SB Nation - Robinson Cancel

The Rookies Who Aren't

TheJay — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 11:00:16 -0000

A player shall be considered a rookie unless, during a previous season or seasons, he has (a) exceeded 130 at-bats or 50 innings pitched in the Major Leagues; or (b) accumulated more than 45 days on the active roster of a Major League club or clubs during the period of 25-player limit (excluding time in the military service and time on the disabled list).

The first part of the definition of a rookie in Major League Baseball is straightforward. Once a player reaches 131 at bats or 50 1/3 innings pitched, he's no longer a rookie. The second part is a little trickier. After all, service time numbers are hard to find. They generally come out once each year, in team media guides. Add in the fact that you have to subtract time in the major leagues after September 1st and on the disabled list and it's even harder to figure out who is truly a rookie.

It has already been mentioned this offseason that Mat Gamel eclipsed 45 days of service time before September. Gamel was recalled from Nashville on May 14th and optioned back on July 20th, giving him 67 days on the active roster during the "period of 25-player limit." So, even though he sits at 130 career at bats, the same number Scott Rolen had going into his Rookie of the Year season, Gamel cannot win the Rookie of the Year award (though that might not stop him from getting votes).

Gamel isn't the only such little-used non-rookie in the Brewers organization. Raise your hand if you realized Hernan Iribarren has 48 days of major league service time, all before September 1. Iribarren spent 20 days on the major league roster in April and June 2008, picking up 14 at bats. He spent 28 days in the majors in 2009, batting a mere 13 times. I'm going to go out on a limb and predict he wasn't going to win the 2010 Rookie of the Year Award anyway.

New Brewer George Kottaras also enters 2010 off the list of rookie players. He spent all of 2009 in the majors with the Red Sox, playing in 45 games with 93 at bats. Though he spent the month of August on the disabled list, he gave up his 2010 rookie status in mid-May.

Gamel, Iribarren, and Kottaras are not the only little-used rookies. Follow the jump for a list of all such position players to appear in the majors in 2008 or 2009. Please note it is lengthy and full of guys who have no chance at winning an award anyway. I will post a list of pitchers in the next few days.

Non-Rookies with 130 or fewer career AB:

Mat Gamel, 130 career AB
Joaquin Arias, 129 AB
Argenis Reyes, 127 AB
Jose Morales, 122 AB
Ivan Ochoa*, 120 AB
Michel Hernandez, 118 AB
Curtis Thigpen*, 118 AB
Ramiro Pena, 115 AB
Josh Whitesell, 115 AB
Luke Carlin, 112 AB
Chris Gimenez, 111 AB
Tyler Greene, 108 AB
Sam Fuld, 103 AB
Reid Brignac, 100 AB
Francisco Cervelli, 99 AB
George Kottaras, 98 AB
Freddy Guzman, 95 AB
Robinson Cancel, 94 AB
Guillermo Rodriguez, 92 AB
Steve Holm, 91 AB
Justin Ruggiano*, 90 AB
Nathan Haynes*, 89 AB
Diory Hernandez, 85 AB
Don Kelly, 83 AB
Dane Sardinha, 80 AB
Luis Maza*, 79 AB
Paul Hoover, 78 AB
Edwin Maysonet, 76 AB
Dusty Ryan, 70 AB
Clint Sammons, 68 AB
Tug Hulett, 67 AB
Drew Sutton, 66 AB
J.R. House*, 60 AB
John Mayberry, 57 AB
Gregorio Petit, 54 AB
Brian Myrow*, 51 AB
Chris Stewart*, 48 AB
Justin Christian*, 40 AB
Travis Denker*, 37 AB
Gustavo Molina*, 34 AB
Hernan Iribarren, 27 AB
Ryan Budde, 23 AB

* - last appeared in the majors in 2008

I warned you. If I missed anyone or included someone who should not be on the list, let me know in the comments.

Monday's Frosty Mug

KLSnow — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 14:46:19 -0000

More photos » by Al Behrman - AP

Keith Law says the Brewers spent too much on Trevor Hoffman.

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Some things to read while the tables are turned.

View From Bernie's Chalet has the transcript of a recent chat with Keith Law over at ESPN where he touched on several Brewer-related topics, but the most notable was probably Trevor Hoffman. He thinks the Brewers made a mistake bringing Hoffman back at the price they're paying, and that it will handicap their efforts to improve the team elsewhere.

Admittedly, $8 million is a lot to pay a reliever, but it's possible there's a perception benefit from having an elite closer. When the Brewers announced the Hoffman signing, Doug Melvin suggested free agent pitchers may be more likely to sign with a club with an established closer. I have no idea if it's true, but I suppose it's possible. And if Hoffman pitches a full, effective season as a Brewer and notches his 600th save, it's possible he'll pay for himself in publicity and marketing.

Elsewhere on the pitching front, rumors continue to swirl around the possibility that the Brewers could have interest in Mark Mulder. Mulder probably can't be depended upon for significant innings, but bringing a pitcher of his caliber into the fold on a cheap deal to see what he can do is almost always a good idea.

Mulder, of course, pitched under Rick Peterson in Oakland. Mets Merized recently conducted an interview with Peterson, and has audio clips of some of Peterson's thoughts on developing prospects and pitch counts. (h/t Rob Neyer)

Although unlikely, it's still possible Peterson could spend 2010 helping Ben Sheets return to form. Sheets, who had his high school number retired this weekend, is throwing off flat ground and expects to pitch in the majors next season. Jorge Says No! wonders what he'll get on the open market.

If Jeff Suppan was on the market this offseason, he likely wouldn't command much at all. Suppan was the winner of Brew City Sports' Hendy Award, which will look great on his mantle next to a photocopy of the $12.5 million paycheck he'll take home next season.

Hopefully this will be the only career parallel between Suppan and Ryan Braun: Braun is opening a restaurant in Lake Geneva. Braun is also giving away autographed baseballs to the first 100 fans to spend at least $150 on Remetee clothing at Solis in Las Vegas. If you stop by in January, there might still be some left.

We won't know the actual results until sometime after the World Series, but Baseball Digest Daily had Prince Fielder third in their balloting for NL MVP, and Braun fifth.

The JS has a note on Jonathan Lucroy's early performance in the AFL, which has been pretty impressive. He's only racked up 19 at bats, though, so it's probably a little early to get too excited. Tom H. also mentions "poor starts" from both Lorenzo Cain and Taylor Green. Both are hitting under .250 but have OBPs of .364 and .400, respectively (in 50 combined ABs). We have more on all three prospects and the rest of the Brewer winter leaguers in today's Fall/Winter League Update.

Around baseball:

Cubs: Removed utilityman Bobby Scales from their 40-man roster.
Indians: Hired Manny Acta as their new manager.
Mets: Removed catcher Robinson Cancel, shortstops Wilson Valdez and Argenis Reyes and pitcher Carlos Muniz from their 40-man roster.
Padres: Are expected to name former Red Sox Assistant GM Jed Hoyer as their new GM.

After two searches and interviews involving over a dozen candidates, the Indians and Astros both settled on Acta as the best candidate to manage their teams next season. The Indians, however, were willing to offer a three-year deal with an option for a fourth, and the Astros were only willing to offer two years. Houston is reportedly considering Red Sox bench coach Brad Mills and former Astros and Brewers manager Phil Garner.

So, the World Series matchup is set. I guess I'll be rooting for the Phillies out of sheer anti-Yankee bias and some form of vague NL pride. Rob Neyer notes that it'd be nice if the games started earlier, so they won't drag on past midnight, but that seems unlikely. Meanwhile, the new Yankee Stadium didn't even make it through its first season without some structural concerns: cracks in pedestrian ramps have already started to appear. The concrete was poured by a local firm that had previously been banned from doing city work because of suspected ties to organized crime.

The ALCS wasn't actually decided until late last night, but apparently the result was already known, as MLB.com started selling AL Champion Yankees gear well before the final out was recorded. This has drawn a lot of backlash but maybe we're looking at it the wrong way: Maybe MLB should start selling World Series gear for every team in Spring Training.

The Florida Winter Baseball League opens play this week with teams in four cities, composed mainly of low-level minor leaguers. I haven't checked the rosters for Brewers yet, but a successful, competitive winter league based in Florida could be a huge development for American minor leaguers who want to play winter ball but either don't speak Spanish or simply don't want to spend the winter in Latin America.

If you'd like to read more about life in the Arizona Fall League but your attention span is really short, then you're the perfect candidate to follow Scottsdale Scorpions Clubhouse Manager Chad Chiffin on Twitter.

While some minor leaguers head off to winter ball, one major leaguer will spend the offseason in Washington: Pirates pitcher Ross Ohlendorf is spending the offseason on an internship with the Department of Agriculture.

Last week I mentioned the continuing debate on John Lannan, who has posted effective ERAs for two seasons without many of the peripheral stats one would expect from a successful pitcher. Nick Steiner of The Hardball Times has Part 2 of his look at Lannan, looking primarily at pitch sequencing. Steiner concludes that luck is the most likely option.

I'm going to be late for Gorman's vet appointment if I don't wrap this up asap, so here's what I have left:

Minor leaguer Shawn Haviland on the importance of throwing two of the first three pitches for strikes.
Recondite Baseball on hitters who hit .300 but had short careers anyway.

Happy birthday today to Rafael Novoa, who pitched 56 innings for the 1993 Brewers and turns 42 today, and to Mark Sweeney, who appeared in 119 games for the 2000-2001 Brewers and turns 40.

Also, a posthumous happy birthday to Gus Polidor, who would have turned 48 today.

That's all I've got for you today, unless you want to see a Jose Valentin autograph or win one from Miguel Tejada.

And if you'd like to win something autographed by Seth McClung, don't forget to enter the Bring Back Seth McClung contest.

Drink up.

Monday's Frosty Mug

KLSnow — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 14:31:31 -0000

More photos » by Lenny Ignelzi - AP

Trevor Hoffman still doesn't untuck, but it's nice to see him celebrating a Brewer victory anyway.

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Some things to read while getting your MST3K fix.

Today's biggest news is, without question, the health of Corey Hart. After complaining of abdominal pain during Saturday's game and again on Sunday, Hart left the clubhouse before yesterday's game and ended up having an appendectomy in San Diego last night. Hart will be placed on the DL and is expected to miss a minimum of 2-3 weeks. Michael Street of Baseball Digest Daily wonders if losing him might be the last straw for the Crew.

Hart will be replaced on the roster by Bill Hall, who returns to the team after just a few days in AAA. Hall was 4-for-8 in AAA entering play yesterday, but went 0-for-6 with a walk and three strikeouts in a doubleheader last night. Hall and Frank Catalanotto are expected to platoon in right field while Hart is out.

At least one Brewer starting pitcher on the DL is getting closer to returning: Dave Bush threw 25 pitches in a bullpen session yesterday, and could head out on a rehab assignment as soon as the end of this week. Jeff Suppan, meanwhile, is complaining of "fatigue" in his strained oblique muscle when he throws. He's not expected to miss much more than 15 days, at any rate.

With Bush and Suppan still out, the Brewers made one minor move at the trading deadline, picking up Claudio Vargas from the Dodgers in exchange for Vinny Rottino. There's plenty of reaction from all over the web on that move:

Gordon Edes of Yahoo listed the Brewers as a trade deadline loser.
Right Field Bleachers notcied Tim Kurkijian's disappointment with the Brewers as well.
John Sickels of Minor League Ball says Vargas has more value than Rottino.
Rottino and the Brewers parted with no hard feelings. Rottino will be assigned to the Dodgers' AA team.
Tim Dillard was returned to AAA to make room for Vargas on the roster.
Over at The Hardball Times, Jeff says that, if Doug Melvin was going to acquire a stopgap fifth starter, he at least should have acquired one he hasn't had before.

Here's the first few paragraphs of Anthony Witrado's story on Vargas from this weekend:

The last time Claudio Vargas was in a Milwaukee Brewers clubhouse, he was packing his belongings and trying to figure out what had just happened to him.

That was during spring training last year right after Vargas, who wasn't pitching poorly, was released by the club because, get this, they had an abundance of starting pitching.

How times have changed.

Actually, after two slow-moving appearances where Vargas allowed four baserunners and two earned runs in 1.1 innings of work, maybe times haven't changed that much at all. It could always be worse, though: The Brewers could sign Sidney Ponson, who was recently designated for assignment by the Royals and surfaced in Speculationville.

The Brewers managed to win just one of three games over the weekend in San Diego, and are digging themselves a pretty deep hole in the NL Central:

Cool Standings gives the Brewers a 7.6% shot at making the playoffs.
Adam McCalvy noted that the Cardinals are on pace for 88 wins, and the Brewers would have to go 37-21 (36-21 following yesterday's win) down the stretch to reach that mark.
Vegas is giving the Brewers 50-1 odds of winning the World Series.

With that said, Tyler Maas has ten reasons to keep watching the Brewers down the stretch.

As the Brewers pitching continues to struggle, the calls continue to come for Bill Castro's head, but Drew Olson of OnMilwaukee.com says firing Castro would be the wrong decision.

Prince Fielder made some very impressive defensive plays over the weekend, but still came in 15th of 16 NL first basemen in Baseball Digest Daily's defensive rankings. The good news for the Brewers: Craig Counsell finished first among second basemen.

In the minors:

Alcides Escobar has missed a few games recently to attend to a family matter. I've heard his wife is giving birth to a child, but don't have a source to confirm it. He's expected to rejoin the Sounds tomorrow.
Escobar ranked eleventh on Jonathan Mayo's list of baseball's top 50 prospects. (h/t Larry Stone)
Mat Gamel ranked 13th and Alcides Escobar 24th in Project Prospect's Top 25.

With Friday's trade deadline, it's been a busy weekend on the transaction wire:

Blue Jays: Placed reliever Scott Downs on the DL with an injury to his left big toe.
Braves: Acquired Adam LaRoche from the Red Sox for Casey Kotchman.
Giants: Placed outfielder Andres Torres on the DL with a hamstring strain.
Indians: Designated relievers Winston Abreu and Mike Gosling for assignment.
Mariners: Designated first baseman Chris Shelton for assignment.
Marlins: Acquired Nick Johnson from the Nationals for a minor league pitcher and placed Burke Badenhop on the DL with a sore neck.
Mets: Designated Robinson Cancel for assignment.
Orioles: Placed pitcher Brad Bergesen on the DL with a bruised shin.
Padres: Released Mark Prior.
Rangers: Placed Ian Kinsler on the DL with a hamstring strain.
Rays: Signed reliever Jeff Bennett and added him to their 25-man roster.
Red Sox: Acquired Victor Martinez from the Indians for Justin Masterson and two minor league pitchers.
Reds: Acquired Scott Rolen from the Blue Jays for three minor leaguers and traded Jerry Hairston to the Yankees for a minor league catcher.
Rockies: Acquired Joe Beimel from the Nationals for two minor leaguers and placed reliever Juan Rincon on the DL with elbow stiffness.
Tigers: Acquired Jarrod Washburn from the Mariners for Luke French and a minor league pitcher.
Twins: Acquired Orlando Cabrera from the A's for a minor league shortstop.
White Sox: Acquired Jake Peavy from the Padres for Clayton Richard and three minor league pitchers.

Some parents pick their children's names out of baby books or name them after relatives. Not everyone does it that way, though: Here's the story of how the parents of Astros rookie Bud Norris got his name off a beer can.

On this day in 1997, Jeromy Burnitz hit a pinch hit home run for the second straight day. The Brewers lost both games to the Mariners.

Happy birthday today to Justin Lehr, who pitched in 39 games for the Brewers in 2005 and 2006 and turns 32 today.

Drink up.

Schneider On Fire - Enjoy It While It Lasts

James Kannengieser — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 16:00:23 -0000

More photos » by Paul J. Bereswill - AP

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From the time he came off the DL in late May through the All Star Break, Brian Schneider hit .258/.351/.500 in 74 plate appearances. Small sample size, but this is a respectable line at any position, and outstanding for a catcher. Also, all 3 of his home runs were hit at Citi Field. This hot streak has helped compensate for a brutal first 2 weeks of the season that saw him post an OPS of .440 over 25 plate appearances. Here is how his wOBA stacks up to league average for National League catchers, with last year's numbers included for reference:

Year	Schneider wOBA	Avg NL Catcher wOBA
2008	.309	.313
2009	.328	.317

Schneider has been about league average offensively. Defensively, his caught stealing %'s of 33% and 31% in 2008 and 2009 have been slightly above average. League average production at a premium position has value, even from a part time player.

I would suggest trading Schneider because productive catchers are scarce right now and the Mets would be selling high. The power display won't last. His isoP is a career high .193, and it's not as if his .219 BABIP is entirely a product of bad luck - his line-drive % is an anemic 12.8%. The ZiPS rest of season projection forecasts a .315 wOBA and .119 isoP. Rays catchers have posted a wOBA of .265 this year; .260 for Mariners catchers. The Brewers have given awful Jason Kendall 300 plate appearances this year. Surely these playoff hopefuls could spare something, anything, in return for half a season of Schneider. Unfortunately this is not a great option for the Mets, as Omir Santos and Robinson Cancel sharing time would be about as awful as the Alex Cora/Angel Berroa tandem at shortstop. The best we can hope for is even less playing time for Santos and that Schneider's power streak ends later rather than sooner.

Only After The Rain: Mets 7, Cubs 6

Eric Simon — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 02:54:31 -0000

I think if you take a step back and look at this game objectively, you'll find that it*(&@#*($ WOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!! CLUTCH-TRON!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Big winners: Carlos Beltran, +37.0% WPA, Robinson Cancel, +32.9% WPA, Ryan Church, +31.6% WPA
Big losers: Ricardo Rincon, -25.5% WPA, Carlos Delgado, -24.7% WPA
Teh aw3s0mest play: Voltron!!!, +38.6% WPA
Teh sux0rest play: Ugh, Rincon, -24.6% WPA
Total pitcher WPA: -16.5%
Total batter WPA: +66.5%
GWRBI: Carlos Beltran

Game Thread Roll Call

Nice job by BobbyV_Incognito; his effort in the game thread embiggens us all.

Name	# of Posts
BobbyV_Incognito	138
LOUtheMETSfan	137
Catsmeat Potter-Pirbright	111
Prince	90
itsmetsforme	86
losangelesmets	62
pingel	55
JoshNY	49
JohnPeterson	36
kendynamo	34
jrs1940	27
MetsfaninVA	16
Rod Gaspar Fan Club	8
mmxii	6
anonymous	4
Squeaky	3
Fucilli5	2
goth brooks	2
ZaBlanc	1
englishgrey	1