The Milwaukee Brewers may be in the market for starting pitching this offseason. Brandon Woodruff recently underwent shoulder surgery and may miss all of 2024, Wade Miley has a $10M mutual option, Adrian Houser is projected to make $5.6M in arbitration, and of course, there is the dilemma of what to do with Corbin Burnes.
They do have some pitchers near MLB-ready in the farm system. Robert Gasser is arguably the "most" ready, but pitchers like Carlos Rodriguez and Jacob Misiorowski are not too far behind.
It’s possible that a few of these players factor into the Brewers 2024 plans, but depending upon what happens with the guys mentioned in the introduction, adding a few veteran pitchers through free agency may be something that they consider doing.
Here, we will take a further look at three external options that the Brewers could consider. These are all veteran players who have estimated market values under $10M and they may not receive multi-year contracts.
- Option #1: LHP Hyun-Jin Ryu
At age 36, Hyun-Jin Ryu made a successful return to the mound in 2023 after undergoing Tommy John surgery in 2022. He ended up making 11 starts for the Toronto Blue Jays and had a 3.46 ERA and 1.29 WHIP. Between 2024 being his age-37 season and first full season back from injury, he is a perfect one-year deal candidate and Spotrac has his market value estimated at $8.10M.
- Option #2: RHP Kyle Gibson
After a trip to the World Series in 2022 with the Philadelphia Phillies, Kyle Gibson signed a one-year, $10M deal with the Baltimore Orioles for 2023. The 35-year-old ended up starting 33 games and having a 4.73 ERA. He gave up a league-worst 198 hits, but he also played in arguably the toughest division in baseball in which there is no shortage of hitters in the American League East. Spotrac has his 2024 value at $8.5M.
- Option #3: RHP Carlos Carrasco
After spending 11 seasons in Cleveland, Carlos Carrasco had a mixed bag of results with the New York Mets. He was dreadful in 2021 and 2023 with ERAs of 6.04 and 6.80, respectively, but in 2022 he made 29 starts to the tune of a 3.97 ERA. Coming off a down year, he may not get the full $6.8M that Spotrac has the future 37-year-old predicted to make.
Milwaukee could also elect to pursue a pair of familiar names. Julio Teheran is currently a free agent, but his market value skyrocketed to $5.7M after a great partial season with the Brewers. Additionally, Colin Rea is also scheduled to become a free agent and is someone Milwaukee could look to bring back.
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