Anthony Swarzak signs with New York Mets, turning down Brewers offer

As the Brewers wait to hear back on a number of free agent offers, it looks like they're losing one of their own free agents.

Marc Carig of New York's Newsday is reporting reliever Anthony Swarzak is agreeing to a deal with the Mets.

Ken Rosenthal also confirmed the signing.

Considering what relievers have been signing for this week, that seems like a pretty reasonable deal if the adjustments he made this year are for real.

Swarzak helped stabilize the Brewers' bullpen in the stretch run of the wildcard race, putting up a 2.48 ERA in 29 appearances, striking out 39 batters and walking just 9 in 29 innings.

The righty was able to rejuvenate his career as a late-inning reliever at age 31 in 2017, and it looks like he's cashing in on that good year. Swarzak previously expressed interest in returning to Milwaukee shortly after the season ended, and according to Adam McCalvy, that interest was mutual.

The Mets moved fast on Swarzak after missing out on Bryan Shaw, who signed with the Colorado Rockies on Tuesday. The Brewers will now look elsewhere to fill that 8th inning role Swarzak held. Shaw, Pat Neshek, Jake McGee, Brandon Morrow and Luke Gregerson have all already been taken off the free agent market this week.

UPDATE:

McCalvy says the Brewers’ offer to Swarzak was also for two years, but fell short of the $14 million the Mets were willing to give him.

Statistics courtesy of Baseball-Reference