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It looks like Nerd Power is coming back to Milwaukee. According to Ken Rosenthal, Eric Sogard is in agreement with the Brewers on a one-year deal with a club option for 2021.
Free-agent infielder Eric Sogard in agreement with #Brewers, source tells The Athletic. Believed to be one-year deal with club option for 2021. Pending physical.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) December 18, 2019
The one-year deal is reported to be for $4.5 million.
Sogard’s deal with #Brewers is for one year, $4.5M with club option, source tells The Athletic.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) December 18, 2019
Sogard is coming off the best season of his career. The utility-man slashed .290/.353/.457 and a 115 wRC+. His big 2019 came with the Toronto Blue Jays and Tampa Bay Rays. His first half of 2019 (.294/.364/.478 and 123 wRC+) was really good. His second half (.286/.337/.429 and 103 wRC+) was okay. He was far less effective with Tampa Bay (90 wRC+) than he was with Toronto (122 wRC+).
Sogard spent parts of 2017 and 2018 in Milwaukee. While with the Brewers, he was excellent at times and atrocious at other times. To illustrate, he posted a 109 wRC+ in 2017, but had a 14 wRC+ (not a typo) in 2018.
Sogard turns 34 in May, but he provides tremendous versatility with ability to play all over the field. He is generally regarded as a good defender (.985 career fielding percentage and career 20 DRS). It is unclear just how large a role he figures to play in 2020, but Sogard is certainly a proven fit in Milwaukee and gives the Brewers their 39th man on the 40 man roster. Look to see more movement on that front to come.
Baseball statistics courtesy of Fangraphs