Milwaukee Brewers outright Carlos Torres, Quintin Berry to AAA Colorado Springs

The MLB offseason will begin in earnest tomorrow, following the completion of tonight’s Game 7 of the World Series between Houston and Los Angeles. The Milwaukee Brewers have gotten a jump start on some of their winter housecleaning, however, announcing earlier today that two players have cleared waivers and were outrighted to AAA Colorado Springs:

Torres, who just turned 35, has spent the last two seasons as a fixture in Milwaukee’s bullpen after signing shortly before Opening Day in 2016. He was excellent during his first season in the Cream City, compiling a 2.73 ERA and 83 DRA- across 82.1 innings pitched in what was arguably the best season of his career. He couldn’t repeat that success in 2017, however, as his walk, strikeout, and home run rates all went in the wrong direction. He could manage only a 4.21 ERA while pitching 72.2 innings this past season, and ERA estimators felt he was fortunate to even achieve that level of run prevention (4.89 FIP, 6.14 DRA). The veteran right-hander has pitched in parts of 8 seasons in the big leagues while authoring a 4.00 ERA (101 ERA+) in 491.0 innings covering 348 appearances (16 starts).

Torres had one final season of arbitration eligibility left and was projected by MLB Trade Rumors to earn $3.3 mil in 2018, but given his age and the fact that he was coming off a down season in 2017 he made for a logical non-tender candidate. David Stearns and the Brewers apparently thought so too, and now Torres will be eligible to become a free agent after the completion of the World Series. If he doesn’t want to wait that long, he can also reject the outright assignment based on having 5+ years of MLB service time.

Berry, who will turn 33 this offseason, joined the organization on a minor league deal in August. He was called up in September to serve as a pinch running specialist, a niche that has helped him appear in parts of 5 seasons at the MLB level. Berry played in seven games with Milwaukee down the stretch, going hitless in 3 plate appearances while stealing two bases in three attempts. Like Torres, Berry will shortly be able to become a free agent. He’ll surely hope to catch on with another organization on a minor league deal during the offseason.

After today’s moves, Milwaukee’s 40 man roster stands at 38.

Statistics courtesy of Fangraphs and Baseball Prospectus