Brewers claim RHP Justin James from A's, add C Maldonado to 40-man roster

[Invader3K]

http://brewersbeat.mlblog..._of_moves_brewers_c.html

 

Brewers... pick up righty relief pitcher Justin James off waivers from the A's, and add catcher Martin Maldonado to the 40 man roster.

 

(replaced original link with permalink --1992)

[TooLiveBrew]

Only from 4.0 IP in 2010, but FanGraphs has James with the following pitches

 

FB (94.0)

CT (89.3)

SL (85.3)

CH (86.0)

 

He threw the fastball or cutter for roughly 94% of his total pitches thrown

[Invader3K]

McCalvy on Justin James:

 

James was pitching in the Arizona Fall Leagues for the Phoenix Desert Dogs, who happened to square-off on Tuesday against a Surprise Rafters team that includes the Brewers' own slew of prospects. James finished the 2010 season in the Majors with five appearances in relief for the A's but spent most of the year in the Minors, compiling a 1.83 ERA at the Double-A and Triple-A levels.

[GAME05]

i keep re-reading the information on James as if i've just missed the information on why Oakland would actually get rid of this kid.

[JonnyLungs]

I wonder what this guy changed in 2010 as he had a pretty big increase in his K rate? Late bloomer perhaps?

[Funketown]

It's hard not to like the guy's stuff, although I've admittedly never heard anything about him. These types of low end pickups have worked out well for the bullpen lately, so hopefully Douggy-boy has found another diamond in the rough.

[dadofandrew]

He's 29 and was in indy ball a couple years ago. Very low ceiling, but 94 works for me. You can't teach that.

[logan82]

Sounds like Axford.

[dadofandrew]

Axford was coming off injury. James may have had minor issues, but was coming off years of not being a prospect. Something clicked, but to me, he's just a velocity grab...not that there's anything wrong with that.

[Mass Haas]

From Baseball America's independent league prospect chat recently --

 

 

• [tt]

Petey Pablo (Carrboro): Beyond those mentioned in the write-up, who were the top indy prospects that did land affiliated deals this year? (Also, I see that some of the top 10 have already landed with big league squads - Garcia w/ ATL, for one). Thanks![/tt]

J.J. Cooper: Yeah, the top three from this list have already signed: Johnson has signed with Boston while Alsup and Garcia have signed with Atlanta. I'd expect a few more will be signed in the next couple of weeks. As far as guys who signed earlier, Jason Lowey has good stuff as he showed the Braves in Myrtle Beach. Matt Meyer was absolutely dominant in the American Association before the Angels signed him. But the best player I heard of all year in indy ball was Justin James, who bounced back from some arm problems to show dominating stuff with the Kansas City T-Bones. Oakland signed him and saw him make it all the way to the big leagues by the end of the season.

 

• [tt]

Jason (Walnut Creek, CA): The Oakland A's have a penchant for signing Indy Leaguers, especially recently. Bobby Cramer made a couple of starts in the big leagues at teh end of the year and pitchers like Kyle Middlebrook, Michael Benacka, and Jon Hunton are knocking on the door. Have they signed any of these current Top 20 Prospects?[/tt]

J.J. Cooper: They haven't as of yet signed anyone from this current list (although Hunton and Benacka were guys that made previous lists), but as I mentioned earlier they have already signed Justin James who is probably the best arm in indy ball this year.

 

• [tt]

Dave (Atlanta): Jason Lowey had a strong debut for Myrtle Beach after the Braves acquired him, pitching eight scoreless innings with 16 strikeouts and getting a Mexican winter league assignment. Where would he have ranked on your list?[/tt]

J.J. Cooper: If we were including everyone who signed during the season he would have been near the top of the list (although behind Justin James). He has good velocity and is still a relatively fresh arm as he was primarily a position player in college.

 

***

 

From Chronicle Staff Writer Susan Slusser

As I wrote yesterday, right-hander Justin James and Ross Wolf were called up with today's roster expansion, and James, 28, was pitching for the Kansas City T-Bones, an independent team, in mid-June.

When I asked about James' background, I was told, "He's Farhan's guy" - Farhan Zaidi, the A's director of baseball operations, had championed James after getting a glowing report from scout Jeff Bittiger (who you might remember was instrumental in finding Andrew Bailey).

Zaidi heaped all the credit on Bittiger, but the combination of strong reports did the trick, and the A's signed James and sent him to Double-A Midland. As Zaidi pointed out, picking up a player from an independent team is a fairly low-risk proposition, so why not? At the same time, hitting on one is longer odds, and James was particularly long odds - the former Toronto prospect, a fifth-round pick in 2003, nearly had packed it in last year after arm trouble. No one could diagnose any exact problem with the arm, but his velocity had dropped off a good 8 mph.

His brother, Chad, who was the Marlins' top pick last year, convinced James to give it another try, and after working with noted professional trainer John Carey (Matt Holliday), Justin James said that his arm issue probably was the result of simple tightness, and working with Carey loosened things up - and he's now throwing 95 mph. He credits his brother with helping him stick with it, and Carey with his physical improvement and success. James said he was once 30 pounds heavier because he was going to play linebacker at Oklahoma (he opted for baseball at Missouri, instead), and he believes his arms just never were all that loose to begin with because of football.

James will be used in a "non-pressure" situation initially, according to manager Bob Geren.

I asked James about his great walk-to-strikeout ratio - 49 strikeouts vs. 16 walks in 39 1/3 innings - and I loved this answer: "I can't stand walking people. ... I've always been against it."

Sacramento radio play-by-play man Johnny Doskow calls James "the Sheriff," so remember, Sheriff James just says no to walks!

Wolf says James is the real deal - he pounds the strike zone, he has a live arm. "It's good to see him get the opportunity," Wolf said.

[Mass Haas]

More on James here, including multiple quotes.

 

In a bit of cross-forum posting, there are some threads on the Minor League side that have been updated that point here and vice-versa, regarding both James and Maldonado. Those of you who follow both forums will be well-read, but sorry about any duplication and such.

[TooLiveBrew]

Hadn't seen this posted here yet: John Steinmiller of the John & Cait... Plus Nine blog posted an entry from the AFL, which included a segment on James, including some quotes

JAMES WAIVER CLAIM: Brewers Vice President--Assistant General Manager Gord Ash called me this afternoon to alert me to a Brewers waiver claim, RHP Justin James from Oakland. I looked him up and learned that he was playing in the Fall League this year representing the A's, ironically, he was at today's Surprise-Phoenix game as a member of the Desert Dogs. I caught up with him after the game to hear his thoughts on becoming the newest Milwaukee Brewer.

 

"I found out about the claim just before today's game," James said. "When I found out, you know you don't have control over that stuff, you just want to compete. Being here in the Fall League really opens up a lot of other doors for you as a player and for many people to see you. There are a large number of scouts at every game watching everyone."

 

James has bounced around throughout his career between the Reds, Blue Jays and A's organizations as well as a stint in 2009 in the Independent Northern League with Kansas City. He made his Major League debut this season with the A's.

 

"If I'm not pitching for Oakland or another organization, I might as well be pitching for the Brewers. I really am looking forward to being with Milwaukee and I think I can help the organization win. I want to finish up strong here in Arizona with the Fall League, do what I did last year and come back ready to go in Spring Training."

 

In the Fall League this season, James has made six relief appearances of one inning each and has a 4.50 ERA.

 

"It's been going well here in Arizona," James said. "Numbers-wise it might not be the best, but I'm learning a lot and competing. I'm throwing my change up a little bit more because that needs to be a little more polished. I'm just trying to throw strikes more consistently."

 

 

James will remain a member of the Phoenix Desert Dogs for the final two weeks of the Arizona Fall League but will don a Brewers uniform the rest of the way.

 

"I can't stand walking people. ... I've always been against it."

 

Sounds like he's going to get along really well with Rick "Don't say the 'W' word" Peterson

[ecjimg]

Why use a roster spot for Maldonado? Hes not one of the "power 50" prospects, so why sweat losing him to another team?

[Invader3K]

Why use a roster spot for Maldonado? Hes not one of the "power 50" prospects, so why sweat losing him to another team?

My guess is just to have someone on the roster in case Lucroy or Kottaras get hurt?

They still have plenty of room on the 40 man right now anyway.

 

[Funketown]

Why use a roster spot for Maldonado? Hes not one of the "power 50" prospects, so why sweat losing him to another team?

I was wondering the same thing. It doesn't look like his bat will develop into anything more than .250/.300/.375, and that's being a bit optimistic. I haven't read anything about his defense.

 

I'd be surprised if they couldn't find somebody better than Maldonado to pick up a few starts in place of Lucroy or Kottaras...

[ecjimg]

I thought I read somewhere that good old Mike Rivera was back.

[JohnBriggs12]

Why use a roster spot for Maldonado? Hes not one of the "power 50" prospects, so why sweat losing him to another team?

I was wondering the same thing. It doesn't look like his bat will develop into anything more than .250/.300/.375, and that's being a bit optimistic. I haven't read anything about his defense.

 

I'd be surprised if they couldn't find somebody better than Maldonado to pick up a few starts in place of Lucroy or Kottaras...

It's the same reason they had a 40 man spot for (Mister 1.000) Carlos Corporan for all of 2008. One they had room. Two, it precludes them from having to make a 40 man move in season for a minor injury to one of the catchers. Now they have a guy that can be brought up at any time, even for a few days if a catcher can't go. If they had to make a longer term move, I seriously doubt that Maldonado would be the choice over a veteran like Rivera. But Maldonado has options and Rivera doesn't.

[And That]

Maldonado is regarded as a really good defender, though as you can see from his offensive output, his potential there is limited.

[Oxy]

Why use a roster spot for Maldonado? Hes not one of the "power 50" prospects, so why sweat losing him to another team?

I thought the Brewers traded Maldonado for Rob Wishnevski and William Suero? Also, I don't think he's eligible for the Power 50 now that he just turned 50. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/wink.gif

[sbrylski]

Just catching up here... looks like a pretty awesome claim by Melvin. If we were on the other end and had let James go, there'd be healthy grumbling here.

 

Hope he gets a fair shake, and doesn't go the way of R.J. Swindle. I definitely would have liked him to get an extended chance.

[Mass Haas]

Folks with questions about Martin Maldonando need to skip to the 15-minute mark of the Tom Haudricourt November 2nd interview (with Homer) for the brief quotes about Tom's Henry Blanco comparison. The seven HR's in 174 AB's at Nashville this year were out of his norm, but perhaps at age 24 he's found the pop that could make a Blanco comparison valid (he's already there defensively). Just another in the line of Puerto Rican defensive studs behind the plate...