Milwaukee Brewers: Should Matt Garza come back on a minor league deal?

It might be worth it for the Milwaukee Brewers to bring back Matt Garza.

You’ll have to excuse me, I left off the end of that sentence. It might be worth it for the Milwaukee Brewers to bring back Matt Garza on a minor league contract. That’s right, the low risk, take a chance on a guy, type of contract.

In four years with the Brewers, it would be a stretch to call Garza effective in any year except his first. It is nice to not have his contract anymore, but after a three year stretch of ERA’s above four and five it will be hard to see a team taking a chance on the 34 year old as a free agent.

There is one more part to the signing that would make it more worth it. In almost three innings of relief in 2017, Garza gave up only one hit and no runs. So on this minor league contract, he should work in as a reliever. Clearly, the starting is not there anymore. But in theory, if he can give more over a shorter span, he can find more success again.

Throughout his entire career with the Milwaukee Brewers, Garza made appearances in relief in two seasons. He has accumulated 7.2 total innings without giving up a run. It is not an exact science, but could be worth a chance.

I know Garza is a name that fans will cringe at the thought of signing, and with good reason. But he should not get more than a minor league contract. That would make him the Sky Sox, or lower levels, project. The development team could probably do a lot of good in a small amount of time for the veteran, but they need the chance.

There is plenty of time to make the move. Frankly, it looks like nothing is going to happen around the league until Shohei Ohtani is committed to a team. The Brewers signed Michael Brady, but that is in the top five for biggest moves thus far. My point here is that no one will even be calling Garza for awhile…if at all this offseason.

Next: The perfect trade with the Braves

Giving Garza a shot on a cheap minor league contract is something to think about. It is a very low risk move with an upside if things get figured out, but if he continues to be bad, then it is an easy contract to get rid of. But regardless, this move seems like a longshot, and more than likely will not happen.