Milwaukee Brewers’ Manny Parra becomes free agent – MLB News
There were moves lately but none actually yielded tantalising hints. Instead, something as plain as a pikestaff figured on Friday, November 30.
Milwaukee Brewers' non-tendered left hander Manny Parra, another reliever to become a free agent. After a season wherein the Brewers finished last with a bullpen record of 4.66 ERA and no less than 29 blown saves, the club is now directing its focus to Winter Meetings, hoping to get their hands on some dependable pitchers.
Significant in cutting loose Parra was that the reliever remained associated with the Brewers for more than a decade, having had 74 starts and 98 relief appearances starting from 2007 to 2012.
The move, nonetheless, was expected. Reports had already surfaced indicating that the Brewers may not tender a contract to Parra. It came to fore on Friday when the players who got offers were closer John Axford, outfielder Carlos Gomez and starters Marco Estrada and Chris Narveson.
Brewers' general manager had a rather frank appraisal of the whole development, saying there are times when one has to move on.
"Sometimes a change of scenery can help a player," Brewers' general manager Doug Melvin said. "From our standpoint, it was time to move on and see if we can turn the page and find someone else. We have Manny the opportunity here, and he was appreciative of it. There are times you just have to move on. ...”
That which the Brewers are looking now, which Melvin also said with all candidness, was consistency that the Brewers immensely lacked this past season. In Melvin’s view, though, Parra still has a very good chance to perform well.
He said, "We went through a lot with Manny. Manny went through a lot with our club, as well. But consistency is what we're looking for. Manny is frustrated, too, as a player. Players always want consistency, too. He still has a very good arm and he has a very good chance of performing well."
With this move, the Brewers will now be looking to bring some consistent relievers so as to bolster the bullpen after what was an embarrassingly poor year when it came to their bullpen record.
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