SB Nation - Anthony Reyes

Monday's Frosty Mug

KLSnow — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 15:18:55 -0000

by Jim Prisching - AP

Craig Counsell is expected to re-sign today.

Some things to read while John Tesh rocks the NBA on NBC theme (h/t Amy K. Nelson).

Randy Wolf is expected to undergo a physical this morning and once he does, expect his contract to become official sometime later today. That might not be today's only announcement, though: the Brewers are also expected to finalize a deal with Craig Counsell today. With Counsell, Prince Fielder, Rickie Weeks, Alcides Escobar, Mat Gamel and Casey McGehee all on the roster, the Brewers' Opening Day infield is probably set, barring injury or trade.

Meanwhile, Mike Rivera is surprised to be looking for work after being non-tendered over the weekend. He thought the decision not to retain Jason Kendall would give him an edge as the only returning catcher familiar with the Brewer pitching staff.

As of this writing, roughly 4% of voters in the poll on your right listed the decision to offer Dave bush a 2010 contract as the one Brewer move from this weekend they would change. That's not exactly a large chunk of the fanbase, but In-Between Hops is taking on that vocal minority, making the case that the Brewers made the right move by giving Bush another shot.

If you missed Morineko's Weekend Mug, follow the link over to it for full coverage of the Brewers' arbitration decisions, and a link to this list of all the non-tenders leaguewide.

Looking back at last week, Jon Heyman ranked the Brewers among the Winter Meeting winners. Meanwhile, Marc Hulet of The Baseball Analysts listed Rule 5 selection Chuck Lofgren in the "Why Bother?" category.

The more I think about it, the more I think Lofgren will have a tough task ahead of him if he's going to make the team out of spring training. With Trevor Hoffman, LaTroy Hawkins, Todd Coffey, Claudio Vargas and Mitch Stetter back, there's only two bullpen spots left that are potentially available (barring injury), and Chris Smith, John Axford, Chris Narveson, Zach Braddock and now Lofgren fighting for them. I like Lofgren's potential and hope the Brewers will get an opportunity to realize it, but right now he might be the third or fourth best lefty in the bullpen competition.

If you have a vague interest in Brewer baseball, but wish there was less analysis and more profanity on this site, then Miller Park Drunk's RUNNING series might be just the ticket for you. Follow these links for bad Prince Fielder jokes, some fan fiction involving Ryan Braun trying to rap, and a vague musical reference to Rickie Weeks.

In the minors: Baseball Intellect has video footage of some at bats featuring Cameron Garfield, Cutter Dykstra and Josh Prince from a Pioneer League game back in July. They're pay-only, but there are worse ways to spend $2.95.

If you were gone this weekend, you didn't miss the opportunity to help select a center fielder and catcher for the BCB All Decade Team. Voting closes at 4 pm today for center fielders and 4 pm tomorrow for catchers. We'll open the voting for the final starting outfield spot later today.

Around baseball:

Blue Jays: Signed catcher John Buck to a one-year deal worth $2 million, signed Joey Gathright to a minor league deal,
Braves: Signed Matt Diaz to a one year, $2.55 million deal, avoiding arbitration.
D-Backs: Re-signed infielder Augie Ojeda to a one year deal, and avoided arbitration with Blaine Boyer.
Dodgers: Signed pitcher Josh Towers to a minor league deal.
Giants: Signed shortstop-turned-pitcher Tony Pena Jr. to a minor league deal.
Indians: Re-signed pitchers Adam Miller and Anthony Reyes to minor league deals.
Marlins: Signed catcher Ronny Paulino to a one-year deal, avoiding arbitration.
Nationals: Re-signed Scott Olsen to a one year deal. Also signed pitcher Ryan Speier to a minor league deal.
Padres: Signed pitcher Kevin Correia to a one year deal, avoiding arbitration.
Pirates: Signed Ronny Cedeno to a one year, $1.125 million deal, avoiding arbitration.
Rangers: Signed infielder Esteban German to a one year deal, avoiding arbitration.
Rays: Avoided arbitration with catcher Dioner Navarro and pitchers Grant Balfour, Rafael Soriano, Lance Cormier and Randy Choate.
Royals: Avoided arbitration with pitchers Brian Bannister and Kyle Davies. They also signed pitcher Bruce Chen and catcher Vance Wilson to minor league deals.
White Sox: Signed J.J. Putz to a one year deal.

Meanwhile, the market heated up immediately for Yankees non-tender Chien-Ming Wang, with Ken Rosenthal reporting that six teams have already expressed interest. He doesn't list the teams, but I wouldn't be surprised to discover the Brewers are one of them.

I promise, I'm not going to mention it every time someone says something new about Jason Kendall. In fact, I might try to go the rest of the week without mentioning him at all. With that said, I thought these three links about him were interesting:

Joe Posnanski has a look at the potential Opening Day lineup for the 2010 Royals, now including Kendall.
He also compares Kendall to a superball on the field at Cleveland Municipal Stadium.
Reminding us all how far and how fast Kendall has fallen, Where Have You Gone, Andy Van Slyke? named Kendall the Pirate Catcher of the Decade.

Weeks ago I linked to a post from minor league veteran Garrett Broshuis, mentioning the challenges in finding quality, healthy food in minor league clubhouses. It looks like that problem may be on its way to being resolved: After discussing it at the Winter Meetings, several teams are making an effort to provide healthier options, and remove the constant flow of junk.

If you're a fan of sabermetrics, or just want to learn more about them, I've got two links for you today:

TangoTiger has a look at OPS+, and some minor adjustments that could be made to it to make it more useful than some other advanced metrics.
That post links to this one, Big League Stew's beginner's guide to wOBA. I learned a fair amount by reading that one.

Gorman Thomas celebrated a birthday over the weekend, and while this probably isn't what he had in mind for a gift, David Chalk of Seventh Inning 'Stache has inducted him into the MLB Mustache Hall of Fame.

On this day in 1998, the Brewers acquired Alex Ochoa from the Twins for a minor leaguer named Darrell Nicholas. Ochoa spent one season as a Brewer, hitting .300/.404/.466 before being traded to the Reds for Mark Sweeney after the season.

Happy birthday today to:

Former Seattle Pilot and 1970 Brewer Greg Goossen, who turns 64.
Dave Nilsson, who appeared in 837 games as a Brewer and turns 40.
Marcus Jensen, who appeared in 18 games over two tours as a Brewer and turns 37.

Sean Forman, founder of Baseball Reference, is also celebrating his birthday today. You can help him celebrate by sponsoring a page. I know someone around here will want this one.

Drink up.

Non-tender roundup: Miller and Reyes signed to minor league deals

Jay — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 03:10:39 -0000

Vaporstarter Adam Miller and the oft-injured Anthony Reyes were not tendered contracts by the Indians yesterday, rendering them free agents, but both pitchers signed minor league deals with the Indians just hours later. These transactions remove both pitchers from the 40-man roster while retaining their services for at least one more year. In the (admittedly unlikely) event Miller's career gets back on track this season, this series of moves avoids using up one of his option years, and should the Indians choose in the next year to restore him to the 40-man roster, he will have at least one option year left and will remain under club control at least through 2016. Reyes remains optionless, of course, but still hypothetically could remain under club control through 2013.

The Indians also declined to offer a contract to reliever Jose Veras, who was arbitration eligible, rendering him a free agent, and there is no indication he will be re-signed. Cleveland's 40-man roster now stands at 37, with 18 pitchers and 19 position players.

The Indians did tender a contract to pitcher Rafael Perez, who is eligible for arbitration (and to the other 28 players on the 40-man roster who are not yet eligible). The non-non-tender to Perez was non-unexpected, despite a disastrous season in which he was the fourth-worst reliever in the majors (min. 30 IP) per WXRL, which estimates a reliever's actual impact on the chance of his team winning or losing games. (That's "Win Expectation above Replacement, Lineup-adjusted," if you must know. BP rates Perez as merely the 10th-worst reliever at preventing runs from scoring, but because he blew more runs than his peers in high-leverage game situations, his negative impact on wins and losses was more substantial.)

Perez spent almost two months in the minors but still qualified for arbitration as a Super Two player with several weeks to spare. As a relief pitcher coming off a terrible season with barely enough service time to qualify, Perez is in line to be awarded perhaps the smallest salary of any player going to arbitration, probably less than $1 million. It's worth recalling, at this point, how outstanding Perez was in his truly super two-plus seasons prior to this one. He had a 2.89 ERA (and 152 ERA+) over 149.1 IP. He struck out 9.8 batters per nine innings, with 3.7 strikeouts for every walk. He held lefties to a .241 slugging percentage and allowed them only nine extra-base hits in 249 PA. As long as we keep tendering him contracts, he remains under club control through 2013, and there is a reasonable chance he will re-emerge as an impact reliever, or at the very least a useful one, at some point in that span.

Other notable non-tenders include former Indians Ryan Garko and Ryan Church. Garko of course was traded to the Giants only months ago for a decent enough pitching prospect. Just 115 abysmal AB later, Giants GM Brian Sabean is now saying he doesn't want to pay upwards of $3 million to a guy who isn't really an everyday player. I'm not saying he's wrong, but it's a pretty hilarious statement to make for a guy who will still owes $83 million to Barry Zito for the next four seasons. McCovey Chronicles has a pretty dead-on take on Sabean's curious sequence of decisions. My theory is that you just can't understand how slow this guy is on the basepaths until he's actually on your team, and maybe Wedge actually deked the Giants with respect to Garko's athleticism by playing him in the outfield.

Expect the cleveland.com crowd to clamor for Garko's return, oblivious to the fact that two teams have now deemed him unworthy of an everyday role in the space of just a few months. Despite high regard for his character, I would be surprised if Shapiro brought him back, even at a substantially reduced salary. I rather expect Garko will be signed by a GM who scouted him as a college player and was impressed with his stroke. As a lefty batter, Church doesn't really fit in with the Indians' plans. Other interesting non-tenders include Pirates closer Matt Capps, Yankees sinkerballer Chien-Ming Wang, and third baseman Garrett Atkins. Atkins is perhaps best remembered as the guy that the Indians never even considered trading Aaron Laffey to get. I wouldn't be surprised if the Indians took an interest in Mike MacDougal; they seem to like guys who used to be closers.

As for Miller, these moves were unusual, reflecting an unusual situation. The "non-tender" deadline traditionally involves only players who are arbitration-eligible, as there is little reason not to tender a contract to any player on the 40-man roster who isn't eligible, since the most the team can be compelled to pay such a player is the minimum salary, which will remain $400,000 for the 2010 season. Many such players will make less than half that much, if they don't spend much time in the majors.

The latest in Miller's deathless progression of rehab setbacks occurred after rosters were frozen for the Rule 5 draft. Otherwise, the Indians might have chosen to DFA Miller prior to that point, exposing him to waivers. That might have cost the Indians the rights to Chuck Lofgren — but then again, maybe not. The Indians might have protected some other on-the-bubble prospect like Yohan Pino, in which case, Miller's delayed setback actually saved the Indians from burning an option year on whoever-that-would-have-been. And even if Miller clears waivers (and later, presumably, also clears the Rule 5 draft), he would have been granted minor league free agency anyway, since he was originally signed more than six years ago.

In that sense, non-tendering Miller, while unusually, was actually a more straightforward path to the same destination. Either way, he ends up as a free agent, free to sign with any club, but this way, he doesn't have to pass through waivers first. Miller obviously felt some combination of organizational loyalty and faith in the club's ability to rehab him back into a prospect, assuming that's even possible. Reyes has spent far less time in the Indians organization, but he had the same options as Miller and made the same choice. If either player was actually worth something anymore, we might consider feeling good about that.

Non-Tendered is the Night

DanUpBaby — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 11:39:12 -0000

More photos » by Julie Jacobson - AP

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NON-TENDERED IS THE NIGHT

A VIVA EL BIRDOS PLAY IN ONE ACT

CHARACTERS

ANTHONY REYES, ex-Cardinal, ex-Indian

CHARON, or at least a man with a boat

SOME FELLOW TRAVELERS, washed up on the shores of this same strange place

???, a mysterious liaison between the worlds hither and beyond

DAVE DUNCAN, a prospective hauntee

SCENE

At some point the place Anthony Reyes stands may indeed have been the afterlife—certainly it has all the trappings. The lighting, punctuated by the sensible desk-lamps that stand atop each of thousands of desks, arranged on a grid, occasionally reaches eerie; someone, every so often, moans and wails. These were once the moans and wails of the damned.

But it is non-tender season, and until it is time for the afterlife to renegotiate its contract with Major League Baseball a loophole has allowed it to become crowded with souls in limbo on the night after baseball's non-tender deadline. One such soul is ANTHONY REYES—he stands at one end of an unattractive little stream, playing with the bill of his cap, watching the office workers of the damned as they deal efficiently with a flood of new paperwork. Finally a boat reaches his side—a man, who is very obviously working overtime, waves him hastily on.

CHARON: Mr.—Mr. Reyes, then?

REYES: Yes, that's me.

CHARON: I apologize for the delay, I had Jack Cust in here and he fell off the side. I'm kidding, but he almost did. But that's my joke.

REYES: Where am I?

CHARON: Right now it's an open question, but you're in the process of being in hell. Don't worry about the connotations, we're doing contract work. You weren't tendered a contract. What's the last thing you remember?

REYES: Well, we'd just beaten the Tigers, and I'm explaining to this reporter that don't really iron my cap, and... I don't know, the rest of it's a blur.

CHARON: Well, you didn't yadda-yadda the best part.

REYES: What?

CHARON: It's from Seinfeld, it's a joke—look, I'm sorry—it's a TV show—I'm sorry. I'm just a little nervous having to make small-talk. It's not what I normally do. In between 2006 and 2009 you've been sent to the minors ten or fifteen times, traded to the Indians for a guy who was later handed off to the Padres in exchange for their vague interest, had six pretty good starts in 2008, and undergone a serious elbow surgery.

REYES: I thought I felt a little sore.

CHARON: I have another joke, where I'm like, "I ferry you across, but not your fastball," because it's funny and then it's spooky, you know? But I thought maybe that would be too close to home. Anyway, we're here, thank goodness. I've got Garrett Atkins on the other side. You think the Cardinals'll go after him? He can't play defense, but he hit for that year or so.

REYES: You're saying they let the guy they traded me for go in the Rule 5 draft?

CHARON: That's what it says on your chart.

REYES: Yeah, I hope they do.

REYES is deposited in the main office floor of hell, where he is seated by the secretary of hell in the waiting room of hell. SOME FELLOW TRAVELERS, each with a numbered ticket in hand, are sitting in his row.

REYES: Oh, wow, you're Jack Cust, aren't you?

CUST: Is he still telling that joke? Yeah, I am.

REYES: Why are you here?

CUST: Well, I can hit a fastball as well as anybody you've ever seen, and I'll hit it 400 feet to any part of the field. But they don't throw me any fastballs. And I can't play defense. If you were a team with a hole in left field, and you had a young right-handed hitter to platoon with me, and a fleet-footed fifth outfielder—no, probably not. To be honest. But I'll DH somewhere. Anyway, I'm here so that they can tell me which Greek philosophical allegory best represents the whole fastball hitter/no fastballs thing. I can see you're here representing an NL team, so I'll stop talking now.

CUST stumbles out of frame. Across from REYES are several pitchers, most with one or both arms in slings, as precautionary measure. REYES feels a particular and immediate bond with CHIEN-MING WANG, a late twentysomething non-tender with serious arm problems.

REYES: I think we have a lot in common, you and I. We both had some great moments and some bad ones. We were both dumped pretty unceremoniously by a team that had spent a while waiting for our big breakout. I'll tell you, if I had your sinker and you had my change-up we might not be in this mess right now, you know?

WANG: 我不會說英語，但我喜歡你的滑稽的帽子。

REYES: Oh.

CUST: Excuse me—I'm sorry to interrupt, but I speak a little Mandarin... Wang agrees with you, for the most part. He's worried about his shoulder, but he thinks either of you would make a fine pick-up for a team with low expectations and a full but marginally unsettled rotation. There's also Scott Olsen, he notes, but he's rumored to be a headcase, and injured besides; he's lost even more velocity than you did last year. And he likes your cap; do you iron it?

REYES: No, it's simple, really, I cut—

CUST: Sorry, that's my number coming up. It was nice talking to you. (他絕對是整燙.) You should talk to those guys over there—it looks like they've already received their allegorical judgment. [Down the hall behind CUST walk a reliever in black and a reliever in white. They are holding a pair of new-looking scripts.]

MACDOUGAL: "I am the Spirit of Nibbling—and the, and not enough contact! I am alpha!"

CAPPS: "I am the Spirit of Going After Hitters—and too much contact! I am omega!"

MACDOUGAL and CAPPS: "If we were one pitcher, getting groundballs and going after hitters, we would be your ideal pitcher. Now we are... Now we are..." [CAPPS, his head down, runs into REYES.]

CAPPS: I'm sorry, we're running our lines. See, Mike is an extreme groundball hitter with a serious control problem, and I'm an extreme flyball hitter with a serious home run problem, and I guess we're here to haunt Dave Duncan, because there's a non-zero chance he has to deal with one of us.

REYES: Dave Duncan? He's behind that door?

Suddenly the last three years snap into focus for ANTHONY REYES. La Russa and DAVE DUNCAN's unimpressive record with young pitchers sharpens in his mind. A sinker, a horrible sinker, plays across the memory of his arm's tortured muscles. He bursts through the door to find DUNCAN's face projected onto white drywall, and —

Hey man, I knew you'd find us eventually. In hell! I got a winter job here.

REYES: Oh, no! The Ghost of Chris Lambert!

DUNCAN: Oh, for god's sake, is this a party line? Reyes, did this clown bring you here?

LAMBERT: This ghost clown! Liaison between hither and beyond! Licensed astral-projector operator!

REYES: You, Dave Duncan. You're the reason I'm here, aren't you? I remember it all now. I destroyed the minor leagues, I did pretty well in the major leagues, but that wasn't enough, was it? I had a K:BB ratio over seven one year! In the PCL!

DUNCAN: That seems like you're oversimplifying things a bit. After all, your velocity was pretty consistent both years, wasn't it? And you're—well, your arm hasn't exactly held up in the meantime. Look, Reyes, I like you—

LAMBERT: Man, you were just telling me about how stupid that stupid ironed cap looked—

DUNCAN: Look, Reyes. I like you more than I like this guy. And I'm biased, obviously. But as wrong a turn as we might have done you, this whole thing might have been a confluence of you struggling to adapt to the majors at the same time your elbow slowly came unglued. See what happens this year, or next year. There's still plenty of time to be Al Leiter, or somebody.

REYES: I guess you might be right. But Luis Perdomo? Was that the best Mozeliak could do? I'm a fun guy to watch! I have an interesting wind-up, cool socks, an awesome hat. All I want now is a make-good contract. Give me a Matt Clement deal and see what happens, you know?

DUNCAN: Lambert, can you get Mozeliak on this thing?

LAMBERT: Oh... look, I don't really know that guy that well, can you call him? Tell him it's a long distance call—a really long distance call. From hell!

REYES: Okay, you know what? It's not worth it. I'm going somewhere else.

LAMBERT: From hell!

Pitcher Purgatory

afh4 — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 21:38:10 -0000

As always, click on the panels for larger images.

choosing up sides

lboros — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 11:00:23 -0000

More photos » by Tom Gannam - AP

jeff luhnow's first selection in the amateur draft was also his best so far.

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howdy gang; i'll be sitting in today and friday while danup takes his annual leave of the pixels. i got nothing to say about the team this morning that you don’t already know; start hitting soon, boys. please?

the amateur draft starts tonight with rounds 1 through 3, plus a couple of sandwich rounds; i’ll post a comment thread for that, and a concurrent one for the baseball game against florida. i won’t be on hand tonight to update the picks on the front page as they’re made, so if anybody with keys to the blog has a chance to do that, go for it. and thank you.

this will be the 5th luhnow-run draft; that’s a lot of drafts for one guy. according to Baseball America’s executive database, only three scouting directors have run more drafts for the cardinal franchise -- marty maier, fred mcalister (rip), and george silvey. and maier’s were non-consecutive, which leaves silvey and mcalister -- both franchise legends -- as the only two men with longer uninterrupted stints than luhnow at the head of the draft.

there’s still plenty of room for argument about how effectively luhnow has drafted. he’s already had 10 draftees get to the majors -- rasmus, greene, boggs, stavinoha, and garcia from the 2005 draft; perez, walters, luke gregerson, and sugar shane from ’06; todd from ’07 -- but none has been around long enough to establish how good a big-leaguer he will be. the pundits give luhnow good marks -- since he started drafting, the cardinals’ farm system ranking (according to the likes of baseball america, keith law, and kevin goldstein) has jumped from at or near the bottom in 2005 to the top 10 this year. but there are a lot of doubters too, as joe strauss documented in his p-d article on sunday:

.[N]umerous holdovers from Jocketty's regime remain skeptical of a process they believe has amassed plenty of complementary "bat guys" and bullpen arms but few starting pitchers or "impact" players.

Late to the organization's greater emphasis on quantitative analysis, manager Tony La Russa openly has questioned the level of "experimentation" within player development and scouting under Luhnow.

Said La Russa: "What you can look at is: Who did you take? Who did you have the chance to take? What guys get to the big leagues? And of the guys who reach the big leagues, who are impressive? They're fair questions to ask."

Another organization member is blunter still: "There is very little down there, very little. We haven't drafted players you build a team around. We draft guys who may one day help. That's not opinion; that's fact."

anybody want to guess who the anonymous speaker of the last quote is? i'll bet you a number-one draft pick it’s dave duncan . . . . whichever "jocketty holdover" did say it, that comment made me laugh. in the years immediately before luhnow took over, the cardinals didn’t draft players you could build a triple A team around, much less a big-league club. during the dying days of jocketty’s tenure, he’d look down at the memphis roster for a short-term fill-in and his best options would be washed-out 30ish hitters like scott seabol, brian daubach, or timo perez, or mound journeymen like brian falkenborg and kelvin jimenez. the top "prospects" drafted late on jocketty’s watch, such as travis hanson and reid gorecki, didn’t even rise to the level of replacement players.

so it’s a fact -- not an opinion -- that the farm system is stocked with vastly more promise than it was when luhnow took over. he’s been procuring players for four years now, and in that time he’s brought into the organization two likely major-league regulars (colby rasmus and brett wallace), several others who are possible regulars or semi-regulars (daryl jones, pete kozma, tyler greene, bryan anderson), a bunch of others who have bench-player potential (most notably allen craig, john jay, tyler henley, daniel descalso), and a passel of guys with a good chance to stick somewhere as a reliever or mid- to back-rotation starter (mitch boggs, jaime garcia, lance lynn, clay mortensen, chris perez, jess todd, luke gregerson, francisco samuel, fernando salas). that’s not including anybody who’s presently at class A or below (ie, nearly the entire 2008 draft class), nor toolsy caribbean signees like roberto de la cruz and eduardo sanchez and gerardo mannbel.

let’s place that haul alongside the production of previous four-year spans:

	2005-08	2001-04	1997-00	1993-96
STARS	????	dan haren	albert pujols jd drew	matt morris
REGULARS	probably 3 to 5	skip schumaker	adam kennedy yadi molina jack wilson chris duncan coco crisp rick ankiel	placido polanco alan benes braden looper
PART-TIMERS	possibly 8 to 10	kyle mclellan joe mather brad thompson daric barton brendan ryan anthony reyes jason motte	bud smith mike crudale pablo ozuna	eli marrero jay witasick cliff polite britt reames chris richard kerry robinson brent butler

in this chart, the "regulars" category includes starting pitchers who earne a regular rotation spot, plus closers; "part-timers" includes non-closers in the bullpen. i didn’t bother to list replacement-level players (such as stavinoha and shane robinson), who are legion in all the 4-year periods and of absolutely no interest.

what immediately jumps out at me is that the cardinals drafted their asses off in the late 1990s -- and thereby set up the dynasty of the 2000s. between 1997 and 2000 they brought 8 everyday players into the organization, or 2 per year. they drafted an entire up-the-middle core -- yadi behind the plate; kennedy and wilson in the middle infield; crisp in center -- plus a pitcher with ace potential (ankiel) and two mvp-type hitters (pujols and drew). even though they squandered some of the talent (crisp and wilson were both dealt for half-season rentals, and ankiel you know about), the cardinals added an extraordinary amount of value to their portfolio during those years. we don’t think of the 2000s dynasty as being draft-built, but it really was -- their good drafts in the last half of the 1990s yielded albert pujols and matt morris plus (via trade) edgar renteria, jim edmonds, and scott rolen.

could the 2005-08 draft cohort turn out to be as productive as 97-00? not likely, but not impossible. if we’re lucky, rasmus and/or wallace might eventually fit into the "star" category; they might be the two most promising position players the cardinals have drafted since pujols (although wallace’s early showing at memphis -- 4 walks, 21 strikeouts, .088 isolated power in 91 at-bats -- does give me slight pause). daryl jones could turn into coco crisp, and pete kozma could grow up to be jack wilson (a player he was compared to at the time he was drafted); so could tyler greene, for that matter. there might be a closer (perez) and/or a rotation regular or two in the group. . . . in an extremely lucky scenario, there might be 8 everyday players (including a star or two) to come out of luhnow’s first four drafts. more likely the group will produce 3 to 5 regulars plus some bench depth; a good, not great, haul.

will the cardinals be able to build a contending team around these guys? too soon to tell; ask me again when luhnow’s preparing for his 8th or 9th draft . . . . .

Red Baron Note: Hey, gang, Aaron here. I'm going to be covering the draft as it happens over at the RFT, and I'll try to keep the draft thread here updated too whenever a pick is made. I'll probably save the heavy analysis, but I will make sure at least the names and maybe a link or a couple of sentences is put up.

Also, I know Erik is doing a liveblog over at FR via the CoverItLive software, so be sure to check that out as well. Lord, I love draft day.

Transactions: The Rotation Crumbles

Ryan — Sat, 30 May 2009 21:05:20 -0000

More photos » by Pat Sullivan - AP

A week's worth of roster tinkering ended on a hopeful note with the return of Rafael Perez to the bullpen.

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The Indians went almost a week (The 17th to the 23rd) without making a move. During that time, the bullpen started to right itself, with the only ongoing problem seeming to be the last two spots in the rotation (then held by Anthony Reyes and David Huff). Unfortunately, after last Saturday's game in Cincinnati, more major changes to the pitching staff were in order.

5-23-09

Placed RHP Anthony Reyes on the 15-Day Disabled List (right elbow)

Reyes started last Saturday's game, but had to leave after the third inning because of pain in his throwing elbow. Reyes had struggled to throw strikes in his brief time on the mound that day, and it was because of injury. After having the elbow looked at, the team physician recommended ulnar nerve transposition, which would move the ulnar nerve in his right elbow from its present location in the back of the elbow joint to the front so that it would no longer rub against the bone. If he had the surgery, he would be out of action anywhere from four to six months, which meant he wouldn't be available at all this season.

So who would fill this rotation spot? The easy answer, for at least a couple innings, was Aaron Laffey, who had been moved from the rotation to the bullpen not because he had been pitching poorly but because the Indians desparately needed some help in relief.

Placed LHP Aaron Laffey on the 15-Day Disabled List (right oblique)

Laffey injured himself later in that game in Cincinnati after throwing a pitch. There's no surgery needed, but the recovery period is 4-6 weeks, and meant that the Indians would have four starting pitchers on the DL for at least one month. Jake Westbrook, who has been recovering from Tommy John Surgery, will probably be the first starter of the quartet (Reyes, Laffey, Westbrook, and Scott Lewis) to return to the rotation, and that probably won't be until the end of this month. So the eight starters the Indians had at the beginning of the season (with Westbrook being the ninth) was whittled down to five.

Recalled LHP Jeremy Sowers from Columbus (AAA)

Sowers was recalled right away to give the Indians some long relief if one of their other starters would have a short start. Sowers had started two games earlier in the season, but didn't last past the fifth in either of them. He had pitched very well in AAA in between major-league stints, but hasn't had major-league success since his debut in 2006. In 290.2 major-league innings, he's struck out 4.0 batters per nine innings, and even in his good season wasn't missing many bats.

Recalled LHP Rich Rundles from Columbus (AAA)

Rundles had been up briefly with the team earlier in the season, but hadn't got in a game. If he's still with the team after all the dust clears, he might work his way into a LOOGY role as the second left-hander in the bullpen. But this time he was recalled with the same purpose as the previous time: as an emergency reserve.

5-26-09

Optioned OF Matt LaPorta to Columbus (AAA)

Recalled OF Trevor Crowe from Columbus (AAA)

LaPorta wasn't getting to play regularly, even with Travis Hafner on the Disabled List, because Grady Sizemore couldn't play the field because of a sore throwing elbow. Also, in a roundabout way, Luis Valbuena's success was reducing his playing time, since more at-bats for Valbuena meant more games at third base for Jhonny Peralta, which meant more games in the outfield for Mark DeRosa. And Matt hadn't helped his cause by struggling in his sporadic major-league at-bats. So, he was sent back to AAA to "play every day."

With Sizemore not going to the DL, or days away from heading there, the Indians needed someone who could play a competant center field. Ben Francisco can certainly fill in there from time to time, but his range isn't good enough to play at the position for any tangible length of time. That should mean Crowe will get regular playing time until Grady's elbow is sound enough to make the throw from the outfield. Trevor, in his time with the Clippers, hit an anemic .230/.321/.297, so the Indians lineup will suffer with him in it.

5-27-09

Recalled LHP Zach Jackson from Columbus (AAA)

Optioned LHP Rich Rundles to Columbus (AAA)

The Indians, because they had to use Sowers in long relief the night before, recalled Jackson to start this past Tuesday's game agains the Rays. I don't think the arrangement was intended to be permanent, but Jackson confirmed his temporary status by giving up five runs in the first inning. The Indians ended up winning the game, but no thanks to Jackson, who left after four innings.

5-28-09

Transferred RHP Anthony Reyes from the 15-Day Disabled List to the 60-Day Disabled List (right elbow)

Optioned LHP Zach Jackson to Columbus (AAA)

Purchased the Contract of Tomo Ohka and Recalled him from Columbus (AAA)

These machinations were to yet again add another stopgap arm to the bullpen. Ohka doesn't have the stuff to start anymore, but I suppose he can serve as a longman for now. With "now" meaning the next week.

5-29-09

Designated OF David Dellucci for Assignment

Recalled LHP Rafael Perez from Columbus (AAA)

Dellucci had begun the season on the Disabled List, and never worked his way into regular playing time even though the DH was available. He first lost at-bats to Matt LaPorta, then to Grady Sizemore and Mark DeRosa, who was getting more starts in left field. At this stage in his career, he's a liability even in left, and hasn't provided enough run production to justify being used as a DH. A team desperate for outfield help (Atlanta?) or for a pinch-hitter should have an interest in him.

Rafael Perez spent his time in Columbus productively, for it looks like he's solved whatever mechanical problems that plagued him the first couple weeks of the season. His return should further strengthen a bullpen already showing progress in the past couple weeks.

Monday's Frosty Mug

KLSnow — Mon, 25 May 2009 13:38:36 -0000

More photos » by Jim Mone - AP

Mitch Stetter gave up a grand slam last night. Is that enough for R.J. Swindle to take his spot in the bullpen?

Browse more photos »

Some things to read while thawing out your sandals.

The Brewers open a three game series with the Cardinals in a few hours, and they're probably working to forget this weekend's series in Minnesota. Before they left, though, Ken Macha chatted with Anthony Witrado about last night's HBP call reversal, which led to a huge momentum shift late in the game.

In the end, though, the Brewers have no one to blame but themselves for their terrible play over the weekend. Rookie Anthony Swarzak, who held the Brewers scoreless for seven innings on Saturday, was one of nine debuting pitchers profiled at Beyond the Box Score. Swarzak's performance was impressive, but it was even more impressive to discover he did it while throwing 75% fastballs.

Casey McGehee was one of this weekend's lone bright spots. He's made five starts at second base since Rickie Weeks' injury, has reached base in all of them and is hitting .429/.500/.571 in his last 20 plate appearances. Anthony Witrado profiled him over the weekend, and the Brewer coaching staff had positive things to say.

Mike Cameron's home run yesterday was the 250th of his career, making him just the 20th player with 250 home runs and 250 stolen bases. The Brewers celebrated the accomplishment after the game.

Meanwhile, the Brewers continue to be mentioned as a possible destination for Jake Peavy. Both Jon Heyman and MLB Trade Rumors mentioned it again over the weekend. With that said, it still seems like Peavy is owed far too much money to fit into the Brewer budget.

Could Matt Cain be a target instead? As Battlekow noted over the weekend, the Giants are reportedly shopping Cain, but the organization has denied the report.

R.J. Swindle appeared in two games over the weekend. Thor Nystrom of The Official Site says Swindle was excited for the opportunity. After Mitch Stetter hit Joe Mauer and gave up a grand slam to Justin Morneau, one could make a case for Swindle staying with the team and Stetter going back down.

Speaking of bullpen arms, Driveline Mechanics takes a look at the delivery of everyone's favorite anomaly, Mark DiFelice. They see several concerning things in his motion, but wonder if the decreased workload in the bullpen and his lack of velocity might save him from injury.

How much credit for the pitching staff's success should go to new pitching coach Billy Castro? The Wisconsin State Journal profiles Castro, who is spending his eighteenth season as part of the Brewer coaching staff.

Maybe he should play second base in a catcher's mask: Brett Lawrie broke his nose getting hit with a bad hop on a ground ball on Thursday. He was able to pinch hit yesterday, so one would assume he's close to being back in the lineup.

Around the league:

Angels: Placed Shane Loux on the DL with shoulder inflammation.
Cubs: Placed Rich Harden on the DL with a mid-back strain. (h/t FanShot)
Dodgers: Signed Korean pitchers Ji-Mo Lee and Hyang-nam Choi to minor league deals and placed outfielder Xavier Paul on the DL with an infection in his knee.
Indians: Placed Anthony Reyes (elbow inflammation) and Aaron Laffey (oblique strain) on the DL.
Orioles: Released Adam Eaton.
Rays: Placed Scott Kazmir (quad strain) and Troy Percival (shoulder tendinitis) on the DL, and are also expected to place Akinori Iwamura on the DL with a knee injury. Percival may consider retirement.
Reds: Designated OF Darnell McDonald for assignment and placed Edinson Volquez on the DL with a back issue.
Rockies: Placed catcher Chris Iannetta on the DL with a hamstring strain.
Royals: Placed SS Mike Aviles (forearm strain) and pitcher Robinson Tejeda (rotator cuff tendinitis) on the DL.

With Scott Kazmir out, the Rays have called up David Price, who will start tonight. Price has been striking out over nine batters per nine innings in AAA while posting a 3.93 ERA.

Ever wonder what life is like for a career journeyman like Ron Villone? Nats320 sat down with the former Brewer to discuss his first day as a National.

The MLB Draft doesn't get the hype of its NFL and NBA counterparts, but if you need starting pitching it's very important. Minor League Ball crunched the numbers and discovered that 34% of last year's top pitchers were former first round picks.

Oh, and with the proper training and sound effects, you too can make it look like you're beating the crap out of your kids.

Drink up.

DL Stint: Anthony Reyes

Kyle Boddy — Mon, 25 May 2009 01:45:47 -0000

Indians Reyes, Laffey to DL

Reyes, who has been bothered by a sore elbow for the last couple years, had trouble feeling the ball and couldn't throw strikes. He left after three innings, having walked six batters and hit another. He has inflammation in the elbow, and will undergo tests on Monday.

The Cleveland Plain Dealer reports:

Reyes' in jury comes as no surprise. He's been pitching on borrowed time this season because of a chronic right elbow problem. His velocity has been dropping all season. Friday night, Reyes ran out of tricks.
He walked six and allowed one run in three helter-skelter innings. He threw 59 pitches, only 29 for strikes. Many of them were ankle high and in the dirt. His velocity ranged from 81 mph to 88 mph.
He looked like a man in pain who had no idea where the ball was going.

On December 4th, 2008, I said this about Anthony Reyes:

Prognosis: Steadily dropping velocity, a lowering of his arm slot to protect his shoulder, repeated stints on the DL for shoulder and elbow inflammation, and eventually major reconstructive surgery on his shoulder (to be followed by elbow surgery a few years later).

Though I couldn't see any lowering of the arm slot based on PITCHf/x studies or qualitative analysis, it didn't surprise me at all to see Anthony Reyes land on the disabled list due to inflammation in the elbow.

The Brewers Against Starters Making Their Major League Debut

TheJay — Sat, 23 May 2009 12:36:50 -0000

Anthony Swarzak is scheduled to start for the Twins tonight. Haven't heard of him? That could be because he's never pitched in the majors before. Since joining the National League in 1998, the Brewers have faced eighteen starting pitchers making their major league debut. It's been done before, it never hurts to look again at a rundown of how they did:

Player	Date	Tm	Opp	W/L	Score	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	GmSc
Brian Meadows	4/4/1998	FLA	MIL	L	2-6	3.2	10	6	6	2	3	0	18
Dan Reichert	7/16/1999	KCR	@MIL	W	12-10	1.2	5	7	7	4	1	0	14
Buddy Carlyle	8/29/1999	SDP	MIL	W	5-4	7	2	4	1	2	5	1	66
Brian O'Connor	5/13/2000	PIT	MIL	W	11-8	2	7	6	6	2	0	1	16
Adam Eaton	5/30/2000	SDP	MIL	W	6-3	5.1	5	3	3	2	4	1	48
Jose Acevedo	6/19/2001	CIN	MIL	L	8-10	4	4	6	6	2	4	3	32
Carlos Zambrano	8/20/2001	CHC	MIL	L	2-10	4	4	7	7	4	3	1	25
Juan Cruz	8/21/2001	CHC	MIL	L	1-3	6	3	2	2	1	8	0	65
Josh Pearce	4/20/2002	STL	@MIL	L	3-5	4.2	6	3	3	3	0	0	37
Nate Teut	5/4/2002	FLA	@MIL	L	4-6	4.1	8	5	5	1	3	0	29
Kirk Saarloos	6/18/2002	HOU	@MIL	L	1-7	4.2	6	6	6	3	4	1	29
Chin-hui Tsao	7/25/2003	COL	MIL	W	7-3	6.1	8	3	3	1	5	2	49
Zach Duke	7/2/2005	PIT	@MIL	L	3-5	7	5	3	3	1	9	1	63
Anthony Reyes	8/9/2005	STL	@MIL	W	5-2	6.1	2	2	2	1	5	1	65
Paul Maholm	8/30/2005	PIT	@MIL	W	6-0	8	4	0	0	3	5	0	76
Boof Bonser	5/21/2006	MIN	@MIL	L	3-5	6	5	1	1	3	8	0	63
Rick VandenHurk	4/10/2007	FLA	MIL	L	2-3	4.2	5	1	1	3	5	0	52
Jonathon Niese	9/2/2008	NYM	@MIL	W	6-5	3	7	5	5	4	2	1	23
All Players	1998-2008	MLB	MIL	8-10	87-95	88.2	96	70	67	42	74	13	43

The won-loss marks and scores are from the perspective of the pitcher's team, so the Brewers have actually gone 10-8 in games started by opposing pitchers making their major league debut. "GmSc" stands for game score, a fun little number that tries to rate the effectiveness of a pitcher's start without getting too complex. The pitcher list contains some eminently forgettable names and some guys who still give the Brewers fits, but taken together, they didn't do well in their first starts:

Here are the rate stats for their 88 2/3 combined innings: 9.74 H/9, 7.11 RA, 6.80 ERA, 4.26 BB/9, 7.51 K/9, 1.32 HR/9

For quick and dirty comparisons' sake, the Brewers have turned starters making their major league debuts into Chan Ho Park with a few more homers. Hopefully they make Swarzak's stats look like Park's 2009 numbers.

Game 43: Reds 3, Indians 1

Ryan — Sat, 23 May 2009 02:29:14 -0000

More photos » by David Kohl - AP

Anthony Reyes was one of two Cleveland pitchers to leave the game with an injury.

Browse more photos »

Anthony Reyes only lasted three innings before leaving the game with a sore elbow. If he had been pitching all game with the balky elbow, his performance was understandable, if not miraculous. The first three Cincinnati batters he faced reached without a hit, but after the smoke cleared and the mirrors were carted off, the Reds had just a run to show for their promising start. Reyes dodged the big inning the next two frames then finally couldn't continue. Reyes has had elbow trouble his entire career, including a flare-up that shortened his 2008 season.

Even on teams with deep bullpens, a starter leaving the game before the fifth is a tough obstacle to overcome, especially if there's no longman around to get the game to the short relievers. Tonight Jensen Lewis gave the Indians a welcome three innings of shutout relief, and at the end of his outing, the game was still tied at one. The advantage still rested with Cincinnati given the relative strengths of the bullpens, but at least the Indians had a chance to win.

Aaron Laffey took over for Lewis in the seventh. With Reyes' injury, assuming that it was serious to put him on the DL, Laffey seemed the logical choice to replace him in the rotation. After all, Laffey wasn't moved to the bullpen because he was pitching poorly. But after the Reds took the lead off him in the eighth, he injured what looked like an oblique muscle and had to leave the game. It looks like the Indians will have four starters on the Disabled List (Westbrook, Lewis, Reyes, and Laffey), and that starter depth at the beginning of the year is now gone. I'm going to assume that Jeremy Sowers will get called up to take Reyes' place in the rotation, but until then, the Indians probably will go with an extra reliever. As who the two relievers are, your guess is as good as mine.

Meanwhile, the offense had a couple opportunities to take the lead, the biggest being the seventh. With one out, Peralta went from first to third on a Mark DeRosa single to right, but Ryan Garko grounded into an inning-ending double play on the next pitch.

Next Up: Huff vs. Bailey, 7:10 PM

via www.fangraphs.com

Highest WPA		Lowest WPA
Jensen Lewis	.206	Ryan Garko	-.247
Jhonny Peralta	.091	Aaron Laffey	-.178
Grady Sizemore	.087	Asdrubal Cabrera	-.141