Brewers release veteran slugger

The Brewers released first baseman Luke Voit, reports Adam McCalvy of MLB.com. Voit had been designated for assignment earlier this week.

Voit, 32, has been on a fairly steady downward trajectory in recent years. He led the majors in home runs in 2020, launching 22 of them for the Yankees in the shortened season. He hit .277/.338/.610 that year for a wRC+ of 153, indicating he was 53% better than league average. However, he made multiple trips to the injured list in 2021 and finished with a diminished line of .239/.328/.437, 112 wRC+.

Since the Yankees effectively replaced him with Anthony Rizzo, they traded him to the Padres prior to 2022. After a few months in San Diego, Voit was traded again to Washington, forming part of the Nationals’ return in the Juan Soto trade. Between the two clubs, his batting line fell again last year, ending up at .226/.308/.402, wRC+ of 102. The Nats could have retained him via arbitration but decided to non-tender him instead.

Voit ended up with the Brewers on a minor league deal and opted out late in the spring when he didn’t get a roster spot. The Brewers circled back and signed him to a one-year, $2M deal with incentives and a club option. Unfortunately, he hit just .221/.284/.265 through 22 games before landing on the injured list with a neck strain. He began a rehab assignment a couple of weeks ago, but the club evidently didn’t want to add him back onto the roster, giving him the DFA treatment earlier this week.

Since Voit is only capable of serving as a first baseman or a designated hitter, his dwindling offense really puts a dent in his appeal. Given his recent struggles and salary commitment, it’s unsurprising that the Brewers didn’t find any club willing to take him on. Since he has over five years of major league service time, he would have been able to reject an outright assignment and elect free agency while retaining that salary, so the club simply skipped that step and sent him back to the open market.

He will now be free to pursue opportunities with any of the other clubs. The interest will surely be muted based on his recent results, but any club that signs him would only have to pay him the prorated league minimum for any time spent on the active roster, with that amount subtracted from what the Brewers are paying.