the 70 of 2021 . . . what does it mean?

[djoctagone]

2021 spring training is going to be a bit different than any previous years. if you've been to the facilities in the maryvale neighborhood, you know that there are many fields that minor league prospects work out on, and that there are hundreds of players on the grounds.

 

clubs are now limited to 75 players on site at one time. creating this thread to keep track of this player pool, because it may or may not determine eligibility of activation at the major league level if a covid outbreak occurs. fans should know that there is no penalty for removing players from this 75-man pool (unlike last year), but for now, i'm going on the assumption that in order to be activated for the big leagues, you have to be in this 75-man pool.

 

what we know thus far:

 

the 40-man roster is full.

 

the brewers have 21 non-roster invitees in major league camp.

 

that puts the club at 61 players.

 

this article lists 15 players with early invitations, which puts the total at 76 players. not sure how they get to be one over, but they may be excluding jacob nottingham, who’s currently out with an injury.

 

rhp luke barker

lhp leo crawford

rhp bowden francis

lhp antoine kelly

rhp max lazar

rhp reese olson

rhp zach vennaro

of micah bello

3b lucas erceg

c/of cooper hummel

c nick kahle

of/1b dustin peterson

of hedbert perez

inf/of jamie westbrook

ss freddy zamora

 

it's likely that a couple non-roster invitees will opt out. that may prompt the club to add additional guys to the 75-man pool. let's keep track of them in this thread.

 

if you see a guy appear in a box score that's not on the 40-man, not a non-roster invitee, or not on the list above, then it's worth reporting here, and we'll try to make sense of it.

[djoctagone]

eight days ago, david stearns was projecting this:

 

57 or 58 in big league camp (we now know it's actually 21 non-roster invitees plus a full 40-man roster = 61)

 

12 or 13 "early camp guys"--which would correspond with the list of minor leaguers above (we now know it's actually 15)

 

approximately five rehabbers (not sure who on the list of 76 players counts as a rehabber)

[djoctagone]

something else to consider as the brewers conduct spring training . . . consider if they sign a free agent to a major league contract, or if they acquire major league talent in a trade and need to bump someone else from the 40-man to make room.

 

typically, if the bumped player clears outright waivers, as a courtesy, he remains in major league camp, but as a non-roster invitee. does the bumped player remain part of the 75? or does someone else get the boot? if so, where does he go as he prepares for his minor league season?

 

again, the brewers don't have to worry about losing control of a player if they remove him from the 75-man pool. but it does limit his access to maryvale facilities.

[djoctagone]

something else to consider as the brewers conduct spring training . . . consider if they sign a free agent to a major league contract, or if they acquire major league talent in a trade and need to bump someone else from the 40-man to make room.

 

typically, if the bumped player clears outright waivers, as a courtesy, he remains in major league camp, but as a non-roster invitee. does the bumped player remain part of the 75? or does someone else get the boot? if so, where does he go as he prepares for his minor league season?

 

again, the brewers don't have to worry about losing control of a player if they remove him from the 75-man pool. but it does limit his access to maryvale facilities.

no idea what will happen here.

 

it appears that the brewers will be signing a free agent to a major league contract. he will have to pass a physical, report to phoenix, and clear intake before he officially comes part of the 75.

 

but someone will have to be bumped, and unless traded to or claimed by another team, that someone likely remains under the brewers' control. where will he be allowed to go?

[CheeseheadInQC]

The DFA limbo will buy them a bit of time and then you will probably just have one of the guys who isn’t going to be at the alternate site told to take a couple weeks off before coming back. So long as it isn’t handled egregiously poorly I can’t imagine it is a big deal.

[djoctagone]

in case you haven't been keeping track, these are 8 of the 15 "early camp" players who have yet to appear in a major league cactus game. presumably, if healthy, these remaining "early camp" players have been seeing action in b games on one of the backfields.

 

rhp luke barker

lhp antoine kelly

rhp max lazar

rhp reese olson

of micah bello

3b lucas erceg

c/of cooper hummel

of hedbert perez

[DR28]

Lucas Erceg, such a shame... I really thought we possibly had our 3B of the future!

[djoctagone]

in case you haven't been keeping track, these are 8 of the 15 "early camp" players who have yet to appear in a major league cactus game. presumably, if healthy, these remaining "early camp" players have been seeing action in b games on one of the backfields.

 

rhp luke barker

lhp antoine kelly

rhp max lazar

rhp reese olson

of micah bello

3b lucas erceg

c/of cooper hummel

of hedbert perez

luke barker made his cactus league debut today.

[djoctagone]

hedbert perez made his cactus league debut today and struck out against trevor bauer.

 

here are the remaining six "early camp" players who have yet to appear in a major league cactus game:

 

lhp antoine kelly

rhp max lazar

rhp reese olson

of micah bello

3b lucas erceg

c/of cooper hummel

[FVBrewerFan]

Max Lazar doesn't need to appear in a ST game. Everyone knows he is the truth.

[djoctagone]

the brewers will be traveling north with 26 players for the major league roster, and 28 players for the alternate training site roster. until the ats in grand chute opens up 12 april, those players will be allowed to work out at american family field.

 

presumably, when the brewers hit the road, they will take five taxi squad players from that ats roster with them to chicago and st. louis. the club's second homestand conveniently starts 12 april.

[djoctagone]

here are the remaining six "early camp" players who have yet to appear in a major league cactus game:

 

lhp antoine kelly

rhp max lazar

rhp reese olson

of micah bello

3b lucas erceg

c/of cooper hummel

micah bello came in to play left field in today's game, and was on deck when the final out was made in the 9th.

[djoctagone]

now we know why antoine kelly has yet to make an appearance in a major league cactus game . . .

[djoctagone]

if you see a guy appear in a box score that's not on the 40-man, not a non-roster invitee, or not on the list above, then it's worth reporting here, and we'll try to make sense of it.

luis castro came in as a defensive replacement at first base in yesterday's cactus league game.

[JosephC]

now we know why antoine kelly has yet to make an appearance in a major league cactus game . . .

 

That isn't good. A quick google search starts with a study that says things like velocity and strike percentage is the same after the surgery as before, but I can't remember very many triumphant returns.

 

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33472488/

 

https://www.beyondtheboxscore.com/2015/7/1/8859137/thoracic-outlet-syndrome-pitcher-effectiveness

 

Add in guys like Matt Harvey and Tyler Thornburg.

 

https://blogs.fangraphs.com/phil-hughes-and-the-sobering-history-of-thoracic-outlet-injuries/

 

Seems like youth is the one real positive in Kelly's case. But clearly worrisome if a guy this young is already having significant shoulder issues, combine that with many pitchers that have this surgery also end up having labrum surgery.

[djoctagone]

hedbert perez finally gets into a cactus league game, and presumably, will lead off the bottom of the 7th.

[brooks_quichenick]

hedbert perez finally gets into a cactus league game, and presumably, will lead off the bottom of the 7th.

 

He’s played in a couple of games now.

[djoctagone]

looks like mlb has pared down the number of players allowed in the collective player pool from 75 at spring training to 70 for the championship season. only players in the cpp can play for the big league club or at the alternate training site. the brewers are carrying 59 guys in their cpp. 26 of the 59 are on the major league roster. 3 of the 59 are on the major league injured list. 30 of the 59 would be eligible for the alternate training site, but it's my understanding that those rosters were to be capped at 28.

 

unlike last year, there is no risk in removing a player from the cpp, and provided there's room, a player can be added at any time.

 

for the month of april, only players from the alternate training site can be promoted to the big league club.

 

26-man opening day roster and remaining players:

 

pitchers: clayton andrews, aaron ashby, luke barker, phil bickford, ray black, brad boxberger, leo crawford, bowden francis, zack godley, blaine hardy, eric lauer, hoby milner, angel perdomo, miguel sanchez, ethan small, justin topa (injured list), quintin torres-costa and jordan zimmermann

 

catchers: mario feliciano, luke maile and jacob nottingham (injured list)

 

catcher/outfielder: cooper hummel

 

infielders: zach green, brice turang and jamie westbrook

 

infielder/outfielders: jace peterson, dustin peterson and pablo reyes

 

outfielders: dylan cozens, derek fisher (injured list), garrett mitchell, corey ray and tyrone taylor

 

40-man roster players absent from this cpp: alec bettinger, dylan file and bobby wahl (injured list)

 

we shall see if the brewers release a formal alternate training site roster. again, my understanding was that those rosters were to be capped at 28.

[CheeseheadInQC]

Wow, 60% of what likely would have been the AAA starting rotation is missing from that list because of injuries (Bettinger, File and Brown).

[djoctagone]

i should also note that only players from this cpp can be used on the taxi squad for road trips, provided they are coming from the alternate training site.

[djoctagone]

this article lists 15 players with early invitations

 

rhp luke barker

lhp leo crawford

rhp bowden francis

lhp antoine kelly

rhp max lazar

rhp reese olson

rhp zach vennaro

of micah bello

3b lucas erceg

c/of cooper hummel

c nick kahle

of/1b dustin peterson

of hedbert perez

inf/of jamie westbrook

ss freddy zamora

above is the group of "early camp" minor leaguers that were part of the cpp at the beginning of spring training. 3b luis castro was later added. they were not non-roster invitees.

 

these are the players from the above list who were included in the initial list of 59 players in the championship season cpp, and presumably, traveled to milwaukee at the conclusion of spring training:

 

rhp luke barker

lhp leo crawford

rhp bowden francis

c/of cooper hummel

of/1b dustin peterson

inf/of jamie westbrook

 

presumably, the other "early camp" players remained in arizona to continue spring training with the second wave of minor leaguers.

[djoctagone]

collective player pool is now at 60 players with the subtraction of inf orlando arcia and the acquisition of rhp chad sobotka and rhp patrick weigel. both were on optional assignment with the braves in their final option years, and will remain on optional assignment at the alternate training site.

 

again, still waiting for a formal alternate training site roster, which is supposed to be capped at 28.

 

i suspect that the only reason garrett mitchell was brought north to the alternate training site was out of concern for his diabetes and the desire to ensure that he got a covid-19 vaccine. it's very possible that once sobotka and weigel clear intake in wisconsin, mitchell will be sent back to minor league spring training in arizona.

[djoctagone]

for the month of april, only players from the alternate training site can be promoted to the big league club.

 

26-man opening day roster and remaining players:

 

pitchers: clayton andrews, aaron ashby, luke barker, phil bickford, ray black, brad boxberger, leo crawford, bowden francis, zack godley, blaine hardy, eric lauer, hoby milner, angel perdomo, miguel sanchez, ethan small, justin topa (injured list), quintin torres-costa and jordan zimmermann

 

catchers: mario feliciano, luke maile and jacob nottingham (injured list)

 

catcher/outfielder: cooper hummel

 

infielders: zach green, brice turang and jamie westbrook

 

infielder/outfielders: jace peterson, dustin peterson and pablo reyes

 

outfielders: dylan cozens, derek fisher (injured list), garrett mitchell, corey ray and tyrone taylor

 

40-man roster players absent from this cpp: alec bettinger, dylan file and bobby wahl (injured list)

 

we shall see if the brewers release a formal alternate training site roster. again, my understanding was that those rosters were to be capped at 28.

these players have been returned to arizona for minor league spring training. presumably, they are still part of the collective player pool, but are ineligible for the big league roster for the month of april, as they are no longer working out in grand chute:

 

aaron ashby

bowden francis

garrett mitchell

ethan small

brice turang

 

full list of minor leaguers working out in arizona spring training found here.

[djoctagone]

dee strange-gordon is added to the collective player pool. we're not privy to any subtractions (i.e. potentially the aforementioned players currently in arizona), but assuming no subtractions, the collective player pool is at 61 . . . still well under the mlb limit.

[Eye Black]

As we consider what moves could be on the horizon, Adam McCalvy provided this list of potential relief pitchers that are currently in the Brewers player pool...

 

Pitchers in the player pool & on the 40:

Bickford

Lauer

Sobotka

Weigel

 

Pitchers in the pool & not on the 40:

Andrews

Ashby

Barker

Black

Crawford

Francis

Godley

Hardy

Milner

Sánchez

Small

Torres-Costa

Zimmermann