christian bethancourt minor league deal; non-roster invitee

[djoctagone]

christian bethancourt has been signed to a minor league deal as a catcher, and will be in major league camp. he has some experience pitching.

 

if added to the 25-man roster, he is out of minor league options.

[bill hAll Star]

Speaking of the ridiculous trade offers thread on the transactions board, remember this?

 

http://www.myajc.com/blog/mark-bradley/braves-trade-that-might-fit-bethancourt-for-lucroy/Do7P2D3DSqZppOBthaoZ4O/

[pyrocyz]

Interesting that they announced him as a catcher.

 

Time to start some conjecture...will we be dealing a catcher?

[Ron Robinsons Beard]

Interesting that they announced him as a catcher.

 

Time to start some conjecture...will we be dealing a catcher?

 

Makes me think that either Bandy or Susac will be jettisoned to open the 40-man spot needed for Logan. Either that or one of the 40-man catchers is involved in a deal soon to be announced.

[pyrocyz]

Interesting that they announced him as a catcher.

 

Time to start some conjecture...will we be dealing a catcher?

 

Makes me think that either Bandy or Susac will be jettisoned to open the 40-man spot needed for Logan. Either that or one of the 40-man catchers is involved in a deal soon to be announced.

 

if it is a roster spot opening...I am not sure which one would be better to jettison. Susac was the better prospect but just has never put it together.

[wallus]

Interesting that they announced him as a catcher.

 

Time to start some conjecture...will we be dealing a catcher?

 

Makes me think that either Bandy or Susac will be jettisoned to open the 40-man spot needed for Logan. Either that or one of the 40-man catchers is involved in a deal soon to be announced.

 

Which one of those two is getting traded for cash?

[Ron Robinsons Beard]

Interesting that they announced him as a catcher.

 

Time to start some conjecture...will we be dealing a catcher?

 

Makes me think that either Bandy or Susac will be jettisoned to open the 40-man spot needed for Logan. Either that or one of the 40-man catchers is involved in a deal soon to be announced.

 

Which one of those two is getting traded for cash?

 

Could be Nottingham too. He would have a lot more value in a package deal for a potential TOR starter. Teams are always on the lookout for young catching.

[KeithStone53151]

Could be Nottingham too. He would have a lot more value in a package deal for a potential TOR starter. Teams are always on the lookout for young catching.

 

If Nottingham is the guy to go, it will definitely be in a trade for significant value(as part of a package for SP would be one option as you noted). Nottingham is still young and talented, and still has significant value contrary to some opinions. I wondered the same as many though, is this a depth move for us to clear a 40 man spot? The likeliest to go has to be Bandy, Susac is a good guy to have as a backup catcher in case of injury and Pina/Vogt are penciled into the 25 man. It's also possible they think highly enough of Nottingham that he's ready to open in AAA and come up in the event of an injury...which would make Susac redundant. Or maybe it's just a depth move, we'll find out the day before pitchers and catchers report...as that's probably when this epic staring contest will end and all offseason activity will finally happen.

[pacopete4]

I was hoping they put him on as the 5th catcher on the 40-man just to have these boards blow up and get some real excitement around here.

[mrn1ceguy]

I was hoping they put him on as the 5th catcher on the 40-man just to have these boards blow up and get some real excitement around here.

 

He would actually be the 6th catcher on the 40 (Pina, Vogt, Bandy, Susac, Nottingham).

[pacopete4]

I was hoping they put him on as the 5th catcher on the 40-man just to have these boards blow up and get some real excitement around here.

 

He would actually be the 6th catcher on the 40 (Pina, Vogt, Bandy, Susac, Nottingham).

 

Even better!

[brewmann04]

wow we have a lot of catchers

maybe we release one

[CheeseheadInQC]

The Brewers seem to like to keep three catchers at AAA (with one inevitably coming down with third-catcheritis) and given that Bandy is out of options, unless I'm forgetting someone their only likely AAA catchers were Susac and Heineman. This also keeps them from having to scramble in case Susac actually wins the backup catcher job.

 

It is possible that one of the catchers is getting DFA'd, but I don't know that this in any way indicates that it is definitely going to happen.

[KeithStone53151]

The Brewers seem to like to keep three catchers at AAA (with one inevitably coming down with third-catcheritis) and given that Bandy is out of options, unless I'm forgetting someone their only likely AAA catchers were Susac and Heineman. This also keeps them from having to scramble in case Susac actually wins the backup catcher job.

 

It is possible that one of the catchers is getting DFA'd, but I don't know that this in any way indicates that it is definitely going to happen.

 

It wouldn't be unreasonable for Nottingham to open in AAA as the primary guy. And either way, it wouldn't be hard to find non-40 man filler to catch in AAA if needed. The issue is 40 man space. There is always an outside chance that Bandy would clear waivers and could be outrighted to AAA when the time comes.

[brewmann04]

I can't see the brewers moving Jacob at this point.

[ClosetBrewerFan]

I think you guys are just reading into this too much. Its likely just a depth move. No harm in adding a minor league FA.

[jerichoholicninja]

[sarcasm]This is the relief pitcher signing we've all been waiting for![/sarcasm]

 

But seriously I hope they don't completely give up on him as a pitcher. He throws pretty hard with movement.

[Boomer5]

If they traded Nottingham now it would be at his lowest possible value as a pro. He is just a throw in at this point until he starts hitting above A ball.

 

This is more of a churn move with a likely release of one of our low value catchers.

[MNBrew]

If they traded Nottingham now it would be at his lowest possible value as a pro. He is just a throw in at this point until he starts hitting above A ball.

 

This is more of a churn move with a likely release of one of our low value catchers.

There's no need to release anyone on account of Bethancourt's signing since he's on a minor-league deal. However, if you're suggesting it means Bandy or, perhaps more likely, Susac is either DFA'd with the Logan signing or included in some forthcoming trade, I agree with your domino theory.

[MNBrew]

On a lighter note, this reminds me of our Mouton-accumulating days (both Lyle & James playing for MIL). Now we're accumulating Bet(h)ancourts:

 

- Not long ago (but too recently for most folks' liking) we had the nefarious Yuni Betancourt.

- We currently have Javier Betancourt from the K-Rod trade playing IF in the system.

- Now we have Christian Bethancourt to catch at AAA.

 

It's a moot point, but I really liked both Moutons at the time even though their overall MIL performance wasn't stellar.

[FVBrewerFan]

This is a MiLB contract with camp invite. There will be more of these at virtually every position. Really nothing to do with catchers currently on the 25.

 

By the time April rolls around I really doubt all those catchers survive the 40, but I also doubt Bethancourt will have anything to do with that.

[CheeseheadInQC]

It wouldn't be unreasonable for Nottingham to open in AAA as the primary guy. And either way, it wouldn't be hard to find non-40 man filler to catch in AAA if needed. The issue is 40 man space. There is always an outside chance that Bandy would clear waivers and could be outrighted to AAA when the time comes.

 

Personally I hope that Nottingham starts the year off in AA. Given the Colorado Springs situation, I'd prefer not to give fringy promotions to AAA to legitimate position player prospects. Let them show improvement in a more normal environment first.

 

And yes, Bandy could make it through waivers or they could sign someone else, but just because he used to be a prospect and has played in the big leagues doesn't make Bethancourt the kind of guy you make a decision because of. He was converted to a pitcher for reasons that go beyond his fastball velocity. There's a legitimate chance he is this year's Rene Garcia.

 

And I'm not saying that Bandy or one of the others won't or shouldn't get DFA'd. It will probably either be him, Drake, Wang or Webb. But I don't think this is a signal one way or the other. The Brewers always keep a lot of catchers around, both in camp and in the minor leagues.

[djoctagone]

The likeliest to go has to be Bandy, Susac is a good guy to have as a backup catcher in case of injury and Pina/Vogt are penciled into the 25 man.

for quite some time, the brewers have carried only two catchers on their 40-man roster throughout the entire season (see the jonathan lucroy/martin maldonado era). when spring training concludes, there will likely be only three catchers on the 40-man, and one of them (jacob nottingham) will be optioned for depth and recalled if there's an injury to one of the other two. remember, stephen vogt's contract is not guaranteed.

[JohnBriggs12]

On a lighter note, this reminds me of our Mouton-accumulating days (both Lyle & James playing for MIL). Now we're accumulating Bet(h)ancourts:

 

- Not long ago (but too recently for most folks' liking) we had the nefarious Yuni Betancourt.

- We currently have Javier Betancourt from the K-Rod trade playing IF in the system.

- Now we have Christian Bethancourt to catch at AAA.

 

It's a moot point, but I really liked both Moutons at the time even though their overall MIL performance wasn't stellar.

 

I liked Lyle Mouton. Apparently Lopes didn't though. The guy was 30-31 but put up monster AAA numbers and was no slouch in the majors: .280/.339/.420. Couldn't believe when they took him off the major league roster in early July of 2000. It was not like that team couldn't use a bat like his off the bench.

[brewmann04]

they have to move a catcher off the 40 man or maybe Webb