Report: Mike Moustakas returns to Milwaukee Brewers for a one-year contract

Returning to the Milwaukee Brewers always seemed to be the alternative for Mike Moustakas, even to the point where Ken Rosenthal said the reunion seemed "inevitable."

Rosenthal put his finger on the pulse (again weak) of the market of Moustakas independent agents during a good part of the winter. It is therefore logical that it is he who announces the news – Moustakas returns to the Brewers with a contract of one year. Jeff Passan of ESPN has the details of the contract, saying the value of the transaction is close to $ 9 million.

Moustakas earned $ 5.5 million last year after declining the Royals' $ 17.5 million qualifying offer as his hopes for a multi-year contract were wiped out. Moustakas had declined the deal for another opportunity to become an independent player, likely estimating that he would have cashed once Manny Machado signed and was the best option.

(Before too many people criticize Moustakas for not taking the $ 15 million option with the Brewers, it is important to remember that it was very unlikely that the Brewers would have taken it back at this price and would have probably declined their half of the mutual option.)

Unfortunately for Moustakas, Machado still has not signed and with the dates of the spring training report for the players in position preparing for next week, it seems again that Moose wants to enter the camp again. He will be returning to a Brewers team for .256 / .326 / .441 in 54 games, including 8 homers and 12 doubles.

He also scored in the NHLL, scoring twice, double, two and two in three games against the Rockies before being choked by the Dblgers' left-wing thrower in the NLCS. Moustakas scored four goals in twenty-nine in those seven games, eliminating twelve times.

The question, of course, is now what the Brewers are doing with Travis Shaw, who played better than expected in his limited time at second base last year, but who would likely face questions about his defense during a full season. There is also Keston Hiura, whom everyone probably thought would be part of the big league by May. This seems unlikely now, at least until we see how bats are playing between Mustakas and Shaw. And with Moustakas adding another left-handed bat (and $ 9 million to the payroll), what does that mean for Eric Thames (and his $ 7 million salary) and his chances of appearing? on the formation of the opening day?

All this should be settled in the coming weeks, but David Stearns has never hesitated to add talents and determine where they will play later – as we saw with the initial addition of Moustakas last July.

UPDATE:

Heyman and Mark Feinsand, of MLB.com, both said the agreement would be $ 10 million this year and include another mutual option.

It is unclear what would be the value of the mutual option for next season.

Statistics provided by Baseball-Reference