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It has been widely believed from the start that Yasmani Grandal’s mutual contract option with the Milwaukee Brewers for 2020 was merely a formality, a way to defer some salary on a big money one-year deal. Now that the World Series has ended and the offseason has officially begun, Grandal has reportedly grabbed his $2.25 mil buyout and will take another crack at finding a long-term deal in free agency:
Yasmani Grandal will decline $16M option, take $2.25M option and become free agent. He won gamble to take 1 year deal in Milwaukee for $18.25M total rather than sign longterm w/Mets ($60M, 4 year reported offer). He can’t receive another qualifying offer and should get huge deal.
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) October 31, 2019
Grandal was a deserving All-Star in 2019 and the most valuable Brewer behind Christian Yelich. He appeared in a career-high 153 games and batted .246/.380/.468 for a 121 wRC+. He set new highs with 28 home runs, 77 runs batted in, 79 runs scored, 5 stolen bases, and 109 walks. In fact, he became just the second Brewer to ever earn 100+ free passes in a single season, joining Prince Fielder. Grandal earned his typically stellar marks in terms of defense and pitch framing, and overall, was seen as a 5-6 win player by fWAR and WARP. He was worth every penny of the org’s $18.25 mil outlay, and more.
David Stearns told reporters that he’d love to have Grandal back in the fold for next season, but don’t expect the Brewers to be alone in the bidding for his services. According to a follow-up tweet from Heyman, the division-rival Reds are expected among many suitors that will try and make a play for Grandal. He was a first-round pick by Cincinnati back in 2010 but he only spent a little over a year with the org before getting dealt to San Diego as part of the package for Mat Latos in 2011.
Statistics courtesy of Fangraphs and Baseball Prospectus