SB Nation - Rudy Seanez

Tuesday's Frosty Mug

KLSnow — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 15:01:50 -0000

More photos » by Gene J. Puskar - AP

Jeff Karstens is stopped by umpire Chad Fairchild, right, and Jason Kendall from getting to Chris Smith after being hit by a pitch in the eighth inning on Monday. No players were ejected, and the Pirates won 8-5. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

Browse more photos »

Some things to read while changing your misleading name.

Thanks to Tristarscoop for picking up the slack while I was away yesterday. Between getting married, honeymooning, buying a house, moving, being in another wedding and now a funeral, I feel like I've been away more than I've been home in the last two months, but (knock on wood) I should be back for the long haul now...at least through the end of the week.

Did you skip out early on last night's game? I almost went to bed in the seventh inning and would have missed the bench clearing incident involving Chris Smith and Jeff Karstens. Smith hit Karstens with a pitch in the eighth inning but later said the pitch wasn't intentional, which is probably the same thing Karstens said after hitting Ryan Braun in April. This HBP had some increased historical significance, being the 600th plunking at PNC Park.

Because the mess happened so late last night, possibly after many Brewer bloggers had gone to bed, there wasn't a lot of reaction to it on the web this morning. Don't be surprised, though, if Jason Kendall picks up a suspension of a game or two for his actions in the shoving match that followed. Kendall shoved Jeff Karstens down the first base line and was later involved in a shouting match with Pirates pitching coach Joe Kerrigan.

The incident also overshadowed the Brewer debut of Felipe Lopez. Lopez missed an early flight because he was waiting for his bats and would not have been in the starting lineup if not for the rain delay, but went 4-for-4 with a triple and a walk, becoming the first Brewer to record four hits in their debut since Chuckie Carr in 1996. TheJay sent me that link, and also this note:

By the by, it took Jody Gerut only 20 games (5 starts) over six weeks to reach four hits.

Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic discussed the D-Backs' reasons for trading Lopez. He (Lopez, not Piecoro) stands a good chance of being a Type B free agent this offseason, but had also been vocal about enjoying playing in Arizona. The D-Backs would have had to offer him arbitration to receive any compensation if he left, but weren't willing to pay him the $5-6 million he would have received if he accepted the offer. They also seem to think Roque Mercedes is similar in value to the compensation pick they could have received.

Manny Parra has allowed just 12 baserunners in 13 innings since returning from AAA and lowered his ERA from 7.52 to 6.37 in the process. Has he figured it out? Zach Sanders of Baseball Digest Daily seems to think so.

In the minors:

Cody Adams, the Brewers' second round pick from 2008, has been suspended for 50 games after testing positive for amphetamines. (Also noted in FanShot) Adams wasn't pitching well for the Timber Rattlers in the first place, but will now be set even farther back.
While the struggle to draw fans to games in Huntsville has drawn some negative attention this season, the Nashville Sounds are just happy the attention isn't on them. Despite making some improvements to Greer Stadium, the Sounds' attendance is down from last season, and ranks 15th in the 16-team PCL.
2009 draftee Josh Prince is the Prospect of the Week over at Between the Green Pillars. Battlekow interviewed Prince back on June 23.
The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers lost 15-1 to Lansing last night but still lead by two games in the Midwest League West Division Second Half Standings.
The Cub Reporter has a nice interview with Nashville hitting coach Sandy Guerrero, perhaps better known for being Prince Fielder's BP pitcher at the Home Run Derby.

Ever thought about attending a Brewer Fantasy Camp? Bill Schroeder has the sales pitch for you.

On rankings:

FanGraphs ranked Ryan Braun #8 in their Trade Value rankings, one spot ahead of Tim Lincecum. I love Braun, but if the Giants called and offered Lincecum I'd have a hard time turning it down.
The Brewers dropped four spots to 18th in WhatifSports' Power Rankings.

Around the majors:

Angels: Released reliever Rudy Seanez, who had been pitching in AAA. (h/t Diamond Notes)
A's: Placed Jason Giambi on the DL with a strained quad.
Mets: Placed starter Fernando Nieve on the DL with a leg injury.
Nationals: Placed Scott Olsen on the DL with a back injury and designated Julian Tavarez for assignment.
Orioles: Acquired reliever Cla Meredith from the Padres for infielder Oscar Salazar.
Padres: Placed catcher Edgar Gonzalez, who was hit in the head by a pitch over the weekend, on the DL.
Phillies: Designated reliever Tyler Walker for assignment.
Rangers: Placed Frank Francisco on the DL with a mild case of pneumonia.
Red Sox: Designated Julio Lugo for assignment.
Reds: Placed Ramon Hernandez on the DL with inflammation in his knee.
Tigers: Placed Joel Zumaya on the DL with a sore shoulder.
Twins: Signed Mark Grudzielanek to a minor league deal.

Last week I mentioned that I had participated in SBNation's NL Central Roundtable, and linked to part 1 of the conversation. Part 2 is up over at Viva El Birdos. It was written prior to the Lopez acquisition, but there's still some relevant stuff in there.

Happy birthday today to former Brewers Lance Painter (42), Geoff Jenkins (35) and CC Sabathia (29).

Oh, and I already knew Amy K. Nelson was a baseball writer, but discovering that she's also an old school video gamer made her infinitely cooler in my book.

Drink up.

Thursday's Frosty Mug

KLSnow — Thu, 14 May 2009 14:16:49 -0000

More photos » by Morry Gash - AP

Rickie Weeks straddles third after hitting a triple last night. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to find photographic evidence of Hardy's triple.

Browse more photos »

Some things to read while stimulating the economy.

In just a few hours, the Brewers will take the field looking for their first sweep of the Marlins since 1999. The Brewers may have an added advantage today, as it sounds like some Marlins aren't sleeping well: FishStripes is reporting that at least two pairs of Marlins are rooming together on this trip, as the team is staying in the Pfister Hotel, rumored to be haunted, and they're scared of ghosts.

The Brewers, meanwhile, have something else to be scared of. J.J. Hardy left last night's game with "very little" vision in his left eye and numbness in his left hand. He was given medication for a migraine headache. A decision on his ability to play today probably won't come until close to game time.

Mat Gamel, meanwhile, is expected to make his debut today. Gamel came to Milwaukee yesterday and has been called up to the team (noted in FanShot). He'll take Brad Nelson's roster spot: Nelson was outrighted to Nashville, and has 72 hours to either accept the demotion or opt for free agency. I know Nelson has struggled and many have been calling for his demotion for some time now, but I hope this isn't the last time we'll see him in a Brewer uniform.

There was brief confusion last night about Nelson's status, as the common procedure in this case would be to designate him for assignment, then attempt to outright him once he had cleared waivers. The Brewers' decision to skip the first step and outright Nelson immediately would suggest that he was put on waivers days ago and has already cleared. Tyler Maas of Bugs & Cranks says Nelson did nothing to earn a demotion.

As for Gamel, his short term role with the team will reportedly look a lot like Prince Fielder's 2005 role. Gamel will get some pinch hit at bats and spot appearances before DH'ing in interleague play, and is not expected to make many starts.

Mike Rivera probably shared a plane ride with Gamel. Rivera completed his rehab assignment in Nashville yesterday, and is expected to rejoin the team and start today. Carlos Corporan will return to AAA.

Major league history was made yesterday, as the very first home run was overturned by instant replay. However, it wasn't the home run in last night's Brewer game. Instead, it was a home run by Adam LaRoche, overturned about an hour earlier.

And, of course, each Trevor Hoffman save creates more history. The All Time Saves Leader picked up save #561 last night, his seventh as a Brewer, and Tom H. says there's still some gas in his 41-year-old tank.

The Brewers took advantage of an opportunity last night, but it was presented to them in the most unlikely way. Fish Bytes wants to know what's wrong with Ricky Nolasco after last night's two-out fourth inning rally, which went this way:

Mike Cameron grounded out.
J.J. Hardy lined out.
Corey Hart walked.
Jason Kendall walked.
Braden Looper singled.
Rickie Weeks singled.
Craig Counsell singled.
Ryan Braun walked.
Prince Fielder singled.
Mike Cameron walked.
J.J. Hardy struck out.

Obviously, there was some luck involved there, but any inning where a pitcher puts Jason Kendall, Braden Looper and Craig Counsell on base is cause for concern.

A Brewer win, Reds win and a Cardinal loss combined to form a three way tie atop the NL Central, with the Cubs just half a game back. Even before last night's game, Justin Inaz was projecting the Brewers as the expected NL Central Champions. They've also moved up from 15th to 8th in MLB FanHouse's Power Rankings.

Chase Wright picked up his second win in AAA yesterday but is still just 2-4, and entered yesterday's contest with an ERA over 5. At The Old Ball Game takes a look at Wright's starts individually, and they're not as bad as you might think, given his overall numbers.

Around the league:

Angels: Are reportedly close to signing reliever Rudy Seanez to a minor league deal.
Cardinals: Placed Ryan Ludwick on the DL with a strained hamstring.
Cubs: Ryan Dempster will not be suspended after throwing a pitch that nearly hit Ryan Braun in the head over the weekend.

Perhaps the hardest part of evaluating a 46-year-old pitcher is trying to decide when he's lost it: Jamie Moyer, who recently signed a two year contract, has posted an 8.15 ERA in his first seven starts, leading some to wonder if this is the end of the line for him.

Will anyone ever hit .400 again? Watching Jack Cust, of all people, led Joe Posnanski to take a look at some players who could feasibly do it, and some players who could have if they'd put the ball in play more.

Do the rules work both ways? Players are immediately ejected and eventually suspended for making contact with an umpire, so Craig Calcaterra of Circling the Bases would like to see umpire Paul Schrieber suspended for his unnecessary contact with Magglio Ordonez last night.

Baseball Digest Daily is all over the Twitter fad, and while mentioning it they linked to this list of MLB players who tweet. There are no current Brewers on the list, but Matt LaPorta is on it. Of course, if you Twitter, you should be following BCB.

Today is a Woot-off day, if you're looking for a present for your favorite blogger. If you'd like to get something for me instead, I've got my eye on this and these.

Oh, and the small-sample-size baseball world has a new elite power hitter: Willie Bloomquist.

Drink up.

Monday's Frosty Mug

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Elsewhere on the hot stove:

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

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

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

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

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

Drink up.

Team-By-Team Arbitration Decisions

Eric Simon — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 22:55:20 -0000

[Updated @ 11:18am: Astros, Reds, Phillies]: News of arbitration [non-]offers are trickling in, so whenever I hear something new I'll add it here. If you discover any on your own don't hesitate to include them in the comments, but be sure to provide a source. I'll update this list accordingly. I am only going to include Type A and Type B free agents, since the arbitration status of unranked players is inconsequential.

Players who were offered arbitration are listed in bold green (Type A) or green (Type B).
Players not offered arbitration are listed in bold red (Type A) or red (Type B).

Angels

Garret Anderson (MLB.com)
Jon Garland (MLB.com)
Darren Oliver (MLB.com)
Francisco Rodriguez (MLB.com)
Mark Teixeira (MLB.com)

Athletics

Alan Embree (MLB.com)
Frank Thomas (MLB.com)

Astros

Doug Brocail (MLB.com)
Mark Loretta (MLB.com)
Randy Wolf (MLB.com)

Blue Jays

A.J. Burnett (MLB.com)
Gregg Zaun (MLB.com)

Braves

John Smoltz (MLB.com)

Brewers

Eric Gagne (MLB.com)
C.C. Sabathia (MLB.com)
Ben Sheets (MLB.com)
Brian Shouse (MLB.com)

Cardinals

Jason Isringhausen (MLB.com)
Braden Looper (MLB.com)
Russ Springer (MLB.com)

Cubs

Bobby Howry (MLB.com)
Kerry Wood (MLB.com)

Diamondbacks

Juan Cruz (MLB.com)
Adam Dunn (MLB.com)
Orlando Hudson (MLB.com)
Randy Johnson (MLB.com)
Brandon Lyon (MLB.com)

Dodgers

Joe Beimel (MLB.com)
Casey Blake (MLB.com)
Jeff Kent (MLB.com)
Derek Lowe (MLB.com)
Greg Maddux (MLB.com)
Brad Penny (MLB.com)
Manny Ramirez (MLB.com)

Mariners

Raul Ibanez (MLB.com)

Marlins

Luis Gonzalez (MLB.com)
Paul Lo Duca (MLB.com)
Arthur Rhodes (MLB.com)

Mets

Moises Alou (MLB.com)
Luis Ayala (MLB.com)
Oliver Perez (MLB.com)

Padres

Trevor Hoffman (MLB.com)

Phillies

Pat Burrell (MLB.com)
Jamie Moyer (MLB.com)
Rudy Seanez (MLB.com)

Rangers

Milton Bradley (MLB.com)

Reds

David Weathers (MLB.com)

Red Sox

Paul Byrd (MLB.com)
Jason Varitek (MLB.com)

Rockies

Brian Fuentes (MLB.com)

Royals

Mark Grudzielanek (MLB.com)

Tigers

Edgar Renteria (MLB.com)

Twins

Dennys Reyes (MLB.com)

White Sox

Orlando Cabrera

Yankees

Bobby Abreu (MLB.com)
Mike Mussina (MLB.com)
Andy Pettitte (MLB.com)
Ivan Rodriguez (MLB.com)