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Brewers agree on right-handed free agent Jacob Junisreports Kiley McDaniel of ESPN (link). The deal, which is pending a physical, is a one-year guarantee of $7 million for Wasserman’s client. reports Ken Rosenthal of the Athletic. Junis will receive a $4 million salary next season and a $3 million buyout with a mutual option for 2025. He is expected to open the year in Milwaukee’s starting rotation.
Junis hit the open market for the first time after a quietly strong platform. The 31-year-old pitched 86 innings in 40 multi-inning relief appearances for the Giants a year ago. He posted a career-low 3.87 ERA while striking out an above-average 26.2% of opposing batters. That was the best mark of his career, as was his 11.3% strike rate.
An increase in speed influenced his better results on his swings and misses. Junis averaged 93.7 MPH on his sinker, above the 91-92 MPH range he had kept his fastball in during his career. He also added a tick to his slider, which averaged 84.2 MPH after being in the 82-83 MPH area in previous years. Adding some speed to the slider was probably more important than giving the fastball extra life. Junis uses the breaking pitch at an atypical pace.
The slider has been his primary pitch in each of the last four seasons. He took it to new heights in 2023, hitting the switch almost 63% of the time. That didn’t come at the expense of the strong control he has displayed throughout his career. He walked under 6% of opponents for the fourth time in his five MLB seasons with 40+ innings.
Unsurprisingly, given his slider/sinker profile, Junis has been most effective against same-handed hitters. Since the start of 2022, right-handed hitters have a .254/.297/.414 line while striking out nearly a quarter of the time against him. Left-handed hitters have swung at a modest 20.3% rate and slashed a solid .290/.341/.494 over that stretch.
It’s easier for a manager to get around those platoon issues when Junis pitches in a relief role, even one in which he frequently works multiple innings. He could be a bigger concern as a starter, although it wouldn’t be surprising if captain Pat Murphy tends to minimize his exposure to opposing lineups more than twice in an outing.
Overall, this is how Milwaukee appears to be approaching the 2024 rotation. They’ve moved on from their pair of co-aces. Brandon Woodruff was not tendered after the revelation that he needed shoulder surgery, while Corbin Burnes It was negotiated last week. That left the Brew Crew with freddyperalta as the undisputed ace of the staff, followed by pitchers with varying degrees of injuries or performance issues.
Milwaukee re-signed wade miley and Colin Rea to take into account the environment of the personnel. They took a wheel Joe Rosswho missed most of last season working out since 2022 Tommy John surgery. Hard-throwing left-hander DL Lounge He returned from Baltimore on Burnes’ return. Aaron Ashby He’s still trying to carve out a role in the rotation despite several injuries, including a shoulder procedure that ended his 2023 season. Outlook Robert Gasser, Jacob Misiorowski and Carlos Rodriguez loom in the upper minors.
It’s unlikely to be the type of dominant rotation that Milwaukee has displayed in recent seasons, even if there is a decent amount of intrigue with Junis, Ashby and the aforementioned collection of young pitchers. There aren’t many reliable sources of innings, which could force Murphy to rely heavily on his relief group.
The $4 million salary brings Milwaukee’s payroll projection to about $105 million, as calculated by List resource. That’s well below last year’s roughly $119 million mark. It’s unclear whether the owners are willing to match last season’s level of spending. If there is room on the roster, the roster could benefit from an additional bench bat and perhaps another left-handed reliever to go along with it. Hobby Milner.
MLBTR ranked Junis as the 47th free agent of the offseason, predicting a two-year, $15 million guarantee. He doesn’t reach that figure with a one-year contract. He will look to establish himself as a starter before returning to free agency next winter ahead of his age-32 season. The mutual option is essentially an accounting measure that allows the Brewers to delay $3 million of the guarantee until the start of the next offseason. Mutual options are almost never exercised by both parties, so Junis will most likely return to the market within a year.
Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.