SB Nation - Clay Hensley

Marlins Minor League Free Agents

craig — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 10:59:10 -0000

This is the time of the year when those who are eligible can file for Minor League free agency. To be eligible, basically, a player with six years of service after his first season can file if he is not on the 40-man roster. Here is this year's list.

Florida (32)

Pitchers: LHP Willie Collazo, RHP Matt Desalvo, RHP Nate Field, RHP Jonathan Fulton, RHP William Glen, RHP Clay Hensley, RHP Brian Lawrence, RHP Carlos Martinez, RHP Nick McCurdy, RHP David Miller, RHP Kasey Olenberger, RHP Henry Owens, RHP Matt Peterson, RHP Levale Speigner, RHP Nick Ungs

Catchers: Michael Rabelo, Neil Wilson

Infielders: Christopher De La Cruz, John Lindsey, David Matranga, Louis Ott, Smelin Perez, Kevin Randel, Rigoberto Silverio, Lee Mitchell, Rich Townsend, Geraldo Valentin

Outfielders: Ben Harrison, Erik Kanaby, Michael Ryan, Lorenzo Scott, Brandon Tripp

Rabelo, McCurdy, Silverio and Townsend spent all of the 2009 season on the DL. So they might be a bit chancy for another club to sign. Then again, maybe not. Signing a minor league free agent basically costs nothing and the club's only obligation is to carry them all the way through spring training. So normally someone will be willing to give them a shot. Just because another team signs them doesn't necessarily mean they won't be back with the Marlins. A couple of years ago Paul Hoover filed, went through spring training with some team and ended up once again being the Marlins Triple-A catcher.

Kinda sad to see Henry Owens name on the list. For a little while in 2007 he was the closer for the Marlins and did a pretty good job, then he hurt his shoulder and ended up playing for Dr. Andrews team. We have never seen him in a Marlins uniform since.

Wednesday's Frosty Mug

KLSnow — Wed, 27 May 2009 15:01:29 -0000

More photos » by Morry Gash - AP

St. Louis Cardinals' Adam Wainwright (50) is congratulated by teammates after hitting a home run for the fourth consecutive season.

Browse more photos »

Some things to read while I finish the last chapter of Help Wanted.

Actually, I probably won't have much time for video games today, as the first pitch for this afternoon's game is already about two hours away. Ryan Braun likely won't be in the starting lineup: X-rays came back negative on Braun's wrist last night (h/t FanShot), but it's still a quick turnaround from a night game to a day game, and resting him today would give him two full days off, with the off day tomorrow. Paul Noonan of Brewed Sports might not have to spend the rest of his life harassing Adam Wainwright after all.

J.J. Hardy, however, is expected to play. Today's game is listed in the top spot in Baseball Musings' Games of the Day.

Adam Wainwright shut the Brewers down last night, and has been lights-out lately. Fungoes credits a change in release point for his sudden dominance. Wainwright's home run last night also gives him one in each of the last four seasons.

Along with the good news, though, the Cardinals got some bad news yesterday: Troy Glaus is being given a 50-50 shot at returning to the lineup in 2009, and Kyle Lohse is expected to be scratched from Friday's start against the Giants.

This week's schedule has been pretty rough for the Brewers, with a road night game on Sunday followed by a day game at home Monday, then a night game last night and another day game today. One would think that would be enough, but Mat Gamel also found time to visit a grade school in Racine before yesterday's game.

Maybe he was campaigning for write-in votes. Ryan Braun and J.J. Hardy are the leading vote-getters at their respective positions in All-Star balloting. In fact, no Brewer position player is lower than second.

Looking back for a moment: The Brewers are 3-1 in 1-0 games this season, but Monday's was the only of the three games to go to extra innings. It was only the seventh 1-0, extra inning victory in franchise history, and just the second since 1989.

For the first time in several days, I don't have a note on Jake Peavy today. I do, however, have Two-Fisted Slopper's argument for Erik Bedard.

I have a handful of draft notes today:

FanGraphs reviews the Brewers' last three drafts and looks ahead to June. They list second base as an organizational need, despite the fact that Cutter Dykstra and Brett Lawrie have both been moved to the position in the last three months. (h/t FanShot)
Andy Seiler has the Brewers selecting Chad Jenkins, a RHP from Kennesaw State, in the first round along with Tommy Joseph, a HS catcher from Arizona, and Brody Colvin, a HS pitcher from Louisiana, in the supplemental round.
Jim Gantner will be the Brewer representative at the draft.

Somewhat related, here are today's minor league notes:

Wily Peralta has been named Midwest League Pitcher of the Week following a week that saw him go two starts without allowing a run with a 17:2 K:BB ratio.
Mike Jones, a former #1 pick who's become a bit of an afterthought, pitched six scoreless innings in his first start in Huntsville and hit 94 on the gun.
Chris Duffy accepted his assignment to Nashville and should join the team today.

Also, Adam McCalvy is looking for mailbag questions, if you have one in mind.

Around the league:

Angels: Placed Scot Shields on the DL with patella tendinitis.
Marlins: Signed Clay Hensley and Gary Glover to minor league deals.
Mets: Placed Jose Reyes (calf tendinitis) and Ryan Church (hamstring) on the DL.
Nationals: Designated Daniel Cabrera for assignment and must add Mike MacDougal to their roster today or lose him to free agency.
Orioles: Placed outfielder Lou Montanez on the DL with torn ligaments in his thumb.
Rays: Jason Bartlett has been placed on the DL with an ankle injury.

Jason Bartlett's DL trip in Tampa opened the door for former Brewer Joe Dillon, who has been called up by the Rays. On top of Dillon (and Gary Glover), here are some other former Brewers in transactions, courtesy of Baseball America:

Former Nashville Sound Abraham Nunez signed with the D-Backs.
The Reds acquired Justin Lehr from the Phillies for future considerations.
The Indians called up Greg Aquino.
The Twins brought Ben Hendrickson off the minor league DL. Hendrickson threw one inning in his 2009 debut, and has now pitched for four teams in the last six seasons in AAA, posting a 3.88 ERA in the process.

Also, Eric Gagne has signed with Quebec in the Can-Am League. Apparently he'll be a starter there, but if he's healthy he probably won't be there long.

Speaking of players who could be available: Ken Rosenthal says the Rockies could be looking to sell, but the Pirates are probably not.

Tomorrow will be a big day in Baltimore, as #1 prospect Matt Wieters is expected to make his major league debut. In a note that's probably not unrelated, the Orioles drew just 10,130 fans to Camden Yards last night, the smallest crowd in that ballpark's history.

The Nationals have the #1 pick in June's draft and have a wide variety of needs, but perhaps they should look for someone who can spell. Roosevelt has two o's and one s.

I'm not sure what's worse, a "Teddy Rossevelt" bobblehead or a Scratch and Sniff Cap.

Oh, and happy birthday to John Jaha, who turns 43 today.

Drink up.

A Few Good Links

jbox — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 17:17:46 -0000

Are we clear? Yes sir.

I said are we clear? Crystal.

Home Run Derby talks about how sweet it will be when we have 1984 25th anniversary celebration the weekend the Cubs are in town.
Giles upon hearing Manny had signed with the Dodgers “Manny? Manny who? Manny Mota went back to the Dodgers?” There's that Giles sense of humor. In the same article Baek is speeding up his approach to rush hitters.
Luis Rodriguez got his first hit of Spring Training, plus he stole 2nd and 3rd base. Hey Khalil, you got something in your eye!
While driving this morning I suddenly wondered how Lil' Clay Hensley was doing in the Astros camp. There just happens to be an article this morning saying Hensley ready to impress. Apparently he gave up 8 runs to the Mets and then watched some video to correct his delivery.
Britton throws strikes. "I'm not really a big strikeout guy. I like to get outs with my infield and outfield. But as long as I'm throwing strikes ... everything works out."
Geoff completed and is selling his third Ducksnorts Annual. A Ducksnorts reader comments that there may be a curse because anyone who writes the forward later leaves the Padres. Sandy Alderson, Matt Vasgersian and will DePo be next?

Astros Community Projection Project: PECOTA Update

DyingQuail — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 10:00:17 -0000

I've yet to go through and figure out where the tweaks we've thrown out on individual players are, but I went through and averaged the CHONE and PECOTA projected wOBA's for the hitters. There were a few players that CHONE and PECOTA drastically disagreed with, but all in all, there are fairly minor changes through out.

The project now envisions the Astros to be an 82 Win team. There are still a few tweaks that I need to make over the following week, of course, but I'm pretty excited about where it sees us right now. It's enough to at least keep the season interesting if we out perform that mark, or if the Cubs, Brewers, and Cardinals struggle.

Here's what the spread sheet looks like now. Feel free to chime in with disagreements and, more importantly, modifications that need to be made for playing time and positions (in fact, I beseech thee). I know Newhan needs to go in there (most likely) so throw out some PA guesstimates with those critiques.

Filling out the Astros' 25 Man Roster

HighLeveragePerformer — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 16:37:06 -0000

A lot of the team is set, but there are some worthwhile postional battles going on. Here are the guys that are as close to sure things as you'll find:

1B: Lance Berkman

2B: Kaz Matsui

SS: Miguel Tejada

3B: Geoff Blum/Aaron Boone

LF: Carlos Lee, Jason Michaels

CF: Michael Bourn, Darin Erstad

RF: Hunter Pence

SP: Roy Oswalt, Brian Moehler, Wandy Rodriguez, Mike Hampton

RP: Jose Valverde, LaTroy Hawkins, Doug Brocail, Wesley Wright, Tim Byrdak, Chris Sampson, Geoff Geary

After that, things get a little sticky. Here are the players that seem to have a legitimate chance to make the team out of spring training. I left guys like Brian Bogusevic, Edwin Maysonet , Jason Castro, Tommy Manzella and Sergio Perez out of the discussion because although they're participating in spring training activities, they don't seem to have great chances to make the big leauge team immediately.:

C: Humberto Quintero, JR Towles, Lou Palmisano, Lou Santangelo (Non Roster Invitee), Toby Hall (NRI)

SP: Brandon Backe, Alberto Arias, Fernando Nieve, Felipe Paulino, Russ Ortiz (NRI), Chad Paronto (NRI), Clay Hensley (NRI)

RP: Jose Capellan (NRI), Danny Graves (NRI), Bud Norris (NRI)

IF: Drew Sutton, Tommy Manzella, David Newhan (NRI), Matt Kata (NRI)

OF: Reggie Abercrombie (NRI)

There are roughly 20 "sure things" in my estimation, which leaves room for five more guys to make the team out of spring training. I would assume that two catchers will take up a couple of those spots, leaving everyone else three real opportunities to help fill out a major league roster. A complete forty man roster and non roster ivitees can be found here.

Monday's Frosty Mug

KLSnow — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 16:15:04 -0000

Some things to read while looking for new things to graph.

I guess this says a lot about how this offseason has gone: I've got about 50 links today after a week off, but nothing I felt was worth listing as the top story. Goat Riders of the Apocalypse and Dugout Central are both down on the Brewers' chances in 2009.

There are a couple of minor league signings to report: RHPs Chris Smith and Ryan Houston have been added to the fold, although both sound more likely to contribute in Nashville than Milwaukee.

So, pending a move, the Brewers' 2009 rotation will include Yovani Gallardo, Manny Parra, Dave Bush, Jeff Suppan and Seth McClung. The #6 option must be Chris Capuano, because Carlos Villanueva is reportedly not being considered. All of this gets a little easier if the Crew signs Braden Looper, of course.

So, due to the Elias rankings slotting Mark Teixiera ahead of CC Sabathia, the Brewers will now get the Yankees' second round pick, instead of the first rounder they should have received as compensation for the Yankees' signing Sabathia. As noted in the FanShots, Doug Melvin would like to see an update to the Elias formula that put Teix ahead of CC. Keith Law is with him.

Lost in all the debate about free agent rankings is this: The Yankees will give a first round pick to the Angels, a second round pick to the Brewers and a third round pick to the Blue Jays (for signing A.J. Burnett), but get to keep another first and third rounder they were given as compensation for failing to sign their top two picks in 2008. So the Brewers and Blue Jays would both be entitled to first round picks in a normal year, but instead the Yankees keep one. How is that fair?

Meanwhile, Mark Attanasio's comments about a salary cap have drawn a stern "Get off my lawn!" from Murray Chass.

The 2009 projections continue: jhmoore posted the Brewers' 2009 WAR projections in the FanShots.

I thought award season was over, but apparently it's not: Prince Fielder has been nominated for a Douchie. I'd go into more detail but I'd like to keep this blog somewhere in the PG range.

A few notes on former Brewers:

Salomon Torres is working to expand his network of training academies in the Dominican Republic.
Former Brewer manager Tom Trebelhorn will spend 2009 managing Salem-Keizer in the Northwest League (A).
Corey Koskie is hoping to play for Team Canada in the World Baseball Classic.
Former Brewer hitting coach Jim Skaalen will fill the same role for the A's next season.

According to the Dallas Morning News, the Rangers remain interested but have not made an offer to Ben Sheets...which I guess makes them the frontrunner to sign him?

Could the Brewers still be active in the closer market? In polling over at Birdland, only about 1% of voters think the Brewers will sign Brian Fuentes, but 21% think the Brewers could sign Jason Isringhausen. Also, Akinori Otsuka will work out for all 30 teams in January.

Elsewhere on the hot stove:

Astros: Have signed Clay Hensley to a minor league deal, and now appear to be done unless a shortstop comes along.
A's: Are reportedly talking to Jason Giambi, Garret Anderson and Bobby Abreu.
Giants: Signed Randy Johnson to a deal worth between $8 and $10.5 million, depending on incentives. (noted in FanPosts) They may now be looking to deal Jonathan Sanchez.
Marlins: Are not interested in Sammy Sosa.
Mets: Could still be pursuing both Oliver Perez and Derek Lowe.
Orioles: Have signed Mark Hendrickson, meaning they'll definitely be taller in 2009. Better is still open for debate.
Phillies: Signed Gary Majewski to a minor league deal.
Rangers: Aren't interested in Sosa either.
Red Sox: Have signed Brad Penny to a one-year deal worth $5 million, with up to $3 million in incentives available. They also signed Josh Bard.
Reds: Signed Willy Taveras to a two-year deal. Transaction Oracle projects his OPS+ at 66.

How lucky are the Brewers to have Bob Uecker? Consider these comments made by Reds broadcaster Marty Brennaman about Adam Dunn.

If you live in/near Milwaukee, you'll be able to get the MLB Network on Time Warner channel 122, and you'll be able to see Mitch Williams, Greg Amsinger, Jon Heyman and Barry Larkin. Still no word on whether or not I'll get it in Des Moines, but I'll likely be putting a dish on my roof soon if I can't.

Would baseball still be as popular if games weren't played on Sundays? Seamheads has the story about the debate on banning Sunday baseball in Milwaukee in 1898.

Oh, and you probably couldn't afford to buy the auctioned seat in the US Senate, but you might be able to afford the Senate seats in Peoria.

Drink up.

Hensley and Haeger are Free Agents

jbox — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 04:09:03 -0000

I never thought this day would come.

Padres non-tender Hensley, Haeger: Without offers, arbitration-eligible pitchers become free agents

Aside from Hensley and Haeger, the Padres tendered all of their arbitration-eligible players -- outfielders Scott Hairston and Jody Gerut, infielder Luis Rodriguez and pitcher Heath Bell.

The Padres, who added two players in Thursday's Rule 5 Draft, now have 37 players on the 40-man roster after non-tendering Hensley and Haeger.

There will be many young ladies crying tonight as their dreamy lil' Clay Hensley is no longer a San Diego Padre.

I thought for sure they'd keep Hensley around to fill out the pitiful bullpen, but maybe Hensley just isn't ready to be that guy anymore. Alderson was asked about Hensley in his last interview and vaguely answered there was no plan for him at this time.

Clay Hensley started his career in the Padres Minor League system with a 15 game steroids suspension in 2005. He served his time and then became a very valuable member of the Padres in the 2005 stretch run and rotation in 2006 going 11-12..

One of his most memorable games was when he was hit in the back of the head by a broken bat in Dodger Stadium, was stitched up and returned to the game to claim a victory.

On the downside he also gave up Barry Bonds' 755th home run then later signed the baseball seemingly proud of his accomplishment.

His 2007 and 2008 were disappointments due to injury and complaining about being optioned to AAA. He rejoined the Padres eventually in a bullpen roll which he never seemed to like very much. Today he is a free agent, today I'm free.

Players being non-tendered

Adam J. Morris — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 03:12:07 -0000

Evan Grant reports the Rangers have non-tendered Doug Mathis, although they hope to re-sign him as a minor league free agent. No word on Willie Eyre and whether he was tendered a contract. Willie Eyre was tendered a contract. So much for my tricksy Rangerses theory.

Names of players around the majors who have been non-tendered are dribbling in, and thusfar include:

Willy Taveras

Jonny Gomes

Takashi Saito

Yhency Brazoban

Angel Berroa

Scott Proctor

Chuck James

Tim Redding

Chris Capuano

Ty Wigginton

Clay Hensley

I shall add more names as I see them.

The Rangers are looking for a righty-hitting DH, supposedly, and I'd be interested in taking a look at Gomes, who looked like a stud in the making as a rookie in 2005, and has struggled since.

And I'm sure they'll touch base with Wigginton, although I'm betting he's going to end up with a 2-3 year deal at $5 million or so per year.