Rule 5 options...

[clancyphile]

One interesting thought:

Suppose the Brewers grabbed a Rule 5 pick?

 

For instance, if they wanted, they could snag Jordan Yamamoto from the Marlins if he is left unprotected and stick him in the pen. Yamamoto might be able to be useful in the low-leverage situation, AND it drops the price tag on the Yelich trade a bit.

 

EDIT: In a similar vein, Kodi Medeiros is also Rule 5 eligible. If the White Sox fail to protect him... that gives the Crew a chance to add him as a replacement for Jennings/Cedeno. Makes the price for a two-month Soria rental $50K plus a fringe minor-leaguer.

[And That]

It's pretty difficult at best to know right now who will and won't be Rule 5 draft options. Deadline to protect players is November 20th.

[clancyphile]

It's pretty difficult at best to know right now who will and won't be Rule 5 draft options. Deadline to protect players is November 20th.

 

Very true. That said, there are a couple of intriguing possibilities. Medeiros and/or Yamamoto could be cheap bullpen options, and have the benefit of lowering the price tags for a couple of trades.

[JosephC]

Maybe a reasonable strategy for a team that finishes 67-95. I don't think it's such a good idea for a team that could easily project to 90+ wins. They will have a hard enough time trying to figure out how to keep Adrian Houser (out of options) in the organization, and I'm guessing Houser will be just as attractive as any pitcher that is available in the Rule 5 draft. But time will tell on that, should be interesting to see the available names when that has been determined.

[Oxy]

Yeah. With the way we use our bullpen and having a 92+ win team there is no way we'd want a mediocre bullpen arm that we are forced to keep on the 25 man roster all year.

[Lathund]

For instance, if they wanted, they could snag Jordan Yamamoto from the Marlins if he is left unprotected and stick him in the pen. Yamamoto might be able to be useful in the low-leverage situation, AND it drops the price tag on the Yelich trade a bit.

 

EDIT: In a similar vein, Kodi Medeiros is also Rule 5 eligible. If the White Sox fail to protect him... that gives the Crew a chance to add him as a replacement for Jennings/Cedeno. Makes the price for a two-month Soria rental $50K plus a fringe minor-leaguer.

 

The fact that those two were parts of trades Brewers made shouldn't matter though. If there were two pitchers out there that were basically clones of Yamamoto and Medeiros but who had nothing whatsoever to do with the Brewers in the past, would they make sense to select in the rule 5 draft? If yes, then sure, go ahead. But those two trades already happened, whatever new signings the Brewers make should be judged on the basis of what they do to improve the team in the short- and long term in relation to the other options out there. Oh and if the Brewers didn't want to protect these guys in the rule 5 draft (i.e have them in a situation where they would be on the 40-man, but could be optioned) they'll not want to have them as rule 5 draft picks either.

 

Anyway I have a hard time seeing the Brewers pick anyone in the rule 5 draft. I think it's an undervalued source of talent, but have a hard time seeing how we'd fit one onto the roster. Some rosters are better suited to it than others, but this one isn't it. Only thing I could possibly see is a reliever, but it'd take a special and overlooked talent for that to happen.

[DHonks]

Not many tough lefties with low arm slots and a dynamic slider typically available. Kodi is just scratching the surface and should remain on the radar

[Oxy]

I was very negative about this possibility, but what is the risk? I assume we have to at least eat some sort of financial cost if we pick a guy and then send him back to his original club in May? Are there any other consequences?

[Outlander]

The risk is one less player for the Brewers to protect in the rule 5 draft and maybe Stearns won't have the chance to make numerous waiver claims like he usually does. With a rule 5 player you can't pick him in the draft and DFA him a week later. He has to stay with the team until at least mid March. If the rule 5 player actually made it to say May then the Brewers likely released another player that had no options left.

[PeaveyFury]

I appreciate the sentimental value of re-acquiring guys that used to be on our farm, and I acknowledge the feel-good aspect of bringing a guy back and making a trade seem less costly, but there has to be some acknowledgement that it's possible that the reason those players were traded in the first place was that our fairly sharp front office may have determined that they weren't going to reach the projections that we and others may have had for them. I'd imagine that the FO looked at the 40 man projections for this offseason back in July, and traded away the guys they didn't want to protect in the first place. That makes it unlikely in my mind that they'll want to re-acquire them to take up said spot again this offseason.

[Outlander]

EDIT: In a similar vein, Kodi Medeiros is also Rule 5 eligible. If the White Sox fail to protect him... that gives the Crew a chance to add him as a replacement for Jennings/Cedeno. Makes the price for a two-month Soria rental $50K plus a fringe minor-leaguer.

The White Sox added Kodi Medeiros today to their 40 man roster so no longer an option.

[TURBO]

I'm still a little upset we got rid of Kodi...

[Kelbysdaddy]

Marlins added Yamamoto to their 40-man today as well.

[Eye Black]

Some of the more notable players available...

 

Richie Martin (SS, A’s)

 

Kean Wong (2B, Rays)

 

Max Schrock (2B, Cardinals)

 

Riley Ferrell (RHP, Astros)

 

Braxton Davidson (OF/1B, Braves)

 

Foster Griffin (LHP, Royals)

 

Forrest Wall (OF, Blue Jays)

 

Some other familiar names that were high draft picks in 2014 and 2015 include Tyler Kolek, Tyler Jay, Derek Hill, Jon Harris, Kyle Holder and Chase Vallot.

[ClosetBrewerFan]

Schrock would be interesting. Had a down year last year, but was a good hitter in every year prior. Still young and plays a position of need. Wong could be interesting as well.

[Eye Black]

Here are the MLB Pipeline Top 30 Prospects by Team that were left unprotected for the upcoming Rule 5 Draft...

 

Arizona Diamondbacks

7. Marcus Wilson, OF

22. Alex Young, LHP

23. Cody Reed, LHP

 

Atlanta Braves

22. Travis Demeritte, OF

28. Josh Graham, RHP

 

Baltimore Orioles

29. Luis Gonzalez, LHP

 

Boston Red Sox

10. Josh Ockimey, 1B

21. Jhonathan Diaz, LHP

23. Roldani Baldwin, C

27. Roniel Raudes, RHP

 

Chicago Cubs

17. Trevor Clifton, RHP

26. Erling Moreno, RHP

 

Chicago White Sox

26. Spencer Adams, RHP

 

Cincinnati Reds

22. Michael Beltre, OF

 

Cleveland Indians

20. Oscar Gonzalez, OF

 

Colorado Rockies

19. Breiling Eusebio, LHP

23. Roberto Ramos, 1B

25. Brian Mundell, 1B

27. Dom Nunez, C

 

Detroit Tigers

19. Jose Azocar, OF

24. Tyler Alexander, LHP

29. Derek Hill, CF

 

Houston Astros

17. Riley Ferrell, RHP

24. Jonathan Arauz, SS

 

Kansas City Royals

23. Elvis Luciano, RHP

28. D.J. Burt, SS

29. Foster Griffin, LHP

30. Ofreidy Gomez, RHP

 

Los Angeles Angels

15. Leonardo Rivas, SS

18. Luis Pena, RHP

28. Joe Gatto, RHP

 

Los Angeles Dodgers

19. Drew Jackson, SS

24. Cristian Santana, SS

29. Andrew Sopko, RHP

 

Miami Marlins

18. Christopher Torres, SS

26. Brayan Hernandez, CF

30. McKenzie Mills, LHP

 

Milwaukee Brewers

10. Jake Gatewood, 1B

17. Cody Ponce, RHP

28. Carlos Herrera, RHP

 

Minnesota Twins

16. Lewin Diaz, RF

22. Tyler Jay, LHP

 

New York Mets

19. Luis Carpio, SS

21. David Thompson, 3B

25. Ali Sanchez, C

27. Patrick Mazeika, C

 

New York Yankees

None

 

Oakland A's

12. Richie Martin, SS

27. James Naile, RHP

 

Philadelphia Phillies

12. Daniel Brito, SS

16. Jose Gomez, SS

27. Tom Eshelman, RHP

 

Pittsburgh Pirates

19. Gage Hinsz, RHP

24. Brandon Waddell, LHP

28. Domingo Robles, LHP

 

San Diego Padres

None

 

San Francisco Giants

8. Sandro Fabian, OF

18. Juan De Paula, RHP

23. Jordan Johnson, RHP

28. C.J. Hinojosa, SS/2B

 

Seattle Mariners

17. Art Warren, RHP

21. Rob Whalen, RHP

23. Ian Miller, OF

26. Anthony Jimenez, OF

27. Luis Liberato, OF

29. Ronald Rosario, OF

30. Anthony Misiewicz, LHP

 

St. Louis Cardinals

11. Max Schrock, 2B

14. Junior Fernandez, RHP

23. Wadye Ynfante, OF

 

Tampa Bay Rays

None

 

Texas Rangers

17. Pedro Gonzalez, OF

30. Edgar Arredondo, RHP

 

Toronto Blue Jays

25. Forrest Wall, OF

28. Jordan Romano, RHP

 

Washington Nationals

13. Telmito Agustin, OF

24. Tomas Alastre, RHP

25. Jose Marmolejos, 1B/OF

29. Drew Ward, 3B/1B

[clancyphile]

Mazeika is unprotected??

 

I'd like to see the Crew grab him.

[TURBO]

If chosen from another team, that player has to go on the 25 man roster, correct?

[Lathund]

Yes, and stay there the whole season. Which is why it makes very little sense to me to pick a catcher who has had less than 400 PAs above A ball. I tried to find out if his defense has anything to do with the obsession of picking him in the rule 5 draft, and can't find much except (from mlb.com) "Mazeika’s defense behind the plate remains a work in progress, both his fringy arm — an elbow injury that delayed his full-season debut by a month didn’t help — and his overall receving skills. He has made some strides, but he still has a ways to go". As for offense, a 96 wRC+ at AA isn't bad at all for a catcher, but it doesn't exactly scream immediate impact bat. To put it into context, Jacob Nottingham in 2017 in AA was 2 years younger than Mazieka, and put up a 102 wRC+. He then went on prove himself at AAA as well (126 wRC+ factors in the park and league environment to an extent). And he doesn't need to be on the roster the whole year. I suspect it's a matter of looking for players with as many, or more, walks than strikeouts and finding Mazieka. Seems to be Clancy's type.

[DHonks]

I'd imagine that the FO looked at the 40 man projections for this offseason back in July, and traded away the guys they didn't want to protect in the first place. That makes it unlikely in my mind that they'll want to re-acquire them to take up said spot again this offseason.

 

So teams only trade away pieces that don't currently fit? I think that's a bit ridiculous. They traded assets to acquire assets. I thought Ortiz would get traded, as he didn't necessarily fit with us, wasn't drafted by us, and could be a nice trade chip. But Medeiros was a great fit. We had to give him up to acquire a late innings reliever.

[PeaveyFury]

I'd imagine that the FO looked at the 40 man projections for this offseason back in July, and traded away the guys they didn't want to protect in the first place. That makes it unlikely in my mind that they'll want to re-acquire them to take up said spot again this offseason.

 

So teams only trade away pieces that don't currently fit? I think that's a bit ridiculous.

 

That's a bit of word twisting. The team probably internally ranked guys that needed to be added, and it's possible if not likely that they were willing to make available the guys that they projected with lower ceilings than the others.

 

I'd imagine that they have a better feel for who that is than we do, and I don't think thinking so is close to "ridiculous." Is it possible that they had to give someone up that was better than they wanted to give up? Of course. But it may just be that they don't have as high of an opinion of a guy as the posters like us on a message board do. I think we're far more guilty of falling in love with the idea of reaquiring guys that used to be here just because we're familiar with them than teams actually are.

[JosephC]

I like Cincinnati OF-Michael Beltre even though he has no experience at the higher levels. It seems like he's the real deal from the defensive aspect. Hard to get a good judgment on the offense because he's been old for his levels, but last year he definitely got the job done. If the Brewers had a big problem with outfield depth then I wouldn't have minded seeing them take a chance on this A-ball player, which is something I'm usually against. But with the way things are, I just don't think there is a spot for him on the 25-man roster coming out of spring training.

 

For Milwaukee...Oakland's Richie Martin (SS) and the Dodger's Drew Jackson (SS/2B) both seem like reasonable fits to me.

 

Martin gets the job done with the glove and I read reports early on that indicated he could be a late-bloomer with the bat...and his offense took a big step forward last year. Even with some mediocre offensive numbers during his minor league career, he's still be a lifetime .257/.340/.366/.706 hitter and that's not bad if the player plays a really good shortstop. He'd be a really nice insurance policy if Arcia falls into bad habits at the plate again. He's number one on my wish list of Rule 5 eligibles.

 

Jackson has played mostly shortstop and second base, but is an excellent athlete with a great arm and has also played some third base and centerfield. Has pretty decent offensive numbers (career .269/.360/.399/.760), but as I understand it, he can be rather streaky with the bat and figures to have a below-average bat as a major leaguer. Nonetheless, a good athlete with some positional versatility, could provide Hernan Perez with some competition for the versatile defensive sub role on the team.

 

Only pitcher that really caught my attention was the Blue Jay's RHP-Jordan Romano. Career minor league numbers are just sort of average across the board. 3.31 ERA, 1.25 WHIP, 3.3 BB/9, 8.8 K/9. But basically all of that's been as a starter, and I think he profiles much better as a reliever with a plus fastball/slider combination. 25 years old, 6-4, 200 pound guy with only 5 innings of AAA experience and 137 1/3 innings of AA experience but should be ready to make the jump. Did have Tommy John surgery and missed the 2015 season. Nice arm to maybe take a flyer on.

[MrTPlush]

If you have to be protected in the offseason and are notably far away from the majors you are a prime candidate to be traded away. There is additional value in trading someone away we could potentially lose for nothing and it opens up a 40 man spot.

 

As for us selecting anyone...I doubt it. We are trying to win games. We don't have space to waste.

[RollieTime]

I’ve been doing a little digging and found a few guys that I think could be good options for us to consider.

 

RHP Trevor Clifton, Cubs- Fastball sits in the low to mid 90’s and has hit as high as 97. He has a plus curveball to go with his fastball and has shown improvement with his changeup. He has a cutter he will throw as well. Keeps the ball in the ballpark, but has walk issues. He has a career BB/9 of 3.8. He has been productive at every stop and was solid last year in AAA. Could be a good bullpen option.

 

1B Roberto Ramos, Rockies- Big 6’5”, 220 lb lefty hitting first baseman that really found his power stroke last season. He hit 32 home runs between A+ and AA last season. Ramos strikes out at a pretty high rate, but will also take his walks. He could be looked at as a cheap lefty platoon option at first base.

 

3B David Thompson, Mets- 6’2”, 210 lb right handed hitting third baseman with plus raw power. Plays average defense at the hot corner. Made adjustments at the plate in 2017 which led to more consistent hard contact and helped him tap into his raw power. He broke his wrist after getting hit by a pitch early in 2018 and also had elbow surgery. He has struck out around 21% of the time in his career.

 

2B Max Schrock, Cardinals- Small 5’8” second baseman that can also play 3B and left field effectively. He drives the ball well for his size, hits for a high average, and strikes out under 9% of the time in his minor league career. He has double digit home run potential as an everyday second baseman. He can steal a few bases as well. He has solid range and soft hands for second base. He was very successful at AA and struggled a little bit in his first season at AAA.

 

RHP Jordan Romano, Blue Jays- Righty starting pitcher, good fastball, slider combo. Has a curveball and changeup also. Righties struggle against him and only hit .192 in 2017 against him. He sits 92-94 with his fastball, but can hit as high as 96. He keeps the ball in the park and strikes out nearly one batter per inning. He could be a very effective bullpen option from day one.

 

If I had to pick one guy that would make the most sense for us right now, I think it would be Max Schrock. He’s a left handed bat that rarely strikes out and could be a stopgap at second for this season. If he is productive, he is a guy that could take over the Hernan Perez role. We could move on from Perez and use that money for additional needs in the future. I don’t see Perez being here past this season since he will start to become pretty expensive.

 

I see David Thompson as being a similar player to Shaw. Not too flashy of a guy, but will hit some home runs and give you solid defense. He would be an interesting option for third base that could give us a solid right handed power bat off the bench. Shaw could slide over to 1B for some games to get Thompson in the lineup if he is hitting well.

 

Jordan Romano would be my number 1 option if we were to take a pitcher. His fastball, slider combo would allow him to be effective out of the pen right away. He could consistently sit in the mid 90’s out of the pen and be a dominant right handed option for next season. If Burnes and/or Woodruff are inserted into the rotation, we will need a dominant righty added to the pen that can go multiple innings. I think Romano can be that guy.

[clancyphile]

Yes, and stay there the whole season. Which is why it makes very little sense to me to pick a catcher who has had less than 400 PAs above A ball. I tried to find out if his defense has anything to do with the obsession of picking him in the rule 5 draft, and can't find much except (from mlb.com) "Mazeika’s defense behind the plate remains a work in progress, both his fringy arm — an elbow injury that delayed his full-season debut by a month didn’t help — and his overall receving skills. He has made some strides, but he still has a ways to go". As for offense, a 96 wRC+ at AA isn't bad at all for a catcher, but it doesn't exactly scream immediate impact bat. To put it into context, Jacob Nottingham in 2017 in AA was 2 years younger than Mazieka, and put up a 102 wRC+. He then went on prove himself at AAA as well (126 wRC+ factors in the park and league environment to an extent). And he doesn't need to be on the roster the whole year. I suspect it's a matter of looking for players with as many, or more, walks than strikeouts and finding Mazieka. Seems to be Clancy's type.

 

The OBP skills are a big thing for me, yes. More BBs than Ks tells me the guy also makes contact. The Crew is too feast-or-famine, and a high-contact guy with good OBP skills would be very beneficial.