Monday's Frosty Mug

KLSnow — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 15:27:36 -0000

Some things to read while wondering about a groundhog's ability to predict the weather.

Expect an announcement soon on Bob Uecker's new partner in the booth: It had been previously reported that the Brewers had narrowed their list of candidates to two. Now, this morning we have a report that Jeff Munn, a pre and post-game show host for the Diamondbacks, has withdrawn himself from consideration. As such, the pick appears to be WGN Radio's Cory Provus.

The Brewers haven't been to an arbitration hearing since Doug Melvin took over as general manager, but that could be about to change. Gord Ash says the Brewers have made "zero" progress in negotiations with Corey Hart and Rickie Weeks. Both sides still have a little less than three weeks to work something out.

If his last name wasn't Gwynn, would it be a story? Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe (via MLB Trade Rumors) lists Tony Gwynn Jr. among players who are out of options and could be on the move this spring. If someone wanted Gwynn and was willing to give the Brewers anything of value for him, I'm guessing he'd already be gone.

A few notes from around the minors:

Stop me if I've already mentioned this, but Alcides Escobar is MiLB.com's #8 prospect. The link includes a scouting report and a brief video package on the young shortstop.
As noted in a FanShot over the weekend, Taylor Green underwent surgery last week on his wrist to repair a compression fracture suffered late in the 2008 season. He will likely miss April of 2009.
Mark Rogers, a former #1 pick who hasn't pitched in a game since 2006, reportedly feels great and hopes to break camp with a team in 2009. Rogers is still just 23 but has never pitched above A ball.

The Brewers have at least one more sandwich pick coming in June's draft, as Brian Shouse has agreed to a deal with the Rays. The Brewers could get as many as ~~three~~ two more picks in the top 60 of the draft when Ben Sheets ~~and Eric Gagne~~ eventually sign(s).

In yesterday's Advent Calendar, I mentioned that Mike Cameron has 168 more strikeouts than hits in his career. Taking it to the next level, TheJay (over at Recondite Baseball) has compiled a list of 34 players with at least 100 more strikeouts than hits in their careers, and no less than five current or former Brewers appear on it, including three (Rob Deer, Russell Branyan and Gorman Thomas) in the top four. Also, Enrique Cruz is one of just a handful of position players in MLB history with at least 20 more strikeouts than total bases.

Still trying to figure out what to expect from Trevor Hoffman in 2009? FakeTeams projects him as the NL's sixth best closer. And while he appears to already have his entrance music picked out, Ducksnorts has 71 terrible suggestions for if he decides to freshen things up.

On the hot stove:

Astros: Were reportedly ready to spend as much as $120 million this offseason, but have now settled closer to $104. (h/t Crawfish Boxes)
Cubs: Could be near a deal to send Rich Hill to the Orioles, but the Mariners are also interested. The Cubs also signed Paul Bako to a one year deal worth $725,000.
Mariners: Could be interested in cutting payroll, including Jarrod Washburn, Adrian Beltre and Miguel Batista. They also re-signed Randy Messenger.
Phillies: Have reportedly contacted Will Ohman as a possible fill-in while J.C. Romero serves his suspension. They'd also like to trade Geoff Jenkins.
Pirates: Designated reliever T.J. Beam for assignment to make room for Eric Hinske on their roster.
Rockies: Signed Josh Fogg to a minor league deal with an invitation to spring training.

It's becoming more and more likely that there will still be a significant number of free agents on the market when spring training opens in 11 days. Murray Chass remembers 1995, when the Players Association held a camp for unsigned players, called the "Homestead Homies." Looks like that concept may need to be dusted off and used again.

How do you rate your prospects? It's probably safe to assume most teams don't rank them by Facebook friends, but that's what the folks over at Halos Heaven have done.

Speaking of prospects, The Biz of Baseball has the details on a new documentary series chronicling life in the minors. I think I'll stick to watching actual games, but it seems interesting.

George Carlin did it more famously, but he didn't stop in the middle for a rant about bravery and courage: Joe Posnanski takes a look at the language we use to describe baseball.

Oh, and while I love trying out the food at minor league ballparks, I don't think a monstrosity of five beef patties weighing five-thirds of a pound, dressed with sliced Spam, sausage gravy, fried eggs and a gigantic pickle is in my future.

Drink up.

The Brewers and the Rule 5 Draft

TheJay — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 06:15:08 -0000

Since major league clubs finalized their reserve lists (also known as 40-man rosters) on November 20, the Internet has been abuzz with speculation about the Rule 5 draft. This year's Rule 5 draft takes place on December 11 at the end of the annual Winter Meetings. So what exactly is the Rule 5 draft and why are people so excited about it? Perhaps more importantly for us, how have the Brewers participated in it over the years?

The Rule 5 draft is intended to move players who may be blocked on talent-rich clubs to clubs who aren't stocked with as many skilled players. It's not a modern invention--the first Rule 5 draft took place all the way back in 1903. Back then, players were subject to the reserve clause, binding them to their teams for as long as the team saw fit. Without a chance to ever freely move from team to team, players could be blocked by established veterans for years. More important in the eyes of many owners, wealthier teams could stockpile good players and keep them in the minors indefinitely, creating a nearly inexhaustible depth chart of talented players and keeping major league talent from less wealthy teams. To combat this stockpiling, the Rule 5 draft was invented. During the draft, teams could select players left unprotected by other teams in the hopes the players would blossom into quality big leaguers. While the draft was (and is) hit or miss, it contained enough diamonds in the rough to keep teams interested.

To prevent teams from completely raiding each other's systems, however, a couple ground rules were laid down: first, there was a fee charged for each pick. Second, each pick had to remain on the drafting team's major league roster for the entire season after the draft. If the drafting team wanted to send the player they selected to the minors for more seasoning, he first had to be offered back to his original team for the waiver price. Sometimes teams would no longer have room for the drafted player to return and they let his new organization keep him, but these two basic rules kept teams from drafting too many players each season.

Those rules are still in place (with enhancements) today. Each Rule 5 draft pick costs $50,000 and must stay on the big league roster for a full season. Ninety days of that season must be spent on the Active List (i.e., not the disabled/military/etc. list). If the player fails to reach that ninety days in his first season with the club, he must stay on the major league roster during the next season until he reaches ninety days. This prevents stashing a guy on the disabled list all year just to keep him in the system. If the drafting team wants to release their pick or send him to the minors, he must clear waivers and then be offered back to his original team for $25,000. If the player's original team chooses not to reclaim him, his new team can treat him as just another player in their system. What has changed over the years are the eligibility requirements for the draft. To be eligible for the Rule 5 draft today, a player:

Must not be on his organization's 40-man roster
If 19 or older on the June 5th before he signed his first contract, must have spent four seasons in the majors or minors.
If 18 or older on the June 5th before he signed his first contract, must have spent five seasons in the majors or minors.

There are also rules governing which teams can select players in the draft: teams select in reverse order of that season's finish and since a Rule 5 draft pick automatically is added to a team's 40-man roster, the team must have an open roster slot in order to pick. For example, the Rockies had 40 players on their 40-man roster at the time of the 1999 Rule 5 draft, so they couldn't make a selection.

In addition to the major league Rule 5 draft described above, there are two minor league phases of the draft. In the AAA phase, players eligible for for the Rule 5 draft but not on a team's 40-man roster or in AAA can be selected for $12,000. In the AA phase, eligible players from below AA can be selected for $4,000. Selected players do not have to be offered back to their original clubs once picked. Usually players picked in the minor league portion of the Rule 5 draft are roster filler for minor league affiliates, but occasionally future major leaguers are selected. One example is Giants utilityman Eugenio Velez, plucked from the Blue Jays in the AAA phase of the 2005 draft.

So now that we've hashed out all the specifics of who can pick and be picked in the draft, let's look at how the Brewers have used the Rule 5 draft throughout the years. It's easy to find all the selections during the last decade since they're easily accessible online. Unfortunately, complete drafts from before then are not available online, so finding selections becomes a matter of combing through transactions lists and finding guys who eventually made it to the majors. It's safe to assume there were a number of Brewers Rule 5 draft selections from 1970 to the late 1990's that never made it to the majors and thus aren't on those lists. Thus this isn't a complete list of all Brewers Rule 5 picks but it is, I believe, a complete list of Brewers picks (and players bought immediately from other teams) who at some point played in the majors.

Drafted by Brewers				Drafted From Brewers
Name	Position	Year	Picked From	Name	Position	Year	Picked By
Edward Campusano	LHP	2006	CHC	Callix Crabbe	IF	2007	SDP
Marcos Carvajal	RHP	2004	LAD	Ramon Garcia	RHP	1996	HOU
Jeff Bennett	RHP	2003	PIT	Marc Ronan	C	1995	NYY
Enrique Cruz	SS	2002	NYM	Bobby M. Jones	RHP	1994	COL
Matt Ford	RHP	2002	TOR	Tim Fortugno	LHP	1991	CAL
Jorge Sosa	RHP	2001	SEA	Dwayne Hosey	OF	1991	SDP
Ryan Christenson	OF	2001	ARI	Dave Stapleton	LHP	1988	HOU
Matt Williams	RHP	1999	NYY	Gibson Alba	LHP	1987	STL
Al Reyes	RHP	1994	MON	Bob Gibson	RHP	1986	CHW
Jose Mercedes	RHP	1993	BAL	Jeff Parrett	RHP	1985	MON
Graeme Lloyd	LHP	1992	TOR	Willie Lozado	IF	1984	STL
Rob Lukachyk	OF	1991	CHW	Jesus Vega	1B	1977	MIN
Matias Carrillo	LHP	1987	PIT	Ron Tompkins	RHP	1970	CHC
Vicente Palacios	RHP	1986	PIT
Brian Giles	IF	1984	NYM
Jamie Nelson	C	1983	SEA
Mike Warren	RHP	1981	OAK
Tom Candiotti	RHP	1980	KCR
Mark Brouhard	OF	1979	CAL
Ned Yost	C	1977	NYM
Marshall Edwards	OF	1976	OAK
Jeff Yurak	OF	1976	NYM
Aurelio Monteagudo	RHP	1971	KCR

Players in italics were selected during the minor league portion of the draft.

You might be wondering who Edward Campusano and Marcos Carvajal are. They were picked by the Brewers but immediately sold to Detroit and Colorado, respectively. Similarly, Graeme Lloyd was picked by the Phillies and was promptly traded to the Brewers. Obviously, the Brewers have been more active as "buyers" than "sellers" during the Rule 5 draft when it comes to guys who made the majors, especially recently. That's not a big surprise, as bad teams don't usually have much worth taking from their farm system, unless something goes terribly wrong.

The Brewers have also dabbled in the minor league portion of the Rule 5 draft in the past few years. I could only find full details for those drafts going back to 2002, but here's a quick list of players selected by the Brewers:

Joe Bateman (RHP) in 2007, from San Francisco
Richard Campbell (RHP) in 2007, from Washington
Juan Sandoval (RHP) in 2007, from Seattle
Michael Carlin (1B) in 2006, from Pittsburgh
Steve Bray (RHP) in 2006, from Kansas City
Landon Stockman (RHP) in 2004, from Cleveland
Juan Cerros (RHP) in 2004, from Cincinnati
Ryan Costello (LHP) in 2003, from Toronto
David Manning (RHP) in 2002, from Minnesota

Outside of Bateman, Bray, and maybe Manning, that's a list that makes you say, "who?" See what I meant when I said the minor league portion is used for roster filler? The Brewers didn't lose much in those drafts either: the most notable names are RHP Ben Diggins (2005), LHP John Foster (2003), OF Pete Zoccolillo (2003), and the other RHP Dan Kolb (2004).

So now you know more than you ever thought you would about the Brewers and the Rule 5 draft. Will the Crew pick a player to keep for themselves for the first time in six years? Will anyone from the Brewers system be picked by another team? The answer to both questions is "probably not," but you never know. Anyone the Brewers pick will be able to commiserate with manager Ken Macha, himself a Rule 5 pick in 1978. That player will also join a list that has some surprisingly good names and an awful lot of forgotten ones.

Further Reading on the Rule 5 Draft:
Rule 5 draft information from Baseball America
Hardball Times article about interesting historical Rule 5 picks
Major League Rule 5 draft results back to 1998
A summary of Major League Rule 5
Retrosheet transactions data

SB Nation - Enrique Cruz

Monday's Frosty Mug

The Brewers and the Rule 5 Draft