Milwaukee Brewers sign Nick Franklin to minor league deal

He’s back!

Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images

Hard to see a way for Nick to log any playing time with the Milwaukee Brewers, but infield depth at AAA Colorado Springs is still needed, and in an emergency Nick has played MLB and can go infield or outfield for the Crew. His contract does include an invitation to spring training. Hope he’s packed.

Franklin was a first round pick in the 2009 draft by Seattle, and had 412 plate appearances for the M’s in 2013. He has never had more than 191 plate appearances in a single season since. He’s a switch hitter.

Franklin totaled 89 plate appearances and slashed .195/.258/.317 for the Brewers last season, contributing an OPS of .567 with two doubles, a triple, and two homers. He was designated for assignment in late June by the Brewers and was acquired by the Angels on June 30th.

Nick’s career slash line is .214/.285/.360, OPS .645. With the Brewers’ depth in the infield (Eric Sogard, Jonathan Villar, Hernan Perez, Orlando Arcia, and Travis Shaw at second, short, and third) and the outfield (everyone and his brother), it does seem difficult for Franklin to break camp with the major league club. But if the can perform in AAA to a satisfactory level, there’s always the chance that another team would want a utility player to fill in for some depth issues due to injury or a lack of performance. And it keeps Nick’s hopes of a solid MLB career alive; he’ll be just 27 in a few weeks.

Statistics courtesy of Baseball-Reference