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Jacob Barnes' LinkedIn Profile:  

Remember former Brewer Jacob Barnes?  No, not Oliver Drake, that was the other guy.  Jacob Barnes was a very average relief pitcher when he was a Brewer.  He was selected by Milwaukee in the fourteenth round of the 2011 draft, came up to the big leagues in 2016, and was waived by Milwaukee during the 2019 season.    

During his time with the Brewers, Barnes had a 3.93 ERA and a 1.359 WHIP.   In the days before pitch clocks, Jacob Barnes took his time on the mound, often turning an inning into a saga that included many deep counts and lots of runners on base.  When Barnes was entering games, fans often thought, “Jacob Barnes, why didn’t they bring in that other guy?” and then fell asleep before his inning of pitching was completed.  In his 167 innings pitching for the Brewers, Jacob Barnes amassed a .5 total WAR. 

And although Jacob Barnes was extremely average as a Brewer, what is truly remarkable is what Barnes has done since leaving the organization in 2019. He has been consistently very bad.  But he continues to pitch major league innings each year. Barnes has pitched for eleven different major league organizations and never had an ERA below 5.50 for any team! His WAR since leaving the Brewers is a terrible -1.3 in just ninety-four innings. 

How does Jacob Barnes keep getting a job as a major league pitcher?  He is cheap and available.  He most often signs a minor league contracts with a major league option that pays the league minimum.  From there he works release options till finally being picked up by one of the teams with the worse pitching in baseball.  That team can shuttle Barnes back and forth to the minors and not worry about using up a prospect’s options or starting their major league clock.  Bad teams appreciate this value he brings to their organization. Last year he found innings with the St. Louis Cardinals.  Their pitching was terrible. Barnes fit right in.    

Barnes has made a career out of being a bad pitcher that can cheaply take the ball to fill meaningless innings.  Jacob Barnes is one step above having Rowdy Tellez pitch.  Barnes will likely latch onto some other team with terrible pitching this off season and throw around thirty innings in the majors in 2024.  You will know the Brewers aren’t expecting to compete, if they resign Jacob Barnes. 

Jacob Barnes deserves a lot of credit for finding a way to stay in the game.  Over his career he has earned approximately $3 million dollars for being just bad enough to only earn the minimum salary.