Brewers have contract decisions to make soon
Friday is the day teams must tender contracts to players for the 2018 season, and the Milwaukee Brewers have some interesting decisions to mull.
The Brewers have seven players remaining in salary arbitration, and those are usually the players who fall into the possible non-tender group.
Relievers Corey Knebel, Jared Hughes and Jeremy Jeffress, starting pitcher Jimmy Nelson, catcher Stephen Vogt and infielders Hernán Pérez and Jonathan Villar are the Brewers' remaining players eligible for arbitration, which usually portends a significant raise in salary.
Knebel, eligible as a "Super 2" player (in the top 22% of players with between two and three years of major-league service) is eligible for the first time and definitely will get a contract after emerging in 2017 as one of the top closers in the National League. After making $538,900 last season, he is projected to approach a $4 million salary in arbitration.
Nelson is coming off shoulder surgery and will miss the beginning of the 2018 season, but before suffering a torn labrum he established himself as the de facto ace of the rotation (12-6, 3.49 ERA) and also is certainly to be tendered. He made $547,000 in '17 and is projected to jump above $4 million.
Villar went from a breakthrough 2016 to a disappointing season (.241 batting average, .293 on-base percentage, 11 HRs, 40 RBI, 23 steals) but also is expected to receive a contract offer. The team has not given up on him yet and would be afraid he'd go elsewhere and bounce back. He made $554,500 last season and would get a sizable raise through arbitration despite the reduced production.
Pérez has established himself as a valuable utility player and also should get a contract offer despite seeing decreased playing time in the outfield as the 2017 season progressed. Pérez, who batted .259 with 14 HRs, 51 RBI and 13 steals, also would get a sizable raise from his $545,700 salary in his first year of arbitration.
The more interesting decisions will come with Hughes, Jeffress and Vogt. Hughes (3.02 ERA in 67 games) and Jeffress (3.65 ERA in 22 games) both performed well, but the Brewers likely would prefer deals on their own terms rather than going to arbitration. Hughes had a $950,000 salary but could go above $2 million in arbitration, and Jeffress also would get a bump from his $2.1 million salary.
The Brewers probably have been trying to do pre-deadline deals with those two relievers, to get them at the club's price.
Vogt is most likely to be non-tendered. Acquired during the season in a waiver claim from Oakland, he made an impact as a left-handed bat, hitting .254 with eight home runs and 20 RBI in 45 games. But he is a defensive liabil- ity (Brewers' opponents stole 27 bases in 28 attempts), is 33 years old and had a $2.965 million salary, which is certain to go up in arbitration.
The Brewers could pass on Vogt and allow Jett Bandy and Andrew Susac to battle for the No. 2 job behind Manny Piña next season.
The deadline to offer contracts to players for 2018 is 7 p.m. Central on Friday. Players not offered contracts immediately become free agents.
The Brewers originally had nine players in arbitration but signed righthander Chase Anderson to a contract extension and removed reliever Carlos Torres from their roster, making him a free agent.