Brewers to sign free agent utility player Brock Holt

Feb. 18 (UPI) -- Former Boston Red Sox utility player Brock Holt has agreed to join the Milwaukee Brewers.

Sources told MLB Network and ESPN the National League Central franchise reached an agreement with the free agent Monday. Holt, 31, hit a career-high .297 with three home runs and 31 RBIs in 87 games last season for the Red Sox.

The 2015 All-Star has a career .271 batting average with 23 home runs and 35 stolen bases in 639 games. Holt entered the league as a ninth-round pick by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 2009 MLB Draft. He was traded to the Red Sox in 2012. Holt won a World Series with Boston in 2018.

Holt's deal with Milwaukee is pending a physical. Holt missed the first two months of last season due to a scratched cornea and a shoulder injury. He made $3.58 million in 2019. He played every position other than catcher and pitcher while with the Red Sox.

Holt hit for the cycle twice while with the Red Sox. His most-memorable showing for Boston came in Game 3 of a 2018 American League Division Series against the New York Yankees. Holt went 4 for 6, completing a cycle with a single, double, triple and home run in a 16-1 Red Sox triumph.

The move to let Holt join another team in free agency continues a trend of veteran players leaving the Red Sox. Boston also made a blockbuster trade to send Mookie Betts and David Price to the Los Angeles Dodgers on Feb. 9.

"Free agency plays into many decisions clubs like ours have to make," Red Sox owner John Henry said in a statement after the Betts trade. "Today's players spend years in the minor and major leagues earning the right to be paid in a free market, earning the right to make choices. They make significant sacrifices to get there and they deserve what they receive. Clubs also have choices to make as well in this economic system."

The Red Sox host the Tampa Bay Rays in their first spring training game at 1:05 p.m. EST Saturday at JetBlue Park at Fenway South in Fort Myers, Fla.