Brewers to bring back Mike Moustakas on 1-year, $9 million deal: reports

The Brewers are bringing back free agent infielder Mike Moustakas on a one-year contract worth roughly $9 million, according to ESPN. The deal was first reported by The Athletic.

Moustakas, 30, has had to settle for one-year contracts in back-to-back offseasons despite being one of the better power hitters in baseball. He waited until March of 2018 to sign a one-year deal with the Royals after failing to garner interest in a long-term deal, even though he was coming off an All-Star 2017 season in which he batted .272 with 38 home runs.

The Brewers acquired Moustakas in a July 2018 trade and he continued to perform well for them down the stretch. He finished the 2018 season with a .251/.315/.459 batting line and 2.5 wins above replacement, per Baseball-Reference. The third baseman made $6.5 million last season, so he’s receiving a raise based on the reported figures on his new contract, although both sides declined a $15 million mutual option earlier in the offseason.

Moustakas returns to the Brewers alongside new additions catcher Yasmani Grandal, outfielder Ben Gamel and relievers Alex Claudio and Matt Albers.