Right-hander Colin Rea has cleared waivers, as first reported by MLBTR’s own Steve Adams. The news leaves the Brewers poised to decline his $5.5MM club option for 2025 in favor of a $1MM buyout.
Rea, 34, finds himself headed to free agency after a surprising turn of events. The right-hander has generally performed solidly for the Brewers in two seasons since coming over from Japan following the 2022 season. He’s spent most of those two seasons in the rotation, providing roughly league average consistency with a 4.40 ERA (96 ERA+) in 292 1/3 innings of work over the past two seasons spread between 49 starts and nine relief appearances.
Given the elevated cost of even back-end rotation arms in recent years that’s seen veterans such as Kyle Gibson and Lance Lynn land eight-figure salaries in free agency, it seemed likely the Brewers would exercise their option on Rea’s services for next year. That didn’t come to pass, however, and evidently it seems no team in baseball was willing to commit a $5.5MM salary to the right-hander this early into the offseason following an unusual winter in which back-of-the-rotation pieces such as Michael Lorenzen and Mike Clevinger lingered on the market deep into Spring Training and were available at deep discounts.
Amid ongoing uncertainty regarding TV rights for a number of clubs, it’s possible that clubs in the market for a back-end starter such as the Reds, Twins, and even the Brewers themselves would prefer to see how the market develops this winter rather than commit a salary to Rea in early November. For the Brewers, in particular, parting ways with Rea could be a sensible decision given the emergence of Tobias Myers in the rotation along with their mid-season deal for right-hander Aaron Civale. With Myers, Civale, and Freddy Peralta all back in the rotation next year and ace Brandon Woodruff also expected back from shoulder surgery, that leaves the club with four starters locked into a rotation that could see Aaron Ashby, DL Hall, and prospect Jacob Misiorowski all fight for the fifth starter job next spring if no further additions are made.
Given that depth in the rotation, it’s somewhat understandable that the Brewers would prefer to allocate the $4.5MM they declined to offer Rea elsewhere, particularly in an offseason where they’ll need to find a way to replace departing shortstop Willy Adames in the lineup. Given the strong defensive abilities of both Joey Ortiz and Brice Turang, that addition doesn’t necessarily need to come at shortstop, and the budget space being used to pay Rea could be reallocated to a free agent infielder such as Amed Rosario or Jose Iglesias. As for Rea, the right-hander will join free agent class that’s relatively deep in back-of-the-rotation options with Gibson, Lorenzen, and Martin Perez among the lengthy list of other similarly productive players available.