Former Milwaukee Brewers OF Released by Astros; Searching for 7th Team in 6 Years
The Milwaukee Brewers, like all Major League Baseball teams, are making their final decisions as they pertain to their Opening Day roster. Today, the Brewers optioned Tyler Black and Caleb Durbin to Triple-A Nashville and released veteran outfielder Manuel Margot, who had been in Big League camp after signing a minor league contract with Milwaukee earlier this offseason.
These moves came a day after the Brewers traded Mark Canha to the Kansas City Royals for a player to be named later.
Now, Milwaukee has 13 position players left in Major League camp, all of whom will likely be on the Opening Day roster.
Elsewhere around the league, one former Brewers outfielder is not so fortunate.
Former Milwaukee Brewers Outfielder Ben Gamel Has Been Released by the Houston Astros
According to Nick Deeds of MLB Trade Rumors, the Houston Astros released Ben Gamel on Saturday, even though he was on their 40-man roster:
“Gamel, 33 in May, played 20 games for the Astros down the stretch last year and re-signed with the club on a one-year big league contract that guaranteed him a $200K signing bonus with a $1MM salary if he broke camp with the club.
“That will not come to pass, though he’ll head back into free agency having pocketed the signing bonus for his trouble as he searches for a job with a new club. The journeyman is a veteran of nine MLB seasons who has struggles to find a consistent home over the years, but has accumulated more than 700 games in the majors since he debuted with the Yankees back in 2016.”
Gamel played for Milwaukee from 2019-2020 and hit .245/.331/.381 with 10 home runs and 43 RBI in 174 games played. His older brother, Mat Gamel, formerly was a top prospect in the Brewers’ farm system. Unfortunately, his own MLB career was derailed after a gruesome knee injury suffered after he earned Milwaukee’s starting first baseman job.
