The Brewers have agreed to a major league contract with free-agent lefty Grant Wolfram, per Todd Rosiak of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (X link). He’s already passed his physical. It’s a nice birthday present former 18th-rounder, who’ll turn 28 on Thursday. Wolfram is a client of All Bases Covered Sports Management.
A towering 6’8″ southpaw, Wolfram is being added to a 40-man roster for the first time in his career. He’s pitched exclusively in the Rangers organization to this point, logging parts of three seasons in Double-A and another two in Triple-A.
Wolfram was hit hard in his Triple-A debut in 2023 but excelled with the Rangers’ top affiliate in Round Rock this past season. In 56 2/3 innings, Wolfram posted a 3.34 ERA with a sharp 25.6% strikeout rate. His 10.9% walk rate is notably higher than league-average, but Wolfram has typically missed bats at strong levels and, over the past couple seasons, has seen an uptick in grounders. He kept the ball on the ground at a 44.6% rate in 2024.
An 18th-rounder who signed for an $85K bonus out of Division-II Davenport University in Michigan, Wolfram has spent parts of seven seasons in pro ball but has yet to reach the majors. Now that he’s on Milwaukee’s 40-man roster, he’ll have a good chance to do just that in the coming season. While it’s not common for career minor leaguers with no big league experience to sign major league contracts, it’s certainly not unheard of. There tend to be a handful of contracts along these lines every offseason, with Kyle Finnegan standing as one of the more prominent recent examples.
The Brewers aren’t exactly lacking in left-handed bullpen options, but Wolfram gives them some further depth. At the moment, Milwaukee has Jared Koenig, Bryan Hudson, Tyler Jay, DL Hall and Aaron Ashby all on the 40-man roster. Hall and Ashby could be ticketed for rotation work, however, and Jay is more of a depth arm who’s not a lock to survive the entire offseason on the 40-man roster himself. Since Wolfram is being added to a big league roster for the first time, he’ll have a full slate of minor league options, giving Milwaukee plenty of flexibility with him for the next few years.