SB Nation - Scott Patterson

Some Interesting Minor League Free Agent Pitchers

R.J. Anderson — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 17:00:13 -0000

Here's the thing about the minor league free agents list. You can spend literally an hour just checking out every name and tracing the prospect genesis of the ones you recognize and it never gets old. There's also a cognitive filter where any semi-interesting player gains a mention on the "Ooh I want!" list. Once promised pitchers will undoubtedly figure things out and hitters will either engage a girl with the last name Luck or invoke on a journey that begins with this:

Scene: Back alley of an abandoned warehouse

A man with a trench coat and extended black case raps on the door amidst the raspy coughing of a stray cat encountering a fur ball.

The warehouse door swings open with an abrupt thud and quickly the man scatters inside. Indoors, the case is handed to the new man while a stack of dollars is bagged and placed within the trench coat. The mystery man places the case on the table and undoes the latches, opening the case and removing shackles before revealing a fine wooden black baseball bat with an orange 25 engraved into the barrel.

Lifting the bat into the moonlight the new owner gasped ‘Gee willickers!" as he took an effortless practice cut or three and could feel the power surge through his veins. The trench coat man begins to make his way out of the door once again but stops at the door to administer a warning, "Look kid, this is the last one, make it last, okay?"

"Yes...yes sir. Good golly thanks a ton mister."

With that in mind, I've compiled a list of mildly intriguing relievers. The idea here is not to land a closer in his prime, but instead find an arm or two who can contribute when injuries and ineffective pitching hit the Rays pen. For this exercise I'm working with the assumption that these guys would take the standard minor league deal and would not require a 40 man roster spot.

Winston Abreu

Striking out nearly a third of the total batters you face indicates you do something well. Holding such a proportion when the sample size is closing in on 1,250 is remarkable. He throws hard. He seems to have a decent secondary offering. In 44 Major League innings Abreu's contact rate is superior (72.1%) to league average (around 81%) and his issues are rooted almost entirely in home runs allowed. That issue does not show up throughout his minor league career and 44 innings is a tiny sample size stretched over four seasons. He received some shine last season to the tune of 128 pitches and was horrendous but for someone who took fewer dollars to return to the system after being designated for assignment by Cleveland, you have to think he's a lock for next year. A spring training invite is hardly a pyrrhic victory for the Rays.

Wes Littleton

The meaningful statistics on Littleton: 102 innings pitched, 59.6% grounders, a strikeout rate essentially equal to the career of Lance Cormier, and a better walk rate to boot. Split last year between Boston and Milwaukee and saw wacky walk rates throughout. Whether that was due to an injury is unbeknownst to me. Was drafted by Texas in 2003 which, I believe, overlaps with Matt Arnold's time in Arlington. Sits in the upper-80s and uses a slider and change effectively against both hands. Worst case: a potential replacement for Chad Bradford's groundhog-thumping ways. Ehren Wasserman, Shane Loux, and Ryan Speier would also make sense in that role.

Scott Patterson

The second of the chichi minor league lifers whom fan infatuation arises naturally like grass. Pitching baseballs is like everything else in the sense that entertainment and enjoyment derived is quickly decreased once money becomes involved. Whether it's writing, telling jokes, or playing baseball, doing it just to make the next rent or car payment takes its toll. Back to Patterson. In the last few seasons he's split time between New York, San Diego, and Oakland. He holds a 10 K/9 and 4.5 BB/9 in Triple-A through nearly 115 innings and yet has a handful of appearances in the majors to show for it. His walk rate went berserk this year and his fastball doesn't make love to the radar guns.

Marcus McBeth

A former outfield prospect with the Athletics, McBeth spent last season with the Red Sox and saw timei n the majors with the Reds in 2007. He's a fastball pitcher with a decent fastball and supposedly good change. His whiff rates have been impressive throughout the minors.

Andrew Brown

Spent nearly 90 innings in the majors and wasn't poor but missed all of 2009 with a slight labrum tear and rotator cuff damage. Status for 2010: beats me.

That's enough from me, which names pique your interest?

This week in AZ baseball: Webb returns, the 2010 roster takes shape, and an AFL Gameday Thread

Jim McLennan — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 23:30:28 -0000

Didn't bother doing one of these last weekend, as there really wasn't enough to justify it. Not the case at all today, with a lot of contract news following the end of the World Series, and as a result we can see the first signs of the roster for next season taking place. Or, at least, cross some names off the potential candidates' list, anyway. Today is also the Arizona Fall League All-Star game out in Surprise, with first pitch at 6:15 pm. It's going to be televised, both on the MLB Network and free at mlb.com, so this post will also be the Gameday Thread for that event.

Details of that, analysis of the roster moves, an update on the latest numbers by Diamondbacks in winter ball and more, after the jump.

While no surprise, the big news is, of course, that Brandon Webb will be pitching for the Diamondbacks in 2010, after the team exercised their option. Everyone concerned seemed upbeat at the news, our ace saying, "I was hoping that they would. I was just waiting for the phone call. It was up in the air for a while and rightfully so, it was a big question mark for a while, but I've bounced back really well and am feeling good and I'm happy I'll be back next year." His agent - and one-time SnakePit poster! - Jonathan Maurer added, "We've said from Day 1 that Brandon is very happy with the Diamondbacks and our preference was to remain in Arizona. We would love to work out something long term, but we will just take this year and see how it plays out." Webb concurs: "Hopefully it goes well for both of us and we can maybe start some talks, if everything goes well, toward the end of next year."

Three months after the surgery in early August, Webb will be doing a little gentle soft-toss next week to end his season, before then closing things down and eventually beginning his usual build-up towards spring training and, all going well, Opening Day. He sounded fairly confident he'll be the same pitcher he was: "Even when I was throwing and I was still having some pain, the life on the ball was still there. I can't be too sure, but I'm pretty sure I'll always probably have that sinking action, because that's just how my arm action is, it allows the ball to do that." I certainly hope so: Webb without his sinker...why, that'd be like Lincecum without a pipe in his mouth.

Brandon may be coming back, but there are a lot of Diamondbacks who apparently won't be - though again, none of the news on that front was massively unexpected. On the pitching front, Doug Davis and Scott Schoeneweis filed for free-agency, while Daniel Cabrera declined his assignment to Reno and became a free agent too. Yusmeiro Petit was taken from Arizona on waivers by the Mariners - likely a better location for the fly-ball prone Petit Unit., and our colleague on Lookout Landing are quite excited. The trio accounted for almost one-third of our starts last season (34 for Davis, 17 for Petit, one for Cabrera), and means the competition for the fifth spot next year is currently down to Billy Buckner, Bryan Augenstein and Kevin Mulvey, with the first-named the favorite at this point. Doug Slaten was also picked up off waivers, by Washington.

On the position player front, we say a poignant farewell to Chad Tracy, whose 2010 option was bought out by the Diamondbacks. Only two players - Luis Gonzales and Steve Finley - have played more games in an Arizona jersey than Chad, who appeared 704 times for Arizona over six seasons. His career line with the team was decent, at .280/.339/.453, for a .792 OPS, but since returning from knee surgery, his output has slumped. Chad's numbers against left-handed pitching were particularly poor, helping to make the decision to decline his $7m option relatively easy. Also possibly on the way out are Alex Romero and Trent Oeltjen, moves intended to relieve the impending crush in the 2010 outfield.

Good article in the Republic today on how the economic downturn is hitting all valley sports teams, not just the Diamondbacks. "Every professional sports team in metro Phoenix, along with Arizona State University's football team and the annual Fiesta Bowl, has had trouble selling tickets this year... Teams have been forced to try promotions once considered unthinkable as the drop in attendance cuts deeper into revenue and costs jobs.." Said Jerry Colangelo: "I have been here over 40 years, and this is the worst it has ever been." Other points of interest with regard to the local franchises:

The Suns streak of home sellouts ended this month and the team just laid off about 10% of employees.
The Coyotes have the lowest average crowd in the NHL, attracting just 5,855 for Monday's game. [There's also an article on whether Phoenix might be better served by minor-league hockey]
The NFC champion Cardinals have needed an extension for all but one of their home games, to avoid them being blacked out on TV.

Time for an update on our winter league ball-players, starting with Conor Jackson in the Dominican. If he's still not showing much power - one home-run in fourteen games - he's still getting on base with impressive frequency: he has an OBP of .523, thanks in part to a K:BB ratio of 14:9. Conor's batting .364 and has stolen six bases in six attempts. Alex Romero and Trent Oeltjen are also hitting above .350 in Venezuela and Mexico, but since they are potenially going to be ex-Diamondbacks in the near future, I'm not going to look too hard there. The potential 2010 right-side of our infield continues to struggle: Tony Abreu has a .640 OPS in the Dominican, while Brandon Allen is hitting only .162 in the traditionally-hitter friendly AFL. Allen's 19 walks do lead the league, however.

On the pitching front, Tom Layne is the only one of the four in the AFL making a good impression. He has allowed two earned runs in 9.1 innings of work, on seven hits and four walks, with ten strikeouts. Bryan Augenstein has pitched the same number of innings, but allowed fifteen hits, leading to seven earned rusn. That's still better than Cesar Valdez, who has wobbled his way to an 11.25 ERA in eight innings. Intriguing line from the Dominican, where Jordan Norberto has nine strikeouts in five innings: while he's allowed five runs, only one has been earned. Scott Patterson has been working well in Venezuela: in 5.1 innings, he has given up three hits and a walk, with six K's.

Speaking of the AFL, today is the Rising Stars game at Surprise, where 50 of the best and brightest major-league baseball has to offer will go head to head. The only Diamondback taking part will be Allen, but it'll be almost your last chance to see live baseball from inside the United States until next March, so I fully intend to take advantage. As mentioned, the game is on both the MLB Network, and streaming for free at mlb.com, so there's no excuse not to be watching this one - and commenting in this thread. [I'll be here, just a little late, as we've got to have dinner first]

The scheduled starting pitchers are both 2009 frst-round draft picks - Desert Dogs right-hander Stephen Strasburg was #1 and Atlanta left-hander Mike Minor was #7. Be my first chance to see the much-vaunted Strasburg in action. Per Red Reign in the comments, looks like Strasburg has been scratched from the game with a strained neck. Probably injured it lugging his bonus to the bank.

Finally, Clay Zavada had his number, #35, retired by Illinois Valley Community College on Thursday. He pitched there in 2003 and 2004, and is the first alumni of the institution to reach the majors in its 85-year history. Around 200 replica handlebar mustaches were handed out for the ceremony, at half-time in a basketball game at the college in Oglesby. "It couldn’t happen to a better kid," said IVCC athletic director Tommy Canale. "He’s really had some tough tribulations in his life and he fought through that." Hear, hear.

NL West Report: Home of MLB's best pitching

Poseidon's Fist — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 22:53:20 -0000

More photos » by Gus Ruelas - AP

Clayton Kershaw is one of many pitchers who have emerged this season to make the NL West a force once again.

Browse more photos »

Pitching wins championships.

At least that's what they say. If that's the case, pitching wins games too. It should be no surprise then that the rise of the NL Worst to the NL Best has centered around strong pitching. We'll just take a simple look at Wins Over Replacement, taking a look at the top 8 in MLB. Choosing the top 8 is partially a novelty for the number of playoff teams and partially a good cleavage point for the argument.

Here's the deal: The NL West has 4 of the top 5 pitching staffs in the National League in WAR, as well as 4 of the top 8 in MLB.

Team	Pitching WAR
Red Sox	19.6
Rockies	19.0
Braves	18.6
White Sox	18.6
Giants	18.2
Blue Jays	15.8
Diamondbacks	14.9
Dodgers	14.7

Of the other five divisions, the NL Central has zero, the NL East has one, the AL West has zero, the AL Central has one and the AL East has two. Only Arizona and Toronto are out of contention for the playoffs.

NL West Report

Arizona (55-70, 4th, W1, 19 GB)

Last Week: 1-6. 0-1 @ Braves. 0-3 @ Phillies. 1-2 @ Astros. Yesterday's win in Houston broke a season-long 7 game losing streak.

Pace: 71-91.

Divisional Change: Lost 3.0 games.

This Week: 3 game road series @ Giants, 3 game home series vs. Astros.

News: The biggest question this offseason for Arizona will be whether Brandon Webb's extension will be picked up. Via Steve Gilbert's twitter, Josh Byrnes says:

"If [his recovery is] close, he'll probably get the benefit of the doubt."

Other than Arizona's season-long losing streak, the storyline of the week was whether Jerry Dipoto would be fleeced from their front office to be the Nationals' new GM. Yahoo! Sports and CBSSports.com both reported that DiPoto got the job, but their reports proved premature. Washington turned down the opportunity to hand over their front office reins to the former Rockies closer, instead naming interim GM Mike Rizzo the full-time general manager.

P Jon Garland cleared waivers. He's not a good value, but he might be the most effective starting pitcher available through waiver trade.

Jon Garland

#52 / Pitcher / Arizona Diamondbacks

Height: 6-6

Weight: 210

Bats: R

Throws: R

Born: Sep 27, 1979

	W-L	ERA	WHIP	K	BB
2009 - Jon Garland	7-11	4.48	1.46	78	51

Jon Heyman at SI.com wrote that Doug Davis remains in Arizona because Milwaukee offered nothing more than salary relief after claiming him on waivers.

Transactions: RHP Daniel Cabrera assigned to AAA Reno. Called up 1B Brandon Allen from AAA. Allen was the prospect Arizona received in the trade for Tony Pena. Optioned 1B Josh Whitesell to AAA.

Injuries: Conor Jackson saw a disease specialist Aug 19. He might miss the rest of the season. Justin Upton will start a rehab stint in Single-A tonight in an attempt to return in a couple weeks.

Arizona Diamondbacks Injuries

Probable

Player	Injury Type	Injury Date
Stephen Drew	other-excused	08/24/2009

15-Day

Player	Injury Type	Injury Date
Eric Byrnes	hand	06/26/2009
Scott Schoeneweis	other-excused	08/10/2009
Justin Upton	oblique	08/06/2009

60 Day DL / Out for the season

Player	Injury Type	Injury Date
Conor Jackson	pneumonia	05/12/2009
Brandon Webb	shoulder	04/07/2009

News on the other three divisional teams after the jump.

Los Angeles (74-51, 1st, L1)

Last Week: 4-3. 1-2 vs Cardinals. 3-1 vs Cubs.

Pace: 96-66.

Divisional Change: Lost 1.5 game lead to COL.

This Week: 3 game road series @ Rockies, 3 game road series @ Reds.

News: As we all know by know, the slim division margin doesn't faze LA. If the Rockies can manage a sweep in the series, they will be tied in the loss column with the Dodgers. Losing a series to Colorado at Dodger Stadium would make it impossible for Los Angeles to maintain their confident mantra.

Also, as we all know, Joe Torre finally got that starting pitcher addition. The Dodgers signed Vicente Padilla, who will start Thursday against the Rockies. True Blue LA reaction.

Vicente Padilla

#0 / Pitcher / Los Angeles Dodgers

Height: 6-2

Weight: 220

Bats: R

Throws: R

Born: Sep 27, 1977

	W-L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	BS	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
2009 - Vicente Padilla	8-6	18	18	0	0	0	0	108.0	120	61	59	12	42	59	4.92	1.50

CBSSports' Scott Miller notes that Padilla is a "proven starter but also a combustible clubhouse presence."

Drew Silva at MLBTradeRumors poses the question: "What is the future for Orlando Hudson?" One place he suggests is Washington, where there has been a revolving door of second sackers all season. True Blue LA weighs in again.

In another TJ Simers piece for the LA Times, apparently Manny Ramirez shouted in the clubhouse "Hey, I'm going to be here next year!" Ramirez has struggled notably since he returned from his suspension.

Eric Stephen's Week in Review (True Blue LA)

Transactions: Placed Hiroki Kuroda on 15-day DL on Aug 19 retroactive to Aug 16. Called up Vicente Padilla Saturday. Recalled IF Tony Abreu.

Injuries: Jamey Loney is day-to-day with the flu, but may be available to start the series against the Rox tomorrow. Hiroki Kuroda threw 60 pitches from 60 feet with no issues Aug 20 in an attempt to come back in early September from that concussion.

Los Angeles Dodgers Injuries

Questionable

Player	Injury Type	Injury Date
James Loney	flu	08/24/2009

15-Day

Player	Injury Type	Injury Date
Will Ohman	shoulder	05/28/2009
Jason Schmidt	shoulder	08/06/2009
Hiroki Kuroda	concussion	08/16/2009

60 Day DL / Out for the season

Player	Injury Type	Injury Date
Doug Mientkiewicz	shoulder	04/17/2009
Xavier Paul	ankle	05/21/2009
Eric Milton	lower-back	06/28/2009

San Diego (52-74, 5th, L2, 22.5 GB)

Last Week: 2-4. 2-1 vs Cubs, 1-3 vs Cardinals. That's a perfect inversion of how LA fared against the two NL Central foes.

Pace: 67-95.

Divisonal change: Lost 1.0 game.

This Week: 3 game road series @ Braves, 3 game road series @ Marlins. It's time to be a fan of the Padres.

News: San Diego extended David Eckstein through 2010 with a $1million deal.

Backup catcher Henry Blanco wants to return also.

San Diego is certainly showing earmarks of a rebuilding team. Instead of taking the originally reported PTBNL for Chad Gaudin, the Padres took $100k. They also traded AAA reliever Scott Patterson to Oakland for cash. What to do with the cash? Apparently, the Padres have invested $10million in amateur talent this season.

Rebuilding teams also build through the Rule 5 Draft. RJ Anderson at FanGraphs highlights the Padres Rule 5 Success, notably former Rockie farmhand Everth Cabrera.

Everth Cabrera

#1 / Short Stop / San Diego Padres

Height: 5-9

Weight: 170

Bats: B

Throws: R

Born: Nov 17, 1986

	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	K	SB	CS	AVG	OBP	SLG
2009 - Everth Cabrera	67	232	37	63	12	7	2	23	29	51	18	3	.272	.360	.409

Jayson Stark notes that Adrian Gonzalez and Heath Bell were withdrawn off waivers after several teams tried to claim them.

Top pick Donavan Tate made a very good impression when visited PetCo Park.

San Diego honored long-time announcer Ted Leitner.

Transactions: None.

Injuries: P Sean Gallagher threw a bullpen session Thursday and could return in early September. Kyle Blanks injured his heel Saturday and is day-to-day. Chris Young underwent successful surgery last Monday, and Edgar Gonzalez had a couple of hits in a Class A rehab start Saturday. He is attempting to return from the concussion Jason Hammel gave him.

San Diego Padres Injuries

Questionable

Player	Injury Type	Injury Date
Kyle Blanks	heel	08/24/2009

15-Day

Player	Injury Type	Injury Date
Brian Giles	knee	06/19/2009
Edgar Gonzalez	concussion	07/19/2009

60 Day DL / Out for the season

Player	Injury Type	Injury Date
Mark Worrell	elbow	03/27/2009
Cha Seung Baek	forearm	03/30/2009
Shawn Hill	elbow	04/26/2009
Chris Young	shoulder	06/15/2009
Cliff Floyd	shoulder	06/18/2009

San Francisco (67-57, 3rd, L2, 6.5 GB)

Last Week: 4-3. 1-0 @ Mets. 2-1 @ Reds. 1-2 @ Rockies.

Pace: 88-74.

Divisional Change: No change in NL West. Lost 1.5 games in Wild Card for the second straight week.

This Week: Final game of a four game set @ Rockies. 3 game home series vs Diamondbacks. 3 game home series vs. Rockies.

News: The Giants signed 1st-rounder Zach Wheeler for $3.3 Million last Monday

Bengie Molina wants to return to the Giants with a 2-year deal. This is in spite of him threatening to be one of the worst cleanup hitters in the last half century with prized prospect Buster Posey ripping up AAA.

Buster Posey

#28 / Catcher / San Francisco Giants

Height: 6-2

Weight: 195

Bats: R

Throws: R

Born: Mar 27, 1987

*AAA Stats	AVG	OBP	SLG
2009 - Buster Posey	.294	.373	.500

Despite having a very successful season since being promoted to AAA, Posey won't be called up this season. He will instead be a possibility for next year's Opening Day roster. Molina believes there is enough room for them both on the MLB roster next year if he can be retained to mentor Posey.

Tom Verducci goes into Tim Lincecum's potentially unprecedented contract.

The Giants claimed Gary Shieffield off waivers, but the Mets pulled him back.

Transactions: None.

Injuries: Freddy Sanchez is still listed as day-yo-day after missing six straight starts.

Player	Injury Type	Injury Date
Freddy Sanchez	shoulder	08/24/2009

Player	Injury Type	Injury Date
Rich Aurilia	ankle	08/12/2009
Andres Torres	hamstring	07/31/2009

Player	Injury Type	Injury Date
Randy Johnson	trapezius	07/06/2009
Noah Lowry	ribs	03/27/2009
Kelvin Pichardo	shoulder	06/28/2009
Henry Sosa	shoulder	08/05/2009

San Francisco Giants Injuries

Doubtful

Player Injury Type Injury Date

Freddy Sanchez shoulder 08/24/2009

15-Day

Player Injury Type Injury Date

Rich Aurilia ankle 08/12/2009

Andres Torres hamstring 07/31/2009

60 Day DL / Out for the season

Player Injury Type Injury Date

Randy Johnson trapezius 07/06/2009

Noah Lowry ribs 03/27/2009

Kelvin Pichardo shoulder 06/28/2009

Henry Sosa shoulder 08/05/2009

Poll

Do you buy that the Rockies have the second best pitching staff in MLB?

Yes. You just gave me proof by WAR. They have great traditional numbers as a team, and then there's the park effects.

57 votes

Not really. I think we've been good, but I don't trust WAR if it says we're THAT good.

76 votes

Not at all. WAR and SABR stats are bull. There's no way the Rockies one of the top pitching staffs in MLB.

12 votes

HAHA. Coors Field is a Little League park. It inflates numbers. You can't believe any stats. The pitching staff gets the benefit of Coors Field.

6 votes

I usually don't buy into mystical stats like WAR, but I'm going to tell all my friends we have the 2nd best pitching staff anyway.

27 votes

178 votes | Poll has closed

San Diego Padres update

Eli Greenspan — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 17:45:40 -0000

More photos » by Jim Prisching - AP

Browse more photos »

The Padres have traded reliever Scott Patterson to the Oakland A's for cash considerations. Patterson, 30, is 3-3 with a 3.69 ERA and 63 strike outs. Patterson will likely join the team when rosters expand in September.
The Padres brought in journeyman Rocky Cherry on a minor league deal. In 38 games for the Triple-A Pawtucket Red Sox, Cherry was 3-1 with a 2.57 ERA and 44 strike outs. He walked 36 batters and had a 1.57 WHIP.
The Padres elected to receive cash in return for Chad Gaudin, who they traded to the Yankees on August 7th. The Padres had until September 1st to take cash or a PTBNL. They will receive 100,000 dollars.
The Padres signed 16-year old Dominican outfielder Fabel Filpo to a 450,000 dollar bonus. The switch-hitting outfielder showed advanced skills at the plate.
The Padres are definitely investing in their future, committing 10 million dollars to amateurs between the draft and Latin American signings this year.

Friday's Frosty Mug

KLSnow — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 15:00:28 -0000

More photos » by Duane Burleson - AP

New Mariner Bill Hall congratulates teammate Kenji Johjima on hitting a home run last night.

Browse more photos »

Some things to read while writing a scouting report.

All told, it was a pretty boring off day, so the biggest news might be Bill Hall's comments upon joining the Mariners this week. Hall said he tried too hard to live up to his big contract. He gave this quote to Geoff Baker of the Seattle Times, and it's halfway between laughable and sad:

"I can still hit righthanders," Hall said with a laugh. "I can hit anybody. It's one of those things where, if you say something so long, you might even start believing it yourself."

Since the start of the 2007 season, Hall has faced a righty 683 times and hit .206/.271/.353. If he doesn't recognize a problem there, how is he ever going to figure it out?

Meanwhile, the picture in this Miller Park Drunk post raises what might be the greatest unanswered question regarding Hall: How does a guy who constantly has a giant wad of chew in his mouth keep his teeth that white?

Now that we know Bill Hall will never reach the 200 mark as a Brewer, this streak may live on for a long time: Chris Jaffe of The Hardball Times notes that it's been 18 years since a Brewer had 200 hits, with Paul Molitor being the last to get there in 1991. Since then, 28 other teams have had at least one hitter do it. Ryan Braun enters play today with 145, so he'd need to play every day the rest of the way and hit roughly .327 to get the 55 hits he needs to get there. Braun, Fielder (134) and Mike Cameron (102) are the only Brewers with 100 hits on the season.

Of course, if Felipe Lopez (hitting .333/.398/.459 as a Brewer) was able to stretch his performance out over a full season, he'd easily reach 200. Jorge Says No! has a profile of Lopez, who can become a free agent after the season, and thinks he'll get a four year deal worth around $30 million from someone.

It's possible Prince Fielder could get there someday too. He credits improved patience at the plate for the impressive season he's putting together.

How ugly have things gotten for the Brewers? Casa de Machado threw in the towel on the 2009 season yesterday...on an off day.

And, as it turns out, getting Jeff Suppan back might not make things any better. Suppan was lit up again in AAA last night, allowing five earned runs on eight hits in just 3.2 innings. If he can make it through five innings in his big league return without pitching the Brewers out of the game, I'll be shocked.

The Brewers' second half collapse has turned up the heat on Doug Melvin, with a small but vocal percentage of fans calling for his head. If things stay this ugly, he might decide to look for a new opportunity, and Bob Elliott of the Toronto Sun wants him to be the next President of the Blue Jays.

Adam McCalvy spent the day off on the farm, and has a great story on Mike Jones and Mark Rogers, as the two former highly touted prospects continue their rebound from injuries that have devastated their early careers.

On power rankings and playoff odds:

Yahoo moved the Brewers down a spot to 20th in their rankings.
Even though they were off yesterday, MLB Playoff Odds downgraded the Brewers to a .4% shot at making the playoffs.

Around baseball:

Mets: Designated Livan Hernandez for assignment.
Orioles: Claimed pitcher Chris Lambert off waivers from the Tigers.
Padres: Traded reliever Scott Patterson to the A's for cash, and signed reliever Rocky Cherry to a minor league deal.
Red Sox: Released outfielder Chris Duncan.

With the Reds out of the playoff hunt for 2009, the youth movement has come on in full force: At one point last night, the eight Reds position players on the field combined to make $3.235 million, just $35,000 above the minimum possible. They beat the Giants 2-1.

One by one, every team in baseball is getting an opportunity to learn why the others have been so happy to be rid of Gary Sheffield. Sheffield requested a contract extension from the Mets yesterday, and when they declined to offer one he asked to be taken out of the lineup for last night's game. Adam Rubin thinks the Mets should bench Sheffield until September 1, then release him when it's too late for him to make a postseason roster.

I doubt there's any other long-standing matchup in baseball that's this close: The Dodgers beat the Cubs last night, and now lead them 1015-1014 in their all-time series. (h/t True Blue LA)

The Dodgers found a way to win last night without Claudio Vargas, but you can add Mike Scioscia's Tragic Illness to the list of Dodger fans who wish they hadn't traded him for Vinny Rottino.

Add Major League Baseball to the list of sports working to take concussions more seriously. Brian Costa of the Newark Star-Ledger has a great read on some of the advancements in treatment of concussions, and the steps being taken to protect players who have had one.

Without the internet, we probably never would have known: Plunk Everyone says Brendan Ryan's grand slam last night was the only slam in 2009 hit with two men on base who reached via HBP.

On this day in 1982, Rollie Fingers pitched the last two innings of the Brewers' 3-2 win over the Mariners, becoming the first pitcher ever to record 300 saves. If Trevor Hoffman sticks around for one more season, the Brewers could also have the first pitcher to reach 600.

Happy birthday today to Craig Counsell, who turns 39, Lou Collier, who played in 138 games for the Brewers between 1999 and 2001 and turns 36, and John Henry Johnson, who appeared in 29 games as a Brewer in 1986 and 1987 and turns 53.

Drink up.

Padres rookies photographed dressed as Hooters girls in bizarre hazing ritual

jbox — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 04:23:06 -0000

(AP Photo/The Denver Post, John Leyba)

NC Times:

Sixteen Padres rookies and first-year personnel wore Hooters Girls outfits on the team's flight from Denver to Washington, D.C. on Wednesday night. RHP Trevor Hoffman was scouring the media guide to find players with less than one year of service time ---- the requirement for not wearing the get-up. This was the second time OF Chase Headley and OF Drew Macias had to participate in the rookie flight

One year of service? That's got to be the majority of the team. With the rookies outnumbering the veterans, they should turn the tables and haze them.

Giles must be so upset that none of these guys are tanning. These kids now a days just don't seem to learn from veterans leading by example.

Can you help me put names to these glorious bodies? That's Nick Hundley Luke Carlin up front and from there I'm lost in a sea of tan lines and bulges. Makes me hungry for some wings.

[Note by jbox, 09/18/08 9:48 PM PDT ]

Fox Colorado via Gaslamp Baller Mrs. Huber

Denver Post via Gaslamp Baller C8lin and Sports by Brooks

Here's more pictures of rookie hazing from past years

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