Milwaukee Brewers: Reliever Dan Jennings to sign?

The Milwaukee Brewers have signed left-handed reliever Dan Jennings less than 24 hours before Opening Day. How does this change the roster?

The addition of The addition of Dan Jennings to the Milwaukee Brewers roster means one of their four(!) first basemen will head to Triple-A. Who is Jennings? What kind of role will he fill? Who gets optioned to Triple-A?

Who is Dan Jennings?

Jennings is a lefty reliever who is on his third team in less than a year. He made 77 appearances for the White Sox and Rays last year and posted a 3.45 ERA. He struck out 51 and walked 31 in 62 2/3 innings of work.

Jennings is essentially a lefty fill-in until Boone Logan comes off the DL in a few weeks. As soon as Logan is ready to return, Jennings will likely get his walking papers. The Brewers are unlikely to carry more than two lefties in their bullpen.

Can he pitch against righties or is he just another LOOGY?

He owns a career wOBA against lefties of .307 and a career wOBA against righties of .300. Milwaukee Brewers manager Craig Counsell can actually leave him out there for a full inning if he needs to.

What does the addition of Jennings mean to the first basemen?

Well, Ryan Braun and Eric Thames are safe. One of Jesus Aguilar or Ji-man Choi has to get moved before Opening Day. Aguilar is out of options and would get exposed to waivers if he was DFA’ed. Choi still has an option left.

Unless Aguilar is traded, Choi is likely to head to Colorado Springs to start the season. A deal could still occur, but it’s not likely at this point.

Next: Is Christian Yelich an MVP candidate?

It’s great that the Milwaukee Brewers have added depth to their bullpen for the start of their season, but their roster construction is still odd. For a team that has an organizational glut of outfielders, they only have four outfielders for three positions. They also have three players who will see time at one position. Adding Jennings for the first month of the year mitigates the loss of Logan, but their roster still needs adjustments.