Suter agrees to a two-year contract
PHOENIX - Brent Suter won't be going to that arbitration hearing on Monday after all.
One day before the sides were scheduled to argue their cases before a threeperson panel, Suter and the Milwaukee Brewers agreed Sunday on a two-year deal to avoid arbitration. The deal guarantees Suter at least $2.5 million, including a $100,000 signing bonus and salaries of $900,000 this year and $1.5 million in 2021.
Suter's salary in '21 increases by $50,000 for each of the following level of innings in '20: 80, 100, 120, 140 and 160.
The last remaining Brewers player eligible for arbitration, Suter had filed a salary request of $1,250,000, with the team submitting an offer of $825,000. That didn't leave a huge gap to close and the sides obviously kept negotiating to avoid the hearing.
“Just super grateful,” Suter said of avoiding a hearing. “I'm really glad we were able to get something done. I think it's a fair deal. I love the organization, I love our coaches, my teammates, our fans, and I want to be part of the Brewers family for a while.
“This is a great step toward that.” Suter, 30, missed the first five months of last season while recovering from Tommy John reconstructive elbow surgery but was a huge contributor as the Brewers made a September surge to claim the National League's second wild-card berth.
In nine relief outings covering 181⁄3 innings, he went 4-0 with a 0.49 earned run average and also pitched a scoreless inning while protecting a 3-1 lead against Washington in the wild-card game that slipped away in the eighth inning.
“Brent's been a great Brewer, and he's someone who's done everything we've asked of him,” president of baseball operations David Stearns said. “He's been bounced back and forth from Triple-A; he's been bounced back and forth from the rotation to the 'pen.
“He's undergone a really unfortunate injury that he's battled hard to get back from and he obviously contributed a great deal to our stretch run last year. It's a good day for us, a good day for him and his family. And when you get to those types of agreements that work for everyone, it's rewarding for everyone.” Suter echoed Stearns' sentiments. “I really appreciate them giving me that type of security and the secondyear guarantee coming off injury,” he said. “I can't thank them enough, and thank the fans enough for their support throughout the whole thing; my teammates enough, coaches enough through the whole process of injuries.
“No one wants to get injured. It's a stinky process, but to come through it and have them reach out with this level of confidence, it means a lot.”
In 65 appearances for the Brewers, including 34 starts, Suter is 17-11 with a 3.83 ERA with Milwaukee. He's bucked the odds even making it to the major leagues, considering he was a 31stround pick out of Harvard in 2012.
“He's a special person in how he does it. It's just so unique,” manager Craig Counsell said. “Stories like that give a lot of guys hope. It's a little bit untraditional, both in how he does it and how he got here.
“It gives a lot of guys trying to do the same thing, be it in college or in the facility on the other side of the facility, to do it.”
Added Stearns: “It's not by accident; he's worked really hard at this. He's perfected his craft and he's improved his craft over the last couple years, and even if it doesn't look exactly like a lot of other guys in the big leagues, he's consistently proven he's belonged.”
The Brewers won their other arbitration case with reliever Josh Hader, who received their $4.1 million offer instead of his $6.4 million request.
Yelich flips switch to baseball
Christian Yelich wasted no time getting from the NBA dunk contest to the Brewers spring training complex.
On Saturday night, the 2018 National League most valuable player was a willing accomplice to the Milwaukee Bucks' Pat Connaughton as he competed with three others in the annual mid-season dunk competition in Chicago. After taking a private plane overnight, there he was, bright and early Sunday morning, in the Brewers' clubhouse at American Family Fields of Phoenix.
“It was fun; it was a great night,” Yelich said of his first NBA all-star experience. “I really enjoyed it. Pat did a great job and I'm thankful that he invited me and let me be a part of it. I thought he deserved a little higher score there on that first dunk but he still put on a heck of a show and did a great job.”
On the aforementioned dunk, Yelich – wearing a replica Bucks Kareem Abdul-Jabbar jersey No. 33 – stood near the basket holding a basketball behind his head. Connaughton ran up from behind, leaped over Yelich while grabbing the basketball, then cleanly slammed it home on his first attempt.
A five-person celebrity judging panel gave Connaughton a 45 out of 50, a score that would lead to first-round elimination despite a second-dunk score of 50 when leaping over teammate Giannis Antetokounmpo in similar style, but also tapping the ball off the backboard before dunking it.
“I thought the first dunk he was robbed on a little bit,” said Counsell, who admitted he watched on TV primarily because of Yelich's participation. “It was almost because he did it on the first try, or something like that. He needed more time on screen for them to soak it all in. I didn't realize they only got two shots at it.”
Asked if he were nervous about Connaughton jumping over him, Yelich said, “No, I didn't have anything to be nervous about on that one. I was just standing there trying to keep still and hold the ball the right way, so I didn't mess it up for him. It was cool. There was great energy in the stadium. For him to do it right on the first try, it was fun to watch.
“If he made it farther, I would have had a little bit more responsibility on another one.”
The plan for that round would have involved Connaughton holding a basketball in one hand and a wearing a baseball glove on the other. Yelich said he would have flipped a baseball in the air, with Connaughton catching it, doing a 360 and then dunking the basketball.
Connaughton played baseball at Notre Dame, as did Counsell, and was drafted by Baltimore in the fourth round of the 2014 major-league draft. He played minor-league ball that season but switched to basketball when taken in the second round of the 2015 NBA draft by Brooklyn, which then traded him to Portland.
“I wouldn't say (I knew him) well but I met him a few times and we have a bit of a baseball connection there,” Yelich said. “He's a great dude. I'm really thankful that he invited me because it was a cool experience.”
Told that Connaughton revealed he briefly thought of inviting Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers as well to have a third MVP on hand, Yelich said, “That would have been cool. It's a good time for sports in Wisconsin right now. Pat put on a show. He really did. I'm biased but Pat deserved a higher score on his first dunk.
“The costume (Connaughton dressed like Woody Harrelson's character in the move “White Men Can't Jump”) and the story line with it, that should have gotten him an extra point or two but what are you going to do? He still did a great job. Everything was perfect. He handed me the ball and said, ‘Are you ready, man?' And I was like, ‘Are you ready?'
“It was a show. All of those guys were incredible. And to be able to see it live, in person and up close, I'll never be able to do anything close to that. It was awesome. I don't even know how to describe it because they make things that aren't that easy, look easy.
“I guess that night is comparable to the (all-star) home run derby in baseball. There's a lot of energy. Everybody seemed to be having a great time. It was one of those things I did because it's a once-in-a-lifetime experience. When else would I be able to take part in a dunk contest?”
The NBA all-star experience was even more meaningful to Yelich because the weekend was dedicated to superstar Kobe Bryant, killed on Jan. 26 with a daughter and seven others in a helicopter crash in the Los Angeles area. Yelich grew up in Thousand Oaks, not far from the crash site.
“It was really close to where I grew up and where I live now,” Yelich said. “That's the exit I get off every day. There was a huge police presence there when we got back (the night of the crash) from fan fest (Brewers On Deck) that night. It was kind of surreal.
“I grew up watching Kobe. I grew up going to games at the Staples Center. He
was the Lakers and he was the NBA for a while. It was obviously super sad, not only for Kobe's family but for all the families involved. There were a lot of Kobe tributes (Saturday) night. Kobe was a huge part of my childhood.”
Of the opportunities that have come his way off the field since joining the Brewers and rising to the top of the game, Yelich said, “My view on it has always been if it doesn't take you away from baseball or your ability to prepare – I like to keep my same routine, I take pride in that – I don't see anything wrong with expanding your horizons a little bit and doing some different things.
“That was one of them. That's part of my decision-making process. And if it's a once-in-a-lifetime thing, you have to do it. This falls under all those categories, and I'm really glad I did it.”
Now, it's on to baseball for Yelich, including the first full-squad workout Tuesday. He has been medically cleared to go full-speed after ending the 2019 season with a broken right kneecap, the result of fouling a pitch off it on Sept. 10 in Miami.
“I feel like this is a regular spring training for me,” he said. “I feel fine. Just walking in here normal was really cool.”