Crew exercises Jeffress' club option
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MILWAUKEE -- The Brewers on Wednesday exercised a club option to bring back reliever Jeremy Jeffress for $3.175 million in 2019, a decision that came as little surprise after the 31-year-old right-hander ranked among MLB's best relievers during the regular season.
The Brewers also reportedly declined the $3.5 million club option on right-hander Jordan Lyles' contract on Wednesday, opting to pay a $250,000 buyout that sent the 28-year-old into free agency.
But Jeffress will be back. He made a big league All-Star team for the first time in 2018 while ranking second among relievers with a 1.29 ERA, tied for 11th in appearances (with a team-high 73) and 15th in WAR.
Jeffress ran into trouble in the postseason, however. Jeffress allowed six runs on four walks and 16 hits in eight innings against the Rockies and Dodgers. His final appearance was in Game 7 of the National League Championship Series, when Yasiel Puig's three-run homer off Jeffress in the sixth inning represented the final blow in Milwaukee's season-ending loss.
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Asked how the experience would motivate him for 2019, Jeffress said, "A lot. I'm ready to go."
Jeffress earned $1.7 million last season plus $550,000 of the $2.2 million in available incentives in each season of a one-year contract with two club options that he signed in December. The Brewers hold another club option for 2020 at $4.3 million with no buyout.
"This whole season was fun," Jeffress said. "I accomplished things that I knew I could do; it was right in my reach, I just had to make that extra step. Everybody else in the clubhouse, too. They reached goals they wanted to reach all year. To see everybody succeed together to make it this far, it was wonderful. I'm grateful."
The decision to cut ties with Lyles was first reported by The Athletic. Lyles, acquired by the Brewers from San Diego via the waiver wire in early August, posted a 3.31 ERA in 11 appearances for Milwaukee, but he was left off the rosters for the NL Division Series and the NLCS. He has a 5.28 ERA in 217 Major League games for the Astros, Rockies, Padres and Brewers, including 115 starts.