The Milwaukee Brewers have yet to make official the return of Yovani Gallardo to the team but reportedly are nearing an agreement on a deal with another free-agent starting pitcher, Jhoulys Chacin.
Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reported via Twitter that the Brewers are near agreement with Chacin, a veteran right-hander who had one of his best seasons in 2017 with San Diego. Chacin, who will be 30 on Jan. 7, went 13-10 with a 3.89 ERA in 32 starts for the Padres, allowing 157 hits and 72 walks in 180 1/3 innings while recording a career-best 153 strikeouts with a 1.270 WHIP.
In eight-plus seasons with Colorado, Arizona, Atlanta, the Los Angeles Angels and San Diego, Chacin is 59-67 with a 3.93 ERA in 195 games (167 starts). A fastball/slider pitcher who throws in the low 90s, he has done a good job of inducing groundballs (49.1% last year) and keeping the ball in the park (0.9 HRs per nine innings).
Chacin had dramatically different splits with the Padres, posting a 1.79 ERA at pitcher-friendly Petco Park and 6.59 ERA on the road, which is somewhat concerning. But he survived six seasons with the Rockies, pitching at hitter-friendly Coors Field and likely will be an inexpensive option after making $1.75 million last season.
The Brewers have been shopping for starting pitching depth after the shoulder surgery of Jimmy Nelson, who will miss the start of the 2018 season. They were linked earlier in the offseason to expensive free agents such as Jake Arrieta but general manager David Stearns suggested that was aggressive for his rebuilding team and has been shopping at the other end of the price spectrum.
Word came out last weekend that the Brewers had an agreement with Gallardo, who pitched for eight seasons for them, but an official announcement will not come until he passes a physical. That news is expected to come at any time now.