Brewers Likely Stuck With Jackie Bradley Jr. In 2022 For Better Or Worse

The 2021 regular season was Jackie Bradley Jr.’s first in a Milwaukee Brewers uniform.

The 31-year-old came over to Milwaukee after spending the first chunk of his career with the Boston Red Sox, and many Brewers fans had high hopes for his impact.

Unfortunately, things did not go as planned for Bradley during his first season with the Brewers.

And barring a surprise, the club is likely going to be stuck with the former first-round pick for another season.

Here’s what you need to know about Bradley’s contract situation.

Bradley Has A Player Option For 2022, And He’s Likely Going To Exercise It

When Bradley and the Brewers decided to link up last offseason, the two sides agreed to a two-year deal worth $24 million.

The second year of the deal is a player option, meaning it’s entirely up to Bradley whether or not he returns to Milwaukee in 2022 (unless the Brewers make the decision to buy him out of the deal for $6.5 million, which is possible due to the way the contract is structured).

Player options are risky for clubs.

Whenever a team includes a player option on a deal, there’s always the possibility of the player underachieving in the years leading up to the option.

When that happens, the player typically exercises the option, because the odds of the player getting a better deal on the open market are low.

In Bradley’s case, that’s likely going to be the way this unfolds.

The outfielder had a brutal 2021 season, and the salary on his player option for 2022 is likely much bigger than the figures he’d get offered on the open market.

He’s almost certainly going to exercise the option and return to the team.

Bradley’s 2021 Season At A Glance

We keep mentioning how poor Bradley’s season was, but let’s take a look at the numbers.

He appeared in 134 games and racked up 428 plate appearances, so the sample size wasn’t small by any means.

The University of South Carolina product slashed .163/.236/.261.

He posted a historically bad OPS+ of 34 and finished with a WAR of -0.7.