Brewers Add Veteran Reliever John Axford from Blue Jays
Franchise Single-Season Saves Leader Acquired for Cash Considerations
MILWAUKEE – The Milwaukee Brewers have acquired right-handed reliever John Axford from the Toronto Blue Jays in exchange for cash considerations. Axford will join the team tonight. A corresponding roster move will be announced later. The announcement was made by President of Baseball Operations David Stearns.
Axford will retain his uniform number 59 as bench coach Pat Murphy switches to number 00.
Axford, who has not pitched in the Major Leagues since 2018, began the 2021 season as a studio analyst for Blue Jays television. He then pitched for Team Canada in the Olympic qualifier before Toronto signed him to a Minor League contract on June 24. He went 1-0 with a 0.84 ERA and 2 saves in 9 relief appearances at Triple-A Buffalo, holding opponents to a .061 batting average (10.2ip, 2h, 1r, 1er, 3bb, 14k).
Axford owns a career record of 38-34 with a 3.87 ERA and 144 saves in 543 games (1 start) during 10 Major League seasons with Milwaukee (2009-13), St. Louis (2013), Cleveland (2014), Pittsburgh (2014), Colorado (2015), Oakland (2016-17), Toronto (2018) and Los Angeles-NL (2018).
NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. While it is believed to be reliable, Urban Milwaukee does not guarantee its accuracy or completeness.
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