SB Nation - Tug Hulett

Small, Scrappy, Defensively-Challenged UIF Smackdown

Adam J. Morris — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 02:47:29 -0000

Who ya got?

Joe Inglett

Toronto Blue Jays

Height: 5-9

Weight: 185

Born: Jun 29, 1978

Tug Hulett

#7 / Second Base / Kansas City Royals

Height: 5-10

Weight: 185

Bats: L

Throws: R

Born: Feb 28, 1983

Friday's Frosty Mug

KLSnow — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 14:27:44 -0000

More photos » by Lenny Ignelzi - AP

Kevin Correia: 2010 Brewer?

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Some things to read while having Twilight explained to you.

And I'm back. I hope everyone had a great holiday. If you weren't around the web yesterday (and the site stats would suggest you weren't), here's some of the Thanksgiving stuff you missed from around the web:

Wisconsin Sports Tap has a list of Wisconsin sports people and things they're thankful for, including Ryan Braun, Prince Fielder, Miller Park and Doug Melvin.
The Ghost of Moonlight Graham says Brewer fans should be thankful for Mark Attanasio, and he's absolutely right. Mark A. probably deserves more credit than anyone for creating a winning culture in Milwaukee.
Meanwhile, I had three posts here, with two things I'm thankful for and a Thursday Thinker.

And, once again, thanks to all of you for reading and continuing to check back here as well. Traffic is up over 50% from last November, when the Brewers were coming off a playoff appearance. Actually, we've also seen more visitors in November than we did in all of September, when the Crew was still playing most days. Thanks for helping make this one of the best places on the web to read about and discuss the Brewers.

It's a slow day for Brewer news coming off the holiday, but there are a couple of things I missed this week. First of all, Adam McCalvy had a conversation with John Halama about his attempted return to the major leagues, which Roguejim also noted in this FanPost. Halama is spending the offseason pitching for Licey in the Dominican Winter League, so hopefully we'll be able to monitor his progress in future Winter League Updates.

Earlier in the week, McCalvy also had notes on two pitchers the Brewers might pursue: Justin Duchscherer and Kevin Correia. The Grand National Championships has weighed in in favor of those moves, and says they would go a long way towards restoring his trust in Doug Melvin.

Apparently I'm going to mention McCalvy in every paragraph today: He also has a great look at Brewer Charities under the leadership of new executive director Cecilia Gore.

Speaking of Brewer charities, a while back I mentioned the Brewer Wives' 2010 Pet Calendar, but we weren't sure if it would be available online. It is, as it turns out, so you can help support the Wisconsin Humane Society, even if you can't make it to Milwaukee.

Around baseball:

Blue Jays: Signed shortstops Alex Gonzalez and John Mcdonald to deals for 2010.
Mariners: Infielder Josh Wilson has refused an outright assignment to the minor leagues and is now a free agent.
Red Sox: Acquired infielder Tug Hulett from the Royals for a PTBNL or cash.

His name doesn't come up as often as the likes of Doug Davis or Jarrod Washburn, but Erik Bedard is another pitcher the Brewers might be pursuing this offseason. If they do decide to make an offer, though, they might be competing with the Orioles for his service. Baseball Musings has a look at what could be a great move for the Orioles: trading two years of Bedard for five players, then getting him back before they were ready to contend anyway.

If you're ready to start filling out a wish list for the Rule 5 Draft at the Winter Meetings, BuccoFans.com has scouting reports of available players from 23 teams. (h/t Crawfish Boxes)

I couldn't find a Brewer birthday today (it's a surprisingly slow day for baseball birthdays overall), so instead I'll wish an early happy birthday to Carlos Villanueva, who turns 26 tomorrow.

Oh, and I do my best to stay as baseball-relevant as possible here, but one fact remains: If you serve mac and cheese at Thanksgiving, and you post a picture, you make the Mug.

Drink up.

11/27 - Join Theo for Black Friday Shopping

bs.uf15bosox9bears23 — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 10:00:13 -0000

It's not that difficult to imagine Tito being the guy holding all the bags and sitting on the bench outside the store where Theo's shopping. Then again, maybe I had a little too much eggnog. Anyways, not a lot of links:

Another Thing I'm Thankful For: Baseball Reference - Brew Crew Ball

Trades Of The Decade: A-Rod For Soriano - MLBTradeRumors.com

The one that nearly sent Rodriguez to the Sox; how different would the baseball world be if Selig had let it go through?

The Price Tag For Roy Halladay - MLBTradeRumors.com

I swear, this is like trying to convince someone that they save 100% off the price by NOT BUYING what they don't need.

Hard to hold AL West at Bay - Boston Herald

This offseason, the competition with the West is expected to take a different form, with the Angels a prime contender for free agent left fielder Jason Bay.

That wouldn't be weird, for them to be rooting for Bay after how well he played against them in the 2008 ALDS.

Looking Forward to the Holidays in Boston, Not a Holliday or a Halladay! - Bleacher Report

I think this guy takes his logic a little too far.

Holliday open to playing in any part of the country - newsday.com

As he sits atop the free-agent market, Matt Holliday says he can envision playing anywhere.

The Sox Try to ReHash ‘09, Tug Hulett Who? - Fire Brand of the American League

Links, comments, etc. Good luck to anyone who has to fight crowds of people today.

Reader Poll, Out Of Curiosity

Jeff — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 00:55:03 -0000

So the Tuglett put up another good year in AAA, and now the 26 year old utility player with substantial middle infield experience has a .286/.372/.457 career line over 1400+ PAs at the highest level of the minors. He was nevertheless dropped from Kansas City's 40-man last week, but just today the Red Sox picked him up.

What I'm wondering is, does the fact that Kansas City didn't want a player like this but Boston does in any meaningful way change how you think of him? I don't know if it should, or shouldn't, which is why I'm curious to see what the rest of you think.

Poll

What effect does Tuglett's DFA by the Royals and subsequent addition by the Red Sox have on your opinion of him as a player?

I think he's a little better now than I used to

274 votes

I think the same of him now as I used to

606 votes

I think he's a little worse now than I used to

59 votes

939 votes | Poll has closed

The Rookies Who Aren't

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

Determining rookie status:

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.

Not "goodbye," just "see you soon": Yanks' last regular season homestand ends in 4-3 loss

CrazyYankeeChick — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 05:14:13 -0000

More photos » by Kathy Willens - AP

FORGET THE BALL! SAVE YOURSELF!

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There was no better testament to what's seated at the forefront of Yankee fans' minds then when Nick Swisher very awkwardly misplayed the fly ball that scored the go-ahead run:

A month ago, the bar would have thrown its hands up in aggravation. Typical Swish! Bobbles the cans of corn, nails the web gems! Grumble grumble. Get your head in the game, boy.

Tonight? Me and the bartender shouted in unison: "DON'T GET HURT!"

At the risk of sounding like a Second Play Red Sox fan who's been bitterly arguing for the last 2 weeks that these games are meaningless, I will say that losing the last home game, in a game we could have won against the Royals, with a loss that snapped a hot winning streak...actually didn't get me too riled up tonight.

There was, of course, the requisite sting. But after briefly commiserating with the other Yankee fans populating the bar, the consensus was a resounding: "I love this team. And their biggest games are still ahead of them."

I'll tackle the one negative aspect of the night first. And you probably know what's coming, since it's basically become a boilerplate element in anything I write now, (I think it's even inadvertantly come into play in thank you notes, receipt signing, and a grocery list):

Joba Chamberlain.

I've been panned left, right, and center for outright dismissing him for the better part of the seasons.

The Yankees are about to enter the most important period of the season, and the argument can be made that with the unquestionably best team in baseball, this is the most critical opportunity they've had in since 2001 to make something happen. That said, is there a Yankee fan on the face of the planet who is comfortable with Joba starting in the playoffs?

In his last 10 starts, he's 1-4 with a 7.75 , giving up 56 hits in 40 2/3 innings.

According to Joba, this the result of a combination of factors: poor fastball command (that's a start...) and "the first cooler days of the fall." (Well, sure. I mean the bitter 55 degree arctic climate of Manhattan is gong to dramatically impact any young midwestern transplant who still tightly clings to many childhood memories of balmy Nebraskan winters.) Rule #76, buddy...

While Joba is absolutely a much better pitcher than Sergio Mitre, both inspire the same level of confidence in me. And both have the same chance of either dealing or bombing. It's a fun little game of Russian Roulette with every Joba start. Are we gonna see the guy who seamlessly made quick work of the Sox last week, cruising through 6 innings on 86 pitches? Or are we gonna see tonight's Joba, who lasted 3 2/3 innings, and who needed 91 pitches to walk 4, give up 3 runs on 7 hits, with only a little over half of his first pitches being called for strikes?

Maybe he turns into David Cone come the playoffs. Anything's possible. But what makes this risk more rational than say, batting Brett Gardner in clean up? As far as I can tell, there's about the same chance of our little firecracker slugging in heaps of RBIs...as there is of Joba waking up, giving the old "Shelled or Excelled" wheel of fortune a spin, and getting a positive reading.

Well, my mom always says that everything happens for a reason, and everything works out for the best. So maybe tonight's loss was a good thing? Maybe we needed a loss to spotlight the liability with this pseudo-starter?

(Ah, I"m feeling a little nostalgic...my last regular season Joba rant! We've had some "good" times...)

As for the rest of the game:

It would have been cool to get another comeback win and even cooler to break the record for most wins in a stadium's season (57, currently tied with Fenway). But I'm all for picking our battles, so to speak. I'm ok with a loss because it's like they're saving their best dramatics for the playoffs. Plus there's a verrrrry little part of me that gets a little paranoid about "no-end-in-sight" hot streaks, ever since the Rockies' run in 2007. Momentum isn't foolproof. Just ask Endy Chavez.

Jorge Posada made a throw to second in the 5th to try to catch Mark Teahen. While he was rightly called safe, I couldn't help but marvel at the throw--a bullet zipped from home, without ever moving out of the catcher's squat. A perfect, sharp zinger that was made from his knees. I don't extol Jorge's virtues enough, but you gotta wonder where we'd be without him and his 4-out-of-5 tool threat.

After KC scored in the first off third-string catcher Brayan Pena's RBI single, Derek Jeter responded in the bottom of the inning with a solo blast. For the rest of the game, it was the B. Pena, Teahen, Billy Butler, and John Buck circus act of run-manufacturing. The best the Yanks could do was a 2-run shot from Swish, (I really thought we had the game won after that).

With game tied at 3-3 and when it was later 4-3, I realized that with each Yankee batter stepping up, I thought every single one of them had a good chance to win the game for us. I remember days of the confidence peaks and troughs, but right now? The words "bottom of the order" mean nothing.

I really liked the fact that the YES Players of the Game were the Yankee fans.

I also really liked the fact there's someone named Tug Hulett playing professional baseball, when he sounds like he should be bursting into choreographed musical numbers as the guileless hero in an off-Broadway musical.

When the game ended and I started to leave the bar to head home, a couple of Sox fans did that whole passive-aggressive-shot-at-your-team-while-you're-walking-by move.

"Hey, the Yankees lost, by the way."

Really, Second Place Sox Fans? Are you really going down this route?

Words actually failed me. I think Boston fans are possibly the last people who should open their mouths tonight.

"Just wait til October," one continued. "You're only as good as the last game you played."

(To be clear, the Red Sox lost tonight for the 6th consecutive game. 12-0.)

So...I guess it's safe to say that Sox fans have officially removed reason and sense from the table.

The postseason nears. So let's savor these last 3 games before our own levelheadedness gets taken out of the picture, as well.

-CYC

Dayton Moore and Omar Minaya Must Love Bloggers: Winners and Losers in the Francoeur, Church, and Betancourt Trades (No, Seriously)

devil_fingers — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 05:57:24 -0000

[This is my "objective" analysis... more "subjective" reflections on the Royals side of things will come later and elsewhere... UPDATE: "Subjective" reflections can be found here.]

Seriously, Kyle must be paying off Dayton Moore to keep making teh awesome tradez so that I'll exceed my post quota every week. Make no mistake: this was a big day for Dayton, or, as he is known to the Royals' faithful, "DMGM." Not only did he finally acquire the long-desired (can't find the original Sam Mellinger article any more) Yuniesky Betancourt, but he also failed to acquire the man whom he once called "one of the greatest competitors I've ever known," Jeff Francoeur. Fittingly, Frenchy was acquired today by Dayton Moore's Dominican Doppleganger for Ryan Church. Sigh... I wonder who won these trades?

Francoeur to the Mets, Ryan Church to the Braves

Jeff Francoeur

#0 / Right Field / New York Mets

Height: 6-4

Weight: 220

Bats: R

Throws: R

Born: Jan 08, 1984

Francoeur is getting paid $3.375M this season in his first year of arbitration. Assuming $4.5M for each Win Above Replacement, we take $0.4M off for the replacement salary, and assume he's getting 40% of his value. so 3.375-0.4 = 2.75/.40 = $6.875 market value for the deal. So Francoeur is being paid like a 1.5 WAR player. Sure, he's having a dreadful season so far (-13.4 offense, 0.6 defense, -0.6 WAR at FanGraphs), but we to estimate true talent going forward.

Transactions are only going to get more frequent, so I'm going to just use the ZiPS in-season projection tool for offense this time out. Francoeur is having another of his classic seasons at the plate.

A timeless classic.

Batting: ZiPS Rest-of-Season projection has him hitting .259/.307/.381 for a .304 wOBA. That's about 14 runs below average ( -14).

Fielding is trickier to measure and predict. Francoeur's reputation and numbers were great when he came into the league, but he's really dropped off in UZR. His UZR prorated for 150 games (UZR/150) over the last four seasons: 2006: +7.5, 2007, 16.9, 2008 -4.9, 2009 -1.5. A weighted average and crude regression gives me an estimate of +3 per 150 games. Sean Smith's pre-season projection for TotalZone was +2. Pretty close. Over a full season, let's call it +3.

Value: -14 Offense + 3 defense -7.5 positional adjustment + 20 NL replacement = +1.5 runs above replacement * 85% playing time = about a 0.1 WAR player.

So... The Mets are getting about a $500,000 player on a contract for this year that's worth just under $7M. Ryan Church must really be bad and/or be on a terrible contract, right?

Ryan Church

#0 / Right Field / Atlanta Braves

Height: 6-1

Weight: 190

Bats: L

Throws: L

Born: Oct 14, 1978

Church is in his second year of arbitration and is getting paid $2.8M. Same formula as above (with 60% for the second year of arbitration). 2.8-0.4 = 2.4/.60= $4M. That's less than 1 WAR, so Church is getting paid like a bench or platoon guy.

Batting: Church has had a rough start to the season, hitting 280/.332/.375 for a .310 wOBA. But, again, we need to take context into account, past performance, etc. ZiPS projects his real talent at .344 wOBA (.273/.346/.433), or about +10 over 700 PAs.

Fielding: Church played some CF a couple years back, but is mostly a corner outfielder now. A weighted and regressed average of his UZR/150 numbers gives us +3, and Rally has him projected at +4 TotalZone. Let's call it +4/162 games.

Value: +10 offense +4 hitting -7.5 position + 20 NL replacement = 26.5 x 75% playing time (because of age and past injuries, that's all we should really expect) = 1.9 WAR player. Wow... getting paid like a 4th OF and he's about a league average player.

I guess Omar Minaya and his scouts saw something in Francoeur. Sure, Church is older... But Francoeur isn't 21 anymore. He's not at the usual peak, but he's replacement-level now, I'm going to guess and say he has about a 5% chance of becoming as good as Church in the next couple of seasons, even though he's being paid more right now (RBI!). It's not like the Mets have a young core they are stacking up for a future run at contention. What am I missing Mets fans? This just a terrible trade for the Mets. Probably even a bit worse than...

Yuniesky Betancourt to the Royals, Dan Cortes and Derrick Saito to the Mariners

Let's get this over with.

Yuniesky Betancourt

#0 / Short Stop / Kansas City Royals

Height: 5-10

Bats: R

Throws: R

Born: Jan 31, 1982

The contract stuff is a bit complicated. According to Cot's (already updated!), Betancourt has the rest of this season (so about $1M of $2M) left, then is owed $3M in 2010, $4M in 2011, with a club option for $6M in 2012 with a $2M buyout. The Mariners are picking up about $2M along the way... without adjusting for inflation, that's the buyout. So as far as guaranteed money goes, the Royals are giving Betancourt $8M over the next three years guaranteed, or about $7M over replacement. He's already 27 (and I' sure we can trust his Cuban birth records, right?), and, as we'll see, he's not exactly at a stage where we can't expect him to decline already. I'd say he needs to be a 1.0 WAR player right now for the Royals to have this pay off... .and that's not counting the prospects.

I can tell you that pitching against him — he’s not an easy guy to pitch to. He’s got some pop.

--Gil Meche

Batting: He's smoking the ball to the tune of .250/.278/.330 so far, with a .270 wOBA. But, hey, that only tells us what he has already done. ZiPS says his true talent is .273/.293/.373 for a whopping .291 wOBA, which is about 22 runs below average in the current run-scoring environment.

Fielding: Betancourt has or had a stellar defensive reputation, but UZR/150 numbers show that he was more of an average defender may be morphing into a horrible, Michael Young-esque shortstop, a +2.1 in 2006, +0.7 2006, -1.4 in 2007, -12.7 in 2008, and a -18.0 2009. But with regression and weighting, he comes out to about -5, and TotalZone has him as average (!), although that's before the season started. Let's call it -3, which may be generous, but we're sticking with the numbers here.

Value:-22 batting - 3 defense +7.5 position +25 AL replacement level= 7.5 x 855 playing time = 0.6 WAR player.

He’s very, very talented to the point where — and I’ve told him this — he could be the best defensive shortstop in the game hands down.

-- Willie Bloomquist on Betancourt

So, even assuming that he will regress heavily towards the mean (a reasonable assumption), this is a bad deal for the Royals straight up, even if they didn't give up anything. But they did -- they gave up at least a fair pitching prospect in Dan Cortes, and a lower-level one in Derrick Saito. The Willie Bloomquist signing was bad enough, but this is just as bad. No, it's worse. The best part is that the Royals have yet another ex-Mariner, Tug Hulett, who isn't good, but is at Omaha right now and is probably at least as good as either of them, and at the league minimum. All things considered, this makes the Mike Jacobs trade look pretty good in comparison. 'Nuff said.

In the comments regarding Dan Szymborski's suggestion that Billy Beane's time in Oakland, things got briefly sidetracked onto Kansas City Royals' GM Dayton Moore. One commentator asked me why I thought Dayton Moore wasn't a very good GM... I gave the usual reasons... Jose Guillen, Mike Jacobs, Kyle Farnsworth, Horacio Ramirez, Ross Gload, Willie Bloomquist... but I needed haven't, for the very next day, Mr. Moore obliged with a demonstration more powerful than any words I could string together. He's doing a heckuva job.

EDIT: devil_fingers was so mad that he made about 12 glaring typos. I fixed them so his anger would come through more clearly. SERENITY NOW!

Edit 2: d_f here. Found even more. I'm on little sleep. Bedtime. After I rant some more.

Edit 3: vivaelpujols here: I like cheese.

Friday's Frosty Mug

KLSnow — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 14:39:03 -0000

Some things to read while...seriously, bacon wrapped meatloaf with a mac and cheese layer? I need a recipe.

You know it's a slow news day when, as noted in this FanPost, Ryan Braun's new clothing line is your top story. Perhaps those of us who suggested a certain blogger launch a fashion blog were right on the money.

Every spring about this time hitters start facing live pitching, and we get the first "(Pitcher) has nasty stuff" stories of spring. Would you have guessed that pitcher in Brewers camp would be R.J. Swindle? If you really can get awkward swings and misses while throwing 55, I may have a big league career after all.

Of course, this transition to hitting off of actual pitchers is long overdue, because hitters are ahead of the coaches at this stage of spring training.

I had promised myself today would be the day I stopped talking about Eric Gagne, so of course today is the day he made news three different ways:

He withdrew from the World Baseball Classic.
He had lasik surgery over the offseason, ending the need for goggles.
He's a few days behind the other pitchers and may need a couple of extra days before pitching in his first spring game.

When you start feeding stray veteran pitchers, pretty soon they come to you: Ray King showed up at camp yesterday, looking for work. He's reportedly lost some weight, but was told camp is full.

Perhaps Ken Macha isn't singling out Jason Kendall, but it's starting to feel like it: a few days after saying he'll reduce Kendall's playing time in 2009, he announced he's also controlling the running game from the bench. This would be different if Kendall was struggling with it, but Kendall seemed to handle it pretty well in 2008.

Yesterday was picture day in Brewer camp. Click the link for a list of pictures I found, then check the comments for a link to the whole gallery.

I cringed when I started reading it, but based on Two-Fisted Slopper's recap, it sounds like Cecil Fielder's appearance on the MLB Network last night went off without any father-son chicanery. Slopper's post also has some great screenshots of a 12-year-old Prince.

On the transaction wire:

Braves: Signed Tom Glavine to a one year deal worth $1 million plus incentives.
Indians: Acquired Juan Salas from the Rays and designated third baseman Andy Marte for assignment. (h/t FanShots)
Padres: Are reportedly close to a deal with Mexican pitcher Walter Silva.
Royals: Claimed Tug Hulett off waivers from the Mariners.

Regardless of how bad Ned Yost was or how bad Ken Macha may be, we can always take comfort in knowing they're not Dusty Baker. Today, Baker had this to say on Edinson Volquez and his plans for 2009:

If [pitch counts] are what we have to worry about — last year no one knew what we had," Baker said. "That’s already progress. A lot of times that second year, you’re trying to get a guy to have a winning record.
...
I’ve seen Greg Maddux throw 150 pitches early in his career."

That one should be filed away as part of The Tao of Dusty.

Some days I come across stories that aren't really Brewer related, but just demonstrate how a really good sports writer can make a mundane topic interesting. Here are two from today: Royals beat writer Sam Mellinger on visa issues, and Nationals beat writer Chico Harlan on the weather in Florida.

Of course, sometimes good beat writers are not well rewarded: Tim Hudson blamed Braves beat writer David O'Brien for the team's failure to sign Ken Griffey, and the two had to be separated in the Braves clubhouse yesterday.

Speaking of Griffey, I've seen notes around the web suggesting the signing was a bad decision, a useless piece added to a rebuilding team, but it's already paying for itself. The Mariners sold 16,000 extra tickets yesterday. Assuming my baseline of 1 ticket sold = $50 for the team (after factoring in parking, food, merchandise, etc), the Mariners made $800,000 off of Griffey yesterday alone.

From the "too much information" file: Jose Guillen, facing surgery to remove an ingrown toenail, got a tweezers and did the job himself. Don't try that one at home.

So how much does lineup position impact RBI opportunities? Perhaps not as much as you'd think. Research suggests one thing we all expected: Players who hit in the first and second spot get a decreased opportunity to drive in runs. But, on the flip side, players batting anywhere between third and eighth all have nearly identical opportunities.

Oh, and I'd like to join Royals Review in increasing the use of the word "pleonasm."

Drink up.

Monday's Frosty Mug

KLSnow — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 15:56:27 -0000

Some things to read while guarding a locked door.

Finally, after months of waiting, we have pictures of Brewers in baseball related activities. My favorites from the weekend:

Jason Kendall with the first "Wow, does your body really bend that way?" of spring.
Dave Bush's looks of intense concentration could be a neverending source of comedy.
Yovani Gallardo bunts with his tongue out.
Trevor Hoffman, Braden Looper and Yovani Gallardo throwing simultaneously. Apparently the Brewer bullpens are arranged in chronological order.
Ken Macha is talking but, of the four players pictured, only Jorge Julio looks like he even might be listening.

Bill Hall is already throwing, could take ground balls by midweek and expects to be back much sooner than the 4-6 weeks projected last week. I appreciate the enthusiasm, but if he ends up further damaging a partly torn muscle and missing time in the regular season, he's going to feel pretty stupid for rushing himself back to spring training.

Speaking of injuries, I'd like someone to explain this to me. From Tom H.'s camp report from yesterday, here's Gord Ash's quote on the hip surgery of Ramiro Mendoza, who failed his physical and left camp:

"The surgery was much more extensive than we thought," assistant general manager Gord Ash said. "That's not to say he can't pitch. He pitched all winter long. The hip surgery was more extreme than we thought so our doctors didn't want to take the risk."

What's "the risk" here? If Mendoza can pitch, and Ash notes that he pitched all winter, then why does the severity of his recent hip surgery matter? Worst case scenario, Mendoza injures his hip again and requires further surgery. Were the Brewers so scared of having to pay for Mendoza's hip surgery that they sent home a potentially useful pitcher?

Elsewhere on the transaction wire, the Mariners claimed Luis Pena off waivers and Vinny Rottino cleared and was sent to Nashville. Rottino will remain in big league camp for the time being.

Two weeks ago we mentioned that WGN announcer Cory Provus was the lone remaining candidate to fill the spot in the radio booth vacated by Jim Powell. It hasn't come up since then, and until this morning I had completely forgotten that it still hasn't been officially announced. The first Brewer spring training broadcast is February 25.

Yovani Gallardo still hasn't decided if he'll pitch for Mexico in the World Baseball Classic. I'm really surprised the Brewers aren't making a stronger effort to keep him out. An awful lot hinges on his ability to throw 180-200 effective innings this season, which is more than he's ever thrown before and about 160-180 more than he threw last season, so why would they want him pitching in the WBC in March?

Meanwhile, Seth McClung will work as a starter this spring. Chase Wright will too, but I lost the link for that one. You'll just have to take my word for it.

I think he's a great young pitcher and could develop into something special, but is Manny Parra really the kind of star athlete that has to worry about getting in trouble away from the ballpark? Apparently he's been hanging out with celebrity babysitter Julian Jones during the offseason. I'm not sure why I read that one.

If he was white we'd call him scrappy, but he's not so he's just short. Lisa Winston of MiLB.com has a profile and Q&A with Angel Salome. An awful lot of it is about how short he is.

Barring an injury or something unforeseen, Salome will open 2009 in Nashville, where Greer Stadium is undergoing a facelift. Some of the upgrades appear to be legally required, but new ownership appears to realize the stadium needs some serious work.

I'm guessing the rankings were compiled before the Looper signing, but Wrigleyville23 points out that Jayson Stark talked to 15 noted baseball writers and ranked the Brewers as the third least-improved team in all of baseball. Actually, with Looper, Chase Wright and Nick Green added to the fold, I'm not entirely unhappy with this offseason anymore. I think better things could have been done with the money given to Trevor Hoffman, but I do feel like the Brewers have done their due diligence to remain competitive.

Sticking with the "least improved" theme, though, Cybermetrics ranked Jeff Suppan as one of 2008's least improved pitchers.

On the transaction wire:

Angels: Agreed to a four year deal worth $30 million with Ervin Santana, avoiding arbitration.
Braves: May be competing with the Mariners for Ken Griffey's services.
Giants: Noah Lowry, currently on the outside of the Giants' rotation, has implied that he may be available via trade.
Indians: Signed Tony Graffanino to a minor league deal with an invitation to spring training.
Mariners: Reached an agreement with Josh Fields, their #1 pick from the 2008 draft. They also designated IF Tug Hulett for assignment to make room for Luis Pena.
Mets: Signed Livan Hernandez and Ramon Martinez to minor league deals.
Phillies: Signed Miguel Cairo to a major league deal and invited him to spring training. They also are looking for a home for Adam Eaton, who is due $9 million in 2009 and will not accept an assignment to the minors.
Yankees: Signed Brett Tomko to a minor league deal.

Major League Baseball is reportedly considering making exceptions to the rules and allowing Juan Cruz, Orlando Hudson and Orlando Cabrera to be signed and traded by their former teams, as all three players' markets have been hurt by the compensation required for signing a Type A free agent. I realize the market for these guys is rough, but if baseball changes the rules this late in the game the teams that passed on these players have every right to be furious.

All of these stories fit into the obvious spring training themes:

Unrealistic expectations: New Red Willy Taveras thinks he can steal 100 bases in 2009.
The comeback: 49-year-old Oil Can Boyd, who has not pitched in the majors since 1991, is attempting a comeback.
The new gimmick: New Met Francisco Rodriguez is wearing red contact lenses to ~~get in on this new vampire fad~~ decrease glare.

Here's another story we usually see multiple times every spring: Orioles P Alfredo Simon is having visa issues and is late to spring training. I realize this is probably harder than it sounds, but with roster spots and big time money on the line, wouldn't you go out of your way to make sure your visa was in line?

So it turns out Joe Mauer, who had minor kidney surgery in December, still has limitations on what he can do in spring training and hopes to be ready by Opening Day. Replacing an MVP-level catcher isn't something any team wants to be thinking about right now.

The amenities of big league camp got a little nicer in Tampa this season, where the Rays' new facilities have multiple person hot and cold tubs. Mine is nice, but getting everyone involved to agree on a temperature is still a challenge.

Oh, and any Yankees Elimination Program is something I can get behind.

Drink up.