3 Possible paths the Brewers could take to address the pitching staff needs

Option 2: Sign a free agent

The Milwaukee Brewers could try, try again at signing someone to help fill depth until the injured guys are ready to come back. Toss Mitch White back to the free agency pool and try to fish another pitcher out. Maybe call 40 year old Zack Greinke and see if he wants to throw on the old #13 jersey on again for a little while?

On a serious note, Grienke, Rich Hill, Madison Bumgarner and Noah Syndergaard while technically all free agents, are highly unlikely to be worth anything close to what their names and careers suggest about them.

Maybe the Brewers could look to bring back some other familiar faces. Remember Matt Bush and Daniel Norris? If your answer is no, I envy you, I wish I could forget. The Brewers should steer clear of these two.

The only other option would be to look at some recently DFA'd pitchers and try to find some treasure among other men's trash and scrape any value possible off the discard pile. Players designated for assignment in the last week include Jay Jackson, Mike Baumann, Ty Adcock, Amir Garrett and Nabil Crismatt.

Jay Jackson is 36 years old and pitched for the Brewers in 2019. In 2024 with the Minnesota Twins Jackson had a 6.85 ERA in 17 appearances before being designated for assignment including eight earned runs in his last five appearances.

Mike Baumann was recently designated for assignment by the Baltimore Orioles and while looking at solely his 3.44 ERA might make him seem like a good candidate for signing, it is worth noting that his 1.473 WHIP is higher than Jay Jackson's. Baumann also has a a worse strikeout to walk ratio, in 2024 he's struck out 16 batters and walked nine. His ERA+ is 108 and was 109 in 2023 so he is above average, just slightly.

Ty Adcock was solid for the Seattle Mariners in 2023, a respectable 3.45 ERA in 15.2 innings, however in 2024 in AAA Adcock is sporting an 8.64 ERA with a 2.040 WHIP.

Amir Garrett, familiar face as he spent a lot of time with the Cincinnati Reds, was recently designated for assignment by the Los Angeles Angels and elected free agency. You know things have to be pretty bad to be DFAed by one of the worst teams in baseball. Garrett had thrown just 5.1 innings for the Angels this season to the tune of a 5.06 ERA and 1.688 WHIP. His ERA+ is at 86, nowhere near the 136 he posted for the Kansas City Royals in 2023.

Nabil Crismatt is one pitcher that is not like these others. Crismatt was designated for assignment by the Los Angeles Dodgers and elected free agency, a surprising move considering his low 2.57 ERA and 1.000 WHIP. Granted these numbers came in just seven innings pitched across five games and Crismatt was not good in 2023. I guess it must be nice to be the Dodgers and be able to DFA guys like this.

Looking at these players, Jackson, Adcock and Garrett are immediate no's, Garrett will probably get signed by a team willing to overlook the small sample size he put up with the Angels in 2024.

Mike Baumann is probably a better option than Mitch White at this point and would be worth a look to swap the two and Nabil Crismatt is a head scratcher for the Dodgers to cast aside and would be worth the Brewers to bring him in.