Brewers News: Rule 5 Pick Gus Varland DFA'ed After Rough Outing In Bullpen Shakeup

The Milwaukee Brewers have made yet another change to their bullpen, designating Rule 5 pick Gus Varland for assignment.

In Monday night's rough 18-1 loss to the Cardinals, Varland was tagged for nine runs and was unable to get out of the 8th inning, allowing the score to proliferate out of control. His season ERA jumped from 2.25 all the way up to 11.42 after that outing.

The Brewers have designated Gus Varland for assignment and recalled RHP J.B. Bukauskas to fill his role in the bullpen.

A recent waiver claim from the Seattle Mariners, J.B. Bukauskas now joins the Brewers bullpen. Bukauskas had a 4.76 ERA in five games for the Nashville Sounds.

Bukauskas is a former first round pick that has struggled to reach his potential as a starter and has since made the permanent move to the bullpen and is struggling to stay in the big leagues. He does have a minor league option year remaining.

As for Varland, even though he technically has three options remaining, as a Rule 5 pick, he has to stay at the big league level all season and if he's unable to do so, the Brewers must offer him back to his original team, the Dodgers. However, this doesn't necessarily mean the end of Varland in Milwaukee. They could offer to swing a trade with the Dodgers to retain the rights to Varland in exchange for something, whether it be cash or another player.

The DFA will allow for some time for the Brewers and Dodgers to figure that out and perhaps there's a chance he will stick in the organization. The Brewers have certainly liked him, carrying him on the team through the first six weeks of the season. He did have an IL stint in there after a comebacker off the hand. Milwaukee gave him an extended rehab assignment to try to catch his breath and reset after fighting for his roster life all spring and all season. But he still wasn't able to continue his early success, culminating in a rough outing on Monday and his DFA on Tuesday.

Milwaukee will now give a chance to Bukauskas, who has bounced around the league in recent years. They have several bullpen options in the minors and we'll see just how long Bukauskas will be able to stick around.

The Brewers like to have flexibility in their bullpen and Varland was one of the few inflexible options they had.