Milwaukee Brewers Welcome Back Banged Up Ace Brandon Woodruff on New Contract
The Milwaukee Brewers have signed starting pitcher Brandon Woodruff to a multi-year deal, The New York Post's Jon Heyman reported Monday morning.
Woodruff's contract will be for two years, per Heyman, but salary information has yet to be released.
Milwaukee non-tendered Woodruff last November, right after he had suffered a serious shoulder injury. He was going to be due $11.6 million in 2024 before he was let go.
At the time, there were reports that the Brewers tried to sign Woodruff to a two-year deal, only for talks to fall apart. After a full offseason, Woodruff has decided to return to the team he has called home for his entire MLB career.
The 31-year-old is still not expected to pitch at the major league level in 2024, though.
Outside of his injury concerns, Woodruff has been a mainstay and a leader in the Brewers' rotation for the past few years.
Woodruff debuted in 2017, but really broke out in 2019 by making his first career All-Star appearance. He returned to the All-Star Game in 2021, also finishing fifth in NL Cy Young voting that fall.
After a few stellar starts to open 2023, Woodruff wound up on the injured list with a sub-scapular strain in his throwing shoulder. He didn't return until August, and he was only able to make 11 starts before he underwent surgery to repair the anterior capsule in his right shoulder.
Woodruff is 41-23 with a 2.93 ERA, 1.015 WHIP, 10.7 strikeouts per nine innings and a 15.8 WAR over the last five seasons. In his postseason career, Woodruff is 1-3 with a 3.18 ERA, 0.847 WHIP and 12.7 strikeouts per nine innings.
The Brewers already traded Corbin Burnes to the Baltimore Orioles in January, giving up on one of the longtime cornerstones in their starting rotation. It appeared they had done the same with Woodruff when they cut bait with the righty last fall, but it turns out he won't be going anywhere just yet.
Milwaukee acquired top prospect DL Hall and signed San Francisco Giants veteran Jakob Junis to round out the rotation without Burnes or Woodruff. Veteran Wade Miley, meanwhile, returned to the Brewers on a one-year deal.
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