Former Brewers starter signs with division rival
One ex-Milwaukee Brewers pitcher is moving elsewhere in the division.
Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reported Thursday that veteran left-hander Eric Lauer is signing with the Pittsburgh Pirates. Lauer is joining the Pirates on minor-league deal.
The 28-year-old Lauer had pitched the last four seasons for the Brewers. While he had an 11-win, 157-strikeout season in 2022, Lauer followed that up with an accursed 2023 campaign, going 4-6 with a 6.56 ERA over ten appearances. Lauer’s performance was also impacted by a right shoulder injury that caused him to miss extended time in the middle of the year.
At this point though, Lauer can serve as a low-risk option for a righty-heavy Pirates rotation that has also made some other notable free-agent additions. Meanwhile for the Brewers, this continues on a big exodus from last year’s staff as Lauer, Corbin Burnes, Adrian Houser, and Julio Teheran are all no longer around.
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Spring Breakout rosters include Orioles’ Holliday, Brewers’ Chourio, Pirates’ Skenes
SECAUCUS, N.J. (AP) — Baltimore infielder Jackson Holliday, Milwaukee outfielder Jackson Chourio and Pittsburgh right-hander Paul Skenes headline rosters for the inaugural Spring Breakout designed to showcase top prospects.
SECAUCUS, N.J. (AP) — Baltimore infielder Jackson Holliday, Milwaukee outfielder Jackson Chourio and Pittsburgh right-hander Paul Skenes headline rosters for the inaugural Spring Breakout designed to showcase top prospects.
Each of the 30 major league organizations announced rosters Thursday for the event, which includes 16 games from March 14-17 at spring training sites. Rosters include only players who have rookie eligibility — they haven’t exceeded 130 at-bats, 50 innings pitched or 45 days on an active major league roster.
Most games will be seven innings as part of doubleheaders with Cactus League or Grapefruit League games.
Holliday and Chourio are regarded as baseball’s top prospects.
Holliday, the son of retired seven-time All-Star outfielder Matt Holliday, was the first overall pick in the 2022 draft. Chourio, who turns 20 on Monday, signed the most lucrative contract ever for a player with no major league experience this offseason when he agreed to an eight-year, $82 million deal.
The Spring Breakout schedule includes a March 14 game between the Orioles and Pirates, which at least opens up the possibility that Skenes could pitch to Holliday in a matchup between the top overall picks in each of the last two amateur drafts.
Skenes, a 6-foot-6 right-hander, was the No. 1 pick in the 2023 draft and agreed to a $9.2 million signing bonus after going 13-2 with a 1.69 ERA and 209 strikeouts for College World Series champion LSU last year.
These two No. 1 picks already faced in a Feb. 29 Grapefruit League game, with Skenes retiring Holliday on a grounder to second.
