NEWS: Brewers Re-Sign Luke Voit, Option Abraham Toro and Sal Frelick, and It's Brice Turang SZN

[Matthew Trueblood]

Our long national nightmare is over. Luke Voit is back in Brewers camp, this time with a spot on the 40-man roster and a contract that could keep him in blue and gold through 2024. Milwaukee also made a few other moves, as they prepare their roster for Opening Day.

Image courtesy of © Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports

Ultimately, the Brewers and Luke Voit decided they were better off staying together. Voit had opportunities elsewhere before he signed the minor-league deal that first brought him to Maryvale last month, and he had other opportunities when he became a free agent this weekend, but none were as appealing as the Brewers' offer. You can now pencil Voit in as the designated hitter or first baseman against lefties in the early going, even if that's a slight oversimplification.

When the Brewers announced Friday that Keston Hiura wouldn't make the team, it felt like an assertion of their intention to keep Voit, who fills nicely the void left by Hiura. In sync with bringing Voit back, the team officially designated Hiura for assignment, which is just a procedural move at this point. They had no leverage to lose in any trade talks (Aaron Rodgers jokes welcome, head for the comments), and Hiura had to be waived or released this week, anyway.

More newsworthy, then, are the other concomitant moves here. The Brewers optioned Abraham Toro to Triple-A Nashville. That was an expected move, at this point. He didn't do enough to overwhelm the team or overcome the stiff competition for the final infield spots, and Mike Brosseau made that competition a tighter one by hammering Cactus League pitching so relentlessly. This isn't, by any means, the last we'll hear from Toro. He's a great option to have available when injuries force the team to dip into their minor-league depth, even if the 40-man roster will be crowded in the meantime.

We can't pretend to have known that Sal Frelick would be sent down at the same time, but the 40-man roster math made this the path of least resistance. Frelick has proved his contact-oriented approach can withstand the greater intensity of high-level stuff. Now, he can go to Nashville and work to prove to the team that he's a capable defender in both center and right field. Soon enough, injury or other exigency will create an opening in the outfield. 

Brice Turang has made the Opening Day roster. pic.twitter.com/kgt45KNNph

— Curt Hogg (@CyrtHogg) March 27, 2023

The departure of Frelick will make the last roster spot come down to Joey Wiemer and Owen Miller, because Brice Turang will be the club's Opening Day second baseman. Turang showed everything the team could have asked of him this spring, including good enough leather at shortstop to be a viable backup to Willy Adames there. Now, he'll be the regular second baseman against right-handers, pushing Luis Urías over to third and Brian Anderson to the outfield. 

With additional news that Turang and Rule 5er Gus Varland are in, roster is close to set barring an outside add.

Presuming Houser opens on the IL, 13-man pitching staff is set.

And with Voit/Turang in, Frelick, Toro out, final position player spot down to Miller or Wiemer.

— Adam McCalvy (@AdamMcCalvy) March 27, 2023

This is an exciting day for Brewers baseball. Voit is a dynamic bat to add to the mix, despite his limitations. Turang adds speed and defense at the bottom of the batting order, and if he hits the way he's shown the ability to, he could help the lineup turn over beautifully, too. We finally have a good idea of what the Brewers will look like and how they'll try to win games, early in the season. 

What do you think? Will Wiemer grab the final spot, completing the youth surge? IS Frelick being done dirty here? How would you line up the club against both righties and lefties? Let the discussion commence.

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[Seth Stohs]

I love these videos of players hearing the news that they're heading to the big leagues!! 

Brice Turang: 

 

[Seth Stohs]

And here is Gus Varland's: 

 

[USCBrewFan]

Congrats to both of those guys!  Let go win it all now.

[Brock Beauchamp]

2 minutes ago, USCBrewFan said:

Congrats to both of those guys!  Let go win it all now.

Welcome to the site and yes, it's exciting to see these two guys get the call!

It's pretty cool that the Varland brothers - Minnesota natives - are now playing for the Twins and Brewers.

[JohnBriggs12]

I love that Turang made the team.  He's a major league talent and belongs in the major leagues.  Not quite like when Del Crandall announced that 18 year old Robin Yount made the Brewers in 1974.  Crandall basically said Yount made the team because he was better than any of the other options.  I think the same holds for Turang.

I hope Wiemer sticks as well.  Giving Frelick more time in CF at Nashville because if either Mitchell or Wiemer struggles offensively before Taylor comes back, they can replace him with Frelick.

[SeaBass]

Turang and Varland, so cool for those guys. For whatever reason Varland's reaction hit me even harder than Turang's. All the stuff a Rule 5 guy must have on his shoulders, not quite good enough to be protected by his original team (even knowing it's a team with deep talent), picked up by another team that feels he's worth a look then the pressure to go out and prove it in what has to feel like an all or nothing chance at his dreams and then getting that confirmation that, yeah, you belong here. You made it. What a feeling it must be.

[Brock Beauchamp]

Good job figuring out the Voit situation. Bummer for Frelick but I suspect we’ll see him soon enough. 

[USCBrewFan]

On 3/27/2023 at 1:26 PM, Brock Beauchamp said:

Welcome to the site and yes, it's exciting to see these two guys get the call!

It's pretty cool that the Varland brothers - Minnesota natives - are now playing for the Twins and Brewers.

Thanks, Brock!  I love this site!  There are a lot of in depth articles on the Brewers and the farm system.  

[Brock Beauchamp]

1 hour ago, USCBrewFan said:

Thanks, Brock!  I love this site!  There are a lot of in depth articles on the Brewers and the farm system.  

Welcome aboard, we hope to see more of you in 2023!

[Robocaller]

I hope they come to their senses soon. Why is Owen Miller on the O.D. roster? He made a tiny bit of sense as a guy who could fill in at 1B a little bit, but with Voit, he won't even be needed for that. What more does Frelick have to prove?