Brewers Rumors: Crew Still In Market For Left Handed Relief Addition

While the bulk of the Brewers offseason work has been completed, they may not yet be quite done making moves before spring training begins.

After signing Brian Anderson to a one year deal to help address needs at third base and right field, the Brewers have now shifted their focus to a different area: the bullpen.

According to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic, the Milwaukee Brewers are among several teams still in the market for left-handed relief help.

The market for left-handed relievers has been oddly slow this offseason. This is due in large part to the Phillies signing Matt Strahm to a two year, $15MM contract earlier this winter. With inflated expectations among the remaining lefty relievers and teams unwilling to pay those prices, the market has taken some time to cool.

There are three very good good left-handed relievers left on the market right now: Matt Moore, Andrew Chafin, and Zack Britton. They're all capable and deserving of big league bullpen jobs and pitching in high leverage spots. Yet they've remained unsigned.

With the departure of Josh Hader last year, the Brewers are without a southpaw for high leverage situations, unless you count Hoby Milner in that category. Milner and Aaron Ashby are the only southpaws on the 40 man roster that could see time in the bullpen in 2023 but Ashby is a starter by trade.

According to Rosenthal, the Brewers are among several teams still searching for left-handed relief help and are in the markets for the three top remaining southpaws of Moore, Chafin, and Britton. There are eight other known teams also in the market, including the Cubs and Cardinals.

The Brewers bullpen currently lacks experience at the back end. Devin Williams is slated to be the closer while Matt Bush is the most likely option to be the 8th inning setup man. The rest of their bullpen options have limited big league experience and even more limited high leverage experience.

It looks like the additions on the position player side are complete and the rotation has been fully stocked. The only remaining area of need is the bullpen and they need both experience and another left-hander back there. Signing one of Moore, Chafin, or Britton would accomplish that.

Rumors are, the Brewers are in the market. They have a lot of competition though, so we shall have to wait and see if they end up signing one of these relievers to address the hole on their roster and finalize their offseason work.