Brewers: 5 DFA Candidates To Make Roster Room For Jackie Bradley Jr
With the Milwaukee Brewers reported to be signing Jackie Bradley Jr.to a two year contract, that means he needs a roster spot. The problem is, there currently isn’t one.
The outfield has a logjam with Christian Yelich, Lorenzo Cain, Avisail Garcia, and now Bradley at the top of the depth chart. All four are making above $10MM in 2021 and are going to be on the roster.
President of baseball operations David Stearns loves having incredible amounts of depth at most positions on his roster. Having all that depth means very full and very competitive rosters, however.
With the Brewers 40 man roster at full capacity, when the Bradley signing becomes official, someone is going to need to be booted off the roster to make room. So who could that be?
Brewers DFA Candidate #1: OF Billy McKinney
Claimed off waivers last September, McKinney is a former top prospect that the Brewers haven’t gotten too much of a look at, but in his limited appearances, he hasn’t really impressed much.
He was sent to the alternate training site last year after being claimed and in spring training so far, McKinney’s 1-for-9 with five strikeouts.
Being out of minor league options, McKinney was thought to be one of the leading candidates to win the fourth outfielder job coming into spring. But then the Brewers acquired Derek Fisher in a trade gave him some competition and now the addition of Bradley all but ensures he won’t make the Opening Day roster.
With getting pushed down the depth chart and his poor performance so far in spring, McKinney is a candidate to get designated for assignment to make room for Bradley Jr.
Brewers DFA Candidate #2: INF/OF Tim Lopes
Lopes still has three minor league options remaining, so the Brewers may want to hold on to him and send him down for Triple-A depth, but he has also been pushed farther down the depth chart with the addition of Bradley.
He’s 0-for-5 this spring, having only made appearances in three out of the seven games. If he’s not even getting many ABs in the early part of spring, where a player like him normally would, and he’s not performing in his few chances, then he’s close to the chopping block.
Lopes was claimed off waivers from Seattle over the winter, and his minor league options were certainly appealing, even if his previous offensive stats weren’t all that appealing.
Since he has the options, though, he has a better chance of sticking around than McKinney or DFA candidate number three…
Brewers DFA Candidate #3: OF Derek Fisher
Another out of options outfielder that saw his chances of making the big league roster dwindle with the addition of Jackie Bradley Jr. Derek Fisher is a DFA candidate.
So far in spring training, Fisher is 3-for-11, with a double, a home run, and a walk. He’s performed the best of the three players listed so far.
Considering the other two players were waiver claims and the Brewers didn’t pay anything to get them while Fisher was acquired in a trade in which the team gave up cash and a player to be named later, Milwaukee might want to give Fisher a little more time in camp before they give up on him.
The only way Fisher makes the Opening Day roster and avoids a DFA eventually is if the Brewers decide to carry five true outfielders on their 26 man roster. Considering the bevy of options they’re going to use in the infield, the roster space doesn’t appear to be there for Fisher.
Since he’s playing well right now, it might not be Fisher getting booted for Bradley, but he may end up getting booted soon enough.
Brewers DFA Candidate #4: 1B Daniel Vogelbach
The designated hitter is not coming. It won’t be there in 2021 to get Vogelbach his regular at-bats. He’s a bench bat and if the Brewers DFA Vogelbach before Opening Day, they won’t owe him his full $1.4MM salary in 2021.
It would be an unfortunate turn for Vogelbach, who energized the club after joining the Crew midseason in 2020. But the Brewers have stated time and again that they view Vogelbach primarily as a DH and with the installment of Keston Hiura as the first baseman, the regular at-bats won’t be there for him since there isn’t a DH this season.
In spring training so far, Vogelbach is 2-for-9 with a double and three walks.
This may be a little early in camp to cut ties with Vogelbach, but he is on a non-guaranteed contract for 2021. According to MLB rules, if Vogelbach is cut from the roster on or before the 16th day of spring training, he’s owed 30 days termination pay, which is prorated from his $1.4MM salary. If he’s cut after the 16th day of spring training, he gets 45 days termination pay.
If they’re counting by when Cactus League games begin, the 16th day would be March 15th. If they count by when the mandatory report date is or the voluntary report date, the Brewers would still have a few days to DFA Vogelbach and only owe him the 30 days pay.
Vogelbach is out of minor league options and doesn’t have a clear job on the 26 man roster, which makes him a DFA candidate.
Brewers DFA Candidate #5: RHP Ray Black
This would be perhaps an odd choice, but an entirely possible one. Black is the only rostered bullpen candidate that is out of minor league options. He missed most of last season with a shoulder injury and then was pulled early from his most recent outing after his velocity dipped from 98 MPH to 90 MPH in a span of four batters.
Black has battled command issues his entire career, and they still plague him. He’s got the big velocity, which is tough to give up on, but he’s also soon to be 31 years old and if he hasn’t figured it out by now, he may not ever.
Still, it might be a little early in camp to give up on Black. But if he is facing a drop in velocity and a possible injury that will take some time to heal, then perhaps the Brewers will look to cut bait and move on rather than try to get Black back to health.
I would think taking the bullpen battle down to the wire in camp would be the more likely scenario for the Brewers, but he is a candidate to think about.
Of these five DFA candidates to make room for JBJ, McKinney might have the highest odds of getting the pink slip, but you can’t rule out Vogelbach or Black either. There’s also the chance the Brewers put Dylan File on the 60 day IL to clear the roster spot after his surgery.