Nick Franklin, Mike Zagurski elect free agency from Milwaukee Brewers

Earlier in the week, we learned about one of Milwaukee’s minor leaguers opting for early free agency - right-handed pitcher Alec Asher. We have since discovered that there are two more players who appeared with the Brewers this year and are now on the open market:

Franklin, 27, spent a good chunk of the season with Milwaukee in 2017 and re-signed with the organization on a minor league deal last offseason. He briefly experimented with a conversion to catcher for AA Biloxi in addition to playing elsewhere all around the diamond, and batted .288/.394/.441 with a pair of homers in 71 plate appearances for the Shuckers before his contract was surprisingly purchased in early May. Unfortunately, he suffered a quad injury after two hitless at-bats during his first game with Milwaukee and wound up on the 60 day disabled list. He played only six more minor league rehab games during the rest of the season before being activated and outrighted off the 40 man roster in early September.

Zagurski, 35, spent a few days with the Brewers this season that accounted for his first MLB action since 2013. During his two big league appearances, he recorded three outs while allowing five hits and two walks, and he was charged with seven earned runs. He was outrighted just prior to the All-Star break. The southpaw was quite a bit more effective at the AAA level, even while pitching in the hitter-friendly environs of Colorado Springs. Zagurski appeared in 49 games for the Sky Sox, logging 45.0 innings with a 3.20 ERA along with marks of 13.2 K/9 and 3.4 BB/9.

Statistics courtesy of Baseball-Reference