Brewers Release Lance McCullers Jr.

The Brewers announced that right-hander Lance McCullers Jr. has been released. He had been designated for assignment by Milwaukee yesterday. He’ll be a free agent once he clears release waivers, if he hasn’t already.

Once he was designated for assignment, a release felt inevitable. He has more than enough service time to reject an outright assignment while keeping his salary commitments in tact. That contract also gives him no trade value. He is making $17MM this year, leaving about $5.6MM still to be paid out. For a pitcher who hasn’t really been effective for many years, that’s a steep price.

It might seem strange to say McCullers has no trade value when he was just traded, going from Houston to Milwaukee earlier this month. However, the Astros ate most of the money, with the Brewers only taking on $2.5MM. It seemed Milwaukee was willing to absorb that cost as a way of acquiring left-hander Colton Gordon. The fact that McCullers has quickly been designated for assignment and released only reinforces the idea that Milwaukee’s real target was Gordon.

McCullers was excellent at his peak but has spent the past few years either injured or ineffective. Through the 2022 season, McCullers had thrown 718 2/3 innings with a 3.48 earned run average. He had helped the Astros win two titles, in 2017 and 2022. Along the way, the club signed him to an extension. In March of 2021, they gave him a five-year, $85MM pact for the 2022 through 2026 seasons.

As mentioned, the club won a championship in the first year of that deal, but it went south from there. Arm issues wiped out his 2023 and 2024 seasons, as he required flexor tendon surgery and then struggled to get back on the mound. He has been able to pitch in the two most recent campaigns but has posted a 6.52 ERA in 99 1/3 frames. Most of his pitches are about three miles per hour below where they were at his peak.

He will now head to the open market and see what opportunities await him. He may be limited to minor league deals, given his recent form. The Astros might even take him back in a non-roster capacity. Per Brian McTaggart of MLB.com at the time of the trade, McCullers had nothing but positive things to say about the city of Houston and the Astros franchise. He had to waive his no-trade protection as a 10-and-5 guy and said he was willing to do so because he cares about the organization.

If he eventually gets a roster spot with another club, he would be cheap. The Astros and Brewers remain on the hook for the rest of his salary with this release. Another club could sign him and would only owe him the prorated league minimum for any time spent on the roster.