9:41 am: Brebbia will make $5.5 million in guaranteed money, according to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic (Left to X) contains the breakdown of terms. Brebbia will receive a base salary of $4 million for 2024, and there is a $6 million mutual option for 2025 that includes a $1.5 million buyout. Up to $1 million in incentive bonuses are also available each season, and Brebbia can begin unlocking these bonuses when he reaches the 45 stakes threshold.
8:58 a.m: The White Sox have signed a right-handed hitter John Brebbiareports Jon Morosi of MLB Network (about X). Daryl Van Schouwen of the Chicago Sun-Times adds that Brebbia has signed a one-year contract. Brebbia is represented by Icon Sports Management.
Newly hired White Sox senior pitching advisor Brian Bannister undoubtedly had some influence on the signing, as Bannister spent the last four seasons as the Giants' pitching director and oversaw Brebbia's deployment as a versatile bullpen weapon. Working as an opener, middle reliever and setup man in San Francisco, Brebbia posted a 3.83 ERA in 134 appearances and 124 2/3 innings while maintaining a solid 6.7% walk rate and a strikeout rate of 23% delivered.
This latter statistic is perhaps a bit misleading, as Brebbia only had an 18.8% strikeout rate during his 68 innings in 2022, which falls between much higher K% rates in the smaller sample sizes of his other two seasons. Brebbia threw just 18 1/3 innings in 2021 as he recovered from Tommy John surgery in June 2020, and he also missed over 2.5 months of last season with a lat strain.
A 30th-round pick by the Yankees in the 2011 draft, Brebbia was something of a late bloomer, not making his MLB debut until he was close to his 27th birthday as a member of the Cardinals in 2017. Brebbia batted played well out of the Cards' bullpen in his first three big league seasons, but following his TJ surgery, St. Louis opted to de-tender him after the 2020 season. For his career, the 33-year-old Brebbia has a 3.42 ERA over 299 2/3 innings with St. Louis and San Francisco.
The White Sox had a lot of holes to fill in both the rotation and their bullpen this winter, and GM Chris Getz has been busy acquiring such on this front Erick Fedde, Chris Flexen, Michael SorokaAnd Tim Hill, in addition to a number of other pitchers with MLB experience on minor league deals. Since Aaron Bummer was traded to the Braves, Brebbia could fill the setup role that Bummer previously held in Chicago, although it's not a perfect one-on-one matchup since Bummer is a southpaw.
It also stands to reason that Brebbia could be used as he was in San Francisco, and not just as a builder. Since Gregory Santos is recovering from elbow inflammation and may not be ready for the start of spring training, Brebbia could even get a few save opportunities if Santos suffers delays or if the White Sox simply decide to take it easy on their expected finish.