April / May Transactions -- Latest: Woodward, Garciaparra Signed, Narveson to D.L.

[Mass Haas]

After fully researching and then informing you this offseason in this post about OF Curt Miaso, it turns out he will be one of the "phantom" farmhands who never plays in an official game for the organization, as he has been released.

 

Baseball America indicates he was released as a RHP -- that's either a mis-print, or Miaso's conversion to the mound hadn't gone well.

[hsvstarsfan]

Does anyone know how fast Jones has been throwing this year? I'll have a chance to finally see him in Huntsville now!

I'd like to know myself, but the speed display at our antiquated ballpark no longer works.

[Mass Haas]

Nashville Site:

To replace Tim Dillard (now in Milwaukee, congratulations Tim, from Brewerfan) on the Nashville roster, right-hander Jason Shiell has rejoined the Sounds from Double-A Huntsville, where he went 0-1 with a 3.38 ERA (2 ER / 5.1 IP) in three relief outings.

 

He opened the year with Nashville and posted an 0-3 record and 6.39 ERA (9 ER / 12.2 IP) in 12 relief outings before being reassigned to the Stars on May 12 when Derrick Turnbow joined the club.

 

***

 

No word yet on a corresponding roster addition for Huntsville.... actually, yes, thank you Huntsville front office -- Brevard County's RHP Donovan Hand with a well-deserved promotion to AA in only his second pro season.

[Mass Haas]

While not completely official, MiLB.com appears to indicate that RHP Mike McClendon has come off the Brevard County DL, which would back-fill Donovan Hand's place on the Manatee roster.

 

EDIT: yes, McClendon's back -- official.

[bork]

As the Brewers DL fills up, the minor league DLs are almost empty. Quite a healthy year, so far (knock on wood). 5 on the Brewers DL and only 5 in the entire minors on the DL. And Pamisano is the only position player in the whole organization on the DL.

[colbyjack]

Look for Brent Brewer to join the Manatees tomorrow. The numbers may not seem to justify it, but he's moving up.

[LouisEly]

With Brevard still in contention for a first half title and WV pretty much out of it, it is not surprising at all (and Perez is stinking it up at Brevard just as much as Brewer is at WV). The Brewers M.O. has been that they will move guys before the season mid-point if one team is in contention and needs help and another team is out of it. Thus why Aguilar is still in Brevard - they are in contention for the post-season so he will not be moved up to Huntsville until the first half is over. Also perhaps why Patrick Ryan stayed in Huntsville and Shiell got called back up to Nashville.

[Mass Haas]

Charleston Daily Mail:

Milwaukee promoted West Virginia shortstop Brent Brewer to high Class A Brevard County (Fla.) after the game.

"I'm just happy," said Brewer, 20, who also spent last season in West Virginia. "I finally get the chance to go down there and show what I can do.

"I'm just going to do the best I can. I'm just going to work as hard and play as hard as I can everyday. I know I have a lot of talent, and my talent will take care of itself."

Brewer hit .213 with two triples, 13 doubles, 16 stolen bases, 17 RBI, 25 runs and 37 hits in 47 games with the Power this season. His promotion could be called a surprise considering he struggled with errors (15) and strikeouts (54).

Sources said Brevard County shortstop Matt Cline, 22, who played in Helena last season, will trade places with Brewer.

Cline hit .266 with one triple, five doubles, eight RBI, 15 runs and 25 hits in 32 games with the Manatees this season. He also made 11 errors.

[Mass Haas]

Nashville Media Notes:

SOLLMANN RETIRES; HOPF ACTIVATED: Sounds infielder Steve Sollmann announced his retirement following Nashville's 9-4 loss in Memphis yesterday afternoon, a game in which he hit a home run during a 1-for-3 effort. In 31 games with Nashville this season, the fifth-year pro batted .210 (17-for-81) with two home runs and 10 RBIs. It was his first career stop at the Triple-A level. The 26-year-old Sollmann batted .291 in 452 professional games in the Brewers' farm system after being selected by Milwaukee in the 10th round of the 2004 draft. Sollmann is the first Sounds player to announce his retirement during the season since veteran hurlers Justin Thompson and Joe Winkelsas each hung up his spikes during the 2006 campaign. To fill Sollmann's spot on the roster, catcher J.R. Hopf has been activated after spending the majority of May inactive while on the rookie-level Helena roster. In six games this season, Hopf is batting .357 (5-for-14) with one RBI for the Sounds.

 

Didn't see that coming, and we wish Steve well. The 26-year-old Notre Dame product heads out with a .292 career pro average and .401 career OBP (.757 OPS). He used the HBP to his advantage, getting plunked 83 times in his five-plus seasons. He peaked at # 32 on the Power 50 in 2005.

[LouisEly]

Wow. Still reasonably young (26) and so close... he was pretty well blocked though with Weeks, Iribarren, and Crabbe ahead of him. Not good power numbers but very good OBP. I wouldn't be surprised if there was something else going on (family to support)? Or perhaps it was a "strategic retirement" to get out of the organization because he was so blocked at that position. Best of luck to you Steve and thanks for your contributions.

[Mass Haas]

We'll be watching Nashville today -- a move must occur to make room for Zach Jackson.

[Mass Haas]

In a nice surprise, both in a "prospect progress" way and in a first-half division title push for the Stars, Huntsville has themselves a closer, as RHP Omar Aguilar takes his 0.35 ERA to AA.

 

To make room on the Stars' roster, RHP E.J. Shanks has been transferred to Brevard County, where he has also been placed on the disabled list, back-dated to May 26th.

[twobrewers]

I think we all knew Aguilar's promotion was coming - but I am still very excited to see how he fares against AA competition.

[brewmann04]

This is very good news for Aguilar and the Crew. Hopefully he can continue his progress up to the Brewers in the Near future along with Pena.

[Mass Haas]

RHP Travis Wendte has been activated from his 2nd DL stint of the season to take Omar Aguilar's spot with Brevard County.

[Mass Haas]

Not exactly a transaction, but...

 

Milwaukee Brewers have until June 15 to decide on pitcher Jeff Weaver

 

MILWAUKEE - The Milwaukee Brewers have a little bit longer than they originally thought to make a decision on the future of pitcher Jeff Weaver.

 

The 31-year-old Weaver signed with the Brewers in April and has been playing for triple-A Nashville. After speaking with agent Scott Boras on Wednesday, Brewers general manager Doug Melvin said Weaver can opt out of the deal and become a free agent if he hasn't been called up to the majors by June 15 - not June 1, as the team had thought.

 

"We don't have to (decide) right now," Melvin said. "And right now, Dave Bush and Seth McClung have pitched in the big leagues, and they've pitched better in the big leagues than what he has at triple-A."

 

Weaver is 1-3 with a 6.69 ERA at Nashville and was hit hard Monday, giving up nine runs (five earned) and eight hits - including two home runs - and five walks in six innings.

 

But Melvin said Weaver hasn't had enough work to get a true sense of his ability to pitch.

 

"Right now, he's only into 30-something innings," Melvin said. "That's only a little more than spring training. Any pitcher could use more time. But he's just trying to get comfortable. He had no spring training whatsoever."

 

The Brewers' pitching staff is thin after serious injuries to Yovani Gallardo and Chris Capuano. But Bush seems to be rebounding from a shaky start to the season, and McClung has shown the potential to be a starter.

 

"It's an evaluation going day-by-day, and that goes for Jeff, too," Melvin said. "We've talked internally a little bit, I talked to his agent today and we'll just have ongoing discussions."

 

Weaver couldn't find a job after struggling in Seattle last season, when he was 7-13 with a 6.20 ERA. In April, he agreed to a minor league contract with Milwaukee that pays him $12,000 a month.

 

He would get a $1.25 million salary if added to the Brewers' major league roster, and he would have the chance to earn $2.75 million in performance bonuses.

 

Weaver is 93-114 with a 4.72 ERA in a nine-year career with Detroit, the Yankees, the Dodgers, the Angels, St. Louis and Seattle. He was the winning pitcher for the Cardinals in the clinching Game 5 of the World Series against Detroit.

[Mass Haas]

To make room for Zach Jackson on the Sounds' roster, the Brewers placed Jeff Weaver on the Temporary Inactive List. As of now, Weaver is still scheduled to make his next start on Saturday. So we'll see what happens -- it appears the Brewers are simply buying some time on their eventual roster decision.

[Mass Haas]

At West Virginia:

RHP Wes Etheridge has been placed on the disabled list and LHP Curtis Pasma has been activated after a brief stint on the disabled list to take his place on the roster. Etheridge, the 2007 12th round pick, had given up five runs in 1.2 IP on the 25th.

[Mass Haas]

From the Mobile Press-Register:

 

A LOT OF MOVEMENT: While Mobile has had only four transactions this season, Huntsville has had 18 since April 3. The latest came on Thursday, when infielder Ryan Crew was placed on the suspended list.

 

***

 

We do not know the circumstances nor the length of the suspension for the 24-year-old utility player, hitting .197 in 61 AB's over 38 games -- we also do not know if another player will be added to the roster in the interim.

[Mass Haas]

Huntsville's front office confirms that Milwaukee has signed 25-year-old infielder Michael Garciaparra, brother of Ramon and the (thus-far) failed former # 1 draft pick (# 36 overall) of Seattle in 2001. In 2007, Philadelphia claimed Garciaparra off waivers. he had not played pro ball in 2008 until now.

 

Garciaparra takes suspended Ryan Crew's spot on the AA roster.

 

Michael Garciaparra Career Statistics

 

2007 Stats in More Detail (Note you can click on MiLB.com's "Highlights" section near the bottom of the page to get bullet point summaries on each of Garciaparra's pro seasons.)

 

This 2007 article probably summarizes Garciaparra's career best.

 

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/images/players/mugshot/ph_455752.jpg

[dadofandrew]

That kid hasn't been healthy for ages. Who knows what he could put together if he got 500 PA's.

[Mass Haas]

Nashville Media Notes:

 

WOODWARD JOINS SOUNDS: Veteran infielder Chris Woodward joins the Sounds today after being signed by the Milwaukee Brewers as a minor league free agent. The 31-year-old opened the 2008 campaign with Lehigh Valley (AAA-Phillies) and batted .206 (13-for-63) with two doubles and one RBI in 19 games before being released on May 2. He started 16 games at shortstop, two games at second base, and made one appearance as a pinch-hitter for the Iron Pigs. He committed seven errors in 19 games (six of the seven came at SS). Woodward attended New York Yankees minor league spring training but was released in late March and signed with the Phillies. Prior to this season, he spent the past six years in the majors with Toronto (2002-04), the New York Mets (2005-06), and Atlanta (2007). To make room for Woodward on the active roster, catcher J.R. Hopf was transferred back to the advanced rookie Helena roster, where he spent the majority of the month of May.

 

ROTATION SHUFFLE: Right-hander Ben Howard will start Sunday's contest for the Sounds in place of left-hander Chris Narveson, who was placed on the disabled list yesterday due to an ankle injury initially sustained during his May 12 start in Las Vegas. On Monday, reliever Derrick Turnbow will make his second start for Nashville. Regular starter Richie Gardner will follow him. In his initial start on Wednesday at Albuquerque, Turnbow allowed two runs in 1 2/3 innings, walked six batters, and allowed six stolen bases.

 

Infielder Chris Woodward Career Statistics

[dadofandrew]

Chris had one great year and then, blah.

[craigharmann]

Why in the world is Turnbow starting for Nashville? Are they that desperate?

[TheCrew07]

When gives up his runs at the start of the game, there's more time to come back and win... if he does it in the 7th or 8th, that's all she wrote.