For the second straight offseason, veteran southpaw Alex Claudio has signed with an organization on a minor league contract. Prior to the start of the 2022 season, he signed with the Mets. This year, he signed with the Milwaukee Brewers, and his contract includes an invitation to spring training.
Claudio had previously spent the 2019 and 2020 seasons with the Brew Crew.
As a member of the Brewers, Claudio posted a 4.06 ERA in 2021 and 4.26 in 2020. He led the league in appearances in 2021 with 83. The soft-tossing left-handed pitcher has a deceptive delivery and generates a lot of ground balls courtesy of his primary pitch, a sinker. He has a career 59.8% ground-ball rate and tends to throw in the mid-80s velocity-wise.
Prior to arriving in Milwaukee, Claudio made a name for himself as a member of the Texas Rangers. He posted four straight seasons of ERAs under 3.00 until a 4.48 ERA in 2018. That offseason, he was traded to the Brewers.
After leaving Milwaukee, Claudio went onto pitch in the major leagues for the Angels and Mets. He threw just three big league innings in 2022 and spent most of his time at the Triple-A level. At Syracuse in 2022, he had a 3.91 ERA in 48.1 innings pitched.
Claudio’s signing with the Brewers is likely a move to improve their pitching depth. Last year, left-handed-throwing Hoby Milner became a good option out of the bullpen, and he excelled at not allowing inherited runners to score. The Brewers have also added several new pitchers to the 40-man roster who will also be competing for bullpen roles.
Because Claudio’s deal is a minor league deal, he likely will begin the year in Triple-A. He could be a dark-horse candidate to make the big league roster out of camp, but it would take an incredible run during spring training in order to do so.
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