SB Nation - Sam Narron

The Brewers' Rule 5 Draft Eligible Players

TheJay — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 19:15:08 -0000

As noted in my FanPost of Sunday night, the deadline for filing major league and minor league reserve lists is fast approaching. Eligible players not added to the major league 40-man roster by November 20 can be selected in the Rule 5 draft.

What does it take to be eligible?

If 19 or older on the June 5th before he signed his first contract, a player is eligible for the fourth Rule 5 draft after signing (usually after four years in the minors).
If 18 or younger on the June 5th before he signed his first contract, a player is eligible for the fifth Rule 5 draft after signing (usually after five years in the minors).
Any player who is eligible for one Rule 5 draft is eligible for all subsequent Rule 5 drafts.

(see ESPN Transactions Primer , Baseball America Rule 5 Draft column, MLB Rules summaries)

You may recall some Brewers being added to the 40-man roster last offseason to protect them from the Rule 5 draft. Omar Aguilar, Alexandre Periard, Mark Rogers, and Cody Scarpetta were the fantastic four. At the risk of undermining the above statements, Scarpetta actually became eligible for the draft through a little-known technicality: the Brewers voided his original contract because of an injury and later re-signed him, making him immediately eligible (link). That comes up probably once in a February blue moon.

I have attempted to make a comprehensive list of Brewers farmhands who are eligible for the Rule 5 draft. Obviously not all (or even most) of these players are realistic candidates to be selected. In addition, some of these guys may be minor league free agents. If you think I've made a mistake or missed someone, post a comment. Notable names are above the jump while you must click and scroll for the rest. Ages listed are for the 2010 season and levels listed are where the player spent the bulk of 2009:

Zach Braddock (22, LHP, A+/AA - one of the last draft-and-follow players, he did not sign until the spring of 2006 at the age of 18. This gives him one more year before becoming eligible.)
Lorenzo Cain (24, CF, AA)
Chris Cody (26, LHP, AA/AAA)
Nick Green (25, RHP, AA/AAA)
Taylor Green (23, 3B, AA - another draft-and-follow guy, brewerfan has him signing June 1, 2006. Since he did not turn 19 until November 2005, I think that puts him in the 18 and younger category and means he is not eligible until next offseason. Lorenzo Cain was in a similar situation last year.)
Dave Johnson (27, RHP, AAA)
Mike Jones (27, RHP, A+/AA/AAA - former #1 pick finally reached AAA, did not do well)
Brendan Katin (27, RF, AAA)
Mike Ramlow (24, LHP, Inj/A - yet another draft-and-follow, injured most of this season)
Amaury Rivas (24, RHP, A+)

The Brewers currently have 33 of 40 roster spots filled. I am not 100% sure of Green's exemption from the draft but the Brewers certainly have roster room if I'm wrong. We'll all find out together on Friday. Assuming Green does not need to be protected, I think only Lorenzo Cain and Amaury Rivas really need to be added to the roster. I don't think the other guys are tempting enough for any team to commit a 25-man roster spot in December. Correct me if I'm wrong, but the current talent and/or upside just aren't there.

As promised, the rest of the Rule 5 eligible farmhands.

Erick Almonte (32 in 2010, 1B, spent 2009 in AAA)
Patrick Arlis (29, C, AAA)
Mike Burns (31, RHP, AAA/MLB)
Chuck Caufield (26, LF/RF, AA)
Anderson de la Rosa (25, C, A+)
Ryan Delaughter (23, RHP, R - converted outfielder threw 5 innings in Arizona rookie ball.)
Chris Errecart (25, 1B, A+)
Jim Henderson (27, RHP, A/A+ - Canadian added veteran presence to low-minors bullpens.)
Robert Hinton (25, RHP, AA)
Mark Holliman (26, RHP, AA)
JR Hopf (27, C, AA)
Shane Justis (27, 2B, AA - was selected in minor league portion of last year's Rule 5 draft.)
Brandon Kintzler (25, RHP, AA - not sure how it works for these indy-league guys. Not sure it matters.)
Brock Kjeldgaard (24, 1B, A - converted pitcher known for power, strikeouts.)
Joe Koshansky (28, 1B, AAA)
Rafael Lluberes (25, LHP, A+)
Martin Maldonado (23, C, A+)
Michael McClendon (25, RHP, AA)
Sean McCraw (24, C, A)
Johnny Raburn (31, 2B/SS, AA/AAA)
Tike Redman (33, OF, AAA - former Pirate spent about as much time in Nashville as Jon Knott.)
Jose Romero (24, LHP, R - injury-marred career, presumably.)
Ivan Rusova (23, RHP, R - who? The Giants somehow drafted this Cuban in the in 26th round in 2005.)
Juan Sandoval (29, RHP, AA)
Adam Stern (30, OF, AA - O Canada!)
David Welch (27, LHP, AA - the lone representative from Australia.)

The following players would have been Rule 5 eligible but are already minor league free agents according to Brewerfan. A few names from the above list (i.e., Redman) probably belong down here, too:

Drew Anderson (29, LF, AA - he actually spent September 2006 in the majors.)
Chris Capuano (31, LHP, Inj/R)
Carlos Corporan (26, C, AAA - hitting only 1.000 in major league play.)
Ruben Flores (26, RHP, A - acquired for Bill Hall.)
Lindsay Gulin (33, LHP, AAA)
Ryan Houston (30, RHP, AAA)
Jon Knott (31, RF, AAA - spent about two weeks in a Nashville uniform.)
Wes Littleton (27, RHP, AA/AAA - best known for "saving" a 27-run game with the Rangers.)
Kevin Melillo (28, 1B/3B, AA)
Sam Narron (28, LHP, AAA)
Freddy Parejo (25, RF, AA)
Josh Wahpepah (25, RHP, AA)
Chase Wright (27, RHP, AAA - outrighted off 40-man roster on August 26.)

That's a lot of links about a bunch of guys no one will remember a few weeks from now. :)

Farmers Only: Thank God It's Wednesday

BK — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 11:00:41 -0000

Louisville lost 2-1 to Buffalo. Ramon Ramirez pitched 7 solid innings, only giving up 2 runs (1 earned), and Darnell McDonald was 3-for-4 to lead the offense. Up next: The Bats take on Buffalo at 7:05 behind Ben Jukich.
Carolina lost 6-1 to Huntsville behind Matt Klinker's first rough patch in a while. Jose Castro and Juan Francisco had two hits each, but the Mudcats offense only managed 5 hits off of Huntsville starter Sam Narron. Yeah, he's Jerry's cousin. Up next: Carolina takes on the Stars again at 8. I think Camilo Vazquez will start.
Sarasota lost 8-1 to Dunedin. Luis Montano had a solid start, going 6 innings of 2-run ball, but Mark Pawelek blew the game open in the 8th, giving up 5 runs. Up next: Zach Ward is scheduled to take his first start in Sarasota this season at 7.
Dayton beat Wisconsin 9-4 behind a strong showing by the offense. Kevin Coddington had 3 hits and Josh Fellhauer hit his 3rd HR of the season. Oscar Castro left the game in the 4th after giving up 4 runs, but Jordan Hotchkiss picked up the slack, going 3 2/3 innings of relief and only allowing 1 hit and no runs, and striking out 4 in the process. Donnie Joseph, the newest Dragon, pitched 1 2/3 perfect innings for his A-ball debut. Up next: J.C. Sulbaran takes on Wisconsin at 8:05.
Billings was off. They take on Missoula at 9:05 with Luca Panerati taking the the hill.
Yorman and Henry Rodriguez each had two hits as the GCL Reds won 4-1 over the Rays. Michael Henry, Mitchell Clarke, Marcos Molina, and Raul Rodriguez each pitched 2 innings, with the first two pitching perfect and Molina giving up the only run. Jacob Wiley pitched the 9th for his 5th save of the young season. Up next: The GCL Reds take on the GCL O's at noon.
Roster Moves: As previously mentioned, Donnie Joseph is with Dayton after putting up a 0.77 ERA in Billings in 11 2/3 innings.

Tuesday's Frosty Mug

KLSnow — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 14:04:52 -0000

Some things to read while leaving work early.

So, as you've probably noticed, 2009 is scheduled to be Rickie Weeks' third consecutive "breakout year." But would you take that news more seriously if it came from Peter Gammons? (h/t FanPost)

While most of the Brewer team projections this spring haven't been pretty, individual Brewers are getting positive attention all over the place today. On top of Gammons' mention of Rickie Weeks, Ken Rosenthal is picking Yovani Gallardo to win the NL Cy Young and But The Game Is On is listing Ryan Braun as an NL MVP candidate.

Speaking of Braun, it sounds like he's feeling pretty good after a couple of days back in big league camp and should be full speed for Opening Day.

The news is not as good for Craig Counsell, who has a torn meniscus in his right knee and may require surgery. He's considering trying to play through it this season, and the team is leaving it up to him. With that said, recovery from surgery would only take 2-3 weeks, so Counsell would be somewhat foolish to spend all season playing in pain to avoid missing the 6-8 appearances he'd miss recovering from surgery.

Trevor Hoffman's injury isn't very exciting for most people, but his rehab could be a pretty big deal for some, as Hoffman may make one or more rehab appearances for the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers. That would be one way to get the teams' new partnership started off on the right foot.

Elsewhere in the minors:

Vinny Rottino and Hernan Iribarren will return to Nashville for the 2009 season, but it doesn't sound like there's much room for them to play. (h/t FanShot)
Beyond The Box Score took a look at the TotalZone rankings of several shortstop prospects. Alcides Escobar has a five run lead on second place, and a 71 run lead on Mariner prospect Carlos Triunfel.
The JS Camp Report says Angel Salome should be recovered from his back injury in time to start the season at Nashville, and Jonathan Lucroy is expected to catch nearly every day in Huntsville.
Tom H. says Chase Wright, Nick Green, Sam Narron, Lindsay Gulin and Tim Dillard will start the season in the rotation in Nashville, with Chris Narveson pitching out of the bullpen. It remains to be seen what will happen when Chris Capuano is ready to start making starts.

Remember when the Brewers were an AL team? I'm sure Moose Haas, Chris Bosio, Bill Wegman and Teddy Higuera do, as they're all on Recondite Baseball's list of pitchers who started the most games without an official at bat.

Rankings/Projections/Predictions:

Nick and Nick's Twins Blog predicts the Brewers will finish third in the Central.
The Tenth Inning Stretch has the Brewers winning 75 games and finishing fourth behind, among others, the 86 win Pirates.
Baseball Musings ranks the Brewers fourth in the Central in Wins Above Replacement.
It Is About The Money, Stupid has Bodoglife's 2009 over-unders, which have the Brewers at 80.5 wins. Stop by later today for more over-under fun.
The Mudpuddle has the Brewers picked to finish fourth in the Central and the Cubs winning the World Series.

he will not make the team

unveiled their dollar menu

BoDogLife

Monday's Frosty Mug

KLSnow — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 15:06:04 -0000

Some things to read while thinking about what could have been.

So, the bullpen situation is increasingly chaotic, with Trevor Hoffman now possibly opening the season on the DL. (Also noted in FanShot) The situation is exacerbated by the fact that David Riske and Carlos Villanueva aren't pitching well and Seth McClung, who isn't pitching exceptionally well either, may be needed to fill a spot in the starting rotation. Riske, for one, is taking his spring results pretty seriously, saying he's in shock after allowing an earned run in five straight outings.

We all respond to stress differently, I suppose: After getting shelled in two innings in his first spring start yesterday, Mark DiFelice was cutting hair in the Brewer clubhouse.

Also in that last link is a note mentioning that Sam Narron was sent down to minor league camp. Elsewhere in roster moves, the Brewers decided to let the Astros keep Rule 5 pick Lou Palmisano. (Also noted in FanShot)

The Brewers also made a minor trade over the weekend, acquiring minor league infielder Sergio Miranda from the White Sox for future considerations. The move was big enough to draw notice from Al and in Rumorville, but it slipped through the cracks over at the JS. There's some speculation that those "future considerations" might end up being Tony Gwynn Jr., but of course that's not confirmed.

Speaking of Gwynn, while he would appear to be behind Chris Duffy, Brad Nelson and Trot Nixon in the race for backup outfield spots, he thinks his history with the organization will get him a spot on the team this spring. Best of luck to him in his future endeavors.

Casey McGehee also continues to make a solid case for making the team. View From Bernie's Chalet is going to be pretty upset if he doesn't make the roster.

Baseball Intellect has posted 6-15 in their rankings of Brewer prospects: Follow the link for scouting reports on Jonathan Lucroy, Lorenzo Cain, Jake Odorizzi, Taylor Green, Cutter Dykstra, Cody Scarpetta, Caleb Gindl, Cole Gillespie and Zach Braddock, and an invitation to follow another link for a scouting report on Efrain Nieves.

Crawfish Boxes finished up their position-by-position look at the NL Central this weekend, ranking Corey Hart fourth among right fielders and Jason Kendall dead last among catchers.

Would their projection have changed if they knew Mike Rivera is going to get more starts in 2009? Ken Macha is planning to pair Rivera with Dave Bush to get Jason Kendall more frequent rest.

Elsewhere among predictions/projections/rankings:

FeinSports.com projects the Brewers for 79 wins and a third place finish.
Baseball Digest Daily doesn't have a prediction in their Brewer 2009 preview, but they do have some cool graphs and charts.
BareKnucks.com thinks the Brewers will win 72 games and finish fourth.
Not Today You Ain't picked the Brewers to finish fourth as well.

Do you like jokes involving Rickie Weeks? If so, you may enjoy his "interview" with Chatterbalks.

In other camps:

Dodgers: Released Shawn Estes.
Giants: Noah Lowry received a cortisone shot and will be unable to throw a baseball until April.
Mets: Released Tom Martin.
Nationals: Signed Josh Bard to a minor league deal.
Padres: Mark Worrell needs Tommy John surgery and will miss the 2009 season. He was acquired from the Cardinals for Khalil Greene.
Rangers: Signed Jimmy Gobble to a minor league deal.
Twins: Joe Mauer still has pain and inflammation in his back and is unlikely to be ready for Opening Day.
White Sox: Signed Gavin Floyd to a four year deal worth $15.5 million.

The Astros spring training has been pretty bad, but for one day the Tigers had it worse: they were no-hit by the Marlins yesterday with Ricky Nolasco and two relievers combining to accomplish the feat.

On Friday I mentioned the new Dodgers policy of putting a contribution to Dodger charities into all contracts. The MLBPA has filed a grievance that will likely end that practice in a hurry.

The Cubs sale is still on hold and will almost certainly not be done by Opening Day. Between the Green Pillars took a look at its implications for the Brewers.

Like one in four Americans, I'm left handed, so as a writer I'm encouraged by the fact that all the Reds beat writers are also lefties.

Think you know your stats? Got seven minutes to prove it? Take this quiz and see how many franchise win leaders you can name. I got 12, which is pretty good in the "taken before 7 am" division.

At the very least, those seven minutes will be a better investment than the $70,000 Torii Hunter invested in furniture rafts.

Baseball Reference is working on a new site design. As someone who uses the site countless times daily, I was concerned, but they've opened up the beta page and it looks pretty good. Here's Jeff Cirillo's page, if you're curious.

Over the weekend, BCB made a roster move of its own. Josh Kalk, aka Dixieflatline, is leaving the site to take a job with an AL team. Josh is a phenomenal talent and will be a tremendous asset to his new employers, but to the internet baseball community he's more than that.

There's a stereotype out there about bloggers and internet-based writers. There are people who label us as glorified loudmouths with too much time on their hands and a "home office" in mom's basement. As a medium, we owe a debt of gratitude to people like Josh, Jeff Sackmann, David Pinto, Tom Tango and a variety of others that have shown that, at times, the best baseball analysis being done today is happening here on the internet, and the work that we're producing here should not be universally ignored by teams and the media.

At any rate, congratulations and thank you to Josh for all he's done and continues to do.

Oh, and Peter Angelos may not be the best savior for horse racing.

Drink up.

Shark Attacked: Samardzija Hit Hard, Cubs Lose To Brewers 9-6

Al — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 23:14:14 -0000

Back to the drawing board, Lou?

This shark might have pitched better
than Jeff Samardzija today

photo via pouletnoir.files.wordpress.com

Yesterday Lou said that Jeff Samardzija might have a shot at making the bullpen as one of the middle-inning guys. But after he gave up five hits (all for extra bases, including a three-run homer to Bill Hall) and five runs in the Cubs' 9-6 loss to the Brewers, maybe Lou should reconsider and just send him back to Iowa to start every fifth day.

That's probably too harsh a judgment -- any pitcher can have a bad outing. But it looked like Jeff just wasn't ready to pitch today. It was a bad day all around for Cub pitchers named Jeff -- Jeff Stevens, who is almost certainly tagged for Iowa, also got hit hard; his one inning resulted in three Brewer runs, capped by a homer by Corey Hart. And to be fair to the Shark, had Milton Bradley been able to play today (seriously: how often are we going to have to say that this year? That's what I was worried about), maybe some of those extra-base hits would have been caught instead of having Micah Hoffpauir wave at them as they flew by.

I think it's been proven. Micah Hoffpauir is not an outfielder, no matter how many times Lou tries to slam that square peg into the round hole. He'd be better served by being dealt to the AL where he could DH.

Are you getting spring training game fatigue? I love baseball, but let's play some games that mean something already! Maybe I'll feel differently a week from now when I'm actually at these games and the lineups more resemble the one that will take the field on April 6 at Houston. Two of those players had decent days today: Alfonso Soriano had two hits and Aramis Ramirez hit his second homer of the spring. The Cubs didn't get much offense going until the eighth inning, by which time they were hitting off Sam Narron, who has spent six years in the minors, only one of them (combined; two half-seasons) above Double-A.

Narron's from an interesting baseball family; his father, a man charmingly nicknamed "Rooster" Narron, played several years in the Mets' minor leagues in the 1960's and 1970's. You've certainly heard of his cousin Jerry Narron, a backup catcher for several years who was also a manager for the Rangers and Reds. Jerry's brother John is the guy who got Josh Hamilton to the Reds by agreeing to look after him. And, Sam the Brewer minor leaguer is named after his grandfather, who also played in the major leagues in the 1940's and then coached for the Pirates.

Anyway, several Cubs who won't make the major league roster cuffed not-so-young Sam Narron (he'll be 28 in July) around pretty good, capped by a three-run homer by Welington Castillo, which only served to make the score look respectable. And I just spent a fair amount of this post discussing a Brewers minor leaguer. Do we need real baseball or what?

Tomorrow, Carlos Zambrano will go against the Dodgers at Camelback Ranch. I looked through the Dodgers website to see who was going for them, and I can't figure it out. LA's pitching staff is in disarray, even now. Hiroki Kuroda pitched today in one of their split-squad contests, and Jason Schmidt started the other one, but Joe Torre says Schmidt won't make their rotation. (Incidentally, how glad are you that the Cubs didn't sign him?) That article says that Shawn Estes, of all people, is still in the running, and yesterday Jeff Weaver (bottom-scraping, are we?), Eric Milton (below-bottom-scraping, are we?) and Hong-Chih Kuo all got hit hard by the Rockies. The only ones left are Clayton Kershaw, Chad Billingsley or Randy Wolf, so I'm guessing tomorrow's starter will be one of those guys.

Cripes. I think I have to clean off my keyboard after typing all those names. No audio or video tomorrow, it'll be a Gameday afternoon.

Handicapping the next set of cuts

KLSnow — Sat, 14 Mar 2009 13:00:11 -0000

The Brewers are likely close to the point where they need to trim down camp a bit. With starting pitchers getting stretched out and regular position players getting more time, there's just not as many innings and at bats to go around as there used to be, meaning a few of the less-likely candidates to open the season on the roster will probably be making the journey over to minor league camp in the next few days. Here are my odds for the candidates:

Chris Narveson - 1:1

Narveson has made three appearances in camp, but was lit up in his last one, giving up five runs (four earned) in two innings, including two home runs. All told, Narveson's upside just isn't that high and he's likely ticketed for a spot near the bottom of the rotation in Nashville.

Sam Narron - 3:2

Narron has yet to allow a run in camp, scoreless over five innings. But he's walked four and given up five hits in those five innings, while striking out just two. Narron is roughly the fifth best left-handed reliever in camp, behind Stetter, Swindle, Chase Wright and Lindsay Gulin.

Lindsay Gulin - 2:1

Gulin gets a slight advantage over Narveson because he hasn't had a bad outing in camp, and over Narron for having a much better K/BB ratio (8:2). Gulin has pitched in three games (five innings), and has allowed just one run on three hits. Gulin is 32 and has pitched 11 minor league seasons. Last year he pitched well in Nashville, and the Brewers may want to send him down so he can start getting stretched out.

Omar Aguilar- 4:1

Possibly the organization's top relief prospect, Aguilar could be a victim of the numbers game in camp, with no less than 17 other pitchers (not counting the three listed above) needing innings. Aguilar has allowed three runs (two earned) on five hits and two walks while striking out five this spring.

Carlos Corporan 8:1

At present, he's one of the few healthy catchers in camp, but with Vinny Rottino back from the WBC and Angel Salome and Mike Rivera getting ready to come back from injuries, by this time next week the Brewers will be back to having five healthy catchers plus Corporan, who is not considered a prospect and has virtually no chance of making the team.

Trot Nixon 10:1

Not that long ago, the Brewers had a shortage of outfielders. Now, when Ryan Braun returns from the WBC and Tony Gwynn makes his debut, the Brewers will have Braun, Cameron, Hart, Chris Duffy and Brad Nelson, all of whom would appear to be ahead of Nixon in the race to make the team, plus Tony Gwynn and Lorenzo Cain, who both could use some extra time for evaluation purposes.

Tuesday's Frosty Mug

KLSnow — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 15:07:18 -0000

Some things to read while lining up in a scrimmage kick formation.

The Brewers had a short day in camp yesterday to get the players some rest before an intrasquad game today and the official Cactus League opener tomorrow. As noted in this FanShot, Braden Looper, Mark DiFelice, Sam Narron, Omar Aguilar, Chase Wright, Tim Dillard, Chris Narveson and R.J. Swindle are scheduled to pitch in the intrasquad game today, which is expected to go around five innings.

Now here's an intrasquad game I could get excited for: Sully Baseball compares the All-Time Home Grown and Acquired teams for the Brewers, and picks the Home Grown team, led by Robin Yount and Paul Molitor, to win the series.

Meanwhile, Jeff Suppan will start on Wednesday as part of a spring rotation that will go Suppan-Gallardo-Parra-Looper-Bush. This may or may not be the regular season alignment, and of course injuries could change it dramatically. If this is the rotation, though, Miller Park Drunk says the Brewers might as well forfeit Opening Day's Jeff Suppan-Tim Lincecum matchup.

Macha also let us in on his strategy regarding bullpen usage. He plans to remove pitchers while they're ahead, and let them try to battle their way back in from behind. There are worse philosophies, I suppose.

I would guess the tough part about being a spring training reporter is that you have to write everyday, even on days when nothing's going on. With that said, Adam McCalvy has a profile of Omar Aguilar, who he says has been impressive in camp. Aguilar worked out this offseason with Brian Fuentes, and reportedly told Fuentes not to come to Milwaukee, so Aguilar wouldn't have to steal his job.

Among more likely candidates for closer in 2009, Carlos Villanueva is one of FakeTeams' NL Sleepers for Saves.

Finally, speaking of closers: Trevor Hoffman took out a full page ad in the San Diego Union-Tribune to thank Padres fans for their support.

Elsewhere in camp, Cory Provus arrived yesterday to begin a crash-course on the team before his first broadcast Wednesday. The game will be broadcast on WTMJ and Brewers.com.

While Provus will be ready to go Wednesday, Bill Hall, Mat Gamel and Tony Gwynn will not. Gamel and Gwynn are still hampered by shoulder impingements, and of course Hall is still rehabbing his partially torn calf.

Corey Hart is the latest Brewer profiled in the JS spring training preview. Hart blames fatigue for his dramatic September collapse. That's fine, and I hope that really did motivate Hart to come to camp in great shape this season. With that said, the words "patience" and "discipline" don't show up a single time in the profile, which leads me to believe Corey still may not get it.

Is J.J. Hardy one of baseball's most underrated players? You could make a case for it. Beyond the Box Score has a graph comparing Hardy's value to that of 2008 AL MVP candidate Carlos Quentin. (h/t FanShots)

Down on the farm, Right Field Bleachers has an interview with 2008 draft pick Blake Billings, who is hoping to pitch for Wisconsin this season at just 19 years old. (also noted in FanPost)

Elsewhere on the farm, here are some of the former Brewers noted in Baseball America's Minor League Transactions:

Tony Graffanino signed a minor league deal with the Indians.
Scott Podsednik and Glendon Rusch both re-signed with the Rockies.
Ben Hendrickson signed with the Twins.

Some notes from other camps:

Cardinals: Todd Wellemeyer will not miss any spring training time despite being clipped by a crab on his throwing hand.
Nationals: Released Odalis Perez, who had not reported to spring training.
Orioles: Felix Pie is having visa issues and is still not in camp. He may get to Miami today.
Pirates: Signed Ruben Gotay to a minor league deal.

Over the last few months we've had a lot of new visitors to the site, and if you're one of them, welcome. If you're wanting to get involved and wondering how to use some of the tools we have here at BCB, click over to South Side Sox for more info. I've also added that link to the reference box in the sidebar on your left.

Oh, and if you're here, odds are you like Wisconsin sports, so you may be interested in Bucky's 5th Quarter, SBNation's new Badgers blog. I've added them to my reading list.

Finally, if you see Tim Kurkijian on TV today, odds are he's not wearing pants.

Drink up.

Twenty-two guys, four spots - Who's on your roster?

KLSnow — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 21:00:09 -0000

So, with Braden Looper in the fold, we know most, if not all of the following:

Barring a trade, Jason Kendall, Prince Fielder, Rickie Weeks, J.J. Hardy, Bill Hall, Ryan Braun, Mike Cameron and Corey Hart will all be on the opening day roster, likely in starting roles.
Ditto for Yovani Gallardo, Manny Parra, Dave Bush, Braden Looper and Jeff Suppan.
In the bullpen, Trevor Hoffman, Seth McClung, Carlos Villanueva and David Riske are virtually guaranteed spots. One more will almost certainly belong to a lefty, either Mitch Stetter or R.J. Swindle.
Craig Counsell, Mike Lamb and Mike Rivera are all back and very likely to be on the opening day roster in bench roles.

Given all of those assumptions, 21 of the 25 opening day roster spots are already decided. So what's left?

In the bullpen, two or three spots remain for all of the following players:

Todd Coffey. He still hasn't allowed a run as a Brewer and signed a major league contract to avoid arbitration. He's out of options.
Jorge Julio. Signed to a major league contract, making just under $1 million plus incentives.
Either Mitch Stetter or R.J. Swindle - whichever doesn't win the LOOGY job listed above. Throwing left-handed increases both pitchers' value, but Stetter posted a 3.20 ERA as a Brewer last season and Swindle posted a 1.98 ERA in AAA last season, so both guys already have some value.
Eduardo Morlan. Rule 5 pick has to be offered back to the Rays if he doesn't make the roster.
Mark DiFelice. 1.50 ERA in his last 14 outings as a Brewer (18 innings). Could be sent back to Nashville to work as a starter, but the Nashville rotation may already be full with Narveson, Gulin, Narron, Wright, and eventually Capuano.
Tim Dillard. Likely to be returned to AAA just because he has options remaining.
Joe Bateman, Luis Pena, Ramiro Mendoza, Omar Aguilar, Chris Narveson, Lindsay Gulin, Sam Narron and Chase Wright. Thanks for coming, guys. The eight of you and two or three of the guys above will likely pitch most of the innings for a nice staff in Nashville.

The Brewers could opt to go with a 13 man pitching staff and keep three of those guys, but then they'd have just one bench spot left. Instead, they'll likely keep 12 pitchers and pick two position players from the following list:

Tony Gwynn, Jr. Out of options, Gwynn either has to make the opening day roster or be exposed to waivers. However, he'll have to prove he's better than his .248/.300/.298 career MLB line and .243/.286/.286 major league equivalent from 2008, or he won't have much value. Also, his defense doesn't project well enough to help his chances: CHONE has him 11 runs below average in center.
Chris Duffy. Likely Gwynn's primary competition for the backup center field spot, Duffy's offensive numbers aren't earth-shattering (.269/.328/.361 in his major league career), but he's a plus defender (UZR/150 has him 6.2 runs above average in center).
Jason Bourgeois. Will likely have to win a spot as an outfielder, with Counsell and Lamb both occupying backup infield spots. Bourgeois hit .342/.404/.429 in Mexico this winter, but FanGraphs' 3 projections all have his 2009 OBP under .343.
Hernan Iribarren. Likely hurt by playing the exact same set of defensive positions as Bourgeois. Hernan also had a nice winter, hitting .306/.388/.451 in Venezuela and detonating two indisputables. Projections are similar, if not a little worse, than Bourgeois'. Likely a long shot to make the roster in the first place, he's hurt even more by having an identical player in camp with him.
Trot Nixon. If the Brewers go with 13 pitchers, Nixon and all the others below this point are already eliminated, as the last bench spot would have to go to someone who can play center. As a story, Nixon is very similar to Gabe Kapler at this point last year, but Kapler was three years younger.
Brad Nelson. He'll have to prove he can play a corner outfield spot to have much value, as Mike Lamb and Craig Counsell already have the infield covered. Likely has a higher long-term upside than Nixon if he's not a defensive liability, which he very well may be.
Casey McGehee. The Brewers insist they're eager to see what he can do, but unless he unseats Mike Lamb to platoon with Bill Hall, it's hard to imagine him making the roster. He has caught a little in the minors (including 17 games in 2008), so he could provide some value as a third catcher, but has never played the outfield, so if Lamb and Counsell are in, he's likely out.
Mat Gamel, Alcides Escobar and Angel Salome. Unless the opportunity for one of them to play full time arises, all three are likely ticketed for Nashville, where they can continue to develop their skills.
Scott Thorman, Vinny Rottino and all of the extra catchers invited to camp. Again, thanks for coming, guys. Enjoy the improved post-game food while you can.

So, assuming everyone stays healthy, four of the 22 players listed above can make the opening day roster. Who do you want, and why? Also, if you were building this roster, would you keep 12 pitchers or 13? Discuss.

The Brewer Advent Calendar #2: The Nashville Sounds

KLSnow — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 18:00:11 -0000

You still have until noon tomorrow to register to win one of ten WhatIfSports Gift Certificates, but it's time to open another door. Today we find...the Nashville Sounds!

via www.baseballpilgrimages.com

The picture above is the scoreboard at Greer Stadium in Nashville, home to players that are just one step away from making it to the big leagues. The Sounds have been the Brewers' AAA affiliate since 2005.

As I write this, I have a ball autographed by 20 members of the 2008 Nashville Sounds. I need to give it away soon, because Gorman thinks it looks delicious. As is the case with any group of ballplayer autographs, I wasn't able to identify them all, but I'm pretty sure all of the following players are on it:

Tony Gwynn Jr
Vinny Rottino
Joe Dillon
Hernan Iribarren
Tim Dillard
Ozzie Chavez
Sam Narron
Erasmo Ramirez
J.R. Hopf
Luis Pena

And there are nine others for you to attempt to decipher for yourself. The rules are the same as yesterday: You have 48 hours to comment on this post to be entered into the drawing to win it, and I'll contact the winner by email. Thanks again to the Nashville Sounds for making this possible. Good luck!

Monday's Frosty Mug

KLSnow — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 14:34:34 -0000

Good morning and welcome to year two of the Frosty Mug. Thanks to everyone for all the comments on Saturday's Mugiversary post. It's always good to feel loved.

The Brewers added a little more depth to the rotation over the weekend, signing Matt Ginter to a minor league deal. Ginter started four games for the Indians in 2008 after the Sabathia trade, and posted an ERA over 5. He's almost certainly ticketed for AAA, and didn't even receive an invitation to spring training.

If you're looking to learn more about the backup plans for the rotation, Tom H. has quick profiles of Mark DiFelice, Ginter, Sam Narron, Lindsay Gulin, Chris Narveson and Chase Wright. Assuming none of them make the roster, the Brewers could have four lefty starters (Narron, Gulin, Narveson and Wright) in Nashville to open the season.

As part of the JS Spring Training preview, Tom H. has ten questions for the Brewers to answer this spring. There's nothing groundbreaking there, but it's a nice recap.

Jonathan Mayo of MiLB.com has scouting reports up for players 6-10 in MiLB.com's top 50 prospect rankings. #8 is Alcides Escobar.

Rich Lederer of Baseball Analysts has a cool graph up classifying starting pitchers by K and ground ball rates. Both Dave Bush and Jeff Suppan are on the wrong side of the graph, but he does mention Manny Parra as someone who could have a breakout season in 2009.

The hot stove didn't even get warm for some players this winter: As noted in this FanShot, Ray Durham has not received a single offer this offseason and is considering retirement. My guess is a spring training injury will leave someone an opening at second base, and his phone will ring.

Maybe Durham should hold a public workout, those seem to draw interest: The Brewers are reportedly one of eleven teams that may attend Chad Cordero's workout on February 19.

Elsewhere on the hot stove:

Braves: Have offered Tom Glavine a contract worth $1-2 million for 2009. Glavine made $9 million in 2008.
D-Backs: Signed Tom Gordon to a one year deal worth $500,000.
Dodgers: Signed Randy Wolf to a one year deal worth $5 million, which is $1 million less than the Brewers will pay Trevor Hoffman.
Giants: Have a minor league offer on the table for Rich Aurilia.
Phillies: Signed Ryan Howard to a three year deal worth $54 million. They've also reportedly offered minor league deals to Joe Borowski and Rudy Seanez.
Rangers: Signed Andruw Jones to a minor league deal, meaning Jon Heyman was right when he mentioned it last week. They also signed Brendan Donnelly to a minor league deal.
Rays: Signed reliever Winston Abreu to a minor league deal.
Twins: Signed Luis Ayala to a one year deal for $1.3 million.

The first arbitration hearing has been held, with Shawn Hill of the Nationals winning his case. He'll make $775,000 in 2009. The Nationals offered $500,000. The $275,000 difference was the second smallest figure among the 19 remaining arbitration cases.

How many players would you guess played major and minor league baseball in 2008? The correct answer is 8833, significantly more than I would have guessed. Tangotiger has a csv file of all of them, if you want it.

Last week we discussed the financial value of Bug Selig, who made over $18 million between October of 2006 and 2007. Scott Van Pelt of ESPN took that debate to the next level, making personal remarks about Selig that have led to his suspension from his ESPN Radio show.

Oh, and I missed Friday's 30th birthday of Big League Chew.

Drink up.