Minor League Transaction Thread -- From 2013 All-Star Break to 2014 Opening Week

[Mass Haas]

Here's the link to the long thread that covered the 2012 postseason and 2013-season pre-draft.

 

Next transaction will kick off our new thread here.

[Mass Haas]

From the Manatees --

 

RHP Mark Williams has been transferred from Huntsville to Brevard County.

 

Brevard County's roster is now at 25 active players, which is the Florida State League limit.

 

***

 

Williams (stats) has struggled with control since his first promotion to AA.

[Mass Haas]

Frankie De La Cruz to Huntsville in a "still lucky to be in affiliated ball" move.

 

The spot in Nashville was needed as Mike Fiers' arrival became official.

[Mass Haas]

One of the more unique Brewer farmhand careers has come to a close as Milwaukee released 22-year-old Venezuelan RHP Francisco Rivero this week, according to Baseball America.

 

Rivero signed just before his 17th birthday in February 2008. Because the Brewers had no Latin Academy presence at that time, Rivero pitched for the Maryvale squad in 2008. In 2009, the Brewers shared a Dominican Summer League team with the Orioles, and Rivero played for that team (the only other still-active Brewer player from that shared club is current Wisconsin RHP Leonard Lorenzo, who appeared in two games as a 17-year-old).

 

So Rivero has spent five seasons in the system, but never graduated beyond the Maryvale complex. His career high for appearances in a season was seven in 2008, career high in starts was five last season (rehab appearances, eight innings total for the season), and his innings high was only 23 in 2010.

 

Last season, Rivero's season ended in late July with an elbow strain.

 

Career stats

[Mass Haas]

Was doing some cleanup on our Player Index, realized that 2012 Helena infielder Andres Martinez didn't appear in this year's Media Guide.

 

The 21-year-old has four years in the system, remember doing some projections of his 6'2" frame when he debuted at SS as a 17-year-old (career stats).

 

The Brewers responded to our inquiry and indicated that Martinez is on their restricted list.

 

RESTRICTED LIST- The Restricted List is used for many resons. A team can request that a player be placed on the restricted list if that player has left the team without a valid reason, or has announced his intention to retire but is still of an age or level of skill that could allow him to return to professional baseball in the future. In effect, the team states that it retains rights to the player if and when he becomes active again.

 

A player on the restricted list cannot be signed by another team unless compensation is paid to the team who placed him on the list. The list is honored throughout organized baseball and in leagues that have working agreements to respect the contracts of organized baseball, such as Nippon Pro Baseball. The list is most often used today when a player retires at a young age without receiving his unconditional release. If he decides to return to playing, he must do so with his last team, unless a trade or other deal can be worked out.

[Southern Leaguer]

De La Cruz last night became the 750th Huntsville Star (416th as a Brewer affiliate, 1999-2013).

[Mass Haas]

First draft signee - agent is old friend of forum "agent39"

 

Tweet

 

American Heritage (Plantation, FL) senior center fielder Brandon Diaz was taken by the Milwaukee Brewers with the 242nd overall pick (8th round) late Friday afternoon. Diaz, a four-year varsity starter and Florida International signee, led the county with 42 runs scored as a senior. He also batted .470 and tallied 20 RBI and seven home runs as he was named first-team all-county Class 5A-4A-3A-2A by the Sun-Sentinel.

[Mass Haas]

We realize there is a bunch of news (tweets) regarding additional draft pick signings and/or current extended spring training players discussing their Helena assignments.

 

We'll wait for the Brewers to release official updates before noting the moves here.

 

We'll also kick off the annual "Your Helena / Maryvale Brewers" thread for 2013 shortly.

 

Helena kicks things off at Missoula Thursday the 20th, Maryvale at the Dodgers' complex the same day.

[BrewersAA]

not sure if i missed it, or what but i did not see a mention of thornburg getting called up here and who took his spot... i know nelson got promoted but i thought that coincided with the gennett call-up. can you help me get all of this straightened out? thanks, love the work here.

[TooLiveBrew]

not sure if i missed it, or what but i did not see a mention of thornburg getting called up here and who took his spot... i know nelson got promoted but i thought that coincided with the gennett call-up. can you help me get all of this straightened out? thanks, love the work here.

Post #135 (page 7) of the original '13 Transactions Thread.

 

Per Mass Haas in the final post in that thread, "We'll close this unwieldingly-long thread as of tonight's draft and kick off a new post-draft 2013 transaction thread." -- just wanted to explain why that thread was locked & this one was created.

[Mass Haas]

not sure if i missed it, or what but i did not see a mention of thornburg getting called up here and who took his spot... i know nelson got promoted but i thought that coincided with the gennett call-up. can you help me get all of this straightened out? thanks, love the work here.

 

Actually, if you review the Sounds roster, they're now at 26 (Narveson doesn't count).

 

So they get a day or two until Tyler Thornburg has to officially report, but will have to make a move (likely a pitcher) when he does today or tomorrow.

[BrewersAA]

TY

[Mass Haas]

So they get a day or two until Tyler Thornburg has to officially report, but will have to make a move (likely a pitcher) when he does today or tomorrow.

 

Veteran reliever Clay Hensley has been released after only four appearances with the Sounds.

[Mass Haas]

We realize there is a bunch of news (tweets) regarding additional draft pick signings. We'll wait for the Brewers to release official updates before noting the moves here.

 

But, you can always peek in on our Official Draft Pick Selection/Signing Thread to keep up.

[Mass Haas]

First undrafted free agent signing --

 

RHP Sean Wardour - a 6'5" 230 lb. senior out of Cal State Dominguez Hills; Team player profile page

 

Scroll down for pitchings stats

 

Signing photo and brief article

[TheCrew07]

I haven't checked Twitter in like 3 weeks (yes I know... I've just been that busy with work and keeping up on Minor League stuff), anyway Mehring said during the game 2 broadcast that there were some tweets floating around about Seth Harvey having TJ surgery today.

 

Rodolfo Fernandez comes off Wisconsin's DL and Leonard Lorenzo goes on.

[Mass Haas]

Brewers sign two more non-drafted RHP's, amazing how many new arms will be in Helena / Maryvale this summer.

 

Author's name a unique coincidence

 

 

***

 

Former SCSU pitcher, Lieser, signs deal with Milwaukee

by Andy Rennecke, sctimes.com

 

Former St. Cloud State pitcher Scott Lieser signed a professional contract with the Milwaukee Brewers on Thursday morning.

 

Lieser, 23, will join the Brewers in rookie ball in Phoenix, Ariz., beginning next week. Lieser went undrafted in the first-year player draft last week.

 

“(Brewers scout) Drew Anderson called me Wednesday and asked if I was interested in playing pro ball. I told him I absolutely was,” Lieser said. “He had an opening and I jumped on it. It just fell into my lap.”

 

Lieser, a native of Browerville (MN), went 10-3 with a 2.71 ERA in his senior season for the Huskies. He threw 83 innings, struck out a team-high 66 and walked a team-low 11 among the Huskies’ starters. Lieser threw three no-hitters for St. Cloud State in his career.

 

Not getting drafted was disappointing for the 6-foot-3, 192-pound right-hander, but he’s grateful he’s still getting an opportunity. The Brewers also signed Minnesota State-Mankato pitcher Harvey Martin to a free agent contract Thursday. Martin was the Division II pitcher of the year this season and went undrafted like Lieser.

 

“Teams contacted me during the draft and it was hard sitting there watching it. It felt like a punch to the stomach when it didn’t happen,” Lieser said. “I was bitter right after it was over.

 

“(SCSU head coach) Pat Dolan kept working on things to get me into some kind of pro ball. It ended up working out. Now I’m in the same boat as other players who got drafted. It doesn’t matter now.”

 

Lieser will stay in Phoenix the rest of the season if he sticks with the Brewers. He said he received a small signing bonus for inking the deal with Milwaukee.

 

Lieser said Anderson personally watched him pitch throughout the season and had him in his sights during the draft.

 

“He had me slated in the draft, but they ended up not selecting me,” Lieser said. “He said I can compete at this level. He likes the way I can go out there and throw every day. He also liked that I had a lot of success against righties.

 

“I know I have to work on things. If I want to keep moving up, I have to do that. That’s what’s fun about this.”

 

***

 

Scott Leiser Player Profile Page via the St. Cloud State site

 

Harvey Martin Player Profile Page via the Minnesota-Mankato site (includes 2013 season info)

[Mass Haas]

We realize there is a bunch of news (tweets) regarding additional draft pick signings. We'll wait for the Brewers to release official updates before noting the moves here.

 

But, you can always peek in on our Official Draft Pick Selection/Signing Thread to keep up.

 

We also have been peppering our Draft Forum with articles featuring many of the recent signees as well as features on those still weighing their options. Hopefully everyone has been checking in, if it makes it easier, just go to the tail end of each of the three threads on the draft picks by rounds and work your way backwards for the most recent news.

[Mass Haas]

Nothing formal regarding Mike Fiers (broken forearm) yet, but catcher Dayton Buller was activated from the DL after Caleb Gindl's callup to fill the open AAA spot.

[Mass Haas]

If you thought Mike Fiers' (likely) season-ending broken forearm injury would open up an opportunity for Taylor Jungmann or Ariel Pena at AAA, sorry to report that, at least for now, it's veteran RHP Frankie De La Cruz returning to AAA.

 

That doesn't mean De La Cruz will necessarily slide back into a starting role at Nashville (made up currently of Hellweg, Nelson, Thornburg, Seidel, and once Chris Narveson wraps up, some combination of Kroenke / Lowe and possibly a re-assigned Burgos).

 

Plenty of options currently even after Fiers' injury, obviously some more exciting than others.

[Mass Haas]

UCF pitcher Matulis signs Free-Agent Contract with Milwaukee

By Eric DeSalvo, UCFAthletics.com

 

ORLANDO -- Left-handed pitcher Chris Matulis was able to give his dad, Michael, a one-of-a-kind Father's Day present. The Boynton Beach native signed a free-agent contract with the Milwaukee Brewers on Sunday following a two-year career at UCF in which he amassed a 12-5 record and 4.02 ERA in 161 innings.

 

"UCF has definitely helped me grow as a player," Matulis said after signing his contract with the Brewers. "Coach (Terry) Rooney has helped me become the pitcher I am today. He's helped me become more adapt to tough times as far as pitching and learning myself better."

 

Matulis is the second hurler to sign with an MLB team following the 2013 campaign as RHP Ben Lively inked a deal with the Cincinnati Reds following his selection in the fourth round of the 2013 MLB First-Year Player Draft. He is also the first Knight to sign a free-agent deal since Nick Cicio in 2011 with the Minnesota Twins.

 

Overall, Matulis became the 112th player out of UCF to either be drafted or sign a free-agent contract since the program's inception in 1973. He is the 20th Knight to ink a pro deal following the draft for Rooney since he arrived in summer 2008.

 

After transferring to UCF from LSU in 2010, Matulis sat out the 2011 season due to NCAA rules and Tommy John Surgery on his left elbow. He returned to the bump in 2012 and amassed an unblemished 7-0 record in 20 appearances and 10 starts. In his senior campaign, he served multiple roles for the Knights and eventually settled in as a weekend starter.

 

In Conference USA play this past season, the 6-foot-6 lefty amassed four starts in which he went eight innings, including a victory at No. 14 Rice back on April 12. He finished the year with a 5-5 record and a 4.31 ERA in 19 appearances and 11 starts.

 

***

 

Chris Matulis UCF Player Profile Page

 

***

 

Twitter

 

***

 

2012 story about his return from Tommy John surgery

[Mass Haas]

As per the Brewers' Player Development Dept., two more non-drafted free agents have been signed:

 

OF Nathan Orf, 5'9", RH bat, 23 years old, senior out of Baylor.

 

Baylor Site Player Profile Page

 

Orf signed on Wednesday. He's on Twitter, and enjoyed his Brewers-arranged flight (unsure if it was to Maryvale or Helena).

 

Orf started all 55 of Baylor’s games and finished with team highs in batting average (.377), hits (81), doubles (15) and on-base percentage (.470).

 

***

 

Also announced as an undrafted signee was Scott Harkin of Sonoma State University, previously with Loyola Marymount, a 6'2" senior, turns 22 on August 6th

 

ROHNERT PARK, CALIFORNIA -- Sonoma State University senior Scott Harkin will have an opportunity to extend his baseball-playing career as the Walnut Creek native has signed a free agent contract with the Milwaukee Brewers. Harkin becomes the second student-athlete off this year's team to head to the minor leagues, following Harmen Sidhu, who was selected by Tampa Bay in the Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft last weekend. Harkin is the 85th SSU baseball student-athlete to sign a professional contract since 1986.

 

Primarily a shortstop for the Seawolves in his only season at SSU, Harkin will enter the professional ranks as a right-handed pitcher. He made eight appearances on the mound in 2013, all in relief, and went 2-0 with a save, compiling a 2.25 ERA in a total of eight innings of work. He allowed seven hits, two runs and four walks while striking out 13 of the 35 batters he faced.

 

Offensively, Harkin batted .244 with nine doubles, a triple, three home runs, 22 RBI and 31 runs scored in 56 starts, all at shortstop. On Mar. 9 in a 5-4 win over UC San Diego, Harkin belted a two-run home run in the second inning, then earned the victory on the mound in relief several innings later.

 

Scott Harkin is the second player in school history to sign with the Milwaukee Brewers; former SSU standout Kevin Wong signed a free agent contract with Milwaukee in 1991. Over the last 27 years, players have been signed out of Sonoma State by 21 of the 30 major league franchises.

 

Player Page at Sonoma State

 

***

 

Kevin Wong did play in the Pioneer League in '91, but not for an affiliated team, apparently.

[Mass Haas]

Orf signed on Wednesday. He's on Twitter, and enjoyed his Brewers-arranged flight (unsure if it was to Maryvale or Helena).

 

It's Helena.

[Mass Haas]

RH reliever Greg Holle tweets that he's been bumped up to AAA Nashville from Huntsville.

 

No corresponding moves announced as of this moment.

[Mass Haas]

Josh Prince up from Nashville to cover Nori Aoki's paternity leave.