Brewers invite Franklin Morales to camp

[StearnsFTW]

Non-roster invitee. Seems like a solid move. He was pretty good for KC last year.

[patrickgpe]

Good insurance with Boyer if they trade smith or decide they need a 2nd lefty in the pen

[StearnsFTW]

Or, wait for it...........a possible flip. I'm half kidding.

[JohnBriggs12]

Interesting move. For a team that's tanking, er rebuilding "slowly", it has a pretty decent pitching staff on paper especially if Nelson and Peralta pitch to their talent level.

[Mass Haas]

Makes you wonder if they're not expecting fellow non-roster invite LHP Cesar Jimenez (personal issues in Venezuela) for a while.

[smbrewersfan15]

Deal is official as of today. Surprised by the 2.3M salary along with another 1.5M if he makes the team. Guess Boras being his agent factors into the salary.

 

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2016/03/brewers-to-sign-franklin-morales-to-minors-deal.html

[brewmann04]

Yes they add have added a nice group of arms maybe some more with the idea of moving some arms should be interesting.

[brewerfan82]

Deal is official as of today. Surprised by the 2.3M salary along with another 1.5M if he makes the team. Guess Boras being his agent factors into the salary.

 

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2016/03/brewers-to-sign-franklin-morales-to-minors-deal.html

 

The wording in the article is a little ambiguous, but I read that as 2.3M if he makes the team with an additional 1.5M possible in incentives.

[MKE81]

Good signing. There are still uncertainties in the pen so this adds another veteran lefty who should be pretty solid. Would be good to have Smith, Morales, Nolin in pen with Morales strictly on lefty/lefty matchups, Smith as closer and Nolin as multi-inning guy who can spot start. Personally, I'd rather see someone like Nolin spot start vs Thornburg. I think Thornburg needs to strictly stay in the pen role in order to maximize his effectiveness. I'd roll with eight relievers keeping Jones. His power arm and potential are too difficult to ignore and hand back to MN plus he's a year younger than Pena. And if Smith is traded then still have two lefties

[QuevedosTongue]

Deal is official as of today. Surprised by the 2.3M salary along with another 1.5M if he makes the team. Guess Boras being his agent factors into the salary.

 

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2016/03/brewers-to-sign-franklin-morales-to-minors-deal.html

 

The wording in the article is a little ambiguous, but I read that as 2.3M if he makes the team with an additional 1.5M possible in incentives.

 

And a March 28th opt out. So, if the Brewers want him they pay, if not he gets to walk.

[Outlander]

Not a big fan of Nolin, would rather have Morales over him.

[MKE81]

Not a big fan of Nolin, would rather have Morales over him.

Morales will make this team. I'd rather have Nolin over Pena.

[Boomer5]

Morales is a pretty decent pitcher (good stats, didnt get a lot of high leverage chances though), I wonder why he was still available in March?

[Invader3K]

Morales is a pretty decent pitcher (good stats, didnt get a lot of high leverage chances though), I wonder why he was still available in March?

 

It does seem a bit odd. He's only 30, so it's not like he's over the hill at this point. Perhaps a general fear that his 2015 season was an outlier? He did pitch in far more games than in any other season of his career.

[djoctagone]

And a March 28th opt out. So, if the Brewers want him they pay, if not he gets to walk.

this 28 march opt-out applies to any player signed to a minor league contract and invited to big league camp who spent the entire 2015 season on a major league roster and/or major league disabled list.

[djoctagone]

despite being released today, the brewers could try to re-sign morales to a new minor league deal. he could've been released to avoid paying him a $100,000 retention bonus.

[TURBO]

Releasing Morales and keeping Capuano? I question this move strongly... Morales hasn't allowed a run in 4 innings, has some upside and we keep old man Capuano based on what, the fact that he was once a Brewer?

 

Silly move imo.

[DHonks]

I like this move. Cappy is a great veteran, and more effective than the never-really-good Morales

[JohnBriggs12]

I like this move. Cappy is a great veteran, and more effective than the never-really-good Morales

 

Really? Capuano is coming off a year where he posted a 7.97 ERA and has a very mediocre career 4.39 ERA and has almost no experience out of the pen. While we're at it, why not bring Lohse back? Morales isn't great by any means, but he's been a useful member of the bullpen on 4 different teams that went to the postseason.

 

Hey it's not going to be a decision that'll come back to haunt them either way. But there are better lefty bullpen arms on the street right now than Capuano.

[MadScientist]

Releasing Morales and keeping Capuano? I question this move strongly... Morales hasn't allowed a run in 4 innings, has some upside and we keep old man Capuano based on what, the fact that he was once a Brewer?

 

Silly move imo.

 

I suspect that whoever made it would only be on the team until Will Smith comes back. With that consideration they probably took Cappy over Morales because of the contract. They may also have felt that Morales wasn't quite ready, or that Cappy would be more useful for stints over one inning.

[JohnBriggs12]

Releasing Morales and keeping Capuano? I question this move strongly... Morales hasn't allowed a run in 4 innings, has some upside and we keep old man Capuano based on what, the fact that he was once a Brewer?

 

Silly move imo.

 

I suspect that whoever made it would only be on the team until Will Smith comes back. With that consideration they probably took Cappy over Morales because of the contract. They may also have felt that Morales wasn't quite ready, or that Cappy would be more useful for stints over one inning.

 

It'll be a while I'm guessing on Smith. Besides, there's a lot of marginal guys on this staff that won't be here all season so finding room for Smith won't be an issue. The contract is likely the determining factor. They didn't want to be on the hook for $2 million, for a guy they might eventually release, especially when they are on the hook for so much for Garza who also may end up discarded before the season is over.

[monty57]

I suspect that whoever made it would only be on the team until Will Smith comes back.

 

Smith could be a while, so I'd say that Cappy will probably be there until Nolin returns.

[pacopete4]

I suspect that whoever made it would only be on the team until Will Smith comes back.

 

Smith could be a while, so I'd say that Cappy will probably be there until Nolin returns.

 

So either way, Cappy being on this team is really not a big deal. Other than it will draw an extra 10 people to come to the park each night!

[Roderick]

I suspect that whoever made it would only be on the team until Will Smith comes back.

 

Smith could be a while, so I'd say that Cappy will probably be there until Nolin returns.

 

So either way, Cappy being on this team is really not a big deal. Other than it will draw an extra 10 people to come to the park each night!

 

So how much did Cappy sign for? Is it possible that Cappy is a better (or known) clubhouse presence to the youngsters, the kind the Brewers want to have a few around at the cost of a little upside?

[pacopete4]

So how much did Cappy sign for? Is it possible that Cappy is a better (or known) clubhouse presence to the youngsters, the kind the Brewers want to have a few around at the cost of a little upside?

 

 

Don't know the contract but it just can't be that expensive. But there are numerous quotes from Counsell about why Capuano was the choice. He is our gritty vet of 2016.

 

http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/sports/373768651.html

"With 'Cappy,' we're getting versatility; we're getting a great teammate." manager Craig Counsell said. "We think he's an old dog we can teach some new tricks to. All of those factors combined make Cappy a guy we wanted on this roster.

 

"Those aren't in any way meant to be slights to Franklin. It's just what kind of drew us to Chris."

 

"People like Chris are going to help us," said Counsell, who along with Capuano was part of the six-player package the Brewers received from the Arizona Diamondbacks for Richie Sexson on Dec. 1, 2003.

 

"Losing Will, and going back even farther, losing Frankie Rodriguez, there's a void down there, not only the quality of arms, but there's a void of leadership, a little bit. I view Chris as just solid and somebody who will help with the foundation."

 

"I'm excited," he said. "I had a chance to play with him early in my career. He's just an awesome guy and a great guy to have in the clubhouse. Very professional in the way he goes about his business every day, which is something I think can benefit some of the less-experienced guys we have on the roster.

 

"Obviously still performing well. It's definitely a good story."