The Brewers have signed 36-year old lefty reliever Scott Schoeneweis to a minor league deal that will pay him $800,000 bucks if he makes the team. Schoeneweis pitched in 45 games (0 starts) for the D-Backs last season and he was 1-2 with a 7.12 ERA and a 1.75 WHIP. He gets a mulligan for last season due to the tragedy he was dealing with in his personal life (the death of his wife). He has now pitched in 562 games (93 starts) in his major league career and he is 46-57 with 9 saves, a 4.97 ERA and a 1.47 WHIP. This was a good signing for the Brewers who need help from the left side of the pen.

The Brewers have designated 26-year old righty reliever Tim Dillard for assignment to make room on the roster for Marco Estrada. Dillard pitched in 2 games (0 starts) for the Brewers last season and he was 0-1 with a 12.46 ERA and a 2.77 WHIP. He has now pitched in 15 games (0 starts) in his major league career and he is 0-1 with a 6.27 ERA and a 1.88 WHIP.

The Brewers have claimed 26-year old righty starter/reliever Marco Estrada off waivers from the Nationals. He pitched in 4 games (1 start) for the Nationals last season and he was 0-1 with a 6.14 ERA and a 1.36 WHIP. Estrada also pitched in 27 games (25 starts) in AAA-ball last season and he was 9-5 with a 3.63 ERA and a 1.22 WHIP. He has now pitched in 15 games (1 start) in his major league career and he is 0-1 with a 7.20 ERA and a 1.60 WHIP. Estrada has some talent so it is worth it for the Brewers to take a chance on him.

The Brewers have signed 39-year old lefty swinging outfielder Jim Edmonds to a minor league deal. He will make $850,000 bucks in 2010 if the makes the Brewers’ roster plus he can make an additional $1.65 million in incentives. Edmonds last played in the majors in 2008 with the Padres and Cubs. He played in 111 games in 2008 and he was 80 for 340 (.235 avg, .822 OPS) with 53 runs scored, 20 homers and 55 RBIs. He has now played in 1,925 games in his major league career and he is 1,881 for 6,612 (.284 avg, .905 OPS) with 1,207 runs scored, 382 homers, 1,176 RBIs and 65 stolen bases. The Brewers must release Edmonds if he is not on the major league roster on March 25th according to this contract. I like this signing for the Brewers as they need help on the bench.

The Brewers have designated 28-year old righty reliever Chris Smith for assignment to make room on the roster for Joe Inglett. Smith pitched in 35 games for the Brewers last season and he was 0-0 with a 4.11 ERA and a 1.30 WHIP. He also pitched in 28 games (0 starts) in AAA-ball last season and he was 2-0 with 17 saves, a 1.27 ERA and a 0.87 WHIP. The tradeoff of Inglett for Smith is probably a good one for the Brewers who really never seemed to trust Smith in games.