PHOENIX -- Reliever Brent Suter and the Brewers agreed to terms on a two-year contract Sunday, about 24 hours before the sides were scheduled to go to an arbitration hearing.
Suter, the left-hander who starred for the Brewers last September in the wake of Tommy John surgery, had filed for a $1.25 million salary in his first year of arbitration eligibility, and the Brewers countered at $825,000. According to two sources, the two-year deal guarantees $2.5 million. Suter gets a $100,000 signing bonus and salaries of $900,000 in 2020 and $1.5 million in '21. The ‘21 salary would increase by $50,000 each for 80, 100, 120, 140 and 160 innings pitched this year.
“[A hearing] was always in the back of my mind,” Suter said. “I kept on thinking of things -- maybe we can add this or that [to the case]. The competitor in me was trying to give our best case possible. But I’ve certainly heard that it’s not the ‘funnest’ process going in there and hearing how bad you stink for an hour and a half. I’m glad we were able to avoid it. Like I said, it’s a day of super gratitude and a breath of fresh air, like, ‘OK, now we can just play baseball and forget about that stuff for a while and be with my teammates and coaches and great fans for another two years.’”
A Harvard man drafted by the Brewers in the 31st round in 2012, Suter has a 3.63 ERA in 223 Major League innings over the past four seasons. He was at his best last September, going 4-0 with a 0.49 ERA in 18 1/3 innings before working a scoreless inning in the National League Wild Card Game.
Suter was named the NL Reliever of the Month for September, a pretty good achievement for a late-round Draft pick whose fastball typically sits in the mid-80-mph range.
“Brent’s been a great Brewer, and he’s someone who’s done everything we’ve asked of him,” Brewers president of baseball operations David Stearns said. “He’s been bounced back and forth from Triple-A, he’s been bounced back and forth from the rotation to the ‘pen. He’s undergone a really unfortunate injury that he’s battled hard to get back from, and he obviously contributed a great deal to our stretch run last year. It’s a good day for us, a good day for him and his family. And when you get to those types of agreements that work for everyone, it’s rewarding for everyone.
“It’s not by accident; he’s worked really hard at this. He’s perfected his craft and he’s improved his craft over the last couple years, and even if it doesn’t look exactly like a lot of other guys in the big leagues, he’s consistently proven he’s belonged.”
Said Brewers manager Craig Counsell: “He’s a special person in how he does it. It’s just so unique. Stories like that give a lot of guys hope. It’s a little bit untraditional, both in how he does it and how he got here. It gives a lot of guys trying to do the same thing, be it in college or in the facility on the other side of the facility, [inspiration] to do it.”
Sunday’s signing offered another opportunity, Suter said, to appreciate some of that. At the onset of last year's Spring Training, he was still in the middle of a flat-ground throwing program coming off surgery.
“I took those first couple of days after we got knocked out of the ['19] playoffs to just reflect on the season and how far I came from not being able to throw a baseball to now I was pitching in the playoffs,” Suter said. “It was a really crazy whirlwind couple of months of rehab. I’m grateful that I was able to go out there and help win games. It was an amazing time of gratitude then, and it’s an amazing time of gratitude now. I’m just very, very thankful.”
Yelich, Smoak join early arrivals
Right fielder Christian Yelich and new first baseman Justin Smoak made their first appearances at American Family Fields of Phoenix on Sunday, joining the long list of position players who reported early (they are not required to be in town until Monday). Counsell connected the wave of early arrivals to the improved surroundings at the facility, which underwent a $60 million renovation prior to last spring.
“I think our complex has changed the nature of that question [about early arriving players],” Counsell said. “So many guys are using our complex. As we’ve gone into Year 2 of having this facility, it’s even happened faster than we could have expected. The value we think we’re getting out of it. It’s really been situations like that. It’s been outstanding.”
Asked about the benefits of having players in camp earlier, Counsell said, “I think a health and strength perspective. And as far as the pitching, I think we’ve undertook a program that we think can pay long-term dividends. Where would the lab have been in the old clubhouse?”