Brewers Rumors: Crew Reportedly Showing Interest in Reliever Zack Britton

The Milwaukee Brewers put a bunch of work into building their bullpen depth this past offseason. And though none of the names they brought in were major ones, the work seems to have helped as they have begun this season with one of the strongest bullpens in all of MLB.

But solid depth has never stopped the Brewers from attempting to make that depth even better and apparently that is still the case. According to Jon Heyman of the New York Post, this time that involves looking into one of the best relievers still on the market.

35-year-old Zack Britton has been befallen by injuries over the course of the past couple season but appears ready to give it another go and sign with a team with the 2023 season underway. And there's a chance that next run could come in Milwaukee.

The Brewers are rumored to be showing interest in free agent reliever Zack Britton.

At his peak, Britton was one of the best relievers in the entire league. The southpaw was a two time All-Star, making the American League team in back-to-back seasons in 2015 and 2016, and earned both Cy Young and MVP votes in his 2016 season, finishing 4th and 11th, respectively, in voting for the two awards.

His success eventually led him to be traded to the New York Yankees around the 2018 trade deadline. The pressure of playing for such a storied franchise didn't bother Britton one bit as he would put up a 2.88 ERA to finish out the season with the Bronx Bombers before posting sub-2.00 ERAs in each of the next two seasons there.

The 2021 season is where things would start to go south. Britton begin the season on the 60-day injured list before finally making his season debut in June. He would then only end up making 22 appearances while piling up a 5.89 ERA, by far a career high, and also hit the IL two more times. The final IL stint of the season would end up leading to Tommy John surgery.

After missing most of the 2022 season recovering from Tommy John, Britton would make a brief three appearances at the end of the year, giving up a run over two-thirds of an inning pitched. He would be shut right back down for the season with shoulder fatigue and then become a free agent in the offseason.

If Britton has shown that he is now fully recovered, the career stats show why teams would want him. Britton owns a career 3.13 ERA and 1.264 WHIP over 442 games as well as 154 career saves. And as a lefty, the fit would work particularly well for the Brewers as Hoby Milner is currently their only reliever in the bullpen.

Unfortunately, the Brewers have some big competition for Britton's services as Heyman notes that the New York Mets have also shown interest in the former All-Star. With team's already forging on with their seasons, Britton has time to decide for himself which team's situation suits him best.

Based on early results, Milwaukee will be just fine if Britton decides to sign elsewhere. It sure would be another nice piece to add to a much improved bullpen, though.