rate in 10 2/3 frames this spring. He has experience as a starter and reliever. The righty doesn’t miss many bats but keeps the ball on the ground and has good command. He’s a fifth starter/swingman who’s out of minor league options.

Royals: C Luke Maile, RHP Ross Stripling

Maile is a glove-first backup who’s had a nice spring at the plate but has done so on a team with a healthy Salvador Perez and Freddy Fermin. His path to a roster spot doesn’t look great. Speculatively, his former Reds club, which just lost Tyler Stephenson to begin the year, would make sense if they plan to add an outside catcher. Maile’s .214/.294/.329 performance over the past three seasons is light, but he’s already familiar with the bulk of Cincinnati’s staff. He’s a fine backup or No. 3 catcher for any club, Kansas City included.

Stripling notched a 3.01 ERA in 124 innings for the 2022 Blue Jays, but it’s been rough waters since. He was rocked for a 5.68 ERA across the past two seasons, spending time with both Bay Area clubs, and has been tagged for 11 runs on 14 hits — four of them homers — with just two strikeouts in six spring frames. He’ll likely need a strong Triple-A showing, be it with the Royals or another club, to pitch his way back to the majors.

Tigers: LHP Andrew Chafin

Chafin surprisingly commanded only a minor league deal this offseason and has struggled to begin his third stint with the Tigers. He’s been tagged for eight runs in four spring innings, walking six batters along the way. It’s a rough look, but the affable southpaw notched a 3.51 ERA in 56 1/3 MLB frames last year and touts a 3.12 mark across the past four seasons combined.

White Sox: RHP Mike Clevinger, INF Brandon Drury, OF Travis Jankowski

The ChiSox signed Clevinger for a third time late this spring and are trying him in the bullpen. He’s responded with four shutout innings, allowing only one hit and no walks while fanning six hitters. His 2025 White Sox reunion is out to a much better start than his 2024 reunion, wherein he was limited to only 16 innings with a 6.75 ERA thanks to elbow and neck troubles.

Drury could hardly be doing more to secure a spot with the Pale Hose. He’s decimated Cactus League pitching at a .410/.439/.821 pace, slugging three homers and seven doubles in only 41 plate appearances. He’s coming off a terrible 2024 showing with the Angels but hit .263/.313/.493 from 2021-23. It’d be a surprise if the Sox didn’t keep him.

Jankowski started the spring with the Cubs, was granted his release and signed with the Sox. The hits haven’t been dropping, but he has six walks in 25 plate appearances. The White Sox already have Michael A. Taylor in a fourth outfield role. Andrew Benintendi, who missed three-plus weeks with a fractured hand, was back in the lineup yesterday, making Jankowski something of a long shot.

Yankees: RHP Carlos Carrasco

With a nice spring showing and several injuries in the Yankees’ rotation, Carrasco looks to have a good chance at making the roster. Jack Curry of the YES Network already reported it’s “likely” Carrasco will be added this weekend. Carrasco has a 1.69 ERA with 15 strikeouts and seven walks (plus four hit batters) in 16 spring innings. He tossed five shutout frames yesterday.

Brewers To Keep Turang At Second Base, Play Ortiz At Shortstop

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The Brewers have settled on their middle infield alignment. Manager Pat Murphy told reporters (including Adam McCalvy of MLB.com) that the Brewers will keep Brice Turang at second base while moving Joey Ortiz to shortstop.

It’s a change from where the team was leaning late last week. Murphy said a few days ago that they were strongly considering bumping Turang up the defensive spectrum while playing Ortiz at second. Turang subsequently reported minor shoulder soreness. The Brewers sent him for an MRI, which came back clean. It’s not expected to impact his readiness for Opening Day, but the club understandably doesn’t want to push things by having him take the longer throws from the left side of the diamond.

“I think Joey’s more than capable, and we were really splitting hairs when we flipped (to Turang at shortstop),” Murphy explained. It had seemed back-and-forth throughout camp. That’s the luxury of having two top-tier defensive infielders even after Willy Adames’ free agent departure. Turang is coming off a Gold Glove and Platinum Glove winning season at second base. Ortiz tied Matt Chapman for the league lead in Outs Above Average at third base. Both players were viewed as potential plus shortstops while coming through the minor leagues.

The Ortiz-Turang pairing should remain one of the best defensive middle infield duos in the majors. They’ll need someone to step up at third base with Ortiz moving over. Oliver Dunn, who hit .221/.282/.316 in his first 41 MLB games last season, has had an excellent spring and will probably get the first look. He has dramatically outplayed Caleb Durbin and Tyler Black in camp. The out-of-options Vinny Capra has had a fantastic Spring Training. That gives him a strong chance to stick on the active roster — especially if Milwaukee options Durbin and/or Black — but Capra’s minor league numbers suggest he’s better suited in a utility role.

Tobias Myers To Start Season On IL Due To Oblique Strain

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March 17: Myers will start the season on the IL due to an oblique strain, as expected. Manager Pat Murphy relayed the news to Hogg today, though he still seemed optimistic that it will be a brief absence, saying that a return in April “could be in play.”

March 15: The Brewers suffered what could be a brutal blow to their rotation today when right-hander Tobias Myers exited today’s game against the Angels with left oblique discomfort, as noted by Curt Hogg of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Myers suggested to reporters after the game that the issue “seems mild,” but Hogg adds that Myers is set to undergo imaging tomorrow but is likely to require a stint on the injured list given the nature of oblique issues, which often require a month-long absence even for mild strains.

Myers, 26, enjoyed a phenomenal rookie season with the Brewers last year. A sixth-round pick by the Orioles back in 2016, he bounced through the Rays, Giants, Guardians, and White Sox organizations over the years before finally landing in Milwaukee and getting a shot at the big league level. He made the most of the opportunity, pitching his way into a rotation role and sticking there with an excellent 3.00 ERA in 138 innings of work. His peripheral numbers were slightly less rosy, with a 3.91 FIP, a 3.99 SIERA, and a 4.22 xERA all suggesting the righty is more of a mid-rotation or back-end starter than the 140 ERA+ production he offered last year might initially suggest. Even so, Myers figured to be a key piece of the Brewers this year as a stalwart of the club’s rotation.

That may now be set to change, at least for the beginning of the season. If Myers does wind up missing time, it’s a worrisome way for the club to start the 2025 campaign. Myers would join Brandon Woodruff, Aaron Ashby, DL Hall, and Robert Gasser on the injured list to open the season. While Freddy Peralta, Nestor Cortes, and Aaron Civale all appear to be healthy and on track to begin the season on time, there’s little certainty beyond that group.

MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy notes that while veteran left-hander Jose Quintana has not been ruled out for Opening Day, it’s possible the southpaw will need to spend some time in extended Spring Training before he’s ready to begin the season.  Quintana, 36, signed with the Brewers earlier this month and is about a week behind the rest of the club’s healthy pitchers after getting a late start to Spring Training. The Brewers won’t necessarily need a fifth starter until April 2 against the Royals, which provides the club some flexibility as Quintana builds up to game readiness. With that being said, it does the club no favors when it comes to finding a replacement for Myers in the rotation.

Should Myers require a trip to the shelf, McCalvy suggests that left-hander Tyler Alexander or right-hander Elvin Rodriguez could be leaned on to make starts. Neither of those are particularly inspiring options for more than a spot start or two. Alexander has had some solid years as a swing man with the Tigers and Rays over the years, but his 4.60 ERA across 52 career starts leaves much to be desired. Meanwhile, Rodriguez has just 33 innings of 9.55 ERA under his belt in the majors. Other options could include non-roster invitee Bruce Zimmermann, who pitched to a 4.16 ERA in the minors for the Orioles last year, or a prospect like Jacob Misiorowski. The young righty has just 17 2/3 innings of experience at the Triple-A level, making him a less than ideal candidate to jump to the majors right away, but other prospects like Chad Patrick could be more realistic options.

Brewers Considering Brice Turang At Shortstop, Joey Ortiz At Second Base

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Once Willy Adames officially ended his Brewers tenure by signing with the Giants, the conventional wisdom was that Joey Ortiz would move from third base take over the shortstop position, as Ortiz had been a standout defensive shortstop during his time in the Orioles’ farm system.  Indeed, Ortiz got the bulk of looks at shortstop for most of Spring Training, but in recent days, the Brewers have been going with a new alignment of Ortiz at second base, and Brice Turang moving from the keystone over to shortstop.

Manager Pat Murphy stressed that the situation was still very much in flux, telling MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy and other reports that “We haven’t made a final decision.  I haven’t made a final decision.  I really believe in looking at all of it, taking in all the information and listening to others.  I was dead set on, ’Turang is going to be our second baseman, and Ortiz can handle short.’ I still believe that.  But, then we toyed with this new setup and I was like, ’This might be better for everybody.’ ”

There is nothing stopping the experimentation from continuing into the regular season, though McCalvy writes that the team wants “Turang and Ortiz set at their positions as much as possible, rather than moving around.”  Milwaukee used 108 different defensive lineups during the 2024 season, yet the cornerstones of that shifting lineup were Adames at shortstop, Turang at second base, William Contreras at catcher, and Ortiz with 124 of the starts at third base.  Ortiz did make six appearances at second base last year, as well as one appearance as a shortstop.

Turang was a Gold Glove and Platinum Glove winner last season as a second baseman, with public defensive metrics (+22 Defensive Runs Saved, +6 Outs Above Average, +2.1 UZR/150) all wowed by his work at the position.  Ortiz was also excellent at third base, posting +8 DRS, +11 OAA, and a +5.0 UZR/150 in 1098 1/3 innings at the hot corner.  Against this backdrop of success, the Brewers naturally face some risk in rocking the boat too much on what is already a strong defensive alignment, even if there seems to be little doubt that Turang or Ortiz would adapt well to new positions.

In explaining why Ortiz might be an ideal fit at second base, Murphy noted that “We ask our second basemen to do a lot.  What I mean by that is when you play the middle of the diamond the way we play our second basemen for most all right-handed hitters, and the ground we ask them to cover, it’s not too awfully different than short.  The number of times you end up throwing a ball from the outfield to a base, the number of times you end up directing a ball in a first-and-third steal situation, the number of times you wind up touching the ball because you’re turning two.”

As for third base, Oliver Dunn has been making a strong bid for the job with a big Cactus League performance.  Dunn made his MLB debut last season and hit .221/.282/.316 over 104 plate appearances, playing primarily as a third baseman before a back injury cut short his season in mid-June.

Dunn is a left-handed hitter, so Caleb Durbin (acquired from the Yankees in the Devin Williams trade) was thought to be the top candidate for at least a platoon role at the hot corner.  However, Durbin hasn’t hit much this spring, while an unheralded option in Vinny Capra has been tearing the cover off the ball.  Capra has a .439 OPS over all of 37 career PA at the big league level, and his .271/.366/.384 career slash line in 984 Triple-A plate appearances is uninspiring but respectable.  Because Capra is out of minor league options, the Brewers would have to sneak him through waivers in order to send him down to Triple-A, which might help his chances of breaking camp with the team if the decision is made to give Durbin more seasoning in the minors.

Offseason In Review: Milwaukee Brewers

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The Brewers followed a heartbreaking postseason exit with an offseason punctuated by the departure of a franchise shortstop, the trade of a star closer, and severe payroll restrictions from ownership.

Major League Signings

2025 spending: $6.15MM
Total spending: $6.15MM

Option Decisions

Trades and Waiver Claims

Extensions

  • None

Minor League Signings

Notable Losses

The Brewers didn't come right out and say it, but their early offseason activity was a portent for what became a glaring, obvious lack of financial resources for the baseball operations department. The decisions to decline pricey options on injured lefty Wade Miley (who had Tommy John surgery in late April) and backup catcher Gary Sanchez didn't come as a surprise.

However, many Milwaukee fans were surprised to see the team place righty Colin Rea on outright waivers when he was a net $4.5MM call for them. The decision was perhaps justified originally when Rea cleared waivers and had his option declined, but the $5MM deal he eventually signed with the Cubs was larger than the net amount he'd have cost the Brewers to retain. The Brewers followed that with another somewhat surprising move to non-tender southpaw reliever Hoby Milner, who was projected for a $2.7MM salary. The 34-year-old's 4.73 ERA was rocky, of course, but he posted terrific K-BB% numbers and had given the Brew Crew 129 innings of 2.79 ERA ball across the 2022-23 seasons.

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Brewers’ Thomas Pannone Shut Down Due To Torn Flexor Tendon

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Left-hander Thomas Pannone suffered a torn flexor tendon during the Brewers’ Cactus League game against the Guardians last Sunday.  MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy writes that Pannone won’t throw for at least a month while recovering, though surgery isn’t being considered at this time.

While it appears as though Pannone may have avoided the worst with his injury, it still erases whatever chance the southpaw had of making the Brewers’ Opening Day roster.  Pannone is out of minor league options, so his inevitable placement on the injured list will at least allow him to stick in Milwaukee’s organization without being exposed to the waiver wire, even if a claim might be unlikely given Pannone’s current health concerns.

Pannone (who turns 31 in April) signed a minor league deal with the Brew Crew back in November, returning to the organization after previously pitching for Milwaukee during the 2023 campaign.  Working mostly with Triple-A Nashville, Pannone had a 2.70 ERA in 53 1/3 innings in the minors, and he also tossed 2 2/2 innings in a single MLB game for the Brewers.  That marked Pannone’s only big league appearance since 2019 when he was a member of the Blue Jays.

The Brewers released Pannone that July so he could sign with the Kia Tigers of the Korea Baseball Organization (also his second KBO stint).  Returning to North American baseball last winter, Pannone spent the 2024 season pitching with the Cubs’ and Yankees’ Triple-A affiliates.  With a 3.54 ERA over 152 1/3 combined innings at the Triple-A level last season, Pannone made a good accounting of himself, but he didn’t receive another call to the Show.

Even if Pannone was probably ticketed for a depth role in Nashville, his flexor tendon problem adds to the increasingly long list of injuries hitting Brewers starters this spring.  Aaron Ashby will miss a couple of weeks recovering from an oblique strain, and a lat strain sent DL Hall to the 60-day injured list.  Since Milwaukee is taking it easy with Brandon Woodruff as he returns from a season-long injury absence, the Brewers addressed the lack of starting depth by signing Jose Quintana to a one-year, $4.25MM guarantee earlier this week.

Aaron Ashby Shut Down For Two Weeks, Expects To Build Back Up As Starter

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Brewers southpaw Aaron Ashby has been sidelined by an oblique strain that’s likely to keep him on the shelf to begin the season, but the lefty did get some good news on his latest wave of imaging. Per Adam McCalvy of MLB.com, the second opinion on Ashby’s most recent MRI was more favorable than the first. He’ll be shut down for two weeks and then anticipates that he’ll resume building up as a starter.

That the plan for him is to continue stretching out as a starter isn’t a huge surprise, given Milwaukee’s need for rotation depth. The Brewers just inked Jose Quintana on a one-year deal, but they also lost lefty DL Hall to the 60-day injured list and will be without Brandon Woodruff for the beginning of the season as he continues a slow build back from a significant 2023 shoulder surgery.

At present, the Milwaukee rotation includes Freddy Peralta, Aaron Civale, Nestor Cortes, Tobias Myers and Quintana. The Brewers also signed veteran swingman Tyler Alexander to a one-year deal last month, but the Quintana signing likely pushed him to the bullpen.

Depth options beyond that group are inexperienced. Righties Logan Henderson and Chad Patrick are on the 40-man roster but have yet to make their MLB debuts. Young righty Carlos Rodriguez has a dozen MLB frames to his credit. Fellow right-hander Elvin Rodriguez, who signed after a nice showing as a reliever in Japan, has all of 33 MLB innings. Non-roster options include Bruce Zimmermann and Thomas Pannone, neither of whom has had a sustained run of success in the majors. Top prospect Jacob Misiorowski will probably get a look in 2025, but he’s a 2022 second-rounder with only 170 pro innings to his name — just 17 of them coming in Triple-A.

It seems as though Ashby could be throwing before the end of spring training and thus could head out on a Triple-A rehab assignment early in the season. A mid- or late-April return seems plausible, barring setbacks. Ashby himself hasn’t quite solidified a spot in the majors, though he pitched quite well in 28 1/3 innings last year — mostly in relief. He’s oscillated between the rotation and the bullpen in Milwaukee through parts of three MLB seasons over a four-year span.

Entering the 2021 season, Ashby was among the Brewers’ top-ranked prospects. He showed promise in his rookie campaign, posting a pedestrian 4.55 ERA in 31 2/3 innings but punching out better than 29% of his opponents against a serviceable 9% walk rate. For a 23-year-old who’d just set down a gaudy 36% of his Triple-A opponents on strikes, it was a solid debut.

Ashby continued down a similar track in 2022. Though he was sporting a mid-4.00s ERA in July, he’d turned in excellent strikeout numbers and moved into the Milwaukee rotation. The Brewers and Ashby agreed to a five-year, $20.5MM extension that summer, which looked to lock the southpaw in as a foundational piece of the pitching staff.

As is too often the case for young pitchers, injuries intervened. Ashby hit the injured list with shoulder inflammation just one month after signing his contract. He returned for the final couple weeks of the season and pitched quite well. Further shoulder woes surfaced in 2023, however, and he missed most of the season with an impingement and a tear in his labrum.

Despite debuting in 2021, Ashby has only 167 1/3 big league innings. Though he’s yet to claim a long-term spot in the rotation, the fact that he’ll build back up as a starter once his oblique injury calms down suggests that he could get that opportunity this year. Presumably, a healthy Ashby would be one of the first names called if the Brewers incur an injury elsewhere following his return (depending on Woodruff’s status at that time). Ashby is still under contract through 2027, and the team holds a pair of club options on him for 2028 and 2029.

MLBTR Podcast: Jose Quintana, Luis Gil’s Injury, The Nats’ TV Situation, Salary Floor Talk, And More!

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The latest episode of the MLB Trade Rumors Podcast is now live on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your podcasts! Make sure you subscribe as well! You can also use the player at this link to listen, if you don’t use Spotify or Apple for podcasts.

This week, host Darragh McDonald is joined by Anthony Franco of MLB Trade Rumors to discuss…

Plus, we answer your questions, including…

  • With MASN now solved and stadium naming rights and jersey patches on the way do you see the Nationals making the leap into big spenders sooner than later? (12:30)
  • Do you see the MLBPA pushing for a salary floor? (22:05)
  • Will the White Sox trade Luis Robert Jr. before the start of the regular season? (25:20)
  • While neither is particularly likely, is it more probable that the Pirates extend Paul Skenes or the Reds extend Elly De La Cruz? (27:40)
  • What is your opinion of the White Sox upper management and will they lose 100 games this year? (30:45)
  • The Mets are loaded with infield prospects. Do they trade Jeff McNeil to make room? (37:30)
  • With the Tigers’ outfield injuries, do they go get a right-handed bat? And who is available? (42:00)
  • With the Mariners bringing back most of their position players, what are the chances they get better production from them in 2025? (44:30)
  • Does David Bote have a legitimate shot to make the Dodgers’ roster? (50:35)
  • Why doesn’t MLB expand to 36 teams instead of just 32? (51:35)

Check out our past episodes!

The podcast intro and outro song “So Long” is provided courtesy of the band Showoff.  Check out their Facebook page here!

Brewers Sign Jose Quintana

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March 5: The Brewers made it official today, announcing that they have signed Quintana to a one-year deal with a mutual option for 2026. DL Hall was placed on the 60-day IL to open a roster spot. Per Jon Heyman of The New York Post, it’s a $2MM salary in 2025 with a deferred $2MM buyout on a $15MM mutual option for 2026 and a $250K roster bonus. The incentives are $125K each for 16, 18, 20, 22 and 24 games started, as well as $100K for 110, 120, 130 and 140 innings pitched.

March 3: The Brewers are making a veteran addition to their rotation. Milwaukee is reportedly in agreement with Jose Quintana on a one-year, $4.25MM deal. That takes the form of a $250K roster bonus and a $4MM base salary for the ACES client. The signing, which has not been made official by the team, also includes incentives. The Brewers have a full 40-man roster and will need to make a corresponding move once the deal is finalized.

Quintana, 36, is one of the top unsigned free agents as the regular season is just over three weeks away at this point. He just finished a two-year, $26MM deal with the Mets that saw him post solid surface-level results, though with the numbers under the hood a bit less impressive.

In 2023, a left rib fracture put him on the injured list at the start of the season and kept him there until the middle of July. He returned in time to make 13 starts down the stretch, allowing 3.57 earned runs per nine innings, though his strikeout rate fell to 18.8%. Last year, he stayed healthy enough to take the ball 31 times for the Mets and logged 170 1/3 innings with a 3.75 ERA. But his strikeout was again a tepid 18.8% and he benefited from .263 batting average on balls in play. His 4.56 FIP and 4.57 SIERA on the year both pointed to him deserving worse results than he actually posted.

Prior to signing with the Mets, Quintana had engineered a strong bounceback season. After struggling with injuries and underperformance in 2020 and 2021, the lefty posted a 2.93 ERA over 32 starts in 2022. In that bounceback year, he had a 20.2% strikeout rate, 6.9% walk rate and 46.4% ground ball rate. Since then, he has a 3.70 ERA over 246 innings but with his 18.8% strikeout rate, 8.4% walk rate and 45.6% ground ball rate each moving slightly in the wrong direction.

Quintana’s isn’t the most exciting profile, but even getting some boring back-of-the-rotation innings could be good for the Brewers, especially for the price. At the start of the winter, MLBTR predicted the lefty to secure a two-year, $20MM contract, alongside other mid-rotation or back-end guys like Frankie Montas, Andrew Heaney or Matthew Boyd.

The pitching market was very aggressive early on, with Montas able to get a two-year, $34MM guarantee plus an opt-out from the Mets. Boyd got two years and $29MM from the Cubs. But the heat died down more recently, which seems to have squeezed out certain guys. Heaney had to settle for a $5.25MM guarantee from the Pirates on a one-year deal. Quintana reportedly turned down a better offer than that Heaney deal from the Bucs but is now joining Milwaukee on a fairly similar arrangement.

The Brewers have clearly been operating with no financial wiggle room this winter. Prior to signing Quintana, their biggest free agent signing was giving a $1MM guarantee to Tyler Alexander. They did add Nestor Cortes in a trade with the Yankees, but that deal was fairly revenue-neutral, with Devin Williams going the other way.

Their rotation mix has a few question marks in it. Robert Gasser required Tommy John surgery in June of last year and will be out of action until the second half of 2025. Brandon Woodruff is working his way back from shoulder surgery which wiped out his 2024 campaign and it’s unclear when he will be a viable option. DL Hall suffered a lat strain a few weeks ago and will start the season on the injured list.

As of now, Freddy Peralta and Cortes have spots alongside Aaron Civale and Tobias Myers. Civale tossed 161 innings last year but that was a personal best for him, having never hit 125 frames in a big league season before. Myers posted an ERA of 3.00 in his first big league action but was a nomadic former prospect prior to that, so it remains to be seen if he can maintain his results or if his 2024 was a fluke.

Other options in the mix include Alexander and Aaron Ashby. Alexander has a 4.55 ERA in his career but mostly in a swing role, oscillating between starting and relieving. This Quintana deal should push him more firmly into that position again. Ashby, who left today’s Spring Training appearance with an oblique injury, has some starting experience but struggled through much of 2024 before finishing strong in a relief role. He is still a starting candidate but he could eventually end up back in the bullpen and also has an option year remaining, which could push him to the Triple-A rotation.

Even if Quintana’s results in 2024 were a bit of a mirage and he ends up with an ERA in the mid-4.00s this year, a steady veteran presence at this price is a logical add for a club with so many rotation question marks and little spending capacity.

For clubs still looking to add starting pitching at this late stage of the offseason, there are still a few unsigned options, including Kyle Gibson, Lance Lynn and Spencer Turnbull. The trade market could feature Jordan Montgomery and Taijuan Walker, though their salaries are much larger than what free agents have been settling for in recent weeks.

Robert Murray of FanSided first reported that the Brewers were signing Quintana to a one-year deal. Francys Romero reported that the salary would land in the $4-5MM range and the presence of incentives. Mark Feinsand of MLB.com had the specific $4.25MM guarantee and salary structure.

Brewers Place DL Hall On 60-Day Injured List

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The Brewers announced that left-hander DL Hall has been placed on the 60-day injured list. Adam McCalvy of MLB.com was among those to relay the news. That means Hall has been officially ruled out until late May at the earliest. That’s the corresponding move to open a roster spot for lefty Jose Quintana, who has now been officially signed.

Back on February 12th, it was reported that Hall had a lat strain and was going to be shut down for at least the next two weeks. It has now been three weeks since that reporting with little information coming out about his progress. About a week ago, McCalvy relayed that Hall had not even been cleared to start playing catch. Manager Pat Murphy tells McCalvy today that Hall is expected to resume playing catch at the end of this week.

Given the sluggish progress and this transaction, it seems the Brewers don’t expect Hall to return anytime soon. Players can be placed on the 60-day IL once pitchers and catchers report to camp but the clock doesn’t start ticking until Opening Day, so Hall won’t be eligible for reinstatement until late May even in a best-case scenario.

It’s an unfortunate development for Hall, who hasn’t been able to build a decent workload. He still doesn’t have a 100-inning season on his track record as a professional. With the Orioles in 2022 and 2023, they shuttled him between the majors and minors as well as the rotation and the bullpen. He was traded to the Brewers as part of the Corbin Burnes deal ahead of the 2024 season and Milwaukee mostly deployed him as a starter last year, but a knee sprain capped him at 84 frames, majors and minors combined.

The Brewers still have hope of Hall becoming a viable starter one day, given that he’s a former top 100 prospect and was a key part of the Burnes deal. He could still have a nice season in 2025 but starting it with a lengthy IL stint isn’t ideal.

For the Brewers, they will have some rotation question marks to start the season, though the Quintana signing helps to solidify the group. Alongside Quintana will be Freddy Peralta, Tobias Myers, Aaron Civale and Nestor Cortes. They will add Brandon Woodruff in there at some point, though his timeline is unclear after he spent 2024 recovering from shoulder surgery. Aaron Ashby has an oblique strain and is still getting tested, per Curt Hogg of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, but seems likely to start the season on the IL. Robert Gasser is already on the 60-day IL as he recovers from last year’s Tommy John surgery.

Behind the front five, the Brewers currently have Logan Henderson, Carlos Rodríguez, Chad Patrick and Elvin Rodríguez as healthy options on the 40-man roster. However, Henderson and Patrick have no major league experience while the Rodríguezes have just 45 1/3 big league innings combined. Jacob Misiorowski is one of the top prospects in baseball but isn’t on the 40-man and walked 14.4% of batters faced last year.

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