Brewers sign Neftali Feliz to 1 year/$5.35MM deal; Latest: DFA'd on June 14th

[And That]

Per Jeff Passan.

 

It's a $5.35MM base salary with incentives that could max the contract out at $6.85MM, according to Chris Cotillo.

 

Brewers 40-man is now full. Feliz has two options left, but he also has enough service time to refuse an optional assignment.

[MillerParkSouth]

I like it. Would have been nice if there was an option year to maximize the upside/potential return, but if he can keep his HR numbers down, he could thrive and be flipped for an interesting piece at the deadline.

[sveumrules]

Out of the "proven closers" we had a shot at this offseason I'll take Neftali on a one year deal over the two years Santiago Casilla got coming off a second half implosion or whatever demands Greg Holland has coming off surgery.

 

Probably won't return any kind of haul if he has a good first half, but Brad Ziegler with similar salary/team control (& exact opposite stuff) netted a couple A ballers who'd already had some success & couldn't buy a beer last deadline. As much as Stearns seems to love mining the low minors for hidden gems I'm fine with rolling those dice.

[JDBrewCrew]

Tom ‏@Haudricourt 52s53 seconds ago

#Brewers GM David Sterans said Neftali Feliz sat out last September with arm fatigue. A mutual decision with Pirates. No real injury.

 

Tom ‏@Haudricourt 3s3 seconds ago

Stearns said all talks with Feliz were on one-year deal. No desire to go beyond that.Adam McCalvy

 

‏@AdamMcCalvy 8s9 seconds ago

David Stearns says it's "unlikely ... but not impossible" the Brewers sign another FA reliever after landing Feliz.

[CheezWizHed]

@AdamMcCalvy 8s9 seconds ago

David Stearns says it's "unlikely ... but not impossible" the Brewers sign another FA reliever after landing Feliz.

 

Possibly translated: We still like Holland, but don't like his option for a 2nd year.

[Roderick]

At first it may seem like spending money on a closer when we aren't going to win anyways.

 

But I don't think we should just push a young guy into the spot. They need to pitch the 7/8 innings first and prove themselves.

 

And this keeps them from building up saves stat for when arby rolls around.

 

Plus losing in the 9th is a pretty demoralizing, so it would be nice to keep the back of the bullpen somewhat decent.

[monty57]

Shores up the bullpen a bit after we traded so many people away, lets our inexperienced guys get some experience as setup guys before making the jump to closer in the likely event the Feliz is traded at deadline, and hopefully we'll get something in return when/if he is traded.

 

Oh, and it should help us win a few more games, making our MLB team a little more enjoyable to watch.

[FVBrewerFan]

Really only two questions come to mind.

 

1) What is his entrance song?

 

2) Who will butcher his name worse? Coshun or Augie?

[reillymcshane]

I think the best thing is this deal lets our young guys go out and try establish themselves as effective major leaguers. Who gets to close will come later - and to the guy that has earned it.

 

Knebel, Barnes, Magnifico, Blazek, etc., etc. It'll be fun to see who steps up.

 

We saw Thornburg go from a question mark to a closer in less than a year in 2016. He certainly earned the role with his outstanding performance.

 

As noted, having Feliz close does (potentially) keep down costs of any future closer - as no one starts to rack up the saves until Feliz is gone (and saves pay big in arbitration).

[Greenleaf1]

I agree with reilly, this pick isn't so much about getting an expensive closer when we aren't going to compete, it's more about providing a buffer for our young guys to establish themselves in lower pressure situations and work their way up.

 

In addition, the Brewers need to field a team that doesn't look like a joke in 2017 and can actually win some games, and relying on an entire bullpen of young guys who will likely have some inconsistencies all year is something that, if it goes wrong, could end up costing the Brewers a dozen games over the course of a season. Having a veteran presence to close and also mentor the young guys is really important.

 

I'm very high on this 2017 team, and glad to see moves like this that will help our team get gradually better every year, while not committing any money to future years.

[MNBrew]

I like the move. Sometimes it only takes a single acquisition to slot a whole bunch more players into slots that better fit them and where they're at. Hopefully this move is one of those.

[superfly]

Love.

[WV Brew]

The quest to sign every Tommy John pitcher in the world continues.

[RobDeer 45]

I don't see any downside to this move. I hope he has a good season!

[StearnsFTW]

Eh. Don't mind it I guess. Would've preferred to see a young guy in the role, whether it's to keep him there when we get good, or to trade him away for more value.

 

The money is irrelevant, but I would've preferred to sign no one.

[sveumrules]

New Fangraphs scribe Travis Sawchik, who also authored Big Data Baseball about Pittsburgh's front office under Huntington, breaks down the Neftali signing...

 

http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/brewers-sign-neftali-feliz-remain-interesting/

[StearnsFTW]

New Fangraphs scribe Travis Sawchik, who also authored Big Data Baseball about Pittsburgh's front office under Huntington, breaks down the Neftali signing...

 

http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/brewers-sign-neftali-feliz-remain-interesting/

 

Those quotes from Stearns in that article put a huge smile on my face. Guy gets it.

[Mass Haas]

Looks like Santiago Casilla was the target prior to the Feliz signing -- Casilla ended up signing a 2-year, $11M deal (possible $3M in incentives) with Oakland

 

‏@hankschulman

 

Casilla on conference call. He said he also got an offer from the #brewers. They then signed Neftali Feliz to close (probably). #athletics

 

***

 

‏@JoeStiglichCSN

 

Santiago Casilla mentions Brewers as one team that went after him, chose #Athletics due in large part to familiarity w/them.

[reillymcshane]

Looks like Santiago Casilla was the target prior to the Feliz signing -- Casilla ended up signing a 2-year, $11M deal (possible $3M in incentives) with Oakland

 

‏@hankschulman

 

Casilla on conference call. He said he also got an offer from the #brewers. They then signed Neftali Feliz to close (probably). #athletics

 

***

 

‏@JoeStiglichCSN

 

Santiago Casilla mentions Brewers as one team that went after him, chose #Athletics due in large part to familiarity w/them.

Pretty clear the team wanted a veteran guy to close.

[And That]

As nonplussed as I am about the Feliz signing, glad they went with him over Casilla.

[Mass Haas]

Brewers had checked in on Sergio Romo, too, apparently.

[TooLiveBrew]

Really only two questions come to mind.

 

1) What is his entrance song?

 

2) Who will butcher his name worse? Coshun or Augie?

Gotta be Augie, right?

 

Nftahlee Fleece

[And That]

 

What are we flipping this guy for at the deadline again?

[pacopete4]

Lol, oh my... We are some of the best at overreactions (and I'm including myself) but it is somewhat funny when you step back from it for a second.

[And That]

I truly hope the guy bounces back, but this is a pretty great exhibit for why signing a guy to trade him later that same year is not a worthwhile strategy.