SB Nation - R.J. Swindle

A Brief Primer on the Rays Off-Season to Date and a Look Forward to the Winter Meetings

R.J. Anderson — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 18:54:22 -0000

The Winter Meetings start tomorrow. Any murmur or misunderstood comment will be amplified and some press members will be used as pawns. Disinformation is going to spread like wildfire. This makes the event more alluring as a spectator sport, but keep in mind 90% of what is talked about will never come to fruition. Now, completely ignoring that, this is the day one open thread. Ideally most of the rumors and discussion will stick to this thread until a recap thread is posted (expect that in the evening) barring something actually occurring or a rumor passing the smell test with flying colors.

This thread is going up about 20 hours early because tomorrow we'll have a very special interview with James Click -- the Rays chief of quantitative analysis and former Baseball Prospectus deity - which should provide entertainment for those willing to accept anything less than rumors in the early AM.

Moving on, let's review the Rays off-season to date in a brief and concise manner which means links.

Transactions

Rays re-sign Gabe Kapler

Akinori Iwamura for Jesse Chavez

Player to be named later for Kelly Shoppach

R.J. Swindle signs minor league deal

Joe Bateman signs minor league deal

Gregg Zaun signs with Milwaukee

Ramon Ramirez is claimed on waivers...

And then released

Milton Bradley

The Burrell-Bradley swap

The clubhouse cancer theory

Rumors and general interest posts

Rays interested in Ivan Rodriguez?

Pirates make Reid Brignac main target?

Why Billy Wagner made no sense for the Rays

Three rules about acquiring relievers

The Rays and the win curve

Kiko Calero

Brendan Donnelly

Kelvim Escobar

Joaquin Benoit

Carl Crawford extension talk

Interviews with Rays personnel

Andrew Friedman

Matt Arnold

Chaim Bloom

Remember that you can also follow the latest Rays rumors, news, and tidbits on Twitter by adding @draysbay, @trancel, @ehahmann, or @freezorilla.

One more note: please, please, post the source of the rumor. And generally speaking, the MLBTR comments section or a random message board post won't pass the smell test.

Monday's Frosty Mug

KLSnow — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 15:28:20 -0000

by Tony Gutierrez - AP

John Lackey is not a future Brewer.

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Some things to read while cleaning your spit valve.

The Rookie of the Year awards will be announced in a few hours, but Casey McGehee isn't sitting by his phone waiting for a call. He seems to understand that he's a long shot at best for the award. He finished eighth in the SBN balloting for the award.

I keep expecting to hear an announcement, but instead we have more reports that their might be an announcement someday: Doug Melvin has been in contact with Gregg Clifton, who represents Mark Mulder, about signing a deal to attempt to resurrect his career. The Brewers still seem like the most likely candidate to sign him, but it's not done yet.

Melvin has also been in touch with Tigers' GM Dave Dombrowski about the possibility of acquiring Edwin Jackson, but said the Tigers are "in charge of that one," and "they'll identify which clubs are matches and they'll call them." Clearly, Melvin is hard at work on this one.

Over the weekend, I put together a hypothetical deal that would put Jackson and Curtis Granderson in Milwaukee and Casey McGehee and Carlos Gomez in Detroit. Roughly 31% of voters think I'm an idiot for suggesting it, but by virtue of making an offer I might be one step ahead of the front office. By the way, at least one AL Exec doesn't think the Tigers are looking to move Granderson. Evan Brunell of The Hardball Times suggested a Gamel-for-Jackson swap, but said the Tigers would need to add more to their side.

Elsewhere on the hot stove:

Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic thinks the Brewers will end up with Rich Harden. (h/t Baseball Musings) Rumors about Harden seem to be coming from everywhere but the front office.
MLB Daily Dish thinks the Brewers will sign Doug Davis, and Mike Cameron will sign with the Cubs.
Walkoff Walk wants to know why Cameron isn't drawing more attention from pundits this offseason.
The Brewers may have competition for Jarrod Washburn: Aaron Gleeman notes that the Twins have expressed interest.
Still think the Brewers will make a run at John Lackey this offseason? Then here's some disheartening news: Lackey turned down $72 million from the Angels, which is almost certainly more than the Brewers would consider (or should consider) offering him.

In the wake of the recent decision to decline Braden Looper's option for 2010, Rob Neyer painted a picture of the Brewers' situation that's mostly gloom and doom. Similarly, Fire Doug Melvin wonders if the Brewers have missed their window.

Meanwhile, Adam Thompson of the Sheboygan Press thinks the Brewers have already made themselves better this offseason. That's as good a reason as any to stop paying attention to Adam Thompson of the Sheboygan Press.

I'd like the Brewers to improve the team a little more before I even start thinking about it, but when you're ready to start looking ahead to 2010, CHONE projections are out.

How'd you spend your weekend? Doesn't matter. Ryan Braun one-upped you by spending his weekend at actress Jessica Lowndes' birthday party. Oh, and Seth McClung spent his promoting a charity basketball tournament.

Only one transaction to report today, but it might be significant to some:

Rays: Signed R.J. Swindle to a minor league deal.

In a somewhat surprising move, former Brewer Marquis Grissom is parting ways with the Nationals. 2009 was Grissom's first season as first base coach for the Nats. As of a few weeks ago, he was giving quotes about being excited about coming back, so I'm not sure what happened.

If you're looking to learn more about Sabermetrics today and have some time to kill, Intro to Sabermetrics 101 has a primer on Linear Weights.

Or, if you're looking to help refine a new stat, In-Between Hops is working on a replacement for the Quality Start. Not surprisingly, 51 pitchers ranked ahead of the first Brewer in his new stat in 2009.

No Brewer birthdays today, but happy belated birthday to 2009 Timber Rattler Efrain Nieves, who turned 20 yesterday.

A quick programming note: I'm out for at least the rest of the day today, as I'm headed back to the dentist to see if we can't figure out some complications related to having my wisdom teeth removed a week ago. Depending on what I find out today, I'd say I'm probably questionable for tomorrow: I'm still in enough pain today that it's difficult to focus. Let this be a lesson to you, young readers: If your wisdom teeth don't hurt, leave them alone. I've been significantly more miserable for the last week than I ever was before I had them removed.

Drink up.

Rays sign R.J. Swindle

Eli Greenspan — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 18:55:46 -0000

The Rays have signed pitcher R.J. Swindle to a minor league contract, our friends over at DRaysBay.com have learned.

Swindle doesn't have a hard fastball, but he mixes in some very effective off speed pitches that make batters very uncomfortable.

The 26-year old appeared in 6 games for the Brewers last season, but was very ineffective posting a double-digit ERA. However, Swindle posted a 1.03 in 31 games at Triple-A Nashville before he was claimed by the Indians in August. In 6 minor league seasons, he has a 2.21 ERA and a 1.05 WHIP.

The lefty could find a spot in the rotation if he can prove he get lefty hitters out next Spring Training.

Tampa Bay Rays Sign R.J. Swindle to a Minor League Deal with Spring Training Invite

R.J. Anderson — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 17:17:03 -0000

What was once lost is gained again. A source close to the situation has informed us that Swindle is indeed back in the organization on a minor league deal with an invitation to spring training.

As you can expect, his velocity will not scare many batters. His average fastball sits in the low-80s and tops out below 85. He throws a smorgasbord of complementary pitches though, some that even confuse the pitchx classification algorithm into calling them "unknowns". This is probably because pitchfx isn't used to seeing pitches below 60 miles per hour, but Swindle threw a few as low as 52 miles per hour. Yeah, he's not lighting up guns, he's just dulling the batters to sleep by throwing ridiculously slow curveballs (at least, that's what they resemble).

In a small sample size of a little under 170 pitches last season Swindle saw a fair number of whiffs on his change-up (38 throws, 3 whiffs), four-seam fastballs (39 thrown, 3 whiffs), and sliders (23 thrown, 2 whiffs) and for his Majors career has a league average contact rate around 80%. In the minors Swindle has consistently recorded doubled digit whiff rates, including an impressive 11.8% in 2008 and 11.1% last year in Nashville.

His real name is Robert, and his career minor league splits include a 42% groundball rate against lefties, 13.8 strikeouts per nine, 2.09 walks per nine, and zero home runs allowed against 255 batters. He hasn't been too shabby against righties either, but for now at least, Swindle should be entrenched in a LOOGY battle with Randy Choate (and whomever else) come spring training.

Here's some more pitchfx data fun with Swindle's 2009:

Pitch	Slowest
CH	69.5
FA	81.3
FC	55.2
FF	80.7
FT	80.7
SL	69.2
UN	52.3

Note that most pitchers seem to throw intentional balls around 60 miles per hour, and that Swindle is throwing regular pitches at a slower rate and seeing success. On the flip side:

Pitch	Fastest
CH	80.9
FA	83.9
FC	78.2
FF	83.4
FT	82.1
SL	82.5
UN	54.8

His whiffs by velocity (Justin Morneau is the "slow ball" whiffer by the way):

52.9	1
70	1
70.1	2
71.1	1
71.2	1
72.6	1
72.7	1
73.2	1
73.6	1
81.5	1
82.1	1
82.8	1

I can't think of many pitchers with a 30 MPH spread in pitches whiffed at.

All of his pitches movement:

And his release points (hint: he's a sidearmer):

Tampa Bay Rays Face Several Decisions On Player Options; Carl Crawford, Gregg Zaun

Tommy Rancel — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 13:38:01 -0000

More photos » by Elaine Thompson - AP

Tampa Bay Rays will just say "yes" when it comes to Carl Crawford's $10 million dollar option for 2010.

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One of the first orders of business to take care of during the hot stove league is squaring away options. So far 11 options have been accepted or declined since the end of the World Series with several more looming. Around these parts the Tampa Bay Rays have three options of their own to take care of.

Two of the three options seem like slam dunks. One is an obvious pick-up and one is a simple decline. The third option, however, is 50/50 and will probably determine the course of who is our catcher next season.

The Rays hold a $1.9 million dollar option (plus performance bonuses) on left handed specialist, Brian Shouse. Overall, his 5.17 FIP was far from impressive and his -0.1 WAR made him a negative value. However, it wasn't his fault that manager, Joe Maddon, had him face nearly as many righties (52 PA) as lefties (70 PA). Shouse did the job expected of him in 2009, and held left handed batters to a line of .224/.246/.373. Righties continued to crush him at a .356/.442/.622 clip. Nonetheless, Shouse just didn't pitch enough to justify picking up his nearly $2 million dollar option A left elbow strain sidelined him for 63 days, and while he made 45 appearances, he threw just 28 innings. With that being said, the $200k buyout is the likely course of action in this case.

The Rays are more likely to go with fellow side-winding lefty, Randy Choate, who was nearly as effective and will cost probably half of what Shouse will. There is always the possibility of signing former Ray (for 24 hours) and sabermetric wunderkind, R.J. Swindle on a minor league deal. The Rays could also go without a traditional lefty and turn to reverse split righties like Lance Cormier and newly acquired Jesse Chavez to serve as LOOGY's.

The next option is just as simple; the Rays will exercise the $10 million dollar option on left fielder and franchise player, Carl Crawford. This is a no-brainer and regardless of what CC's future holds, he will remain Rays' property for the time being. According to fangraphs, Crawford has made $13.1 million dollars in his career with the Rays. The nice $10 million raise is well overdue considering the fact that he as given the team $104.7 million dollars worth of production during his career.

CC is easily worth the $10 million dollar tag, but with some scouts saying Desmond Jennings could give you the same production right now for the league minimum, it doesn't look likely CC will finish his career with the Rays. Despite that fact, stranger things have happened, and both sides have expressed interest in a long term deal. Either way, the Crawford decision will be the biggest and most emotional decision in the franchise's history.

The final option because to leader of the Zaunbie nation, Gregg Zaun. Hailed as the veteran savior to our catching woes, Zaun didn't disappoint in the final two months of the season. Brining his veteran savvy and his reputed ball blocking ability, Zaun also swung a mighty stick in his near 100 plate apperances with the Rays. Small sample size rules apply, but Zaun hit .287/.323/.489 for the Rays. That earned him a 0.7 WAR or $3.2 million dollars in value. This means he has essentially covered his potential 2010 $2 million dollar option in production.

He is hardly the answer at catcher alone, and ZiPs has him projected for a .237/.335/.367 line in 2010. More likely, Zaun would be the left handed batter in a catcher platoon; picking up most of the at-bats against right handed batters. The problem with that is the Rays have a very similar situation with their other catcher Dioner Navarro. Navi is arb2 eligible and will make something in the neighborhood of ~$2 million dollars next season. I doubt the Rays will tie nearly $4 million dollars in two platoon players. There is also the question of Zaun playing 100-120 games behind the plate at 39. I could see the case for both sides of this option and honestly have no inclination of which way it will go. However, once the option is picked up or declined, we will have an answer to which way the Rays are intending to go.

A Guide To Some Relevant Minor League Free Agents

Sam Page — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 15:00:27 -0000

More photos » by Jim Mone - AP

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In 2009, the Mets were bereft of minor league depth. It was painfully obvious looking at Buffalo's performance and it became a major issue when injuries struck. Despite what some claim, however, developing prospects is not the only way to build good farm systems. Often those fringe players that never quite breakthrough to the show are the most integral parts of a successful minor league team. So going off this list, here's some MiFA of interest:

RHP Phil Humber: I actually think Humber is a pretty bad pitcher, but need to mention him before everyone gets nostalgic. Humber was, of course, the former Mets top prospect out of Rice that was supposed to join Mike Pelfrey at the top of the Mets rotation eventually--that was, before he had Tommy John Surgery. Somehow included in the Johan Santana deal, Humber pitched really poorly for the Twins in AAA. The only real reason to bring him back would be a show of goodwill and sympathy from the Mets. Don't hold out hope for that lost potential.

IF/OF Wilson Betemit: The top-prospect-turned-super-sub Betemit probably has his best days behind him, even at age 28. He comes from the Mark DeRosa mold in that he has experience at virtually every position, but is good at none of them. And while he hasn't hit very well of late, his interesting blend of power and plate discipline and major-league track record could make him worth a flier at AAA. Personally, I might opt for better infield defense behind the Mets young developing pitchers, but few others on that list can claim being an average major league hitter over their career.

RHP Bryan Bullington: One of many infamous first round busts in the Pirate's recent draft history, this first-overall pick has some upside as a reliever. In 38 relief innings for Las Vegas last season, Bullington had a 43:7 K:BB ratio in 38.1 innings pitched. He also can be as a serviceable AAA starter, but any chance of him making the bigs is as a part of the bullpen. A good guy to have around.

LHP Brian Burres: A long-time Baltimore farm hand, Burres has the stuff to be a mid-rotation AAA guy and a #7 or 8 on an organizational depth chart. Sub-par control and a horrible 2008 with the Orioles will likely prevent him from ever earning another extended stay in the majors.

RHP R.A. Dickey:

Pros:

Went to my high school
throws the knuckleball
the only article I ever wrote for my high school newspaper was about him

Cons:

not as good as Tim Wakefield

Dickey is the rare pitcher who is seemingly improving with age. He started using the knuckleball full-time in 2007, a season in which he was the Pacific Coast League MVP. Last year he had modest success as a reliever with the Twins. Knuckleball pitchers are great because they can pitch a million innings without getting tired and because they throw the knuckleball.

3B/OF Joe Dillon: At age 33, Joe's showing some signs of decline, but with the way he's been jerked around between the majors and minors recently, I wonder whether it's genuine slowing down or just not getting settled in one place. He is one of those AAAA sluggers that makes minor league baseball fun to watch--three times in his minor league career he's had a 1000+ OPS. He's a pretty decent fielding thirdbaseman to boot. This year he was the "last man" on the Rays bench, and he could easily reprise that role with the Mets, or be big boost to the Bisons.

RHP Geoff Geary: Geary is a control-specialist reliever who has had some major league PT recently with the Astros and Phillies. He's not someone I want in the Mets bullpen, but Buffalo could use him.

OF Mitch Jones: .354, .320. Those two numbers are Mitch Jones' Isolated Power in the past two seasons. Sure, he played in a friendly home ballpark in Albuquerque, but a .651 SLG% travels. You could make an argument that Jones is better suited for a starting job on the Mets than Daniel Murphy or Jeff Francoeur.

LHP Royce Ring: Ya'll know Royce. Lefty with the funky motion. I'd take him back on a minor league deal, considering the state of the Mets' bullpen.

LHP Jon Switzer: He pitched pretty well for Buffalo out of the bullpen this year (3.85 tRA). He would be a solid re-sign.

1B Chris Shelton: Like a right-handed Chris Carter, Chris Shelton is another AAAA slugger the Bison's stagnant offense could certainly use. Last year with Tacoma, he OPSed .905 at age 29. With Chris Carter already here, however, he may be "blocked." And as you've probably suspected, I'd gladly platoon him with Murphy, Carter, or Ike Davis, if given the chance.

LHP R.J. Swindle: Of all the pitchers I've talked about so far, Swindle is easily the most desirable. He'll be just 26 next season and has fantastic minor league peripherals 9.0 K/9, 1.8 BB/9. He's got forgettable stuff: a low 80s fastball and curveball that is basically an eephus, but he's always put up great numbers and killed lefties. Chad Bradford II?

RHP Joe Nelson: The Rays signed Joe for $1MM after a fantastic '08 with the Marlins. He proved a bad investment with horrible command, but might be served well by a return to the NL East. The Mets were reportedly interested in him as a Major League piece last year, and at the very least would be a great AAA option.

C Guillermo Quiroz: A former top-50 prospect, Quiroz has evolved into a minor league catcher with a sterling defensive reputation, good pop, and poor on-base skills. Basically, he's Omir Santos. I am not even sure Omir Santos is even better than him. In fact, Omir Santos was the Orioles' AAA catcher when Quiroz was their Major League backup. That says more about how poor and ill-equipped for a starting gig Santos is, than how good Quiroz is. But if you're going to entrust Omir Santos with a roster spot, might as well keep his clone as a backup in AAA.

Tuesday's Frosty Mug

KLSnow — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 13:12:28 -0000

More photos » by Charles Rex Arbogast - AP

Prince Fielder, seen here checking under his jersey for another jersey, will likely be offered a long term contract by the Brewers this offseason, according to Jon Heyman.

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Some things to read while learning your costume's limitations.

Two more names have surfaced in the search for a new pitching coach: Former Arizona pitching coach Bryan Price and former Rays pitching coach Chuck Hernandez have both reportedly interviewed for the position this week (FanShot). Rick Peterson still appears to be the favorite, but Hernandez has worked with Macha before, and that fact seems to carry some weight for some reason.

It's widely accepted that Albert Pujols will win the NL MVP, but where will Prince Fielder finish? David Gassko of The Hardball Times has developed a system to predict the BBWAA's voting, and it predicts a third place finish for Fielder, behind Pujols and Ryan Howard. Meanwhile, Jon Heyman thinks the Brewers will attempt to sign Fielder to a long term deal this offseason.

USA Today has ranked the "shock wave" celebration following Fielder's walk-off home run on September 6 as one of their top ten highlights of the 2009 season. Certainly, it's a moment we'll remember for quite some time.

This is earlier than I normally do birthdays, but happy birthday to Trevor Hoffman, who turns 42 today. As Adam McCalvy notes, Hoffman will become the second oldest player in franchise history with his first appearance in 2010, and could pass Hank Aaron for first place by appearing in a game anytime after June.

Speaking of pitchers who should return next season, there's a new reason to join the Bring Back Seth McClung Facebook group. McClung has agreed to give an autographed ball to one randomly selected member of the group, to be chosen on Monday. Membership of the group more than doubled yesterday, but clearly we can do better. If you haven't joined yet, now is the time.

R.J. Anderson of FanGraphs has a look at Felipe Lopez, who is riding a career year into free agency for the second time. Anderson notes the differences between Lopez's 2005 and 2009 seasons.

We're just a few hours away from the start of the Arizona Fall League, as the Peoria Javelinas take on Ian Kennedy and the Surprise Rafters at 1:35 Central time today. Adam McCalvy has a preview of the AFL, complete with a link to this PDF of everything you ever wanted to know about the league, and this definition of a Javelina:

Here's something you won't find in that PDF: A javelina, according to the Arizona Game and Fish Department, is also known as a peccary, a medium-sized mammal that looks a bit like a pig. A terrifying, crazed pig.

Here are some other notes on the AFL:

As far as I know, none of the Brewer beat reporters will be in Arizona covering the AFL, but the Javelinas also feature prospects from the Seattle Mariners, and Geoff Baker of the Seattle Times will be in Arizona following them.
If Baker's coverage and ours aren't enough for you, you can also follow the AFL on Twitter.

Of course, the AFL isn't the only place where baseball is being played right now. The Nashville Sounds' website has a note on the 2009 Sounds playing winter ball in Venezuela. Hernan Iribarren's Cardenales de Lara defeated Adam Heether's Leones del Caracas last night, 7-1. Iribarren went 1-for-4 with a double and scored a run, while Heether went 0-for-3 with a walk.

Need a mental tune-up this morning? NoahJ wants to know how fast you can name the 39 players who appeared in a game for the Brewers this season. I did it with about four and a half minutes to spare, if you need a record to shoot for.

Oh, and if you haven't yet, you're running out of time to cast your ballot in Tangotiger's Fan Scouting Report. Even if you've already cast a ballot, you can stop by to rate some of the players that have recently been added, including Alcides Escobar.

If you've done both of those things and you're still looking for something to do, perhaps you should find a job? The Brewers are hiring an HR Coordinator.

Baseball America's Minor League Transactions include the first wave of players to become minor league free agents this offseason, and there's a bunch of former Brewers among them: Greg Aquino, R.J. Swindle, Glendon Rusch, R.A. Dickey and Joe Dillon. Also noted: The Brewers re-signed minor league free agents Jim Henderson (RP) and Patrick Arlis (C), but allowed Chris Duffy to become a free agent.

Elsewhere in the marketplace:

Intro to Sabermetrics 101 has a look at Carl Pavano, and why advanced metrics would imply he was better than his conventional numbers showed in 2009.
Jorge Says No! wonders if Jason Marquis' offseason asking price will go down now that he struggled down the stretch and had his start skipped in the NLDS last night.

Continuing their open search process, the Astros have released the names of the ten candidates for their vacant managerial position, and the list includes two former Brewer managers: Ned Yost, as expected, and Phil Garner, who would be entering his second tour of duty managing the team. Garner reportedly called to advocate for Bob Melvin, who coached under him in Milwaukee, but ended up as a candidate himself. The Astros, by the way, are not considering Willie Randolph.

It was a bittersweet moment at TBS headquarters last night, as the end of the final NLDS series meant they'll only get 13 of a possible 20 Division Series broadcasts, but that didn't keep them from celebrating the elimination of the last small market team. Of course, Hass Avocado is the true winner.

I wasn't exactly cheering on the Dodgers over the weekend, but when they won I was happy to see Mark Loretta playing a part in it. Loretta languished for years on some pretty terrible Brewer teams, so it's nice to see karma catching up with him.

I mentioned Trevor Hoffman's birthday above, but today birthday wishes also go out to Damian Miller, who turns 40.

Drink up.

Monday's Frosty Mug

KLSnow — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 14:58:15 -0000

More photos » by AARON J. LATHAM - AP

Mark DiFelice stretches his arm as he confers with catcher Mike Rivera in the fourth inning Sunday. DiFelice left the game with a strained shoulder. Hopefully we'll have an update on him soon.

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Some things to read while getting the perfect shot.

The Brewers finished off a sweep in Arizona with something that's been increasingly unlikely lately: a Sunday day game victory. The Brewers actually gained three games on the Cardinals this weekend, as they were swept in Atlanta while the Brewers were in Arizona. If that had happened a month ago, it'd be relevant.

The Brewers also recorded several milestones over the weekend: Ryan Braun picked up his 100th home run and Felipe Lopez collected his 1000th hit on Friday, and on Saturday Prince Fielder's solo home run tied Cecil Cooper's franchise record with 126 RBI. Several notes on Fielder today:

Keith Law doesn't like the Brewers' 2010 chances, and thinks they should trade Fielder this offseason and make an effort to rebuild.
Casa de Machado thinks Fielder will only hold the franchise RBI record until Ryan Braun hits 158 next year.
Since Fielder plays and bats fourth every day, he's singlehandedly responsible for the fact that the Brewers have received more production from the cleanup spot than any other team in baseball.

Casey McGehee also had a pretty good weekend. He reached base nine times over three days, and his 4-for-5, two home run performance Friday night tied a rookie franchise record with 6 RBI. I've been accused of loving McGehee since long before it was cool to do so, but I still hope he's building his trade value for the offseason, and not cementing himself at third base for the 2010 Brewers.

Trevor Hoffman said over the weekend that he's hoping to return to the Brewers next season, meaning he would likely record his 600th career save as a Brewer. Hoffman's been a pretty bright spot for the Crew this season and I'd welcome him back, as long as the Brewers don't have to go significantly over his $6 million 2009 salary.

Again, if you're trying to decide on a particular method for evaluating hitters, Jason Kendall is an excellent "smell test." Matthew Pouliot of Circling the Bases attempted to identify 2009's least valuable hitters, and Jason Kendall checked in at ninth.

In the minors:

The Brewer minor league season officially concluded yesterday, as the Huntsville Stars lost to Tennessee, and were eliminated 3-1 in the Southern League playoffs. The Stars went just 1-12 in their final 13 games.
The Brewers are going to spend some time this winter considering alternative methods of developing young pitchers. Gord Ash said the team is planning on holding a pitching symposium this winter with pitching coaches from all of the minor league affiliates to consider new ideas.
The Brevard County Manatees had the best season of any Brewer minor league affiliate, and they also swept the Brewer postseason awards, with Amaury Rivas and Logan Schafer winnning the Robin Yount Performance Awards given annually to the club's top minor leaguers (FanShot). The award is, of course, named after a player who ~~never played~~ appeared in just 64 games in the minors.
Brett Lawrie and the other Brewer minor leaguers playing for Team Canada in the Baseball World Cup suffered their first setback yesterday, as they were held to just one hit and shut out by team USA. Former Brewer R.J. Swindle is also a member of Team Canada, for whatever that's worth.
Prospects Paradise did a hypothetical 2009 draft, selecting as the Angels, and drafted two players who ended up getting drafted by the Brewers in the real draft: Del Howell (Brewers drafted in the 15th round) and Brandon Sizemore (drafted in the 30th round).

The Brewers held steady at #19 in Baseball Digest Daily's ASTRO Rankings.

Just one roster note around baseball today:

Mariners: Released reliever Stephen Kahn.

Sometimes a player comes along and puts everything in perspective. Take Miguel Olivo, for example. As Driveline Mechanics notes, he nearly never walks, swings and misses at 45% of pitches outside the zone, and as a batter, he's still much more valuable than Jason Kendall.

Here's another potential replacement to consider: Brian Schneider doesn't expect to return to the Mets next season.

I'm not sure which of these stories is stranger: A man arrested in Arizona for impersonating journeyman reliever Kiko Calero or Jeff Francoeur offering to trade his talent for a career as a country singer.

Here's an interesting note from the weekend: Will Carroll cited health as the best predictor of success, noting that seven teams will finish the season with at least six players with 500 plate appearances, and six of them are playoff bound. The Brewers narrowly miss the cut, with five players on pace and Craig Counsell and Corey Hart just below.

Meanwhile, the Yankees are on pace to become just the third team ever with seven players with 400+ PA and OPS+ over 120. The two previous teams to do it were the 1993 Tigers and 1978 Brewers. Both teams missed the playoffs.

Here's a cool idea I wish the Brewers would replicate: The Astros held a Fan Recipe Cook Off on Saturday, with the winner getting their recipe served at the ballpark next season. I'd love to compete in a contest like that. Or judge a contest like that.

On this day in 1975, the Brewers lost to the Red Sox 8-6, but the story of the day was Robin Yount, who went 1-for-5 while appearing in his 242nd game before his 20th birthday, setting a new major league record.

On this day in 1977, Ken McMullen, pinch hitting for Jim Gantner, homered in his final major league at bat as the Brewers beat the Mariners, 8-5. And in 1991, Cecil Fielder hit a home run out of County Stadium.

Happy birthday today to Joe Winkelsas, who appeared in seven games for the 2006 Brewers and turns 36.

That's all I've got today, unless you'd like to hear more about my new cell phone cover.

Drink up.

Thursday's Frosty Mug

KLSnow — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 14:58:38 -0000

More photos » by Jim Prisching - AP

Alcides Escobar talks with Willie Randolph during the first inning Wednesday.

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Some things to read while searching for a signature sign-off.

So, yesterday morning I skipped out early for an appointment, got back home, ate some breakfast, mowed the lawn, then sat down at my coffee table to check the comments on the Mug and discovered what might have been the biggest news day of the season, as the Brewers demoted J.J. Hardy to AAA, promoted Alcides Escobar, fired Billy Castro, designated Bill Hall for assignment and called up Jason Bourgeois. Adam McCalvy has reactions from the clubhouse, and here are several more reactions from around the web:

J.J. Hardy has until Friday to join the Sounds, and says he's looking forward to a few days off.
Brewed Sports was not pleased with that response.
Brewer Paradise Lost is one of many who suspects this move might have been made to prevent Hardy from becoming a free agent following the 2010 season. Hardy would have to remain in the minors past September 1 for the demotion to count against his service time, and it seems unlikely the Brewers will leave him there once rosters expand.
R.J. Anderson of FanGraphs isn't sure the Escobar-for-Hardy swap helps the Brewers this season, or helps Hardy's trade value down the road.
Meanwhile, Cash Kruth caught up with Bill Hall, who seemed upbeat about his situation and expects to be on a team again soon. With that said, this is the same guy who still thought he was the best third baseman in baseball a few weeks ago.
Ken Rosenthal is reporting that at least one NL team is interested in trading for Hall.
Cincinnati Reds Blog sees the Hall situation as "a big opportunity for the Reds to pick up a talented player."
Billy Castro, who had been with the Brewers as a coach for nearly 18 years, left with no regrets. He may not get another chance to be a pitching coach, but it sounds like he'll always have a spot in the Brewer organization, if he wants it.
A Girl's View of the Brewers wonders if these moves will be enough to get the Brewers back on track.
Big League Stew accused the Brewers of waving the white flag on the 2009 season.
PocketDoppler says the Brewers are pushing the panic button.
Aaron Gleeman of Circling the Bases says the move likely came too late for the Brewers' playoff hopes.
Keep Turning Up the Heat says "these are some dark times in the Brewers organization," and doesn't agree with the decision to call up Escobar or fire Castro.
Quevedo at the Buffet doesn't get the timing or the logic behind the moves.
The Bucky Channel wonders why Alcides Escobar was only used sparingly and Jason Bourgeois wasn't used at all last night.

Meanwhile, the Brewers did actually play a game last night, and lost their second straight to the Padres, dropping their playoff chances to 2.9%, the first time all season they've fallen below 3%.

Things could get worse today, as they play a day game against the Padres, who are sending Cesar Carrillo to the mound to make his major league debut today. The Brewers are 0-4 this season in games where the opposing pitcher is making his debut. And, of course, they haven't been good in day games either, or in games played in June, July or August.

Doug Melvin may not be done dealing. The Brewers claimed Doug Davis off waivers from the D-Backs (h/t FanShot), giving the two teams 48 hours to work out a deal to bring him back to Milwaukee. Davis says it would be fun to return to Milwaukee, but Tom H. says it's unlikely to happen.

A bunch of news got lost in the shuffle with everything else that happened yesterday. Here are the important notes that got buried in today's game preview:

Both Dave Bush and Jeff Suppan are expected back before September 1.
Jesus Colome was available to pitch last night despite his bruised pinky finger.
Nick Green cleared waivers after being DFA'd and will remain in Huntsville.

One other minor league note to pass along today: Matt Hagen of The Hardball Times nominated Jeremy Jeffress for most disappointing minor leaguer in 2009.

On power rankings:

The Brewers jumped from 23rd to 20th in WhatifSports' rankings.
MLB FanHouse has the Brewers holding steady at 19.

Around baseball:

Angels: Released reliever Justin Speier.
Cardinals: Placed Todd Wellemeyer on the DL with elbow inflammation.
D-Backs: Placed Scott Schoeneweis on the DL with depression and released Tom Gordon.
Giants: Placed Rich Aurilia on the DL with ankle tendinitis.
Indians: Claimed R.J. Swindle off waivers from the Rays.
Mariners: Erik Bedard is expected to undergo shoulder surgery and miss the remainder of the season.
Marlins: Signed Esteban Yan to a minor league deal.
Pirates: Placed reliever Evan Meek on the DL with an oblique strain and claimed reliever John Meloan off waivers from the Rays.
Reds: Placed Scott Rolen on the DL with a concussion.
Royals: Acquired pitcher John Bannister from the Rangers.
Twins: Placed Glen Perkins on the DL with shoulder trouble and released Mark Grudzielanek.

By shuffling the deck in the bullpen a little bit this offseason the Brewers created some new problems, but at least they're done with this one: Reflections of Blue has had it with Guillermo Mota, who posted a 0.26 ERA over one 35.1 inning stretch and a 10.32 ERA since.

Here's something to ponder for all of you who want to make the case that J.J. Hardy should be moved to second or third base, Rickie Weeks should be moved to center field and Mat Gamel should play first base or right field: Will Carroll says a player playing out of position has a 30 percent greater chance of getting injured, based on unfamiliarity with the position.

Brian Anderson wants your help to raise money for the I Back Jack Foundation. Follow the link for more info on how you can help Jack Bartosz, a young man fighting neuroblastoma.

Speaking of causes that could use your money, UW-La Crosse, alma mater of former Brewers Jerry Augustine and Vinny Rottino, has raised enough money to keep the program alive for one more season, but is still on the chopping block.

On this day in 1987, Paul Molitor homered in the ninth to extend his hitting streak to 28 games, but the Brewers still lost to the Orioles, 5-4.

Happy birthday today to Corey Patterson, who turns 30, and former Milwaukee Brave Tony Cloninger, who turns 69.

Drink up.

Monday's Frosty Mug

KLSnow — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 13:57:25 -0000

More photos » by Dave Einsel - AP

Jason Kendall, on one of the rare occasions when his "out making" was a good thing.

Browse more photos »

Some things to read instead of hanging out with The Least Interesting Man in the World.

Coming off another series loss that dropped their playoff chances to 4.9%, the Brewers have a day off today to travel home and get ready to resume play tomorrow. When they get there, they'll be joined by new Brewer David Weathers, who was acquired from the Reds for a PTBNL yesterday. Some notes on the move:

Jesus Colome was the 20th Brewer pitcher to appear in a game over the weekend, meaning Weathers will likely be the 21st sometime this week. Before the season, 88% of readers in the Over/Under contest said the Brewers would use more than 19.5 pitchers this season. Congratulations to all of you.
Ken Macha suggested Weathers will be used as an occasional fill in for Todd Coffey in the setup man role.
Weathers and his family don't sound too excited about leaving Cincinnati.
This move could be more than a rental: Weathers has a team option for next season. Exercising that option would be a nice way to get rid of $3.7 million without clogging a toilet.

Another day, another story about Jason Kendall's ineptitude: Mike Rivera got into a game on Saturday and responded by hitting a three run double as part of a night that saw him get on base three times. The Bucky Channel makes the case once again that Kendall should be sitting and Rivera should be playing more.

With that said, Kendall was hit by two pitches yesterday, the 240th and 241st of his career. Plunk Everyone has a bunch of statistical nuggets related to that.

Entering play tomorrow, Mike Cameron has been worth 2.8 Wins Above Replacement on the season, third most on the team. Should the Brewers make an offer to bring him back for next season? The Junkball Blues makes the case for it. Baseball Digest Daily says Cameron is the third best defensive outfielder in the NL.

In the minors:

Fifth round pick D'Vontrey Richardson signed his contract Friday night and is expected to report to Arizona to spend a few weeks with the Rookie Brewers before their season concludes.
Over at The Hardball Times, Jeff continues to look at the average age of minor league teams, and finds the Huntsville Stars are one of the oldest teams in AA. The average probably falls a bit if you remove Vinny Rottino, who is a Dodger now.

Around baseball:

Astros: Placed Doug Brocail on the DL with a strained shoulder.
A's: Released Jason Giambi.
Cubs: Placed Carlos Zambrano on the DL with back spasms.
Dodgers: Placed Jason Schmidt on the DL with shoulder trouble.
Mets: Acquired outfielder Jason Dubois from the Cubs.
Phillies: Released infielder Pablo Ozuna.
Pirates: Placed reliever Donnie Veal on the DL with a sprained index finger.
Rangers: Designated Vicente Padilla for assignment.
Rays: Acquired Gregg Zaun from the Orioles for a PTBNL or cash, claimed Russ Springer off waivers from the A's, and designated Joe Dillon, R.J. Swindle, reliever Jonathan Meloan and catcher Michel Hernandez for assignment.
Red Sox: Designated reliever Enrique Gonzalez and John Smoltz for assignment and placed Jed Lowrie on the DL with forearm irritation.
Yankees: Designated Josh Towers for assignment.

Yesterday's Brewer game wasn't the only one over the weekend impacted by poor umpiring. As is becoming customary, here's your Umpiring Roundup from the weekend:

Ed Rapuano ejected Shane Victorino for complaining about a strike call in center field. (h/t Al)
Lance Barksdale ejected Padres manager Bud Black after missing a call at home plate Saturday.
Jerry Crawford ejected D-Backs manager A.J. Hinch after missing a call at first base.

This morning's Mug is probably a little late because I got hooked on this story and ended up reading the whole thing: Gary Smith of Sports Illustrated has an incredible profile of Mpho "Gift" Ngoepe, the South African shortstop in the Pirates organization, and the incredible path he's traveling in an attempt to become the first African-born major leaguer. (h/t Bucs Dugout)

The economy may suck, but if you're the official manufacturer of baseballs for MLB, you'll probably always have a job. MLB Daily Dish estimates the major leagues will go through about 220,000 balls this season.

Playing a Timber Rattlers game at Miller Park seemed to work pretty well for all involved, so maybe the Brewers should try this: The Red Sox have an annual Futures at Fenway doubleheader, featuring games with two of the team's affiliates. I'd pay to see that.

On this day in 1987, Paul Molitor went 2-for-4 with two walks, extending his hit streak to 25 games as the Brewers beat the Rangers 4-3 in 12 innings.

Happy birthday today to Chuckie Carr, a 1996 Brewer and first-ballot entry into the "Don't Be That Guy" Hall of Fame, who turns 42 today.

Oh, and please, for your sake and ours, stop dressing up your cat.

Drink up.