Brewers pick up option on Yovani Gallardo, decline Rickie Weeks' option
The Brewers have exercised their club option on right-hander Yovani Gallardo for 2015 and declined the vesting/club option on second baseman Rickie Weeks, the team announced Friday.
According to Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Gallardo's option was worth $13 million and Weeks' was for $14.5 million.
Gallardo, a former All-Star, was 8-11 for the Brewers last season, with a 3.51 ERA and 1.295 WHIP in 192.1 innings over 32 starts. He had 146 strikeouts and 54 walks.
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In September, Gallardo passed Ben Sheets as the all-time strikeout leader in franchise history. Gallardo is also fifth in team history with 89 career wins.
Gallardo, who will be 29 in February, was a second-round draft pick in 2004 and made his big-league debut for Milwaukee in June 2007.
Weeks, 32, is also a former All-Star, but was relegated to a part-time role in 2014 with the emergence of young Scooter Gennett as the club’s everyday second baseman.
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Weeks hit .274/.357/.452 in 121 games, with eight homers and 29 RBI. He went 14-for-56 in 67 pinch-hitting appearances, with one home run and six RBIs.
Weeks has spent his entire 11-year big-league career with the Brewers, who took him with the second pick of the 2003 draft.
- Phil Watson