Daniel Vogelbach and the Milwaukee Brewers avoid arbitration and agree to a one-year contract

The Milwaukee Brewers have come to an agreement with 1B/DH Daniel Vogelbach, signing him for one year and $1.4 mil to avoid arbitration.

After designating Justin Smoak for assignment in early September, the Brewers claimed Vogelbach off waivers from the Toronto Blue Jays, who had claimed him off waivers from Seattle a couple of weeks previous. Not to be deterred, David Stearns and Company brought him into the fold. For the final month of the season, Vogelbach captured the hearts of Brewers’ Nation.

During his month in Milwaukee, Vogelbach slashed .328/.418/.589. Whether Vogelbach can approach those kind of numbers over a full season is a question mark. The only season he has posted above league average numbers is 2019 when he put of a 111 wRC+. Otherwise the track record is spotty.

David Stearns continues to sign players for below their base salary contracts going into 2020. For Vogelbach, he was to make $1.65M over an entire season. His signing at $1.4M means a pay cut for the big slugger of $250,000. Adding in Orlando Arcia’s and Omar Narvaez’ pay cuts, the Brewers are at $700,000 in savings year-over-year.

Baseball statistics courtesy of Fangraphs