Should the Brewers Reunite With Reliever Jeremy Jeffress?

Things have officially shut down across the league as MLB is now in day two of its owners’ lockout. But that doesn’t mean we can’t ponder what the Milwaukee Brewers might do once operations start back up again at some point this offseason.

The team already checked some items off their to-do list before the lockout began. They addressed their catching depth with two signings: one being former Oriole Pedro Severino, the second being ex-Ray and Brett Sullivan.

The Brewers then killed another two birds with one stone. They were able to move on from outfielder Jackie Bradley Jr and his contract, as well as replace the departed Avisail Garcia’s power, in a trade with the Boston Red Sox for Hunter Renfroe.

One of the next areas Milwaukee would be wise to go address would be the bullpen. Do do that, one of their first steps could be to attempt to reunite with an old friend for his fourth run with the Crew.

The Brewers could once again reunite with free agent reliever Jeremy Jeffress.

The last we saw of Jeremy Jeffress, he was having himself quite a 2020 season, unfortunately with the rival Chicago Cubs. That year he had a 1.54 ERA and a 0.943 WHIP and was a candidate for NL Reliever of the Year, an award that Devin Williams ended up ultimately winning.

But Jeffress never ended up playing for an MLB team in 2021. He did move on from his long time agent and eventually stay busy by pitching in 23 games for the Independent League Lexington Legends, putting up a 6.45 ERA and a 1.701 WHIP.

Now, it appears as though Jeffress is prepared to attempt getting signed by an MLB team again in 2022. According to FanSided’s Robert Murray, he has new representation and has good velocity heading into the offseason.

If Jeffress should want to land anywhere as a free agent, it should be in Milwaukee, which is where he has done all of his best work. He has a 24-8 record in seven seasons as a Brewer with a 2.66 ERA, 1.234 WHIP, 292 strikeouts to 105 walks, and 43 of his 44 career MLB saves.

A Jeffress signing would fill an obvious roster need as well. The Brewers lost a combined 106 games of relief this offseason when Brad Boxberger and Hunter Strickland became free agents. They had a 3.34 and 1.73 ERA, respectively, last season.

It probably wouldn’t take a particularly lucrative deal to land Jeffress and he’s certain to be highly motivated going into 2022. Why not make a low risk, possibly high reward move and let the reunion happen?