The MIlwaukee Brewers have signed right-handed pitcher Michael Fiers to a contract for 2012, reports Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. The Brewers now only have closer John Axford and left-hander Chris Narveson remaining as unsigned players on the 40-man roster.
Fiers, 26, won the Pitcher of the Year award in the Brewers' farm system last season and does have a shot at cracking one of the team's starting rotation spots out of camp or perhaps in the middle of the season. The club is going to stretch him out in camp to prepare him for starting in the future.
The 26-year-old posted a 1.86 ERA across 126 innings of work last season between Class Double-A Huntsville and Triple-A Nashville. Eight of his ten appearances for the Triple-A team were starts, and he did quite well in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League posting a 1.11 ERA along with a 9.6 K/9 and 3.1 BB/9 in 64 2/3 innings of work.