Is Drew Pomeranz already out of the Brewers price range?

The Milwaukee Brewers would love to have Drew Pomeranz back for 2020, but the free agent may be out of the team’s price range. What do the latest rumors say?

Drew Pomeranz helped to stabilize the Milwaukee Brewers bullpen and was a key reason why the team was able to earn an NL Wild Card berth. However, his success may have him out of the Brewers price range. Should the team go for the type of deal that’s being suggested?

What were Pomeranz’ numbers in Milwaukee?

Pomeranz made only 25 appearances for the Brewers down the stretch, but he made almost all of them count. He only allowed 16 hits, eight walks, and four homers while posting a 15.4 K/9. He was the bridge to closer Josh Hader that the Brewers were missing after Corey Knebel went down and Jeremy Jeffress struggled.

Who was dealt for Pomeranz?

Pomeranz came to the Brewers from the San Francisco Giants with Ray Black, but he cost the team top infield prospect Mauricio Dubon.

Dubon posted a .279/.312/.442 slash line in 109 plate appearances for the Giants in 2019.

Should they commit a multi-year deal to a reliever?

Given the depth of the free agent pool at reliever, the Brewers probably shouldn’t overextend themselves when it comes to relief pitching. There are a lot of options available, and the Brewers have shown that they can find quality relievers that other teams have ignored. They resurrected Jeffress’ career, and turned around Pomeranz’ career. The team should look for high-ceiling bargains to rebuild their bridge to Hader, not relievers in demand like Pomeranz.

The team also has to make a decision at third base, find a starting catcher, solve first base, and try to find the ace starting pitcher that has eluded them for the past two years. None of these will be inexpensive problems to solve, and the team will likely have to work with a payroll around $135 million-to-$140 million.

Focusing on a reliever, even a quality reliever like Pomeranz, doesn’t make sense at this point. There are simply too many holes to fill on the current roster to allow a reliever to eat up a chunk of their payroll. Pomeranz has already drawn interest from teams like the Los Angeles Dodgers, and has likely already made his last appearance for the Brewers.