SB Nation - Jose Capellan

Astros Pitchin' in the Dominican: Life's a Beach

HighLeveragePerformer — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 12:15:20 -0000

More photos » by Charles Rex Arbogast - AP

I'm going to go ahead and call it: If Wesley Wright becomes a starter, he will become my favorite Astro.

Although the Arizona Fall League finished up play this past Saturday, there is still professional-ish baseball going in the world. Take the Caribbean Leagues, for instance. Much like the AFL, the four nations which comprise the CWL (Venezuela, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic and Mexico) play host to a myriad of baseball talent- ranging from established major leaguers like Conor Jackson, to familiar faces who are hoping against hope for one more shot. There are no Strasburgs, Ackleys or Castros (Jason or Starlin), but there are stories worth following especially for Astros fans.

While the Astros are hoarding arms on their 40 man roster like some sort of defiant rogue state, young pitchers Wesley Wright, Fernando Abad and Jose Capellan are performing well in the Dominican. Growing pains would be expecting for someone like Wesley Wright who is attempting to morph from just another left handed reliever to a 25 year old starting pitching candidate.

So far, the results have been thought provoking if nothing else. Outside of his last start, Wesley has been good if not great- striking out 10 batters in one relatively short outing. Promising also is his ground ball-fly ball out ratio against right handed hitters: 4.43:1. Sample size probably should be the reoccurring objection to that statistic, and looking at his fellow pitchers the DWL looks to be a pitching heavy league. I think the Astros should be commended for stretching Wesley out and seeing what they have with the youngster. The man threw four different pitches as a reliever- a skill that should not be wasted as a middle reliever. Wright will join Wilton Lopez and Felipe Paulino as candidates for the fifth starter's slot.

Also pitching in the Dominican are Fernando Abad and Jose Capellan. Abad was recently added to the 40 man roster, so I would assume that the Astros think there's potential in his left arm. He has displayed exceptional control as a minor leaguer (92:11 K:BB ratio this past season), and managed to survive the hitter's paradise that is Lancaster to be promoted to Corpus Christi. Projecting minor league talent is always tough, and something I try to avoid, but I do know that 1) being left handed 2) having good control and 3) striking more than one batter out per inning, are all positives. Heading into his first full AA season in 2010, something to look for with Abad is his ability to continue missing bats with his pitches. The leap from A to AA is a big one, moreso than from rookie ball to A. The Texas League is full of studly hitters, and Fernando will need to continue this upward trend if he wants to live to see Dell Diamond.

Jose Capellan was in the running to be our fifth starter just 8 months ago, but Russ Ortiz was kind enough to not only beat him out, but stink up the joint once he donned an Astro uniform. To his credit. Cappy has done well to put a terrible 2009 regular season behind him and has done his best to at least end 2009 on a good note. Unlike Abad and Wright, Cappellan is getting a bit long in the tooth for a minor leaguer and his window is quickly closing as it doesn't look like there will be many open spots on the Astros roster in 2010. His greatest skill may be getting from Round Rock to Houston in less than 2.5 hours, in the event of injury.

A month is left in the season, so Wes, Jose and Fernando should have many more opportunities to impress the team and give us reason to discuss the state of our pitching staff well into the Holiday Season.

All Assumptions-Are-Dangerous Minor League Free Agent Team

Jeff — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 06:07:19 -0000

Dave at Fangraphs passed along a link to this year's crop of minor league free agents. A popular thing to do with this information is pick out a handful of guys that would make interesting and potentially worthwhile pick-ups. This is not that. This is a full team made up of guys who, years ago, were supposed to go on to do some big big things, only to end up on the fall 2009 list of mlFA's. Consider this just another reminder that you should never ever ever take a prospect's future for granted.*

C: JR House
1B: Ryan Shealy
2B: Josh Barfield
SS: Antonio Perez
3B: Dallas McPherson
LF: Wes Bankston
CF: Joe Borchard
RF: John-Ford Griffin
DH: Josh Phelps

BENCH-C: JD Closser (does Ben Davis still count?)
BENCH-INF: Eric Duncan
BENCH-OF: Dave Krynzel
BENCH-UTIL: Donnie Murphy

SP: Jerome Williams
SP: Greg Miller
SP: Kenny Baugh
SP: Humberto Sanchez
SP: Bobby Brownlie

RP: Jose Capellan
RP: Wes Littleton
RP: Casey Fossum
RP: John Van Benschoten
RP: Chad Orvella
RP: Clint Everts
RP: Andrew Brown

If there were a 26th spot, I'd give it to Dee Brown, but it would just be so damn easy to include him that I had to find an alternative. Also among the free agents are formerly established Major Leaguers like Chris Capuano and Chad Cordero, along with the astonishingly driven Jolbert Cabrera. Jolbert just wants to win. Come on, Yankees. Take the plunge. Win one for Jolbert.

If there were a 27th spot, I'd give it to Mark McGonigle, because, really? McGonigle?

* never take any player's future for granted

The Milwaukee Brewers' Last Trade With Each Team

TheJay — Sat, 09 May 2009 15:48:24 -0000

More photos » by H. Rumph Jr - AP

A long time ago, in a league 98 miles away, this guy was part of the Brewers' last trade with the Yankees.

Browse more photos »

One of my favorite parts of each year's team media guide is the page listing the Brewers' last trade with all the other major league teams. Maybe it's because it's so esoteric, maybe it's because of all the "some-team-wanted-him?" thoughts it prompts, or maybe it's the idea that for years Brewers and Mariners management had a bitter blood feud getting in the way of amicable trading. I don't know. Either way, let's take a trip down memory lane, transaction-style:

(note: PTBNL below stands for "Player to be Named Later," defined here)

The Milwaukee Brewers' Last Trade With...

Arizona Diamondbacks - 11/25/2006
Traded LHP Doug Davis, LHP Dana Eveland, and OF Dave Krynzel for C Johnny Estrada, RHP Claudio Vargas, and RHP Greg Aquino
Atlanta Braves - 12/7/2005
Traded RHP Wes Obermueller for RHP Dan Kolb
Chicago Cubs - 8/31/2004
Traded OF Ben Grieve for LHP Andy Pratt and cash
Cincinnati Reds - 1/14/2000
Traded OF Alex Ochoa for OF Mark Sweeney and a PTBNL (RHP Gene Altman)
Colorado Rockies - 12/13/2004
Traded RHP Marcos Carvajal in exchange for cash
Florida Marlins - 11/25/1996
Traded RHP Eddie Collins for LHP Joel Adamson
Houston Astros - 9/11/2007
Traded RHP Dennis Sarfate for cash
Los Angeles Dodgers - 3/26/2007
Traded OF Brady Clark and cash for RHP Elmer Dessens
New York Mets - 11/20/2007
Traded C Johnny Estrada for RHP Guillermo Mota
Philadelphia Phillies - 7/28/2006
Traded RHP Wilfrido Laureano for 3B David Bell
Pittsburgh Pirates - 12/7/2007
Traded RHP Marino Salas and RHP Kevin Roberts for RHP Salomon Torres
St. Louis Cardinals - 8/22/2003
Traded RHP Mike DeJean for two PTBNL (RHP Mike Crudale and RHP John Novinsky)
San Diego Padres - 7/25/2007
Traded LHP Joe Thatcher, RHP Will Inman, and LHP Steve Garrison for RHP Scott Linebrink
San Francisco Giants - 7/20/2008
Traded OF Darren Ford and LHP Steve Hammond for 2B Ray Durham
Washington Nationals - 9/4/2007
Traded a PTBNL (1B Andrew Lefave) for LHP Ray King

The AL teams are after the jump.

Baltimore Orioles - 7/16/1999
Traded a PTBNL (RHP Al Reyes) for RHP Rocky Coppinger
Boston Red Sox - 7/31/1998
Traded IF Eddy Diaz for RHP Joe Hudson
Chicago White Sox - 12/13/2004
Traded OF Scott Podsednik, RHP Luis Vizcaino and a PTBNL (IF Travis Hinton) for LF Carlos Lee
Cleveland Indians - 7/7/2008
Traded OF Matt LaPorta, LHP Zach Jackson, RHP Rob Bryson, and a PTBNL (OF Michael Brantley) for LHP CC Sabathia
Detroit Tigers - 7/1/2007
Traded RHP Jose Capellan for LHP Chris Cody
Kansas City Royals - 3/27/2007
Traded RHP Ben Hendrickson for a Marxist Empire
LAnaheim Angels - 7/31/2002
Traded OF Alex Ochoa and C Sal Fasano for C Jorge Fabregas and 2 PTBNL (RHP Pedro Liriano and IF John Raburn)
Minnesota Twins - 11/15/2002
Traded RHP Gerry Oakes and RHP Matt Yeatman for RHP Matt Kinney and C Javier Valentin
New York Yankees - 8/23/1996
Traded IF Pat Listach and LHP Graeme Lloyd for OF Gerald Williams and RHP Bob Wickman
Oakland Athletics - 5/23/2007
Traded RHP Alec Zumwalt for cash.
Seattle Mariners - 5/19/2005
Traded C Pat Borders for cash.
Tampa Bay Rays - 4/22/2008
Traded OF Gabe Gross for RHP Josh Butler
Texas Rangers - 7/28/2006
Traded OF Carlos Lee and OF Nelson Cruz for RHP Francisco Cordero, LHP Julian Cordero, OF Kevin Mench, and OF Laynce Nix
Toronto Blue Jays - 1/6/2006
Traded RHP Brian Wolfe for 3B Corey Koskie

This information comes out of the Brewers' 2009 Media Guide. I believe all listed trades include someone on the 40-man roster for one of the teams. Any errors are mine in transcription or not diligently checking MLB's work.

D. Newhan, J. Baker, and possible roster-makers: The 2009 Astros take shape

HighLeveragePerformer — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 15:21:55 -0000

The muddied roster picture is becoming a little clearer each day. Apparently, Cecil Cooper didn't personally inform David Newhan of the decision to release him. Newhan found out through the media. It was not a surprise to him though, as he's just not a shortstop. Jason Smith and Edwin Maysonet are the two players to keep your eyes on as far as making the Opening Day roster.
Chad Paronto is dealing with a shoulder injury, and a practically set in stone bullpen. After pitching well this spring, he heads to Round Rock as insurance for the big league club.
Alyson Footer's mailbag features her opinion on the state of our third base platoon. Like most of us, she thinks that the Astros will need to seek outside help going into the season:

While the Astros are very happy with the way Chris Johnson performed this spring, I don't believe he'll make the team

Her list of seven potential replacements for Aaron Boone won't wow anyone, with Jeff Baker seemingly the most attractive. Concerns over the Rockies overestimating their own players' values exists, however. It's yet to be seen if the Astros have enough in their already bare cupboards to offer the Rockies. The six other players she mentions are: Travis Metcalf (Texas), Mike Hessmann (Tigers), Jeff Keppinger (Reds), Matt Brown and Robb Quinlan (Angels), and Juan Uribe (Giants).

Is the Rockies' asking price too high for Jeff Baker to become an Astro?

Jason Stark's mailbag is chock full of Astro-goodness. He mentions the Astros and Red Sox as potential suitors for both Keppinger and Baker. I would assume that the concern over Mike Lowell's hip is the impetus behind the Sox' interest in these two. Unlike Footer, Stark believes that Chris Johnson will in fact not only make the Opening Day roster, but will see the lion's share of time at third base, in the event that any that a trade doesn't occur.

Russ Ortiz looks to be the winner for the fifth starter's position, while Jose Capellan will settle for assignment to AAA Round Rock. Bullpen stability means he won't have the oppportunity to open the season with the Astros in any capacity, most likely. He's been impressive this spring, and should have a future with this organization. Age, injury, and poor performance are three reasons why Capellan may be in Houston at some point in the near future.

Astros' 25 Man Roster: Who's going up, who's sliding down

HighLeveragePerformer — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 08:00:12 -0000

Going into the spring, we knew that a majority of this team was set in stone:

the bullpen
the front four starters in the rotation
the five outfielders
starting infield

In the past few weeks some things have changed that have caused the Astros to re-evaluate their roster heading into their April 6th opening day game against Chicago. Pudge Rodriguez was signed to a one year contract, most likely sliding JR Towles down to AAA. Luckily, Lou Palmisano was not taken back by Milwaukee, which allowed the Astros to keep keep him as a minor leaguer. Catcher depth is never a bad thing.

Aaron Boone had to have heart surgery, opening up a roster spot for a platoon partner with Geoff Blum. Chris Johnson is an option, but he would not be an ideal platoonmate with Blum, since both hit best against right handed pitchers. Jeff Baker, Juan Uribe and Jeff Keppinger are but a few names that have been tossed around as potential options at the hot corner. Internally, Chris Johnson seems to be our best, and only real option. Again, although he may be on the opening day roster, it doesn't mean that he will be successful immediately.

The fifth starter's slot was Brandon Backe's to lose, and as a result of injury and poor performance, Backe slides out. Going up is most likely Russ Ortiz. A non roster invitee, Ortiz has been impressive, no more so than in his last start against the Reds, a six inning, one hit, no run performance. Jose Capellan is another NRI, but after a shaky start against the Blue Jays, I'd expect him to be on the Express roster when Spring Training breaks.

As for our back up middle infielder, the Astros brought in a plethora of guys with plenty of warts. Whether it be age (David Newhan, Matt Kata, Jason Smith) or lack of a solid bat (Tommy Manzella and Edwin Maysonet), or lack of defensive skills (Drew Sutton).

It all depends on what Cecil Cooper is looking for. If he wants someone who can come in and hit well, I'd argue that Sutton is his best bet. Jason Smith has hit well in the spring, but he is a journey man and has never shown the ability to perform on this level. Sutton's pedigree is above average, and if given the opportunity to get ABs on a consistent basis, he could become a very serviceable major league hitter. This won't happen right off the bat, as he has been sent back to AAA. Smith's defense is suspect, and Kata, Newhan and Manzella have not performed well enough to earn a spot on the ML roster.

That leaves Edwin Maysonet, who has played well defensively and recently contributed to the offensive cause by knocking two home runs off of Toronto ace Roy Halladay.

Ortiz looks like a winner, Towles goes back down...for now

So where does that leave us? Here's what I think our 25 man roster will be heading into the regular season:

Catchers (2): Ivan Rodriguez, Humberto Quintero

Infielders (6): Lance Berkman, Kazuo Matsui, Miguel Tejada, Geoff Blum, Edwin Maysonet, Third Baseman- my vote goes to Jeff Baker if Colorado releases him

Outfielders (5): Carlos Lee, Michael Bourn, Hunter Pence, Jason Michaels, Darin Erstad

Starting Pitching Rotation (5): Roy Oswalt, Wandy Rodriguez, Mike Hampton, Brian Moehler, Russ Ortiz

Relief Pitchers (7): Tim Byrdak, Chris Sampson, Doug Brocail, Jose Valverde, LaTroy Hawkins, Wesley Wright, Geoff Geary

This leaves us with nice depth in AAA. Players such as Alberto Arias, Jose Capellan, Bud Norris, Drew Sutton, Brian Bogusevic and Chris Johnson will gain valuable experience while giving the Astros options should injuries/poor performance occur.

Edwin Maysonet

Tuesday's Frosty Mug

KLSnow — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 14:06:39 -0000

Some things to read while turning a wine bottle into a terrarium.

Before the Brewers/Cubs game yesterday, Braden Looper pitched a simulated game and completed two innings despite being struck in the head by a line drive. (h/t FanShot) Looper is still on pace to be ready for Opening Day and could start a Cactus League game as soon as this weekend.

Mike Rivera is also ready for game action, and will get the start Wednesday when the Brewers travel to Tucson to take on the Rockies.

The sore intercostal muscle that pulled Ryan Braun out of Sunday's WBC game is still not believed to be serious, but Braun will undergo an MRI anyway, just to be sure.

Elsewhere, the Brewers sent a couple more pitchers down to minor league camp yesterday: R.J. Swindle and Chase Wright. It's a bit of a surprise move, as Swindle was expected to compete for the LOOGY spot in the bullpen and Wright had pitched well in camp. It's possible this means Lindsay Gulin is now in the running for that spot.

Some visual evidence of yesterday's game:

Bill Hall tells Corey Hart to talk to the hand.
Ken Macha congratulates Hart following his home run.
Prince Fielder with a headfirst slide into third.
Rickie Weeks has an impressive vertical leap...but not the baseball.

Speaking of Rickie Weeks, Miller Park Drunk has come to his defense following Rob Neyer and Bill James' assessment that the Brewers should shuffle their defensive lineup and move him out of the infield.

Cory Provus has a blog over at the Sports Bubbler. Today, in his first post, he discusses Corey Hart, Chris Duffy and Casey McGehee. Tomorrow: Brewers with first names starting with a different letter.

Speaking of McGehee, he's the subject of today's JS Spring Training profile.

On predictions, projections, etc:

Walkoff Walk is picking the Brewers to finish fourth in the Central, but predicting a monster season for Manny Parra.
Bleed Cubbie Blue predicts the Brewers will finish with a win total somewhere in the mid-80's, but finish second in the Central and miss the playoffs.
Baseball Reflections has the Brewers winning 80-85 games and finishing no better than second.

Stories from other camps:

Astros: Signed Ivan Rodriguez to a one year, $1.5 million deal. They also may open the season with Jose Capellan in the rotation.
Marlins: Returned Rule 5 pick Zach Kroenke to the Yankees.
Mets: Will return Rule 5 pick Rocky Cherry to the Orioles. They also signed Junior Spivey to a minor league deal.

So, let's say you're managing the Atlanta Braves. You missed out on trading for Jake Peavy this winter and signed Derek Lowe instead. I understand you'd try to justify it, but do you really want to do it by citing six starts in the postseason and World Baseball Classic? There's roughly 112 issues with that analysis.

Speaking of the WBC, as injuries continue to decimate Team USA, there's an increasing chance manager Davey Johnson will forfeit the WBC. If that happens this may very well be the last World Baseball Classic, which would be a shame because it sounds like Cuban press conferences are hilarious.

Aside from being former Brewers, what do Kevin Barker, Mark Loretta and Russell Branyan all have in common? They're three of just seven players to receive an intentional walk during spring training.

Baseball Musings continues to project team offense for 2009. Today, the Astros check in at 4.46 runs per game, up from 4.42 last season.

Last week I posted a graph from Beyond the Box Score showing run expectancy by pitch location. The Baseball Analysts have taken it a step further and broken down run expectancy by location and pitch type and have also broken down home runs by pitch location.

You won't see any more all black maple bats in major league baseball this season, but you will see a black dot on existing maple bats. Larry Stone of the Seattle Times explains some of baseball's rule changes regarding bats.

Meanwhile, across town, The Seattle Post-Intelligencer is folding, effective immediately.

Oh, and no matter how bad the economy gets, you really shouldn't take a job with Lenny Dykstra.

Drink up.

What does Ivan Rodriguez really mean to the 2009 Astros?

DyingQuail — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 08:30:08 -0000

The morning after.

Yesterday was a big day. It was the first time the Astros were relevant in the headlines since Miguel Tejada got paraded in front of Judges, so it was definitely a nice change of pace. To be quite honest, it was the first time in a long time I felt compelled to follow the news, monitor the RSS feeds, etc. This off season was boring for us, but Ed Wade finally did what we all thought he would do: sign a veteran position player in the as the clocked ticked closer to the season.

The projections don't make Ivan Rodrigeuz out to be the savior his former glory days could construe him to be. In fact, he's really only marginally more valuable than Quintero/Towles were projected to be. The thing to take into consideration—if you're inclined to try to take it with a grain of salt—is that Pudge was projected in the AL East, since that's where he last played (at least in PECOTA). So maybe he'll be more valuable than the average of his wOBA's from PECOTA, CHONE, and Oliver (.308) I have in the Community Projection Project. [ I still don't know how exactly to allocate his playing time because I'm not sure how we'll play him (if anyone wants to venture guess, I have 450 PA right now. ]

Whether you want to read a lot into the projections or not, this is, pretty much, a zero-risk deal. One year of veteran leadership at the backstop, proven glove, and maybe some improved rate stats now that he's in the NL—all for probably between $2-3 million when the performance bonus kick in. I see nothing wrong with it, and I'm excited for the possibility of anywhere from an extra 1-1.5 WAR (yes, I know this means we're still hovering somewhere between mediocrity and compalancey...but if this a down year, it least we'll be winning team in a down year).

Some of you might have read about the bonuses yesterday and thought, "WTF?! I thought we had no money?!" You'd be correct in that assessment, and I'm sure that most of you thought, "Well I guess we'll drop Backe now," and I hope we do. Not because I'm overly thrilled about Ortiz and Capellan being the only candidates left to vie for the final spot in the rotation, but they at least have better-projected FIP's than Backe did (click here, here, and here for comparisons). That counts for a little bit—right? And makes Pudge a pretty cheap signing if you subtract out Backe's contract. It's a win-win.

Pudge coming to the Astros is exciting news because he's a household name, but other than that...there's not much to jump for joy about. What this deal has done is open up opportunities for us to be marginally better throughout the organization. JR Towles gets another season at AAA to progress; Brandon Backe, ostensibly, has no job; and we get to see if the has been/never was back of our rotation still has some gas in the tank to support their solid spring outings.

Hey, at least we have something to talk about besides our losing streak.

As The Rubber Turns: Astros' fifth starter competition is down to two

HighLeveragePerformer — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 10:00:09 -0000

With Brandon Backe out for at least another ten days with his strained intercoastal muscle, his candidacy to retain his position as the Astros' fifth starter is all but over. Felipe Paulino and his Magna Carta-esaque 12.60 ERA, and Clay Hensley are out of the running as well. That leaves two men to vie for the final spot in our starting rotation: Russ Ortiz and Jose Capellan.

In their recent performances, Ortiz was less than great in 3.2 innings of work against the Phillies. He walked three and stuck out two in his time on the hill, a performance which did not please Ortiz. Still, he has the experience that Cecil Cooper seems to covet, and has been healthy thus far.

In the other corner stands Jose Capellan, the former Milwaukee Brewer reliever. Cappellan was stellar once again on Sunday, pushing his scoreless innings streak to 12.2 this spring. His strikeout to walk rate stands at 7:0. He will have to prove to the coaching staff that he can sustain a full season's worth of innings, as his career is dotted with both injury and inconsistency.

As it stands, the advantage goes to Ortiz, from everything I can garner about the competition. What would be interesting is whether or not Capellan can make a push to take Brian Moehler's spot in the rotation. A shaky performance last Tuesday against Atlanta continued an up and down spring for the veteran. Time is running out for these pitchers to make their cases as to who will be in the rotation come April 6th. Ortiz may have the edge right now, but Cappellan has youth and ability on his. After a week that saw Wandy return, Backe go down, and Nieve go out, our rotation for 2009 is becoming more clear cut.

Jose Capellan stretched his scoreless innings streak to 12.2 on Sunday

Astros roster begins to take shape

DyingQuail — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 00:20:07 -0000

Before game time today—which was yet another loss—the Astros whittled down their roster further. There aren't a lot of surprises in this mix, but I think the moves bear some analysis.

Here's the story; here are some block quotes:

Five were optioned to Triple-A Round Rock: infielder Drew Sutton, outfielder Yordany Ramirez, right-hander Sammy Gervacio and lefties Tyler Lumsden and Polin Trinidad.

The Astros also reassigned infielder Mark Saccomanno to Minor League camp.

Like I said, none of these moves are overly surprising. I can't say that I'm not disappointed to see Sutton optioned to Round Rock, but in the end, it's probably the best for his career path. It's also not like we won't see him called up when Kaz inevitably goes down with an injury at some point—so godspeed Drew. Ramirez is so gifted defensively, but aside from a short stint at the Padres AAA affiliate where he mashed, he hasn't done much to warrant a major league job, but maybe he'll develop into a serviceable fifth outfielder in the future.

Sending the lefties down was interesting, because it came on the heels of Hensely being slotted into the bullpen and leaving the rotation race. However, that move doesn't give us anymore lefties in the bullpen, so it'll be interesting to see how Cooper is able to play his platoon split strategy during the season. According to the article above, Trinidad will start at AAA, but it sounded like Lumsden will stay in the bull pen. Coop was impressed with Trindad and expects to see him at in the bigs sometime this season; that's not an overly bold prediction given that Mike Hampton, Brian Moehler, and Russ Ortiz will ostensibly be our 3/4/5 to start the season (maybe Capellan after today's effort too?).

The final stop on today's recap of where we're at is Brandon Backe and Alberto Arias. Backe is apparently no closer to starting, with no idea when to begin. There's been a lot of ink spilled about us releasing him so that we don't have to pay his $1.55 million contract, but I think that's a bad idea. Yes, he's Brandon Backe, but at least we know he can be around replacement level for us. This team is shallow on starting pitching depth, and I think $1.55 million is worth a DL slot and at least hedging our bets against our ridiculously old rotation. That brings me to Arias, whose IP this Spring Training had indicated the Astros were shoping him as a bullpen only candidate, but that status was finally confirmed, for me at least, yesterday in this article. We've talked about Arias a lot over the offseason, so this doesn't make a whole lot sense to me. Paulino doesn't look ready to be a starter; Ortiz, Hampton, and Moehler are old; Backe and Wandy are dubious for health reasons right now; and Hensley has been pushed to the bullpen. So why on Earth are we not trying to cultivate a guy who has the promise of a starter to be a starter?

Friday's Frosty Mug

KLSnow — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 15:15:04 -0000

Another day, another Mug.

So in yesterday's Mug I linked to Brian Anderson, who told us that Sheets was "headed in a different direction." Today, he's changed the wording of his note on Sheets to this:

Free agent Ben Sheets appears to be headed in a different direction but the door is never closed until he is signed.

At least he was right on spring training: pitchers and catchers report in 27 days, and The Biz of Baseball reports the Brewers' first spring workout is on February 15.

Dave Bush and the Brewers have avoided arbitration, agreeing on a $4 million dollar deal with incentives for 2009. This may seem a bit obvious, but the JS reported it anyway: After going 2-7 with a 5.73 ERA in his first 13 appearances in 2008, Bush is hoping to start stronger in 2009.

So, with Bush and Hardy signed, the Brewers are down to four arbitration eligible players: Prince Fielder, Seth McClung, Corey Hart and Rickie Weeks. Jayson Stark says Fielder may get compared to Ryan Howard, but the stats don't line up. Tom H. says the Brewers are in a tough spot, with real drawbacks to both trading and keeping him.

Speaking of Fielder, FakeTeams ranks him as the NL's fifth best fantasy first baseman. They also rate Rickie Weeks as the fifth best second baseman. And while I'm on the subject of rankings, Tiger Tales ranked Ryan Braun fourth among defensive left fielders. Team-wide, the Brewers ranked eighth in all of baseball defensively, according to UZR/150 at Beyond the Box Score.

I think playing defense might be a little harder at Miller Park this week: Home Run Derby has a picture of Miller Park and several other northern stadiums in winter.

Two former Brewer prospects are making news today: Matt LaPorta and Michael Brantley have been invited to spring training with the Indians.

Among current prospects, Brent Brewer leads Cody Scarpetta by four votes in the balloting for the 17th and final spot in the Community Prospect Rankings. Hernan Iribarren, Erik Komatsu and Alexandre Periard are all also within 15 votes. Since this is the last spot, I'm leaving the voting open until Monday, so make sure you get your vote in.

On the hot stove:

Astros: Signed former Brewer Jose Capellan to a minor league deal.
Cubs: Signed So Taguchi to a minor league deal.
D-Backs: Reportedly offered a deal to John Garland, but he rejected it. Terms were not disclosed.
Dodgers: Released Andruw Jones but will still have to pay the remainder of the $20+ million he is owed over the next six years.
Indians: Signed Vinnie Chulk to a minor league deal.
Mariners: Felix Hernandez, arbitration eligible for the first time, is reportedly open to a multi-year deal. As things stand now, he would be a free agent in 2011, when he will still only be 25 years old.
Nationals: Are reportedly talking to the A's about a deal that would send Nick Johnson to Oakland for Daric Barton, but aren't as close to agreement as previously reported. They've also re-signed Jesus Colome.
Padres: Signed David Eckstein to play second base and claimed Jae Kuk Ryu off waivers from the Rays.
Phillies: Signed Pablo Ozuna to a minor league deal.
Rangers: Michael Young has reportedly changed his mind about wanting to be traded, and will play third base in 2009.
Red Sox: Avoided arbitration by signing Kevin Youkilis to a four year deal worth $40 million. They also designated David Aardsma for assignment to make room for Mark Kotsay.
Tigers: Are reportedly interested in both Jason Isringhausen and Brandon Lyon.
Twins: Have reportedly contacted Scott Boras to express interest in Eric Gagne.

So, with a starting rotation of Ben Sheets, Oliver Perez, Braden Looper, Randy Wolf and John Garland and hitters like Manny Ramirez, Adam Dunn and Bobby Abreu in the middle of the order, one would think a team of remaining free agents would win some games, right? Actually, projections suggest they'd finish under .500 and cost over $140 million.

The 2009 postseason: Now with less controversy. The owners have approved rule changes that will eliminate rain-shortened playoff games and coin flips for home field advantage.

Oh, and if you had asked me for living situations that might create an inherent advantage for managers, I wouldn't have listed "former goat pasture," but it appears to be working for Trey Hillman.

Drink up.