Brewers claim Dylan Baker

[markedman5]

Brewers twitter

 

The #Brewers have claimed RHP Dylan Baker off waivers from Cleveland. With his addition, the 40-man roster is at capacity.

[TURBO]

Silly question maybe, but if we claim a guy, does he automatically go on the 40 man?

[MadScientist]

I'm guessing he's the first of many claim and outright (with the intent to stash at AAA) that we will be seeing over the next month or so.

[djoctagone]

dylan baker has one minor league option remaining. he spent most of 2017 injured, so it may be possible for the club to petition for another option year (like they did with mark rogers).

[MadThinker88]

good pickup (steal) by the Brewers. I've been a fan of his for a while.

 

Good numbers as a starter but couldn't remain healthy. His stuff should play up in the pen and if he remains healthy (big IF given his history) he might be able to help in the Brewer pen this season..

 

As for the questions raised by some: Yes he had to go on the 40 man with being claimed (otherwise the Tribe was outrighting him to the minors).

For the Brewers to send him to the minors they either burn his final option (he is down to 1 remaining for 2018) or they waive him & assuming he clears the waivers (gets past all teams) he can then be sent "outright" to the minors. The 1st time a player is sent outright, they have no choice but to report (or retire from ball). After that 1st outright, the player has the option to become a free agent if they don't wish to go to the minors of that club.

[reillymcshane]

Baker has thrown a total of 21.2 innings the last three years - reaching High A ball. I'm guessing the club sees something interesting in him to add him to the 40-man roster. As people have noted, we will have a lot of these kinds of moves in the next few weeks. He will be 26 in April. The Brewers have gotten some interesting players under Stearns - older guys (especially arms) that have been injured or buried elsewhere.

 

https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.fcgi?id=baker-000dyl

[MadThinker88]

I found some prospect info related to Baker from the IBI website. This was part of the 2017 Prospect Book they published..

 

32. DYLAN BAKER – RIGHT-HANDED PITCHER

Born: 04/06/1992 – Height: 6’2” – Weight: 205 – Bats: Right – Throws: Right

Facts & Info: Baker was selected by the Indians in the 5th round of the 2012 Draft out of Western Nevada Community College and signed for $235,600. His freshman season in 2011 he pitched for Tacoma Community College before transferring to Western Nevada for his sophomore season in 2012. While at Western Nevada he was named the Scenic West Athletic Conference Pitcher of the Year and helped Western Nevada advance to the Junior College World Series.

 

Stuff: Baker is a power pitcher who combines a very strong lower half and some very good arm strength to bring some big time velocity from the right side. When healthy, he features a plus-plus fastball that comfortably sits at 93-96 MPH and will occasionally flash 97-98 MPH, and has been recorded as high as 100 MPH when he was in college. The Indians feel that as gets healthy, adds a little more strength and makes a few tweaks to his mechanics that he will more consistently be able to reach his top end velocity readings and see an uptick of a MPH or two in his average velocity. His fastball shows some good late life through the zone and gets a good amount of swing and miss with it, although he only shows average command of it. He mixes in a solid average slurvy slider that has some good, late biting action to it, and has the potential to be a plus offering and legit Major League weapon for him because of the late movement through the zone and swing and miss he gets with it. He also shows a feel for a developing changeup that has a chance to be average, but it is still a work in progress and a pitch he only uses occasionally to give hitters a different look and to attack left-handed hitters.

Delivery & Intangibles: Baker has a big frame with a very thick lower half that helps create a lot of strength for him from the ground up and the endurance to log a lot of innings. He has a free and easy delivery that he is working to refine but does a good job of repeating and staying on line with it. He really does a nice job of keeping the ball on the ground (1.53 career GO/AO) and limiting damage by keeping it in the ballpark (8 HR in 225.0 IP). He displays some strong mental toughness where the game doesn’t speed up on him in high leverage situations and he really does a nice job of keeping composed to work out of jams. He has developed a good routine and is always well prepared when he takes the mound, and just has a very good makeup with a strong work ethic and ability to make adjustments quickly.

Focus: Health has been an ongoing issue for Baker over the last three seasons as he has been limited to just 13 total appearances over that time because of a few serious injuries. In 2014 he fractured his right ankle in the second start of the season and missed three months and also had what was then considered minor right arm soreness during spring training in 2014 which delayed the start of his season by a week. That arm issue cropped up again in 2015 as after one start he was sidelined because of arm soreness and later underwent Tommy John surgery on May 20, 2015 which shut him down for the rest of the season. Last season, he had a few setbacks along the way in his recovery which prevented him from getting on the mound the entire year. The focus in the early part of the season will be getting him healthy and ready to compete in a live game setting again. Once he is able to settle in and prove he is healthy, the focus will then shift on continuing his development which has mostly been on hold the last three years because of all the injuries. He’s still a little raw and experienced with just 225.0 career innings as a professional and only one college season, so the Indians really need to hone in on the development of his command, stuff, pitch sequencing and overall feel for pitching in order to smooth out all of the rough edges he still has on the mound. There is no question that his durability is a huge question mark moving forward as he has to show he can stay healthy and handle the innings workload of a starter or the appearances workload of a reliever, so the Indians will likely monitor his workload this season in order to better ensure he stays healthy and can stay on the field so that he can make some strides in his development. The Indians also want him to continue to work to refine the command of his fastball, be more aggressive with it in the zone, and locate it more consistently to the bottom of the zone. They also would like to see his slider get a little tighter and the command of it improve.

Future: Baker has a ton of talent but his numerous injuries over the last three years have really limited his time on the mound. With only one appearance over the last two years and just 13 appearances over the last three years, his once promising future has started to fade. While the Indians haven’t completely given up on him as a starter, the reality is his path for now may have to be as a reliever in order to keep him healthy and accelerate his development – plus he just isn’t built up to handle more than 70-80 innings in a season anyway. His lack of a true third offering and his fastball command issues could also be covered up some by working out of the pen where he can let loose with his fastball and really dominate in short spurts – a role many scouts viewed him in going back to the draft. He just has the kind of arm and mentality that can really impact in the backend of a bullpen, but even so, his overall grade is weighed considerably because of the concerns with his durability. If he continues to struggle with injuries this season he could eventually find his way off the 40-man roster, though the Indians still have some time to be patient with him considering he has two option years remaining and his arm is too valuable to give up on for now. He should open the season at Double-A Akron, though could find himself in extended spring training to start the season in order to manage his innings on the front end before eventually being assigned to Akron or even High-A Lynchburg in May or June.

Ranking History: #28 (2016), #30 (2015), #15 (2014), #42 (2013) <-- This is ranking in the Tribe system by IBI -mt88

 

I tried to copy over Baker's stat history but the table would not copy.. Sorry

[patrickgpe]

dylan baker has one minor league option remaining. he spent most of 2017 injured, so it may be possible for the club to petition for another option year (like they did with mark rogers).

then it seems like he will be optioned and tried to be stashed for depth. Seems like DS's MO

[Outlander]

I like this move, a type of player that you see in the rule 5 draft but with him the Brewers can option him. If he is healthy it is a cheap way to get another power arm in the bullpen.

[markedman5]

[jerichoholicninja]

So DS is going to spend another offseason claiming barely 4A pitchers and then losing them on waivers a week later?

[KeithStone53151]

So DS is going to spend another offseason claiming barely 4A pitchers and then losing them on waivers a week later?

 

So what if he does? This falls into "no harm no foul" territory. I'm sure he won't let these waiver claims impact any signings/trades he intends to make.

[dacbrewers]

Brewers need to pick up or sign another 6-8 pitchers to fill out the AAA Roster.

[Thurston Fluff]

So DS is going to spend another offseason claiming barely 4A pitchers and then losing them on waivers a week later?

 

Hopefully yes. It's a very smart strategy. While any team can claim him and put him on their 40 man, we are now the only ones who have a chance to keep him without using a 40 man roster spot. I am all for doing that with as many players as possible. All it can do is allow us to accumulate players for essentially no cost in players or 40 man roster spots. It's the little things like that which add up to stronger farm systems.

[jerichoholicninja]

So DS is going to spend another offseason claiming barely 4A pitchers and then losing them on waivers a week later?

 

So what if he does? This falls into "no harm no foul" territory. I'm sure he won't let these waiver claims impact any signings/trades he intends to make.

 

I'm not against it, it just seems like such a minimal return though. Last year's guys, Blake Parker went on to dominate for the Angels and Steve Goeltz never even sniffed the bigs. So I'm not sure if that validates the strategy or discredits it. Also, it cost us Diaz by taking up a 40 man spot, who may or may not turn out to be something. At this point in the offseason I guess it's irrelevant with Rule 5 concerns having past.

[brewmann04]

you always try to improve the team no harm no foul

[homer]

Definitely has a high ceiling. Good low risk move.

[JohnBriggs12]

you always try to improve the team no harm no foul

 

Except he's taking a spot on the 40 man. Seems like a guy who could have been had with a minor league deal.

[djoctagone]

So DS is going to spend another offseason claiming barely 4A pitchers and then losing them on waivers a week later?

Hopefully yes. It's a very smart strategy. While any team can claim him and put him on their 40 man, we are now the only ones who have a chance to keep him without using a 40 man roster spot. I am all for doing that with as many players as possible. All it can do is allow us to accumulate players for essentially no cost in players or 40 man roster spots. It's the little things like that which add up to stronger farm systems.

it's a risky strategy. it didn't work out last year in trying to outright blake parker, steve geltz and adam walker (all three were claimed by other teams), but perhaps the brewers are looking to outright baker before clubs non-tender arbitration eligible players (which would open up space on their own 40-man rosters to add baker).

 

or, the brewers may see enough in baker to want to keep him on the 40-man roster, knowing he can be optioned in 2018. time will tell.

 

as mentioned in the catcher battle thread, i can't see how the brewers are going to continue to carry five catchers on their 40-man roster--especially when three of the five are out of minor league options, coupled with the club's practice in carrying just two catchers on the 25-man roster.

[MadThinker88]

you always try to improve the team no harm no foul

 

Except he's taking a spot on the 40 man. Seems like a guy who could have been had with a minor league deal.

 

Baker wasn't going to be available via minor league free agency this off season. He was on his way to the Indians Minors if he hadn't gotten claimed off waivers by the Brewers (or another club)..

[brewmann04]

this you all know can be rectified if DS wants too add someone as of now not an issue.

[Outlander]

I don't understand why some would say this is a risky strategy. If the Brewers do indeed DFA Baker and somebody else claims him they are just in the same spot as before, that isn't risky, it is no risk with potential for gain. They potentially could have had Blake Parker last year to strengthen the bullpen if it worked.

[FVBrewerFan]

We should get used to this, it won't be last move on the 40 man. Maybe he sticks, maybe not, but absolutely no down-side.

 

Also worth noting, I can see one of the catchers dropping off before this is all done. I don't see any reason to carry all of Susa, Bandy and Voght. Then you have pitchers like Drake, Webb, Wang, and Guerra who aren't exactly must haves. that's all before any potential trades that could shake up the roster.

 

It's not like this is DS ONLY strategy. He has proven he will use any and all means to find talent at the MLB and MiLB levels.

[Thurston Fluff]

It's not like this is DS ONLY strategy. He has proven he will use any and all means to find talent at the MLB and MiLB levels.

 

Precisely. This is simply one way to add talent without losing something in return. It's little moves like this that help get a slight edge. When combined with all the other little things he does it ends up being a much larger advantage.

[homer]

It's not like this is a 30 year old dude that throws 89mph. This guy throws legit heat and has a wicked slider. I think the Brewers are in a great position to take a flyer on a guy like this. I don't see how some one else at the bottom of the 40 man is any better of a gamble than Baker.