:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/27518143/20130926_krj_aj6_012.0.jpg)
After a period of speculation, the Brewers have announced the signing of free agent pitcher Matt Garza, according to team owner Mark Attanasio (via Todd Rosiak of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel).
Garza's new contract guarantees him $50 million through 2017 with a vesting option for the 2018 season. The total amount he can earn could reach as high as $67 million -- if his option vests, and he meets all of the specifications for the incentives included in the deal. The full details of the have not yet been released.
More from our team sites
More from our team sites
Since the contract is somewhat unorthodox, it's easy to see why it took the team a little extra time to make the announcement. The signing was originally announced on Thursday, but the team denied those reports, saying they were still in talks with Garza, but no deal had been finalized. Negotiations for the fifth year might have been the cause of the delay, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel's Tom Haudricourt.
Garza, 30, owns a 3.84 ERA over his eight-year career with the Twins, Rays, Cubs, and Rangers. He will join a Brewers rotation that features Yovani Gallardo, Marco Estrada, Wily Peralta, and Kyle Lohse -- who was scooped up on a similar late-offseason deal last year. However, unlike Lohse, Garza was not attached to draft compensation
Despite a solid stretch from 2008 to 2011, Garza has struggled with injuries recently, managing just 259 innings over the last two seasons. When healthy, he has been consistently above average. He hasn't posted an ERA- above 100 (league average) since his rookie year as a Twin in 2006, and his career ERA- (93) checks in at seven percent above average.
