The Brewers' roster decision deadline on Luke Voit has been pushed back

PHOENIX – Luke Voit will remain a Milwaukee Brewer – for another week, at least.

Voit agreed to push back his contract opt-out date to March 24 as he continues to seek a spot on the Brewers' opening day roster.

Previously, Voit’s minor-league contract with the Brewers stated he could have opted out by Thursday if he wasn’t added to the 40-man roster. Because Voit is out of minor-league options, he would also have to be subsequently added to the active roster once the season begins or be designated for assignment.

Voit has performed well this spring, batting .357 with a 1.022 OPS and two homers, and has drawn interest from other teams if the Brewers choose to not keep him. He could have opted out already and signed with one of those suitors, but staying with the Brewers is his top option.

“I like this opportunity,” Voit said. “You put the early (opt-out) in, obviously, in case something else happens. Maybe another guy gets injured or something, some other spot opens up for you. It’s there for their sake, too, to know it’s early but put pressure on them.”

Voit had hoped his performance this spring earned an addition to the 40-man earlier in the week, but the Brewers prefer to keep the roster spot open as long as possible to maintain flexibility.

Voit mentioned Saturday the challenge of seeing teammates ship belongings to Milwaukee for the season while the unknown of where he will play hangs over him. Making things even more exigent is that he and his wife, Tori, are expecting their second child in June to go along with a 2-year-old daughter.

“I mean, it’s obviously very frustrating,” Voit said. “There’s nothing else I can really do, but it’s the roster spots that they want to hold onto. I feel like we’re really close but hopefully something happens this weekend. If not, we’ll find out next week.

“... But I’ve done what I can do. I’m raking right now. I’m having fun, these guys are great, so I’m just taking care of myself.”

If the Brewers don't add Voit by Friday, he expects to have multiple other options.

"That’s the whole point of having this early (deadline) is hoping that there's more interest from other teams," Voit said. "If they keep pushing it ... there’s a chance I might leave, because it’s like, this (other) team wants to give me $5 million for a roster spot right now."

Brewers 4, Reds 3

Lamar Sparks had a walk-off RBI as the Brewers rallied from a one-run deficit in the bottom of the ninth on Sunday at American Family Fields of Phoenix. One batter after Jon Singleton tied the game with an RBI single, Sparks hit a grounder to third that was ruled an error, allowing the winning run to score.

Corbin Burnes and Wade Miley accounted for all but one of the 27 outs accumulated by Brewers pitching as they fell to the Reds.

Burnes went 4 2/3 innings in his second-to-last tune up before opening day, allowing one run on five hits while striking out four.

"Everything felt good today," Burnes said. "The first two innings, we were trying to find it a little bit. Some mechanical stuff was just off. You never want to have mechanical miscues but it's good that it happened in camp. had to get up for a long first inning and go back out there and kind of bounce back. it's always good to face that a little bit in spring and see how you're going to respond and figure it out. by the time we were back out there for the third inning, I had started to figure it out."

Miley pitched the final four innings, allowing a pair of solo homers. Cincinnati's Henry Ramos hit a solo blast in the top of the ninth to break a 2-2 tie.

Milwaukee scored two runs in the first and had just one hit the rest of the way until the ninth.

Our subscribers make this reporting possible. Please consider supporting local journalism by subscribing to the Journal Sentinel at jsonline.com/deal.

DOWNLOAD THE APP: Get the latest news, sports and more

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Brewers' roster decision deadline on Luke Voit pushed to March 24