The Future Helena and Arizona Brewers -- 30th round 3B/OF Dedrick Signs

[battlekow]

Fact-checking, whatever that is.

[iluvlamp]

Tom H. really should get a grip and not be a total jag. Maas..you do a damn fine job. And you know a HECK of a lot more about the minor leagues than him and Drew.

[Mass Haas]

This has been one of our more interesting threads with some of these great articles, so at this point, we'd prefer to see it get back to the recent and soon-to-be draft pick signs. I appeciate your comments thus far on my most recent posts, but please hold back for now. Heck, this thread, at some point, will include a new Seth Lintz update (hopefully soon). Thanks.

[foamboy1]

Haudricourt is just a guy doing a job. The many people that contribute so much insight and information on this site are feeding a passion. A single person "doing a job" will always lose out to the many people feeding a passion.

 

Haudricourt is being defensive about the fact that people he views as "amateurs" can do his job far better than him...and beat him routinely to the punch with stories, and have far more knowledge and information about a subject matter, when he fashions himself as the subject matter expert. He has unparalleled access to the team, but is routinely out-reported by the folks on this site...and he knows it.

[Bambis Bombers]

Adam McCalvy confirms the signing of Cody Adams

 

Hay for horses, not second-round picks

06/13/2008 11:40 PM ET

By Adam McCalvy / MLB.com

MILWAUKEE -- Growing up in Viola, Ill., Cody Adams earned spending money by bailing hay and mowing lawns. On Friday, he signed a contract to play professional baseball.

"It's a once-in-a-lifetime experience," said Adams, one of the Brewers' three second-round picks in last week's First-Year Player Draft. "Three years ago, I could have never told you I would be here today at Miller Park signing a contract."

The 21-year-old right-hander just finished his junior season at Southern Illinois University and was part of the Brewers' early Draft bounty. They owned six of the first 62 overall selections, and Adams was No. 62.

He was on the field with scout Harvey Kuenn Jr. for batting practice Friday and met the current Brewers player who wears his No. 1, right fielder Corey Hart. Adams wore that number to honor Ozzie Smith of the Cardinals, his favorite team.

"I told myself within the last year that if I was going into the Draft, I couldn't have a favorite team -- I didn't want to be disappointed," Adams said. "I guess I'll have to pick a new number, too."

Adams, a 6-foot-2 power pitcher with a nasty sinking fastball, went 6-4 with a 3.75 ERA in 14 college starts this season, including a pair of complete games. He led the Salukis with 78 strikeouts and walked 23 batters in 96 innings.

He'll travel on Saturday to Helena, Mont., to begin his career with a Brewers rookie league affiliate. He doesn't know much about western Montana, but he knows that playing there will beat bailing hay.

"That's not a lot of fun," Adams said. "Playing baseball is a lot of fun."

Three of the Brewers' first six picks are already under contract and the team has had informal talks with its top selection Brett Lawrie, a prep catcher from British Columbia, according to amateur scouting director Jack Zduriencik. The Brewers selected Lawrie 16th overall.

Players taken around Lawrie are starting to sign. First baseman David Cooper, the 17th pick, signed with Toronto on Tuesday. Two picks in front of Lawrie, Minnesota took outfielder Aaron Hicks, who signed on Friday.

 

http://www.mlb.com/images/2008/06/13/I26VOBe4.jpg

[Mass Haas]

This seems silly, but I'm going to post this anyway. Keep in mind we didn't update our draft forum with an official "bolding" on Seth Lintz, as we were all waiting, including you reading, for the follow-up on Lintz' supposed Friday signing, right?

 

Tom's reply to me, and my counter-reply. Since Tom isn't a reader, as he makes clear here, he won't be bothered by the posting:

 

Perhaps you shouldn't have written this e-mail before reading my updated Sunday column this morning in our printed product, in which I did include the Brewers' denial for the readers of the JS. That's why I don't just throw something onto my website from the Podunk News without checking with the club first. And I'd rather be 100 hours behind the "news" if that news is wrong. The one time I even acknowledged a blog this year -- Badger Blog's supposed scoop that Yost would be fired -- I learned the dangers of doing so. All you did is "repeat" what was written in the kid's hometown newspaper? Unless you also wrote that you couldn't confirm it, your readers take things like that for gospel. As soon as I got confirmation Saturday that the Lintz signing was false, I updated my column for the Sunday paper. It's not my fault that the folks at JS online take my early column -- which is submitted Friday morning -- and put it on the web site without ever using the final updated version that appears in the paper Sunday morning. Unlike you, I have a printed product, also. I made sure I got it right there after getting new information. Did you disavow your "scoop" online as being false? I wouldn't know.

 

Perhaps you shouldn't have included the blurb in your Friday submission to your bosses if you weren't going to confirm it until Saturday, then. Hopefully you'll be following up with your editor allowing you the freedom to edit the online submission as well in the future.

 

You're a paid professional. I'm just a guy who tries to balance being a good husband, dad, and having a (non-journalistic) career with a passion for the Brewers' organization that distracts me from life's other pressures and provides me with some joy, despite their generation's worth of failures.

 

We're not a "news site", we don't make any monetary gains from the site nor is that our goal -- heck, I'm just a guy who provides links to Brewer news from across the web to our readers. We rarely, if ever, use the word "scoop" when presenting as such, and didn't in this case. We call our daily minor league recaps "Link Reports" for a reason.

 

And for the record, earlier this week, before I heard back from you, I emailed Anthony S. Puca of the Marshall County Tribune. I did so because in his original article he stated "read the entire story in Wednesday's edition of the Tribune." Now it looks like that newspaper may not place all the articles from its sports section online each day, so I emailed Mr. Puca asking if a follow-up ran, and if it did, could he please email me the contents, because I had been checking back to that newspaper's site all week. I have been awaiting his reply.

 

As for not knowing whether we disavowed ourselves, that's your choice in not visiting our site. I can't blame you for not thinking our site worthy of review. You're obviously up on the minor leaguers -- if you're getting your daily info on the farmhands from elsewhere, kudos. I'm just not sure who makes it more convenient to get the info, including all the audio interviews, media reports including quotes from staff and players, than we do. Check us out some time.

 

Jim

 

***

 

And by he way, it just dawned on me, but doesn't Tom have a blog where he could have posted a correction to his weekly column? I'm off for the remainder of Father's Day, guys, enjoy your day -- go Brewers, go Huntsville, go Tiger Woods, and if I may say so, go Celtics!

[Brian the Automator]

That's why I don't just throw something onto my website from the Podunk News without checking with the club first.

Wow, stay classy, TH. Some day, that attitude will bite you in the ass.

[BrewCrewForever]

Well done Mass! I really enjoyed reading your response to TH.

[1e Corbeau]

Seriously, TH should not be giving lectures on "fact checking".

At the game today with my dad, we were sitting in front of the press box and I pointed out TH. I told my dad about emailing him regarding his offseason article in which he wrote Angel Salome was suspended for steroid use - not generic PEDs or a banned substance, he wrote steroids.

Since there had been a bit of a debate from "Coach" and a few others, I thought I'd follow up, as other source had confirmed the actual substance. So, I asked him if it was steroids and he replied something to the extent, well everyone pretty much knows it was steroids but you never get confirmation on these things. (That's a paraphrase from memory, hence the absence of quotation marks.)

Regardless of what substance it was, I personally thought it was irresponsible - and perhaps inaccurate - to print such a thing without, well, "facts" to back you up, podunk or not.

Edit:

My original message to TH, in part:

"I hope all is well.

I noticed that you wrote Angel Salome was suspended for steriods in your article from jsonline.com, posted 11/24, which I assume ran in the 11/25 print edition. I am following up to verify that the performance enhancing substance was indeed steroids, as it has not been previously verified, I believe. "

here is Tom's response, from my email...

"I was told the substance was some sort of steroid but you can't ever get verification of such things because all of that info is confidential. Officially, it was a "performance enhancing" substance."

I can't find an copy of the November 25th article (posted 11/24/07), but I don't really think that's necessary for this case.

[battlekow]

Humanizing story about Josh Romanski from an article about an American Cancer Society fundraiser:

Corona resident Josh Romanski, 21, bore a mixture of excitement and anxiety as he walked.

The Norco High graduate, who recently signed a professional baseball contract, wore two silver cancer awareness dog tags symbolic of the cancer his mother, Shelia, 45, and his grandfather, Matt Matthews, 68, of Scottsdale, Ariz., have battled.

Romanski said doctors recently found floating cancer cells in his mother.

About to start his pro career after playing at the University of San Diego for three years, Romanski said he wore his dog tags when he played baseball to support his relatives.

[foamboy1]

Mass...

 

Nice work with TH. He's just envious that he was beaten to the punch. He's a lazy journalist and had for a long time had a monopoly on the distribution of "all things Brewers." That is no longer, and he's feeling heat. I'm amused that he has been a professional for nearly 25 years, but just learned a "good lesson" about the over-reporting of the Yost firing story. Twenty-five years and you've just learned a "good lesson" on reporting things that are not accurate? Tom, you report poorly all the time. Come on. He's an apologist, and worse, a guy who give 75% effort and is out-maneuvered all the time with new media enterprises. When he's embarrassed like this, he has a choice....work harder, or be better at what he does. He's a "lifer" and doesn't want to do either. He's a decent guy, but his career has peaked and doesn't want to be pushed to be more accountable.

 

I noticed how the story from the local paper reported the signing, yet the "bolded" name did not show up in the official signing thread until it was officially announced. That's how is it supposed to be done. You did great....TH is still chasing his tail.

[battlekow]

Josh Romanski signed for $247K.

 

link

[lithium75]

"Schafer accepted a signing bonus of about $400,000 Saturday from the Milwaukee Brewers, plus college tuition and incentives."

 

I can not find this on the web anywhere, but the story appeared in the Sunday edition of The Tribune, San Luis Obispo's newspaper. You can try to find a link at www.sanluisobispo.com/sports if you like, but I couldn't find it. It is in the college baseball blogs section.

[Mass Haas]

BrewCrewBall continues their interview series with 2008 12th round RHP Garrett Sherrill out of Appalachian State

Do I even need to say continued nice work? Kudos, guys...

[Mass Haas]

Jim Callis at Baseball America:

 

[tt]Which teams had the best drafts?

 

Tom Molinari

Upper Saddle River, N.J.[/tt]

I have to issue the standard caveat that it's way too early to know with any great degree of accuracy how any club's draft will turn out. When judging drafts a week after the event, I'm looking at which teams got good value and also assuming that in most cases, any highly-rated prospects who didn't go in the first six rounds on the first day are going to be difficult to sign.

Two drafts jump out at me. The Brewers were armed with six picks in the first two rounds, and I like their haul. They couldn't have expected sweet-swinging Canadian high school Brett Lawrie (at No. 16) and athletic Illinois prep righthander Jake Odorizzi (at No. 32) to be available with their first two choices. After those two, Milwaukee landed a big, hard-throwing lefty (San Francisco's Evan Frederickson), another top high school righty (Seth Lintz from Tennessee), another advanced prep bat (outfielder Cutter Dykstra from California) and a strong-armed college righty (Southern Illinois' Cody Adams). San Diego's Josh Romanski (fourth round) is a polished lefthander, and the Brewers already have locked up Santa Clara righty Mark Willinsky, a potential closer and a steal in the 15th round.

[Mass Haas]

Wooten closing out college career

By Kevin T. Czerwinski / MLB.com

OMAHA -- North Carolina's Rob Wooten has proven to be a workhorse -- well, as much of a workhorse as a pitcher can be playing a limited NCAA schedule. While it remains to be seen how effective he'll be on a professional level, the folks in Milwaukee are eager to see what they've got in the right-hander, whom they selected in the 13th round of the First-Year Player Draft.

Wooten (6-2) appeared in his 40th game of the season on Sunday night at Rosenblatt Stadium, preserving the Tar Heels' 8-4 victory against Louisiana State and earning his fifth save with 1 2/3 scoreless innings. He lowered his ERA to 1.75 in 56 2/3 innings. That follows a 2007 season in which he established a school record while leading the NCAA with 47 appearances. He was 6-1 a year ago while pitching 53 2/3 innings and posting a 2.35 ERA.

While those are all impressive numbers, the ones that really stand out regarding Wooten are the ones he puts up in the games that matter the most. He's now 4-0 with two saves in 24 2/3 innings over 17 postseason appearances. Wooten set an NCAA record last year by appearing in six College World Series games. If he records one more victory this week in Omaha, he'll tie Robert Woodard and Derrick DePriest for the most NCAA victories in school history.

"He puts up good numbers, but he does it a little differently," Milwaukee's vice president and assistant general manager for player personnel Jack Zduriencik said. "He's not a power-arm guy. He gets to 89-90 [mph], but he does a lot of different things with the baseball. He turns it over, he's got a slider, a turnover change, a splitter. He comes at you with different degrees of stuff and when the splitter is working, he's tough.

"There are guys who can do it that way. Keith Foulke wasn't a power guy. You have to be careful, though, because this is one thing that's new to the industry, guys closing in college. These guys closing in college, where are they going to be in the future? Just because you're a college closer doesn't necessarily mean you're going to be one in the big leagues."

Zduriencik said that in all likelihood Wooten will start in the bullpen once he signs, but some of what happens depends on what the staff sees from him when he does report. Zduriencik pointed to Steve Hammond, a sixth-round pick in 2005, as a perfect example of the possibilities that could await Wooten. Hammond was a reliever at Long Beach State, but was quickly converted to a starter once he joined the Brewers. He is currently 7-3 with a 3.25 ERA in 14 starts for Double-A Huntsville.

Wooten certainly has displayed the ability to be versatile. He's demonstrated that he can handle a bigger workload, working at least two innings on 12 occasions this season, including throwing a career-high 4 2/3 innings at Virginia on May 10. Wooten also threw four innings against Florida Atlantic on February 23 to earn a save a day after he threw 1 1/3 scoreless innings.

While Wooten gave the customary and expected answer that he would do whatever the Brewers ask of him, he did say relieving is what he enjoys.

"The past two years, I've loved being a reliever," he said. "My arm recovers faster than usual and I love what I'm doing. If they want me to start, I'll start. I'm always up for the challenge. But I love what I'm doing now.

"And I love pitching in situations like this [the CWS]. I'd rather be pitching in front of four million people than four people. I prefer that. And can I close? Why not? I've done it here. I don't think they'll use me that way, but I have three pitches that I can throw any time I want."

Wooten certainly does thrive under pressure. He shut down an LSU rally, punctuating his effort with a fist pump and a hoot. He can't wait to take that enthusiasm to the next level, but for now he's simply worried about helping UNC get back to the championship series for a third consecutive year.

After that, he'll begin contemplating in earnest what the Brewers have in store for him.

"If a guy might be able to pitch in the late innings, it's a good thing," Zduriencik said. "But in this particular case, you can't say he's going to be a closer in the big leagues. I do think he's going to be a guy who can do something. No one denies his arm strength and his stuff. "But closing a Major League game has more to do with than just stuff. Everything we know about him points to the fact that he's a solid guy. He's a guy that seems to have adapted to that role. He's got real good numbers and has thrown multiple innings."

It's the sure sign of a workhorse.

[battlekow]

Highland star, Odorizzi, relishes title

By Ken Roberts

 

Ever since he was able to play baseball, Jake Odorizzi wanted to accomplish one thing - win an Illinois high school baseball championship.

 

Never mind that the 18-year-old sensation from Highland is a professional prospect on the rise (he was the 32nd choice in the major-league amateur draft by the Milwaukee Brewers), or that he was named the Gatorade Illinois player of the year this season, or that he is the 2008 Post-Dispatch player of the year.

 

Taking home a state title was something he wanted when he began playing 13 years ago.

 

"That's the most important thing," he said after earning his third save of the season for the Bulldogs in their 6-2 title victory June 7 over Rock Falls at Silver Cross Field in Joliet. "Because that can't be taken away from you. That will be forever."

 

What also will be forever are the ridiculous pitching numbers he put up this season.

 

The 6-foot-2, 175-pound righthander was 14-0 and ended his career with a 25-game winning streak. He had a 0.08 earned-run average, allowing just one earned run, and three runs all season, in 89 2/3 innings. Odorizzi gave up just 33 hits and six walks with 146 strikeouts while throwing fastballs that touched 97 mph.

 

On the offensive side, the slick-fielding shortstop set a school record for home runs with 15 and drove in 41 runs while batting .409 with 31 steals and a .922 slugging percentage.

 

"It just seemed that nobody ever put a solid bat on the ball in enough of a consistent pattern to score against him," said Triad coach Jesse Bugger, whose team managed one hit against Odorizzi this season. "… To go along with the tools that he had, he was a tremendous competitor."

 

That special talent helped Highland through the playoffs as Odorizzi was 4-0 with two saves in his team's seven games. At the plate, he had three homers, five RBIs and five steals.

 

Bulldogs coach Joel Hawkins, whose team set a school record for wins with 36, was at a loss for words as he tried to describe Odorizzi's season.

 

"I'm not even sure what to say," he said. "I watched it happen. I watched what he did and I'm not sure what he did is even doable. Hundred forty-six to six, strikeouts to walks. One earned run, three total runs. I don't know. I can't imagine having a kid doing it again. Can you? It's remarkable. It's astounding. It's miraculous. Yet he did it."

 

And Odorizzi did it without celebration. He was never shaken despite pitching all season in front of scouts from every major-league organization with radar guns pointed.

 

"He was the leader," said fellow pitcher, third baseman and best friend Danny Gifford, who was 10-0 with a 2.11 ERA this season. "Without him, some of those big games, who knows, we may not have even won. His presence out there was just amazing. Just what he does."

 

picture of Odorizzi scoring the winning run in the semifinal game

[Bambis Bombers]

With Rice getting knocked out of the College World Series this afternoon, I would expect to see Mr. Luetge reporting for duty in Helena soon.

[Bambis Bombers]

More information on the signing of 3rd round pick Logan Schafer, including his signing bonus

 

Quartet of Mustangs Sign Professional Baseball Contracts

SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. - Third baseman Brent Morel, center fielder Logan Schafer, southpaw pitcher Derrick Saito, all Cal Poly juniors, and senior right-hander Brian Grening have signed professional contracts.

 

Morel agreed to a $458,000 signing bonus with the Chicago White Sox on June 7 while Schafer accepted a signing bonus of about $400,000 Saturday from the Milwaukee Brewers, plus college tuition and incentives. Saito agreed June 9 to a $100,000 signing bonus plus one year of college tuition from the Kansas City Royals and Grening signed with the Cleveland Indians on June 12.

 

Both Morel and Schafer were selected in the third round of the 2008 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft last week at Disney World in Lake Buena Vista, Fla.

 

Morel (6-2, 220, Bakersfield, Calif./Centennial High School) was selected as the 86th overall pick while Schafer (6-1, 185, Los Gatos, Calif./Los Gatos High School/Cuesta College) was chosen just eight players later -- 94th overall. Saito (5-8, 155, Wailuku, Hawaii/H.P. Baldwin HS) was picked in the 16th round (475th overall selection) while Grening (5-11, 200, Lake Oswego, OR/Lakeridge HS) was taken in the 38th round (1,161st overall pick).

 

Morel is expected to be assigned to Great Falls, Mont., in the Pioneer League while Saito should be in the same league as Morel, playing for Idaho Falls. Schafer likely will play either in Helena, Mont. (Pioneer League) or Charleston, WV (South Atlantic League) while Grening has been assigned to the New York-Penn League's Mahoning Valley Scrappers in Niles, Ohio.

 

Cal Poly has had 14 players selected in the first 10 rounds of the last five drafts (2004-08) and a total of 27 players drafted overall. During that time frame, three other Mustangs signed free-agent contracts with Major League organizations and three more signed deals with independent league teams.

 

In the draft held June 5-6, Morel, Saito and Grening were drafted for the first time while Schafer was selected for the third time. Schafer was chosen by the Boston Red Sox in the 31st round of the 2006 draft after his freshman year at Cuesta College and in the 47th round of the 2007 draft by the Colorado Rockies after his sophomore year at Cal Poly.

 

Schafer, who also garnered first-team All-Big West Conference honors, earned a pair of team awards -- John Orton Golden Glove and Monty Waltz Big Stick. He hit .365 with 17 doubles, five triples and nine home runs with 49 RBIs.

 

Schafer is ninth in single-season hits (84) at Cal Poly after collecting 28 hits in his last 63 at-bats (.444), produced nine- and 10-game hitting streaks and did not commit an error in 140 chances this season, one of only three players in the Big West to do so.

 

Professional teams have until Aug. 15 to sign those who have not used up their college eligibility.

Edit -- draft round, thanks for the link and story!

[Mass Haas]

This article provides some insight as to why a college junior signing (10th round) would begin in Maryvale, not Helena, but Greg Miller appears to be pretty raw as of yet with a high ceiling.

 

Link while active, text follows:

 

Dream come true for Miller

By GIUSEPPE UNGARO

Hammonton (N.J.) News Staff Writer

gungaro@thehammontonnews.com

 

Greg Miller is a professional baseball player.

 

The Seton Hall junior and 2005 Hammonton High School graduate, was selected in the 10th round of the Major League Baseball draft by the Milwaukee Brewers.

 

A few days later he signed a contract and was sent off to Arizona where he is playing in the Rookie League.

 

"It's has been exciting and a dream come true," said Miller in a phone interview from his hotel room in Phoenix. "The whole season has been long and drawn out and I was trying not to think about the draft until it came up and things worked out. Me and my family are grateful that I was picked up by the Brewers."

 

"We were so proud and honored," said Greg's father Gene Miller, who is the principal at the Hammonton Middle School. "He started at 5-years old batting off a tee in the front lawn. I would set the ball and he started whacking it and he progressed from there. I started pitching him waffle balls at him so he could get used to it. We used to be up at 6'o clock in the morning and my neighbors would make fun of me because they would get up at 7 a.m. and we would still be out there.

 

"He just has a total love of sports. He played baseball, football and hockey. He played anything. He always had a ball in his hand. Usually he had a ball and glove so he could play catch."

 

Hammonton High School coach Matt Lenguadoro is proud that a former player has reached the pro ranks.

 

"From my end and the aspect of Hammonton High School I think it's awesome," he said. "It's a shot in the arm to have someone like that go through the school system and to have an opportunity to coach someone as talented as that and go on and be a success and get drafted is an awesome experience for everybody."

 

Miller hardly took the mound for the Blue Devils, but Lenguadoro was every aware of his lively arm.

 

"Greg had going for him is that he was very strong and he had a violent swing," Lenguadoro said. "He didn't pitch that much for us his senior year, but I knew he threw the ball hard."

 

For most of his college career Greg Miller has been a part-time pitcher.

 

The Pirates junior started occasionally and logged some innings in relief.

 

He did enough to impress the scouts and the Brewers, who picked him 308th overall.

 

Miller is excited to see what he can do when his total focus is on pitching.

 

"I mean it's exciting because it's something new," said Miller, who throws as hard as 96 miles per hour. "I get work at it full time and work to get better at every aspect. I have to work on control and off-speed pitchers. I'm focusing on just pitching and I should gain more velocity."

 

Miller is working out daily with the team, preparing for the upcoming season, which starts on June 23.

 

The league is the first of many steps he hopes to take through the Brewers organization.

 

"Most prospects take two or three years before they look to make it to the big leagues," Miller said. "Hopefully I will work my way up and the only way to do that is to work hard and to dedicate myself top get better every day."

[battlekow]

Tidbits:

 

An FIU poster thinks they might lose Stosh Wawrzasek.

Garrett Sherrill and Mark Willinsky will share closing duties for Helena.

 

The Brewers haven't made an offer to 27th-round pick Austin Adams yet.

[Mass Haas]

Keep in mind the article on Austin Adams was dated June 7th, however.

[battlekow]

You're right, my bad. Are you going to get a chance to see him on the Cape, Mass?

[Mass Haas]

I don't see Austin Adams on that Hyannis Mets roster, so far it's just Evan Bronson who I've identified on a roster thus far.

[battlekow]

Hey MH, Adams confirmed that he's on the Hyannis Mets, so you should check him out.