The Milwaukee Brewers went into the offseason with a major need for starting pitching. Following the annual Baseball Winter Meetings, general manager David Stearns made a couple of minor moves to address the rotation, adding right-handed starters Yovani Gallardo and Jhoulys Chacín in free agency over the past week.
The Brewers signed Gallardo to a one-year contract and Chacín to a two-year deal, the team announced Thursday. The moves had been previously reported by various media outlets.
Gallardo, 31, was a mainstay in Milwaukee’s rotation from 2007-14 and is the club’s all-time leader in strikeouts with 1,226. He owns a career record of 113-93 with a 3.93 ERA in 298 games with the Brewers, Texas Rangers (2015), Baltimore Orioles (2016) and Seattle Mariners (2017). With Milwaukee, Gallardo was 89-64 with a 2.69 ERA in 214 games. He ranks among the franchise leaders in winning percentage (3rd, .582), wins (5th), ERA (5th), starts (6th) and innings pitched (7th, 1289.1). Gallardo is also the all-time franchise leader in home runs (12) by a pitcher.
"We are pleased to bring Yovani back to the Brewers," Stearns said in a release. "His addition provides depth to our pitching staff and gives Yovani a chance to once again have success in a familiar setting. We look forward to seeing Yovani in camp and watching him compete for a spot in our rotation or bullpen."
Gallardo was originally selected by Milwaukee in the second round of the 2004 First-Year Player Draft. After eight seasons with the Brewers, he was traded to Texas in January 2015 in exchange for 2017 All-Star closer Corey Knebel, infielder Luis Sardinas and right-hander Marcos Diplan.
On Thursday, Stearns also announced the addition of Chacín, a veteran starter coming off one of his best Major League seasons. Chacín, who turns 30 on Jan. 7, went 13-10 with a 3.89 ERA in a career-high 32 starts with the San Diego Padres last year. He held opponents to a .235 batting average and gave up only 157 hits in 180.1 innings pitched, finishing with a career-high 153 strikeouts and a team-best 13 wins. Over his last 20 starts in 2017, Chacín went 9-5 with a 2.93 ERA and a .210 opponent batting average.
"Jhoulys brings a veteran presence to our starting rotation," Stearns said. "As a relatively young free agent, we believe he has the ability to build off of a very successful 2017 season and will be a valuable addition to our staff over the next two years."
Chacín owns a career record of 59-67 with a 3.93 ERA in 195 games (167 starts) with Colorado (2009-14), Arizona (2015), Atlanta (2016), LA of Anaheim (2016) and San Diego (2017).
Born in Milwaukee but a product of Shorewood High School (go ‘Hounds!) and Northwestern University (go ‘Cats!), Jimmy never knew the schoolboy bliss of cheering for a winning football, basketball or baseball team. So he ditched being a fan in order to cover sports professionally - occasionally objectively, always passionately. He's lived in Chicago, New York and Dallas, but now resides again in his beloved Brew City and is an ardent attacker of the notorious Milwaukee Inferiority Complex.
After interning at print publications like Birds and Blooms (official motto: "America's #1 backyard birding and gardening magazine!"), Sports Illustrated (unofficial motto: "Subscribe and save up to 90% off the cover price!") and The Dallas Morning News (a newspaper!), Jimmy worked for web outlets like CBSSports.com, where he was a Packers beat reporter, and FOX Sports Wisconsin, where he managed digital content. He's a proponent and frequent user of em dashes, parenthetical asides, descriptive appositives and, really, anything that makes his sentences longer and more needlessly complex.
Jimmy appreciates references to late '90s Brewers and Bucks players and is the curator of the unofficial John Jaha Hall of Fame. He also enjoys running, biking and soccer, but isn't too annoying about them. He writes about sports - both mainstream and unconventional - and non-sports, including history, music, food, art and even golf (just kidding!), and welcomes reader suggestions for off-the-beaten-path story ideas.
