SB Nation - Ruben Gotay

Mets Give Alex Cora Too Much, Cards Buy Low On Ruben Gotay

Satchel Price — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 19:42:09 -0000

More photos » by Julie Jacobson - AP

Earlier last week, it was reported on Twitter by MLB.com's Matthew Leach that the St. Louis Cardinals signed infielder Ruben Gotay to a minor league contract, and the AP has confirmed that the New York Mets resigned veteran shortstop Alex Cora to a one-year, $2M deal.

On the surface, one would presume that the Mets added the better player, as they spent $2M guaranteed and a 25-man roster spot on Cora, a substantially higher price than what the Cardinals spent to add Gotay. But given their 2009 performance and their placements on the aging curve, it seems quite odd to me that Cora would command so much money.

Cora, who recently turned 34, has bounced around the majors as a back-up for five years now, spending the majority of that time with the Boston Red Sox and the Mets. While Cora has shown the ability to get on base at times, he's posted an OBP over .320 just once in the past five seasons, and finished 2009 with a paltry .251/.320/.310 line. He offers little value in terms of power, his career ISO is just .099, or baserunning, he's just 41 for 61 in 12 partial seasons in the majors, and his career BABIP of .271 reflects the lack of hard contact that he makes. Unless Cora is having one of his uncharacteristically high walk rate seasons (see: 2002, 2004, 2008), he's a major liability offensively. Combine that lack of offensive value with an apparently declining glove (consecutive seasons of below-average UZR numbers, 157 game sample size), and it's difficult to see how Cora commands $2M in this kind of market.

The Cora deal seems pretty disappointing when you see that Omar Vizquel, a substantially better defender and baserunner, took less money to sign in Chicago, and a guy like Ruben Gotay, who's coming off a really impressive season in AAA, can't even command a Major League deal.

Gotay, 27 in December, once regarded as Kansas City's second baseman of the future, failed to get a hold on the starting job with the Royals after posting a .277 wOBA in 317 plate appearances with the team in 2005, and stuck around in AAA before getting a shot with, ironically, the Mets in 2007. Quietly, Gotay posted a solid .295/.351/.421 line (.335 wOBA) in 211 plate appearances, making him a slightly above-average hitter. The Mets were satisfied with Jose Reyes and Luis Castillo as their keystone combo though, so Gotay was let go and consequently picked up by the Atlanta Braves for the 2008 season. He struggled, posting a .299 wOBA while striking out 32% of the time, and failed to get MLB playing time during the 2009 season.

Gotay certainly didn't play his way out of playing time, in spite of his impressive performance he was still behind Stephen Drew, Felipe Lopez, Augie Ojeda and Ryan Roberts on Arizona's depth chart, and the August trade for Tony Abreu essentially assured that Gotay wouldn't have a spot in Arizona. He certainly made the most of his time in AAA though, posting a .272/.429/.450 line in 479 plate appearances, including an eye-raising 21.6% walk rate for the year. While Gotay isn't plus defensively, the ability to work the count and get on base is clearly evident, and he can even offer some gap power from time to time. I wouldn't be surprised if Gotay got some time with St. Louis if the Freese/Ryan/Schumaker infield (non-Pujols division) doesn't work out, although he'd have to compete with Julio Lugo and Tyler Greene.

Although the Cora signing clearly is prioritizing Cora's defense and versatility, it seems to underscore his declining skills in those categories as well as his general lack of value in the other areas of the game. Meanwhile, guys like Gotay, who have shown some upside and could use a legitimate shot at playing time, are stuck to minor league deals with the hopes of having a big Spring Training. It was definitely an odd use of resources by the Mets given their lack of financial flexibility, and an astute one by the Cardinals, finding a potential contributor for practically nothing.

Tuesday's Frosty Mug

KLSnow — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 15:30:24 -0000

More photos » by Darren Hauck - AP

Pretty much everyone except Doug Melvin seems to think the Brewers should offer arbitration to Felipe Lopez.

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Some things to read while not getting what you hoped for.

The Brewers have until 11 pm tonight to finalize their plan to offer or decline arbitration to five free agents, and while Tom H. seems to think the Brewers will extend an offer to Felipe Lopez, Adam McCalvy is reporting the team is "leaning against" making the offer to any of the five (FanShot).

All of this is another episode in the "Doug Melvin Moments" series I think most of us are getting increasingly sick of. Doug, we get it. Times are tough for the ever-so-downtrodden small-to-mid market GM with the job many of us would kill for. If the system is really so unbearable, you're welcome to quit and be replaced by someone who will spend more time working with the tools they have and less time bitching about the ones they don't.

Assuming Melvin does eventually get off his soapbox and get back to the task of improving the team, Wisconsin Sports Tap has a guide for prospective new Brewers that can help them avoid becoming the next Jeff Suppan, Bill Hall or Johnny Estrada.

With that said, it might be a while before we have news on Mark Mulder. Roguejim uncovered a story yesterday that sheds some light on Mulder's rehab and situation, and raises the possibility that Mulder will decide not to come back if he's unable to perform at a level he's accustomed to.

We're also probably just about done discussing Kevin Millwood. Rangers beat reporter T.R. Sullivan had this to say about the rumors:

The Rangers wouldn't mind adding pitching but they don't want to subtract it so they are not trying to move Kevin Millwood. Word is the Brewers were interested but Rangers general manager Jon Daniels and Doug Melvin haven't spoke in weeks, That might change at the Winter Meetings but the Rangers still need Millwood's arm far more than they need to move his salary.

Adam McCalvy opened up the mailbag yesterday and answered reader questions on the possibility of a Prince Fielder extension, Dominican prospect Santo Aybar, Lorenzo Cain and Caleb Gindl.

Elsewhere in the minors:

Lisa Winston of MiLB.com has a review of the season for the Brewer minor leagues, and a look at the attempt to build pitching depth in the system.
Project Prospect has Jonathan Lucroy ranked ninth on their list of baseball's top 15 catching prospects. Angel Salome was not ranked.
The Baseball Chronicle has Alcides Escobar as a backup infielder on their 2010 All Prospect Team. Escobar is on the bench behind Rays prospect Reid Brignac and Cubs SS prospect Starlin Castro, who is playing out of position at second base.
Rattler Radio has photos of the construction at Time Warner Field, where they're hard at work adding the new beach seats, boardwalk and bullpens.

Up for some arbitrary list-making today? Miller Park Drunk has a list of the top ten Brewers of the decade. It's worth a click for the picture, if nothing else.

John Axford might have an outside shot at winning a spot in the Brewer bullpen next spring, depending on how rest of the offseason goes. In the meantime, he spent yesterday talking to college students about life in the big leagues and the importance of education.

On the transaction log:

Cardinals: Re-signed catcher Jason LaRue and signed infielder Ruben Gotay to a minor league deal.
Mets: Signed catcher Chris Coste, and re-signed infielder Alex Cora to a one year deal worth $2 million.
Pirates: Signed reliever Wil Ledezma to a minor league deal and released catcher Robinzon Diaz.

Wondering what it might take for the Brewers to acquire Edwin Jackson? Here's a hint: The Mariners reportedly turned down an offer from the Tigers would have sent Jackson to Seattle for pitchers Brandon Morrow and Shawn Kelley. So apparently the price is pretty high.

If the Brewers are serious about making an effort to sign Justin Duchscherer, they may have competition within the division: MLB Trade Rumors says the Pirates are one of the interested teams.

The Brewers probably won't be players in the Roy Halladay sweepstakes, but odds are the competition will heat up soon. Halladay has reportedly told the Blue Jays he won't accept any deal after reporting to spring training in February.

With the Winter Meetings coming up, we have more Rule 5 Draft notes: Baseball Time In Arlington has a look at the top ten unprotected pitchers, including former Brewer farmhand Will Inman.

Yesterday I mentioned the voting for the third baseman on the Timber Rattlers' 15th Anniversary team, and left a comment on Rattler Radio asking about the fate of top contender Bo Robinson, who had a few promising seasons in the Mariner organization before dropping off the map in 2002. Within 24 hours the answer was the subject of this week's Mehring Monday. Impressive turnaround time, to be sure.

I'm a few days behind on this one, but I recently discovered Cooperstown Chatter, the MLBlog run by the Baseball Hall of Fame, and this post on Rollie Fingers' 1981 MVP season. It's almost as impressive as Matt Stairs having a street named after him in Fredericton, New Brunswick.

By the way, if you've ever been to the Baseball Hall of Fame, or you haven't but would like to go someday, you can become a fan on Facebook. As an added bonus, Facebook fans get to help in the voting for this year's broadcaster induction.

On this day in 1967, Seattle was awarded an American League expansion franchise. I guess that makes today the Brewers' date of conception?

Happy birthday today to Tom Filer, who posted a 4.32 ERA in 39 appearances as a Brewer during the '88-'90 seasons and turns 53, and to Julio Machado, who spent parts of the 1990 and 1991 seasons as a Brewer before being arrested for murder in Venezuela. He turns 44.

Oh, and I haven't actually watched it yet (no sound on the computer where I write the Mug), but this video has Rammstein and Cookie Monster, so what could possibly go wrong?

Drink up.

The Real Problem With The Alex Cora Deal

Sam Page — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 11:00:26 -0000

by Kathy Willens - AP

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Well we all knew this was coming; the writing was on the wall, and it read: "ELMER WUZ HERE." Out of resignation for the inevitable, I recounted the positives of Alex Cora--in short, plate discipline and the chance of non-embarrassing fielding. Many people will abuse his UZR/150 stats and refuse to recognize the role injury played in slowing his bat down, which is too bad--there are enough reasons to hate this signing, while giving Alex Cora his meager dues. Basically, he's a decent enough utility middle infielder, who should only start in emergencies, but worth a major league spot on the depth chart. Yes, that player should make league minimum or only slightly more. And while Cora could feasibly be worth $2M next year, he is basically all downside. Still, I said I wouldn't complain if the Mets signed him for $2M. But I didn't say anything about bonuses and vesting options.

Contract incentives are useful in three situations: 1. rewarding a franchise player, 2. enticing a highly sought-after free agent, or 3. mitigating against the risk of an injured player breaking down. Number 1 obviously doesn't apply and no one can possible convince me number 2 is true. Situation #3 works when you have a player like Rich Harden, whose value increases greatly with every 20 innings he gives you. If last season taught us anything, it's that the more we see Alex Cora, the more screwed we are. As an everyday starter last season, Cora was totally exposed, and his performance steadily got worse. The fact that the Mets could even foresee a situation where Alex Cora gets 80-110 starts, proves they are totally incapable of planning for the very real scenario of Jose Reyes' getting injured, and would be perfectly content to forfeit the season.

A 2 million dollar vesting option? Why do the Mets want to be committed to 35-year-old Alex Cora at any price, much less 2-mil? If Alex Cora starts 80+ games in 2010, it means one of two things: 1. Jose Reyes was injured for a prolonged period and the Mets were too incompetent to replace him, or 2. the Mets were too incompetent to sell high on Luis Castillo and he imploded. In either case, prior to 2011, a massive restructuring of the middle infield depth chart would be required, in which Jose Reyes could no longer be considered a starter, or a new secondbaseman would have to be signed. 35-year-old Alex Cora, with a guaranteed roster spot and $2MM salary, would be massive dead weight, and his contract would likely force the Mets to either release him and eat the money or give him partial playing time. Next offseason could be a heck of a mess for the new GM.

The defenders of this deal have harped on two tellingly stupid points: he's a great clubhouse guy and he won't prevent the Mets from signing other free agents. The second statement can easily be refuted by: yes he will! No, Alex Cora will probably not stop the Mets from signing Matt Holliday if they really want him, but if that's your conception of free agency and the Mets budget, then you're worse than Minaya. Three million is three million; or seven comparable players on league minimum; Omar Vizquel and Adam Everett; a handful of intriguing minor league free agents, like Ruben Gotay, a utility infielder better than Alex Cora; or every draft pick the Mets failed to sign last year.

His benefit to the clubhouse is all fine and good, and believe me, I'm the biggest sucker in the world for players who seem to have fun and energize his teammates. No one honestly believes that stuff is the real difference between a good team and a bad, though, do they? The one and only time I watched Mets Weekly (no SNY in TN), I remember the host prodding Cora with a painfully obvious line of questions about his role in the clubhouse, his relationship with Dustin Pedroia, etc.. It seemed as if she hoped Cora would rip the microphone out her hand, make some absurd statements confirming his importance to the team, and in one fell swoop assuage the collective fears of Mets fans whose subconsciouses were bothered by the nagging "maybe he's just bad." Instead, Cora made the truthful reply about how the self-assured Pedroia didn't really want to hear his crap at first, though they eventually formed a bond. Then, maybe a little conscious of what the host's questions insinuated about his skill, frankly said (and I'm not sure this is the exact quote), "I'm not here to make friends. I'm here to win ballgames." Another winning statement from a winning player! No one saw the irony.

But don't fret, compared to this negotiating gem, I think the worst is yet to come. Alex Cora is a decent enough bench piece caught in the crossfire of a team's continued violation of its fanbase's trust. I'm still waiting for the word on whether the Dessens money is guaranteed; I've got a wicked rant ready for that one.

Reviewing Dayton Moore at the Trade Deadline: 2006

royalsreview — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 04:46:19 -0000

More photos » by Chris O'Meara - AP

Tampa Bay Rays pitcher J.P. Howell remembers being traded for Joey Gathright. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)

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As we approach this year's trade deadline, it's useful to look back at Dayton Moore's deadline track record. In the first of three posts, we look at Dayton's first trade deadline: 2006.

The Royals hired Dayton Moore during the 2006 season. Moore was hired on May 30th and officially took over on June 8th, shortly after the 2006 Draft. (Which remains another story.) Moore was extremely active during his first few months as the Royals GM. After a week as the head man, Moore had parted ways with three minor leaguers, including Kyle Snyder, and signed Todd Wellemeyer, Brandon Duckworth and Donovan Osbourne. None of these guys did very much for the Royals, but they are emblematic of Moore's first eighteen months on the job. If you ever thought about pitching, the Royals took a flyer on you.

On June 20, 2006, Moore made his first major move, sending J.P. Howell to Tampa for Joey Gathright and Fernando Cortez. Seen from the beginning as a signature move, Moore parted ways with the college pitcher with seemingly limited upside for the tantalizing speed and defense of Joey Gathright. Like many of Moore's subsequent moves, there was a certain bravado to it: I'm not just going for speed, I'm bringing in the fastest guy in baseball, despite no evidence he can hit, or actually play center well, deal with it.

The Gathright trade has been discussed quite a bit over the years, and there isn't much more to be said. Gathright had his moments in Kansas City, and in theory was not a bad guy to take a look at. Howell however, has been better than 90% of the relievers the Royals have employed since his departure, and has recently blossomed into one of the better relievers in the American League. Fernando Cortez spent parts of two seasons in the Royals' system, and randomly had 16 PAs with the 2007 Royals. In the long run, the Gathright trade was a signature move, just not the type of signature Moore wanted.

The Gathright trade was not technically a "deadline deal" but beyond its date, there's not much to separate it from the other moves Dayton made that year. Let's take a look at the other trades Dayton made that July:

July 19, 2006: Traded Ruben Gotay to the Mets for Jeff Keppinger. A weird challenge trade if there ever was one. Gotay has some vague semblance of potential in 2006, while Keppinger was seen as a guy with a decent infield bat, but not a solid defensive reputation. Keppinger hit .267/.323/.400 in 67 PAs for the 2006 Royals, playing mostly at third base. Keppy should have been a sign of Dayton's love for scrappy white guys who play the game the right way. Keppinger was traded in Jaunary to the Reds for Russ Haltiwanger, who left the system last season. Keppinger, of course, immediately had a career season with the Reds in 2007. Gotay, of course, did little in New York and is currently in the Arizona system. Yours truly thought the Keppinger trade was fairly pointless back in 2006, but he likely would have been a better option at short in 2007-8 than Tony Pena Jr. turned out to be.

July 24, 2006: Traded Mike MacDougal to the White Sox for Daniel Cortes and Tyler Lumsden: This was a big trade back in 2006. MacDougal was a longtime Royal by the standards of the day, was one of the heroes of 2003 and was something of a fan favorite. While generally unreliable in both the long and short term, had his uses as a reliever. MacDougal was quickly signed to a three-year deal with the White Sox, yet never really pitched well there. Dayton's haul of Dan Cortes and Tyler Lumsden was viewed from the onset as a great trade, and through 2008 Cortes was highly regarded as a pitching prospect. Considering that both Cortes and Lumsden are both gone now, having never contributed at the Major League level (Lumsden stayed in the KC system until last November, when he was claimed by the Astros) it remains mostly a good trade in only in an alternative universe. Of course, according to the party line, Cortes was used to acquire a great everyday shortstop with lots of upside. So another victory.

July 25, 2006: Elmer Dessens traded to Dodgers for Blake Johnson, Julio Pimentel and Odalis Perez. This was an interesting trade. The Royals shipped out Elmer Dessens, who was having an ok season for the Royals as a middle reliever (4.50 ERA, generic peripheral stats) and, in exchange for taking on a portion of the Odalis Perez contract, came out with two pitching prospects. Odalis made 38 starts for the Royals, and while he was the subject of many jokes on this site and elsewhere, he was not totally terrible (84 ERA+). Plus, he gave rise to the former-Brave theory, which has been one of the few things keeping me alive during this decade. Blake Johnson is currently pitching at AA, and Pimentel (currently injured I believe) was at AA in 2008. Considering that both are still around and somewhat well-regarded, the Dessens deal may be Dayton's best trade.

July 25, 2006: Tony Graffanino traded to Milwaukee for Jorge de la Rosa. By the time this trade hit, we were starting to think we'd figured out Dayton Moore. Arms with upside. Jorge was not a former Brave, but he felt like one. A guy with a great arm, who'd seemingly been around as a prospect for decades. Graffanino had had a weird run with the Royals: signed to a 2 year 2.2 million deal for 04-05, Graffy was traded to Boston in 2005. After the '05 season, he signed a $2 million dollar deal with Boston, but ended up being DFAed. In March of 2006, the Royals claimed him off waivers from Boston. Then, Moore traded him. JDLR spent two seasons with the Royals and was nearly identical to Odalis Perez, posting an ERA+ of 83 in 36 games. I don't remember ever feeling like he was going to be a contributor or that he was turning it around. JDLR eventually ended up in Colorado, where he's still pitching. Graffanino meanwhile, retains historical importance as one of the early examples of the team's Gritty Scrappy White Middle Infielder Fetish: McEwing, Graffanino, Grudzielanek, Keppinger, etc.. Of course, St. Willie Bloomquist has been the apogee of this bizarre fixation.

July 31. 2006: Matt Stairs sent to Texas for Joselo Diaz: Would you believe that Diaz was a minor league pitcher? Dude ended up being completely horrible in extremely limited action with the Royals in 2006, and was hardly better in Omaha. Diaz left the system as a free agent after the 2006 season, and is currently with the Dodgers. The Stairs trade was more or less a salary dump, only that Stairs wasn't that expensive, given that he was making $1.4 million. Stairs has bounced around, but is still contributing at the Major League level, while the Royals will head into 2010 not sure who to play at DH.

July 31, 2006: Jeremy Affeldt and Denny Bautista sent to Colorado for Scott Dohman and Ryan Shealy: Another highly-praised trade at the time, the Affeldt-Shealy deal ended up working out much better for the Rockies than the Royals. Affeldt was a tantalizing but generally despised Royal by 2006, after three years of countless message board debates about how he should be used. And shockingly, he always had nagging injuries! He must have been a pansy. Shealy appeared for all the world to be a plug and play AAAA masher who could provide cheap offense at 1B/DH. Instead, after a passable 2006 debut with the Royals (102 OPS+) he was one of the worst players in the Major Leagues in 2007, and has been injury-plagued and unheard from since. Affeldt ended up giving the Rockies 86 innings of 105 ERA+ pitching over two seasons, and is currently with the Giants. Dohmann and Bautista did very little with their new teams, though Denny Bautista did make everyone confused for a few years, as he was one of like six guys out there named "Denny Bautista".

Overall Evaluation: In 2006, it looked pretty good. I count 12 players in, 8 players out. Dayton's five trades during deadline week were what every single Royals fan wanted. There was a general impression that Moore was clearing the roster of the detritus of the Baird regime and beginning the long rebuild of the franchise. Still, by 2008, only four of the new guys -- Gathright, Shealy, Pimentel, Johnson -- were still with the Royals, and Gathright and Shealy were almost certainly done as Major League contributors. Moore did dump some salary, but only the modest amounts which remained owed to Stairs, Graffy and Affeldt. We're talking about maybe 1.5 million here, not a large number. Other than the ill-fated Gathright, effectively, none of Moore's myriad moves produced a single Major League player for the Royals. Nothing.

Here's the damning thing: if you gathered up all the players involved in this flurry of 2006 and subjected them to a draft, here in 2009, the players the Royals sent packing in 2006 are still the best players. Of course, that's partially to be expected, given the example of a player like Matt Stairs. Nevertheless, none of the prospects Moore acquired has turned out to be a contributor in 2009, and only two, Johnson and Pimentel, have any real shot of doing so. In that fictional draft, right now you'd take Howell first, then, probably Affeldt, then Stairs. Someone might take MacDougal fourth, or maybe, maybe de la Rosa. (Actually, many GMs would probably take Cortes near the top of that list, but after the Betancourt, I can't give Dayton credit for him.)

Moore's deadline trades did not make the Royals better in 2006, or 2007, or 2008, or 2009. While he won the extremely minor Gotay-Keppinger trade and got nice value with the Dessens swap, none of Dayton's 2006 deadline deals really worked out for the Royals. He lost the Affeldt-Shealy trade and he lost the Howell-Gathright trade. The deals made involving MacDougal, Stairs, and Graffanino, ultimately did nothing for the franchise at all.

This deadline was really the beginning of Moore's reputation as a transactions hound, as someone who was actively scouring the low minor leagues for pitching talent, and as someone who would need to make approximately five million trades to fix the disaster that was the Royals.

Finally, one thing that stands out about these trades is how utterly inconsequential they all were. Most of the players involved, coming and going, left no real impact anywhere. That should remind us something about how most of these deadline deals end up. This is especially true when you're talking about the kind of C market players that the Royals shop, and shop for.

The Joselo Diazes come, the Joselo Diazes go. Only the Baseball Annies of the minor leagues remember much.

DBack to the Future - Minor League Report

paqs — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 21:27:45 -0000

More photos » by Rick Scuteri - AP

Bryan Augenstein was just one of the prospects who pitched well this week.

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I was thinking, if I were a baseball fan in Reno, I would not be a happy man. At the beginning of the season, eight of the top ten prospects in the Diamondback system were below AAA, Valdez and Buckner being the exceptions. A Reno fan would naturally have assumed they'll get to see some of these prospects this year or even next. Well, so far this year, no less than 5 players were called up to the majors straight from AA. The same thing happened with Reynolds and Upton two years ago. To make things even worse for Reno fans, the GM said the other day something along the lines of "Parker will stay at AA this year, and pitch for a spot in the rotation next spring". I don't have the stats, but this skipping of a development stage can't be very good. Anyway, on to this week's report.

Reno:

The Aces went 3-5 last week and are currently on a 4 game losing streak. Their 23-30 record is good for third place in the division, 9.5 games back.

At the plate:

Alex Romero keeps hitting well, going 10-25 with 5 walks for the week to improve his line to .340/.412/.470
Ruben Gotay has been hot of late, going 9-23 with 7 walks this week. His line is .289/.404/.425.

On the mound:

Cesar Valdez had his best start of the season on Friday, throwing 8 shutout innings, allowing only two hits and a walk along with six strikeouts. His ERA in six May starts was 3.09 and his overall ERA is at 4.21.
Bryan Augenstein had a "quality" (the dumbest stat alive) start this week, going six innings and allowing 3 runs. He now has 10 strikeouts and only one walk in 12 AAA innings.
Jason Urquidez was called up from AA (that happens as well) last week and he has impressed so far. He allowed 2 runs in 7 innings of work, with 5 strikeouts and a walk. He threw 20 innings in mobile with a 3.15 ERA, 20 strikeouts and 6 walks.

Mobile:

The Bears have been white hot of late, having a nine game winning streak stopped on Monday. In all, they went 5-2 this week to improve their record to 32-22, 3.5 games behind first place.

At the plate:

Cyle Hankerd just keeps hitting. He went 7-18 with six walks to improve to .363/.435/.531. He is the league top three in OPS and wOBA. I wonder at what point is enough enough when it comes to Chris Young. Does he need to hit .170 over 500 AB to get benched or demoted?
Chris Rahl is another outfielder doing well, going 12-29 on the week, with 4 multi hit games. His line for the year is .293/.380/.471
Orlando Mercado has 6 multi hit games in his last ten, and he's hitting .323/.408/.451 on the year.
Pedro Ciriaco has improved his hitting since he was moved to the top of the order. He went 9-30 this week, but his line is still a mess: .261/.294/.320. He does have 11 stolen being, and was caught only twice.

On the mound:

Matt Torra threw a complete game three hitter on Sunday, walking just one and striking out four. Add that to his last outing, and he now threw 16 scoreless innings to lower his ERA to 4.04. He was named the league's pitcher of the week.
Cody Evans flirted with perfection yesterday, taking a perfect game into the seventh inning. His final line: 7 IP, 1H, 0BB, 4K and his ERA on the season is 4.58.
Jarrod Parker's start this week was more of the same: 6 innings, two runs allowed, but he walked four again, and he has 20 walks and 20 strikeouts in his last four starts (20.2 IP). The GM said he needs to learn how to be economical with his pitches and we're just not seeing that of late. His ERA in 36 IP is 3.00, but major league hitters are going to punish those walk severely.

Visalia:

The Rawhide were 4-2 during the week and 33-19 record leads the division by three games.

At the plate:

Not a good week for Visalia hitter, and I couldn't find anyone with an above average line

On the mound:

Bryan Shaw started two games last week, allowing a combined one run over 11 innings, with three walks and seven strikeouts. His ERA on the year is down to 4.43.
Josh Collmenter took the mound twice last week, with impressive results. He followed a complete game on Wednesday (1 ER, 7K) with 5 scoreless innings on Monday. In his last three outings, he has allowed one run in 21 innings with four walks and 15 strikeouts.

South Bend

The Hawks went 3-3 on the week and they are at .500 for the season, at 25-25, 6.5 games back of the lead.

At the plate:

Alberto Diaz is on a 10 game hitting streak, going 8-25 and adding 2 home runs to lead the team with 7. His line on the season is a pedestrian .246/.284/.399.
Justin Parker was 6-19 with 4 walks on the week to improve his line to .312/.401/.439

On the mound:

Brett Moorehouse had two starts this week, and they were both good. He threw seven innings on Thursday, allowing three runs on 9 hits with 1 strikeout, and another seven innings on Tuesday, allowing only one run on five hits with seven strikeouts. He didn't walk a batter in either start.
Randy Rodriguez began his season in mid May due to injury, but his first four starts have been good. He allowed 5 earned runs in 23.1 innings for a 1.91 ERA.

That's all for this week's report. It should be a very interesting week for our system with the draft, so we'll see what happens next.

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.

Pirates Sign Ruben Gotay

Charlie — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 23:05:15 -0000

The Pirates have signed infielder Ruben Gotay to a minor league deal. Gotay's more interesting than the usual minor league signing--he isn't old (he turned 26 in December), he was once a fairly good prospect (in the Royals' system), and he's actually been pretty helpful in the big leagues at times. (The Mets collapsed badly in 2007, but it would have been even worse without Gotay providing a temporary fix at second base.) He can play third in addition to second, and he's played handfuls of games at shortstop. He didn't hit particularly well for Atlanta last year, but he played so sparingly that I wouldn't read too much into that. He's a good bet to see action in Pittsburgh in 2009, and he's an upgrade over Luis Rivas (or, for that matter, Luis Cruz or Brian Bixler).

Nice signing--I've always wondered why Gotay never got more chances to start. That moment has probably passed, but he can be a totally competent spare infielder for a team that already has someone else to back up at shortstop. His defense is apparently pretty wretched, so he probably shouldn't start even if there's a trade, and I'd prefer the Pirates use as many bench spots as possible on corner players who can hit. But I wouldn't be broken up if Gotay made the team, and he should fill in capably as a utilityman if the Pirates trade an infielder.