Deal done with Jeffress - 1-year deal with two option years

[markedman5]

Jeffress will get $1.75MM in 2017. There are options for $3.175MM and $4.3MM for 2019 and 2020. Jeffress can earn up to $2.2MM in incentives each year, tied to innings pitched and games finished.

 

[coolhandluke121]

I don't really expect much from him and I think he's going to be a guy who declines kind of young. Was hoping they'd go a different route and spend most of their free agent money on great relievers because you can usually get them on such short deals.

[markedman5]

Sounds like 1 year deal with 2 option years for the Brewers.....low risk and the chance to keep.him.if he pitches well

 

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2017/12/brewers-agree-to-deal-with-jeremy-jeffress.html

[Outlander]

1.75 million is much lower than predicted.

[pacopete4]

Another deal you have to be pretty happy about. Well done.

[adambr2]

That's a brilliant deal. Not only is it cheap and carries no long-term harm if he doesn't pan out, but if best case scenario happens and he turns into a high end reliever again you get him for another 2 years for reasonable amounts.

 

Jeffress was phenomenal for us from 2014-16 and decent last year. He just may be a guy who is always better here.

[markedman5]

Hughes non tendered. Stearns says he is open to signing him as a free agent but obviously they will explore options

[dacbrewers]

Rather have hughes than jeffress. I don't understand the love fest with Jeffress.

[pacopete4]

Rather have hughes than jeffress. I don't understand the love fest with Jeffress.

 

You don’t understand why Brewers fans would like a player who has put up good numbers over multiple years as a Brewer? Seems odd.

[bork]

So he's actually taking a pay cut? He was at $2.1 million last year.

[MadThinker88]

So he's actually taking a pay cut? He was at $2.1 million last year.

 

But he also got option years on this deal.

Yes, its a reduction of the salary last season but he could have gotten even less if he had been non-tendered.

[JohnBriggs12]

Rather have hughes than jeffress. I don't understand the love fest with Jeffress.

 

I'd rather have both and get rid of Drake. The fact that they looked to save money on these two tells me they are reasonably confident they can sign Swarzak. Otherwise, why non tender a guy like Hughes who gave them some solid if not real consistent work in high leverage situations?

[Humans Need Water]

Rather have hughes than jeffress. I don't understand the love fest with Jeffress.

 

I'd rather have both and get rid of Drake. The fact that they looked to save money on these two tells me they are reasonably confident they can sign Swarzak. Otherwise, why non tender a guy like Hughes who gave them some solid if not real consistent work in high leverage situations?

Jeffress has been nothing but productive in a Brewers uniform. His stuff looked much better by the end of the season and he'll be solid, at minimum, moving forward. The money aspect is a good deal for both sides and won't handicap any future deals over its length. I don't think signing Vogt and Jeffress at X dollar amount tells anybody anything. If they want to sign Swarzak, Reed + 1 more good vet they can sign them.

 

Hughes was very good and very consistent last year and I would have been more than fine tendering him at 2M. But right now they're looking at Knebel, Hader (if not in rotation), Barnes, Jeffress. I think they should keep Suter in the pen full time as he's been effective there and is a big change from our rotation and pen guys around him (plus he's a lefty). That's 5. If they plan on Houser/T.Williams/Baker types to start the season as the swinging door 8 spot that still leaves 2 spots via FA/trade (ie Swarzak + 1). The pen will be significantly better than last year.

 

I don't pay much attention to who's on the 40 right now as there's no way Drake remains on it and there's 2-3 others that can easily be gone as well (plus a catcher on top of that).

[dacbrewers]

Rather have hughes than jeffress. I don't understand the love fest with Jeffress.

 

You don’t understand why Brewers fans would like a player who has put up good numbers over multiple years as a Brewer? Seems odd.

 

All of his off season incidents make him a great role model that deserves to be rewarded...Not. I dont care about the past, i care about going forward with the rebuild. Jeffress wasnt that spectacular last year and will probably continue to decline. I would like to see a better player at AAA be put on the roster at league minimum and see if a better value can be created. If Williams is at AAA and Jeffress is on roster, I will definately be upset.

[Thurston Fluff]

Rather have hughes than jeffress. I don't understand the love fest with Jeffress.

 

With relievers the past is not always a good indicator of the future. Jeffress is younger and throws harder which probably gives him a better chance of repeating what he did in the past.

[dacbrewers]

And to find out that he has another potential 2+ million in incentives per year is mind boggling.

[MadThinker88]

And to find out that he has another potential 2+ million in incentives per year is mind boggling.

 

Since he has to perform to get those incentives, I don't have any issue with the incentives. I wish more of the deals were slanted to the incentives - smaller guaranteed bases & larger incentives. Reward the performers/ those making the greater contributions.

 

The Brewers are able to get out of the deal (declining the options) & pay less if JJ falters. The one place where JJ has had any regular success is playing for Milwaukee. Should his demons get the better of him now, the total outlay by the Brewers is minimal.

[Humans Need Water]

And to find out that he has another potential 2+ million in incentives per year is mind boggling.

Not really. You're so blinded by your hate for him that you literally can't comprehend something as basic as *incentives*, which are mostly earned via good performance. Yeah, very mind boggling that a player would be offered incentives for performing well, especially since his base salary is lower than projected. Must be a new contract negotiation tactic this industry is just picking up on.

 

You're not concerned with the past only about moving forward except the first thing out of your mouth was regarding his *past*.

 

And Jeffress improved last year over the final 2 months when came back here, after previously pitching very well for us for what amounts to 2 full seasons over the previous 3yrs. So where's the evidence he's going to most likely decline? And these are team options, not player. If he doesn't perform the Brewers drop him and there's nothing lost.

 

I'm going to help you out and make sure Stearns knows that you'll be mad if Jeffress is on the roster with Williams in AAA. I'm hoping that'll influence his decision making so he can make us better and not worse. I'll also let him know he should only sign role models moving forward.

[Thurston Fluff]

Jeffress has been to enough teams now that I think he realizes this is the place he is most likely to reach those incentives. Some players just feel comfortable in certain places. K-Rod was another that just seemed to like it here. That some players actually feel that way about our team just shows how far we've come as an organization.

[superfly]

And to find out that he has another potential 2+ million in incentives per year is mind boggling.

 

You're boggling your mind over 2 million in INCENTIVES when the Brewers are a 35 million dollar payroll operation? I'd hate to see your thoughts on a reliever signed for 10 mil a year guaranteed.

[dacbrewers]

And to find out that he has another potential 2+ million in incentives per year is mind boggling.

 

You're boggling your mind over 2 million in INCENTIVES when the Brewers are a 35 million dollar payroll operation? I'd hate to see your thoughts on a reliever signed for 10 mil a year guaranteed.

 

Stearns low ball offers Hughes around a million then signs Jeffress for 1.75 and 2.2 in extra incentives. It's truly is an insult to Hughes when he was arguably one of the best relievers on the team. Look at the track record with him and Jeffress, Hughes is better. And he pitched in a lot more high leverage and difficult situations than Jeffress did last year. You are correct 5 million is pennies to a team and 10 million is around a buck. Jeffress will have a nice 4.5 era with a whip of 1.40 so I guess that's worth just over 2 million.

[brewerfan82]

This has *nothing* to do with Jared Hughes. They gave the guy a $1.75M deal... that has zero affect on any other transaction they've negotiated or will negotiate. There is no reason to get upset about this deal. When was the last time a $1.75M deal had a detrimental affect on this or any team?

[superfly]

And to find out that he has another potential 2+ million in incentives per year is mind boggling.

 

You're boggling your mind over 2 million in INCENTIVES when the Brewers are a 35 million dollar payroll operation? I'd hate to see your thoughts on a reliever signed for 10 mil a year guaranteed.

 

Stearns low ball offers Hughes around a million then signs Jeffress for 1.75 and 2.2 in extra incentives. It's truly is an insult to Hughes when he was arguably one of the best relievers on the team. Look at the track record with him and Jeffress, Hughes is better. And he pitched in a lot more high leverage and difficult situations than Jeffress did last year. You are correct 5 million is pennies to a team and 10 million is around a buck. Jeffress will have a nice 4.5 era with a whip of 1.40 so I guess that's worth just over 2 million.

 

And who is to say Hughes doesn't end up back in Milwaukee next year as well? You realize the reason we got Hughes in the first place was because Pittsburgh didn't want to pay him 2+ in arbitration too right? They went with Jeffress initially IMO because they are roughly a wash except JJ is younger and throws harder. JJ was just willing to be more team friendly.

 

Or maybe...just maybe Stearns has his eye set on bigger fish in that pen than either of them and is saving the $ where he can. Ever consider that?

[adambr2]

And to find out that he has another potential 2+ million in incentives per year is mind boggling.

 

You're boggling your mind over 2 million in INCENTIVES when the Brewers are a 35 million dollar payroll operation? I'd hate to see your thoughts on a reliever signed for 10 mil a year guaranteed.

 

Stearns low ball offers Hughes around a million then signs Jeffress for 1.75 and 2.2 in extra incentives. It's truly is an insult to Hughes when he was arguably one of the best relievers on the team. Look at the track record with him and Jeffress, Hughes is better. And he pitched in a lot more high leverage and difficult situations than Jeffress did last year. You are correct 5 million is pennies to a team and 10 million is around a buck. Jeffress will have a nice 4.5 era with a whip of 1.40 so I guess that's worth just over 2 million.

 

Half of his incentives are for games finished which would likely mean he got put in a closer role which would mean things worked out quite well for him.

 

The guy throws 96 still and has a dominant track record as a Brewer reliever. If he continues that way we have a dominant late inning arm under control for 3 cheap seasons. If he bombs out, we move on and we're out like 2 million bucks. What on earth is there to not like about that?

[MNBrew]

Rather have hughes than jeffress. I don't understand the love fest with Jeffress.

 

You don’t understand why Brewers fans would like a player who has put up good numbers over multiple years as a Brewer? Seems odd.

 

All of his off season incidents make him a great role model that deserves to be rewarded...Not. I dont care about the past, i care about going forward with the rebuild. Jeffress wasnt that spectacular last year and will probably continue to decline. I would like to see a better player at AAA be put on the roster at league minimum and see if a better value can be created. If Williams is at AAA and Jeffress is on roster, I will definately be upset.

At minimum, I think your bias against Jeffress is tainting the credibility of your argument if not also the accuracy of your remark about his character. . . .What off-season incidents? The last incident we know about happened during the season in Texas (a DWI) after we traded him, and his mea culpa attitude about that incident in the article that appeared in the paper after he returned to MIL in 2017 more than speaks to his owning up to his mistake. The previous incidents that were publicized were for marijuana in the minors that earned him his due consequences (50- and 100-game suspensions in 2007 & 2009, respectively) before he ever debuted in the bigs. In any case, whether those were in-season or in the off-season, they were 8 & 10 years ago and he's matured enough since then that I doubt that those incidents are a fair basis for a blanket judgement of his current character.

 

I can't imagine what it would be like to screw up in such a way that the news would be reported in everyone's sports page and the bottom-of-the-screen sports news crawl across the entire country. In a country where folks who screw up and face the music for it can earn second chances, I'm not sure why Jeffress and his character aren't worthy of such a second chance or the benefit of any doubt.

 

On topic, I like Jeffress as a member of the MIL bullpen again and the fairly minimal financial risk the Brewers bear if he performs poorly enough not to be kept around. I like Hughes and wouldn't be disappointed if he ends up back here, too, although I think he'll get snatched up by another team before that has a chance to happen.