The Brewers closed the deal with free-agent third baseman Mike Lamb on Tuesday morning, inking the veteran to a one-year contract that had been in the works for several days.

Lamb, 33, finished the 2007 regular season with Milwaukee after he was released by the Twins five months into a two-year, $6.6 million contract. The Brewers are believed to have committed something close to the league minimum of $400,000 for Lamb, and the Twins will be on the hook for the rest of the $3 million they guaranteed him for 2009.

The Brewers are seeking left-handed bats this offseason and they liked what they had in Lamb, who hit .273 (3-for-11) in his brief stint with the Brewers and was not eligible for the postseason roster because Milwaukee didn’t acquire him until Sept. 5. He’s likely to split time at third base in 2009 with right-handed hitter Bill Hall, though Brewers general manager Doug Melvin said Monday that prospect Mat Gamel — another left-handed hitter — will also get a chance to win playing time.

Lamb is a .277 hitter in parts of nine seasons with the Rangers, Astros, Twins and Brewers, and his best years were in Houston, including a 14-homer, 58-RBI 2004 season and a 2006 in which he batted a career-high .307. Melvin was the Rangers’ GM when Texas took Lamb in the seventh round of the 1997 First-Year Player Draft.

Milwaukee’s 40-man roster stands at 37.

Hookscenter.com wire report (McCalvy).