The Milwaukee Brewers have signed former San Diego Padres and Seattle Mariners catcher Austin Nola to a minor league deal. He'll get an invitation to spring training.
Per Brewers' reporter Adam McCalvy:
The Brewers have signed C Austin Nola to a Minor League deal with an invitation to big league camp. The 34-year-old became a free agent when the Padres non-tendered him in November.
Nola has played parts of five years in the big leagues with the Mariners and the Padres, helping San Diego get to the playoffs in the COVID 2020 season and to the NLCS in 2022.
He made his major league debut with Seattle in 2019 and became a fan-favorite until he was traded during that 2020 season. Lifetime, he's a .249 hitter with 24 homers and 136 RBI. He's known as a better hitter than a defender, so if he's able to make the Brewers roster, he could provide some good pop from the catcher, first base or DH position.
However, he is coming off a massive down year in San Diego, leading to questions about where his skillset is at at the age of 34. He hit just .146 in 52 games during the 2023 season. He had only one home run and eight RBI. That led to the Padres non-tendering him.
The Brewers currently have three other catchers on the 40-man roster: William Contreras, Eric Haase and Jeferson Quero.
Haase was just signed this offseason while Quero is the organization's No. 2 ranked prospect overall.
Milwaukee won the NL Central in 2023.
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