The Brewers have signed 31-year old lefty reliever Mitch Stetter to a minor league deal. He was released at the end of spring training by the Texas Rangers. Stetter pitched in 16 games (0 starts) for the Brewers last year and he was 0-0 with a 5.14 ERA and a 1.29 WHIP. Stetter has now pitched in 132 games (0 starts) in his first five years with the Brewers and he is 8-2 with 1 save, a 4.08 ERA and a 1.40 WHIP. He will start the 2012 season in AAA-ball for the Brewers, but he might help them at some point this year.

The Brewers have lost 25-year old righty swinging infielder Zelous Wheeler on waivers to the Baltimore Orioles. Wheeler played in 82 games in AA+AAA-ball last year and he was 76 of 279 (.272 avg, .837 OPS) with 41 runs scored, 9 homers, 38 RBIs and 7 stolen bases. He played in 538 games in his five years in the minors for the Brewers and he was 505 of 1,862 (.271 avg, .779 OPS) with 283 runs scored, 43 homers, 277 RBIs and 43 stolen bases. This isn’t much of a loss for the Brewers as Wheeler isn’t a legit prospect.

The Brewers have signed 29-year old righty swinging catcher Jason Jaramillo to a minor league deal. Jaramillo played in 23 games for the Pirates last year and he was 14 of 43 (.326 avg, .751 OPS) with 1 run scored, 0 homers, 6 RBIs and 1 stolen base. He has now played in 119 games in his first three years in the majors and he is 79 of 336 (.235 avg, .621 OPS) with 23 runs scored, 4 homers, 38 RBIs and 2 stolen bases. He will likely start the 2012 season in AAA-ball, but he could help the Brewers in 2012 if he is needed.

The Brewers have lost 28-year old righty reliever Frankie De La Cruz on waivers to the Cubs. De La Cruz pitched in 11 games (0 starts) for the Brewers last year and he was 0-0 with a 2.77 ERA and a 1.15 WHIP. De La Cruz has now pitched in 26 games (1 start) in his first four years in the majors and he is 0-0 with a 8.16 ERA and a 1.97 WHIP. The Brewers are in good shape in the pen for 2012, so they won’t likely miss De La Cruz too much.

The Brewers have signed 35-year old righty swinging outfielder Jay Gibbons to a minor league deal. Gibbons played in 24 games for the Dodgers last year and he was 14 for 55 (.255 avg, .668 OPS) with 5 runs scored, 1 homer and 5 RBIs. He has now played in 840 games in his first 9 years in the majors and he is 759 for 2,917 (.260 avg, .767 OPS) with 364 runs scored, 127 homers, 427 RBIs and 2 stolen bases. It doesn’t hurt the Brewers to give Gibbons a shot to make the team this spring.

UPDATE: (4/17/2012) - The Brewers released Jay Gibbons at the end of spring training.

UPDATE: (4/27/2012) - The Brewers have re-signed Jay Gibbons to a minor league deal, and they have sent him to AA-ball.