Today: The deal between Joe Ross and the Brewers is worth a guaranteed $1.75MM, according to Jim Bowden of The Athletic. The contract also includes unspecified financial incentives.
December 4: The Brewers and right-hander Joe Ross are in agreement on a major league deal, reports Robert Murray of FanSided. The details of the deal, which is pending a physical for the Wasserman client, aren’t publicly known at this time.
Ross, 31 in May, has dealt with significant injury issues in his career and is coming off another notable absence. He underwent Tommy John surgery in May of 2022, the second time he required that procedure, the first one coming in 2017. He signed a minor league deal with the Giants for 2023 and was able to get back on the mound by late August, starting a rehab assignment at that time. He eventually tossed 14 innings over eight appearances on the farm with a 5.14 earned run average in that small sample.
It would appear that the Brewers were intrigued by that showing, or perhaps his larger body of work and previous prospect pedigree. A 5.14 ERA is obviously not going to blow anyone away, but the fact that he was healthy and on the mound is the more important thing. As relayed by Curt Hogg of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, the righty’s velocity was in good shape at Triple-A late last year, actually above his previous seasons.
Ross was once a highly-touted prospect, having been drafted 25th overall by the Padres in 2011. He later debuted with the Nationals and posted a combined 3.52 ERA over 181 2/3 innings between 2015 and 2016. But he was limited to 13 starts in 2017 before, as mentioned, he required Tommy John. He missed most of 2018 and then posted middling results in 2019. He elected to sit out the shortened 2020 season and then had a 4.17 ERA in 2021 before suffering another partial tear of his ulnar collateral ligament. He tried to rehab that injury via non-surgical means at first but eventually underwent his second TJS in May of 2022.
The Brewers probably can’t rely on Ross to suddenly take on a full stater’s workload. With his injuries and opting out of 2020, he’s only twice reached the 80-inning plateau in a major league season, in 2016 and 2021. Even in those two seasons, he was barely over the century mark. Perhaps the Brewers will end up deploying him in something of a swing role or as a multi-inning pitcher out of the bullpen, but that could depend on how he looks in Spring Training or what other moves the club makes before then.
The club also agreed to a deal with left-hander Wade Miley today, which means their current rotation projects as Corbin Burnes, Freddy Peralta, Miley, Adrian Houser and Colin Rea. Ross could perhaps try to force his way into the back end, particularly if an injury creates a new need. There’s also been plenty of rumors about the club considering a trade of Burnes, which would bump Ross and everyone else up one spot on the depth chart.
All teams deal with pitching injuries and it takes more than five starters to get through a full 162-game season. The Brewers also have Janson Junk and Aaron Ashby on the 40-man roster with prospects like Robert Gasser and Jacob Misiorowski pushing towards their major league debuts. Ross figures to be in the mix somewhere, with his eventual contributions dependant on his health and the circumstances around him.
Goodbye C burns
This is a depth piece or Woodruff replacement. Burnes I would say is likely traded but I would have leaned that way a day, week, month, year, 2 years etc ago.
Cool. Hopefully he can complete his TOS recovery.
I recalled that Tyson had TOS but not Joe. To get a guaranteed deal he must have shown someone something.
Corbin Burnes replacement.
Can’t even be original in the first 7 comments on a post?
I like my fruit hanging low.
Well played. Lol.
I have another one for u. Marco Gonzales might be a good teammate to have w Miley. Soft throwing lefty bruthas
Not with that contract
Joe Ross is still active?
He missed all of 2022 and most of 2023 due to surgery and rehab. He did pitch for the Giants AAA team last year towards the end of the season but he never got called up. All I can assume is that he’s shown enough recovery in AAA and private workouts for Milwaukee to take a major league chance on him. I’m sure the deal is close to league minimum with perhaps some incentives included should he rebound and contribute in 2024.
Why do all the casuals hate depth moves?
right? its like the offseason is a complete failure if we dont sign blake snell, ohtani and matt chapman
I think Brewers fans are rightly suspicious of a Burnes trade. Losing Woodruff and Burnes in a single offseason hurts. They need to try and extend Peralta.
*I see Peralta is on a 5 year deal with two club options beyond this season. Disregard my last sentence.
Sign him to another..
Depth moves are great, but those are generally of the minor league variety and an invite to spring training. Probably would’ve been a better choice in this case due to the injury history, but there were probably several of those on the table already. Fans know the success rate of a pitcher with a 2nd TJ. Small market teams like the Brewers can’t afford to waste 40 man spots on pitchers that can’t take the field. Granted, this is probably a fairly cheap deal to swallow.
Pretty sure he signed a minor league deal and rehabbed with the Giants last year.
Glad for the guy.
Haven’t heard Joe Ross’s name forever. Good for him for finding a team.
Wonder whether he’ll need to begin on the active roster, or maybe he could start the season on the IL/rehab assignment?
It’s Joe Ross. On his Topps baseball card, his position is listed as “IL”
“All teams deal with pitching injuries and it takes more than five starters to get through a full 162-game season.“
Baseball has turned into pitcher destruction. But it’s probably not good for the game. Oh wait, there’s lots of money in baseball, so it’s ok.
Hoping Ashby can come through for us this season.
I’d just try to use him as a one inning bullpen guy at this point. I feel he’d be more effective in that role, you can manage his workload easier and the Brewers could use another guy to bridge the innings gap from when the starter is pulled until Devin Williams comes in to close the game out.
This guy is never healthy and he never goes away
Every year he finds a way to sneak into someone’s trainer’s room
Did the other 29 teams show up to the winter meetings?
This has been brutal. Apparently everyone is waiting on Ohtani. These are almost half over and the major signing has been Joe Ross for slightly over league minimum
I’m here for the critical comments. They’re fun.