Milwaukee Brewers DVOA, Stats, & MLB Rankings

The Milwaukee Brewers and right-handed reliever Devin Williams agreed to an undisclosed one-year deal to avoid salary arbitration on Thursday. The deal includes a team option for the 2025 season. Williams' 2024 salary will likely come out to around $7 million. The 29-year-old hard-throwing right-hander should be the first closer off the board in fantasy drafts in 2024 after he posted an excellent 1.53 ERA (2.66 FIP), 0.92 WHIP, a career-high 36 saves, 28 walks and 87 strikeouts in 58 2/3 innings over 61 appearances out of the bullpen. The two-time All-Star will be Milwaukee's locked-in closer heading into the 2024 season and has one of the nastiest changeups in the game.

Left-handed relief pitcher Hoby Milner and the Milwaukee Brewers avoided salary arbitration on Wednesday by settling at $2.05 million for the upcoming 2024 season, according to a source. Milner had the best season of his career in 2023, going 2-1 with a 1.82 ERA (3.13 FIP), 0.96 WHIP, 13 walks and 59 strikeouts in 64 1/3 relief innings over 73 appearances out of Milwaukee's bullpen. The 32-year-old will return in 2024 as a left-handed setup man in front of closer Devin Williams in the late innings. In seven years in the big leagues, Milner has recorded a 3.53 ERA (4.13 FIP) and 1.24 WHIP with no saves and a 22.7 percent strikeout rate in 206 1/3 innings, all coming in relief.

The Los Angeles Dodgers signed free-agent right-hander Elieser Hernandez to a minor-league deal on Wednesday that includes an invitation to spring training, according to sources. Hernandez last pitched in the big leagues with the Miami Marlins in 2022, when he went 3-6 with a career-high 6.35 ERA (6.40 FIP) and 1.43 WHIP with 22 walks and 60 strikeouts in 62 1/3 innings over 20 appearances (10 starts). The 28-year-old Venezuelan spent the 2023 campaign at three minor-league levels with the New York Mets, posting a much better 2.89 ERA and 1.39 WHIP with 12 strikeouts in just 9 1/3 innings over eight outings (four starts). Hernandez's season was cut short by a pectoral injury. He'll give the Dodgers some starting and relief depth in the minors to open the 2024 season.

The Los Angeles Dodgers have traded reliever Bryan Hudson to the Milwaukee Brewers in exchange for prospect Justin Chambers and a player to be named later or cash. The 26-year-old has been designated for assignment by the Dodgers to clear a 40-man roster spot for Yoshinobu Yamamoto. Hudson, a third-round pick by the Cubs in 2015, made his pro debut that same season and reached the big leagues in the 2023 campaign. He worked to a 7.27 ERA across six relief outings in the majors but also posted an excellent 2.43 ERA alongside a massive 35.7% K% in 46 appearances (eight starts) at the Triple-A level a season ago. The 2023 season marked the first time Hudson made a start since making seven of them in High-A ball in 2019 while in the Cubs organization.