The Brewers have acquired a right-hander Javy Guerra from the Rays in exchange for a player to be named later, tweets Todd Rosiak of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. Tampa Bay had designated Guerra for assignment earlier in the week. The team has since announced the swap.
Guerra, 27, started the year in San Diego, but was DFA’d by the Padres after throwing just two innings for them. He was claimed by the Rays, but DFA’d by them again after a handful of appearances. This time, Guerra cleared waivers and was sent to Triple-A only to find himself back in Tampa six weeks later. Altogether, Guerra wound up with a 3.38 ERA across 16 innings of relief work for the Rays. His poor 12.9% strikeout rate and 11.4% walk rate suggested some regression, and sure enough FIP had him pegged at 5.30. He was a lot better at Triple-A, where he logged 41 1/3 innings of work for a 1.74 ERA.
Originally signed by the Red Sox as an infielder out of Panama, Guerra made his way to the Padres in the Craig Kimbrel deal of 2015. He made his debut for San Diego a few years later in 2018, playing 19 games and picking up two hits in 16 plate appearances. He returned to the minors in 2019 working as a pitcher, and after tossing 21 1/3 innings of 3.38 ERA ball, he was rewarded with a return to the big leagues in a relief role. He continued to work between Triple-A and the big leagues over the next few seasons, but never performed well enough to last in San Diego, and across four seasons there he owned an 8.46 ERA through 27 2/3 innings.
Guerra’s one year shy of arbitration, so won’t take much of a financial commitment from the Brewers. He is, however, out of options, so the Brewers will either have to carry them on their big league roster or expose him to waivers.
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