Brewers Lose 6-Year Veteran Hurler to Twins in Free Agency

Fans likely know him more as a Cub...

Apr 15, 2025; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; A general view of a Minnesota Twins hat with a Jackie Robinson logo stitched on the side of it against the New York Mets in the fourth inning at Target Field. All players wore #42 for Jackie Robinson Day Mandatory Credit: Jesse Johnson-Imagn Images | Jesse Johnson-Imagn Images

The Milwaukee Brewers technically had right-handed pitcher Julian Merryweather in the organization for just under three months, but he never appeared on the major league roster.

Merryweather, who has six seasons of major league experience under his belt, was cut loose by the Chicago Cubs early last season. He had a brief minor-league stint with the New York Mets before signing with the Brewers on Aug. 12, and he went on to finish the year with Triple-A Nashville.

It made sense that Merryweather would look for a clean slate to begin his next major league campaign, and on Wednesday, it was reported that he had chosen his next team.

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Julian Merryweather heads to Twins

May 4, 2025; Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA; Chicago Cubs pitcher Julian Merryweather (66) delivers a pitch against the Milwaukee Brewers in the sixth inning at American Family Field. Mandatory Credit: Michael McLoone-Imagn Images | Michael McLoone-Imagn Images

According to Dan Hayes of The Athletic, the Minnesota Twins and Merryweather agreed to a minor-league deal with a non-roster invite to spring training. Minnesota seems like an ideal landing spot in comparison to Milwaukee, as the former traded most of its bullpen away at last July's deadline.

The Brewers had some legitimate attrition in their bullpen down the stretch last season, and even as they signed him in the middle of their winningest month, they may have had hopes that Merryweather would make his way back to the majors to help out the bullpen.

Ultimately, the 34-year-old couldn't earn that opportunity, as in 11 games for Triple-A Nashville, he posted a 7.36 ERA. However, he still struck out 16 batters in his 11 innings of work.

Since 2020, Merryweather has appeared in 152 major league games for the Toronto Blue Jays and Cubs. He's compiled a career ERA of 4.72 and negative-0.1 bWAR, but his 10.1 strikeouts per nine innings are tantalizing if he can ever put together a season with improved command.

The Brewers weren't given much time to help Merryweather improve, and they understandably didn't have it in them to re-sign him and give it another try. If he shows out in Minnesota and the Twins are sellers at the deadline, perhaps Milwaukee will think about bringing him back then.

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