Following Inman and Garrison -- Latest: Garrison a big league New York Yankee!

[Mass Haas]

Figured I'd start this thread not so much to discuss the positives and negatives for the Brewers and their short- and long-term future, but to say thanks as you wish to Will Inman, Joe Thatcher, and Steve Garrison for their contributions.

 

From the astonishing Will (loved the quotes as much as the performances), to the underdog Joe (loved the Hawaii championship four-inning video), to my East Coast 20-year-old Steve, thanks guys.

 

You were appreciated, and we'll follow your careers closely, no doubt.

 

Will, Joe, and Steve, thanks!

 

http://www.brewerfan.net/images/playerpix/will_inman.jpg

 

http://www.brewerfan.net/images/playerpix/joe_thatcher.jpg

 

http://www.brewerfan.net/images/playerpix/steve_garrison.jpg

[Mass Haas]

Congrats to Joe -- going straight to San Diego!

 

The Padres may have had the 30th ranked farm system heading into this season, in some opinions.

 

Safe to say it improved today.

[kaycee2001]

I agree. From West Virgina to Brevard and Huntsville, all three of these guys are class acts.

[bretsky07]

If we don't make the playoffs this year, I am putting 100% of my anger and disappointment on Doug. I may even call his moustache stupid, and him stupid for having it on his face.

 

... really though, I've never been this disappointed about a trade (though it will make the bullpen much better this year), and it's sad that I won't be seeing these three in the good guys' box scores anymore. I hope Thatcher strikes us out in the playoffs this year a ton. (But only if we're already up by at least 5) Best of luck to them all, I'm sure we'll see all three in the majors sooner rather than later.

[Team Canada]

Will Inman Fan, tell your brother we're incredibly sad to see him go.

[TheCrew07]

Yes, incredibly disappointed with this move. Best of luck to all 3.

[DHonks]

This is tough for me. I think I can justify it from Melvin's perspective, but I had Thatcher penciled into our pen for the next 6 years, starting in August, and Garrison and Inman were two of my favorites to follow since drafted

[Mass Haas]

Petco Park and Will Inman, wow.

 

On the flip side for the Inman family, you won't find a Padresfan.net out there. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/ohwell.gif

[pogokat]

Congrats to these guys...you've beeen sent to pitchers heaven...make the most of it...

[tigerbrew]

I'm very sad to see you go Will Inman, you've been a joy to follow as a Brewers prospect. Great attitude and determination, outstanding performances and classic quotes, you will be sorely missed. I think the Brewers made a mistake.

[Mass Haas]

Link while active, text follows:

 

www.kokomotribune.com/spo...d=topstory

 

Trade sends Thatcher to big leagues

By PEDRO VELAZCO

Kokomo (Indiana) Tribune sportswriter

 

Picking up the phone never felt so good.

 

Kokomo native Joe Thatcher was sitting in his apartment in Nashville, Tenn., Wednesday afternoon relaxing after the Triple-A Sounds played a day game when he received the call.

 

?I was already at the apartment just watching TV and our manager called and told me I got traded to the Padres and was going straight to the big leagues,? Thatcher said about 90 minutes after the promotion.

 

The former Kokomo High School basketball and baseball standout said the phone call was ?a shock. I didn?t see it coming at all. Obviously, my first phone call was to my parents. That?s the phone call you always dream about ? calling home and telling them you?re going to the big leagues.

 

?It was emotional and you think back to how it all started, back at UCT (local Kokomo youth baseball). My dad coached me. Everywhere I?ve gone, he?s always been. My whole family, they?re a true blessing and their support has been unbelievable.

 

?It was a great phone call to be able to call home and tell them I made it.?

 

Thatcher was traded Wednesday afternoon along with two other Milwaukee Brewer farmhands to the Padres. That completed a whirlwind two years which saw Thatcher, a former Indiana State pitcher, rocket from playing in an unaffiliated independent league, to signing with the Brewers? organization and quickly climbing Milwaukee?s ladder. Now, he?s joining a big-league club.

 

?You always dream about getting that call,? said the 25-year-old left-handed reliever. ?That?s why I?ve been playing all these years. It?s surreal. It?s an unbelievable feeling; it?s hard to describe.

 

?I went undrafted. I always thought I could be successful, that?s why I continued to play, but you?re such a long way from it being in independent ball, but everything worked out unbelievably well.?

 

Padres wanted Thatcher

 

Thatcher was traded along with two other minor-league pitchers, Will Inman and Steve Garrison, to the Padres. In return, San Diego shipped veteran set-up man Scott Linebrink to the Brewers? bullpen.

 

After Thatcher called home with the good news, word spread like wildfire around Kokomo. He said he received about 50 calls and 50 text messages in the first hour. Perhaps none drove the reality of the situation home more than a phone call from the Padres.

 

?I got a call about 10 minutes later [after hearing of the trade] from Kevin Towers, the GM of the Padres,? Thatcher said. ?He welcomed me to the team. They said they traded a set-up guy for me. They said I?m going to get thrown right into the fire right away. I told him I was ready for it.?

 

The Padres lost at Colorado Wednesday afternoon before pulling the trigger on the trade. With the loss, San Diego stood at 1 1/2 games behind the Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League West.

 

Towers told The Associated Press that Thatcher was the player they were after.

 

?Thatcher is the one guy we hope will help us,? he said in an AP story. ?It?s an acquisition similar to the one we made last year when we got Cla Meredith. [Thatcher] hasn?t had a chance yet, but has a tremendous strikeout-to-walk ratio and gets left-handers and right-handers out.

 

?We had two or three clubs that came at us hard for Linebrink. Unless it was an overwhelming deal we couldn?t turn our head on, we would certainly consider it.?

 

In 24 outings with Nashville, Thatcher was 2-1 with a 2.08 ERA. He pitched 21 1/3 innings, allowing just 19 hits, five earned runs and seven walks while striking out 33. Used as a set-up reliever, Thatcher had seven holds and finished five games.

 

Ready for the big leagues

 

The Padres hadn?t finished Thatcher?s travel plans yet as of early Wednesday evening. He expects to fly out this morning because he?s supposed to join the team for this evening?s game at Houston. With the trade, his mind was torn between all that?s happened and what?s on the horizon.

 

?I just think back to all the places I?ve been and all the people I?ve met and I?m looking behind, but I have to look forward,? Thatcher said. ?I?m in a pennant race now with a major league team and they?re going to count on me to come in and produce right away. That?s a lot of pressure, but I love that kind of stuff. They have confidence I can get it done ? and help the Padres win a World Series.

 

?It?s going to be a whole new world for me. I have confidence in myself I can do it. Everywhere I?ve been, I?ve had success. For them to trade an established bullpen guy to get me, that says a lot. I want to produce and do well for them.?

 

The way he got to the big leagues was a surprise. After two years with the Brewers organization, it was a shock to his system to find his path to the majors coming through another club.

 

?It?s bittersweet because I met everybody in the whole [Milwaukee] organization,? Thatcher said, referring to front-office people, coaches and players. ?I appreciate everything they?ve done for me. I enjoyed my time with them, but that?s behind me. I?m a Padre now.?

 

The Padres play four games at Houston beginning today. Next week they host division rivals Arizona and San Francisco for three games each. The following week San Diego plays at St. Louis and Cincinnati.

 

The Arizona games are important because the Diamondbacks are right behind San Diego in the NL West race. San Francisco, of course, comes with its own baggage ? Barry Bonds and his pursuit of the all-time record for home runs.

 

?That?s unbelievable ? I?m sure I?ll get a chance to face him,? Thatcher said. ?He?s obviously going for the biggest record in all of sports. If I do get to face him, I?ll try to do what I?ve always done.?

 

When Thatcher suits up for the Padres, it will be his eighth cap since 2005, when he lined up for the River City Rascals. He?s made progress from independent ball, through the minors, winter ball and now the big leagues by being focused on the task at hand, not worrying about his next callup.

 

?I didn?t even really worry about it,? he said. ?I just wanted to worry about myself throwing well, and all that stuff is out of my hands. I was hoping for a September callup. I didn?t know if that was going to happen or not, but here I am.?

 

Local players in the majors:

 

Four Howard County players had made it to the major leagues before Joe Thatcher?s callup Wednesday. All four are former Kokomo High School pitchers.

 

Player: Years, record

 

Tom Underwood: 1974-1984, 86-87

 

Dan Dumoulin: 1977-1978, 1-0

 

Pat Underwood: 1979-1983, 13-18

 

Anthony Shumaker: 1999, 0-3

[Mass Haas]

No one has to tell regular readers that I was Joe Thatcher's biggest "fan" on the forum, touting his accomplishments whenever I could, which was often, thanks to Joe's record. Always great to read that type of article, chills for sure.

[GAME05]

$2.50 and a Coke says Thatcher pitching in San Diego is as good as Linebrink in Milwaukee.

 

Hard to say a bad thing about Inman. Hopefully he's on a faster track to the majors with San Diego than he was in Milwaukee.

[bullox]

And to think just last week I went to Huntsville to watch Inman pitch...

 

Dougie, you got some 'splainin to do.

[Mass Haas]

Link while active, text follows:

 

www.registerbee.com/servl...th=!sports

 

Tunstall's Inman dealt to Padres

By JEFF PATTERSON

Danville (VA) Register & Bee sports writer

 

Will Inman was sitting in a Jacksonville, Fla., hotel room as he tried to put his life back together Wednesday night.

 

The former Tunstall High School standout, drafted by the Milwaukee Brewers in the third round of the 2005 draft, had just found out that he was traded to the San Diego Padres and was "struggling" to process all the information.

 

In the thick of a pennant race, the Brewers dealt Inman, who was playing with the Double A Huntsville Stars, and fellow minor leaguers Steve Garrison and Joe Thatcher to the Padres for veteran reliever Scott Linebrink. Inman will join the San Antonio Missions as soon as he can make arrangements to get there.

 

"I'm trying to figure out how to get my car, my life, to Texas," said Inman, who led the Trojans to back-to-back state championships in 2004-05.

 

Linebrink, who is expected to be the setup man for Brewers closer Francisco Cordero, is 3-3 with a 3.80 earned run average in 44 games.

 

Inman started the season in the Florida State League and went 4-3 with a 1.72 ERA in 13 games. He struck out 98 batters in 78 2/3 innings and had a .198 opponent batting average. Those numbers were impressive enough to get him called up to Double A, where he struggled to a 1-5 record with a 5.45 ERA in eight starts.

 

In those last five starts, he's gone 1-2 with a 2.48 ERA and 30 strikeouts - more like his usual self.

 

Even though he's had success in the Brewers organization, Inman called the trade a "great thing" but really doesn't have a clue of what to expect with the Padres.

 

"Milwaukee has been good to me," Inman said. "They've taught me how to be a man and a professional in baseball. What it comes down to is business is business, and they have to do whatever they can to help their chances."

[trwi7]

Quote:

---

"Milwaukee has been good to me," Inman said. "They've taught me how to be a man and a professional in baseball. What it comes down to is business is business, and they have to do whatever they can to help their chances."

---

 

What a class act. Good luck to Will, Joe and Steve.

[TrueBrew]

Very sad to see Will Inman traded. I believe I liked Will more than any other brewers minor leaguer in recent memory. I was excited everyday he pitched to check the box score and I will miss his performances a ton.

 

Good luck to all three in San Diego, and thanks for the memories

[Mass Haas]

Joe Thatcher made his debut for the Padres last night in Houston, pitching a 1-2-3 7th in San Diego's 7-1 loss.

 

One of the big benefits of being an MLB.TV subscriber is being able to click on any half-inning of the archived audio, and the action picks up from there.

 

Thatcher stuck out Morgan Ensberg, then got a groundouts to short from Jason Lane (broken bat) and Eric Bruntlett, so three right-handed batters. The San Diego bench called for the ball from the bench after his first big league K. Padre manager Bud Black studied his new "weapon" intently.

 

The Houston broadcaster was from Kokomo, Indiana as well, and his mother had taught Thatcher in elementary school -- small world.

 

***

I am really hoping he won't mind, but Joe's father Phil shared some thoughts with us yesterday morning as the family prepared to hustle to Houston for last night's game --

 

"We truly have mixed emotions about the trade. We have been to Helena, West Virginia, Brevard County, Huntsville, and Nashville. We have met so many wonderful people, coaches, players, and real Brewer fans. We will miss all of these people. On the other hand, this is a great day for Joe and our family! We have already booked a flight to Houston and hopefully we'll get to see Joe when he takes the mound for the first time in "the show'. Again, thanks and good luck!"

 

***

MLB.com:

 

After being traded to the Padres in the Scott Linebrink deal on Wednesday, lefty reliever Joe Thatcher pitched a perfect seventh inning in his Major League debut.

 

"It feels good to get it out of the way," Thatcher said. "I was more nervous in the bullpen than I was when I got out there. I just wanted to be aggressive, get ahead [in counts] and do what I've always done."

 

"He looks as though he's got a nice cut to his fastball," Black said of Thatcher. "He came in on a couple of right-handers and jammed them, forcing ground balls to short. I think that was a good debut. He came in and threw his strikes. I think it's something that he'll always remember. That first appearance, you never forget."

[Mass Haas]

Baseball America's Jim Callis:

 

The Padres acquired three Brewers pitching prospects in exchange for Scott Linebrink. Before the season, San Diego was widely considered to have a very weak farm system. With their recent acquisitions and recent drafts, where do you see their farm system now? Also, where would Will Inman rank in the system in terms of pitchers and overall?

 

Amy Gayita

Reno, Nevada

 

Count Baseball America among those who identified the Padres as having one of the game's worst farm systems. In our preseason talent rankings, we ranked San Diego's system 29th, ahead of only Washington's. The Padres also ranked 29th entering 2006, 27th going into 2005 and 25th at the outset of 2004. Poor drafts in 2003 (including taking Tim Stauffer fourth overall) and 2004 (Matt Bush over Stephen Drew with the No. 1 overall pick) really crippled the system.

 

Because they've added a lot of talent this year, the Padres will sit closer to the middle of the pack than to the bottom when we update the rankings during the offseason. The Linebrink trade added three pitchers who made our Milwaukee Top 30 Prospects list in the 2007 Prospect Handbook: righthander Will Inman and lefties Joe Thatcher and Steve Garrison. San Diego also signed draft-and-follow righty Matt Latos for $1.25 million before this year's draft, in which it had six picks before the second round and 11 choices in the first four rounds. Draftees such as first-rounder Nick Schmidt and supplemental first-rounders Kellen Kulbacki, Drew Cumberland, Mitch Canham, Cory Luebke and Danny Payne will help beef up our Padres Top 30 in the 2008 Handbook.

 

Also, San Diego has seen a number of prospects already on hand take a significant step forward this summer. That group includes second baseman Matt Antonelli, third baseman Chase Headley, catcher Nick Hundley and lefthander Wade LeBlanc, all of whom were part of the Padres' improved draft efforts in 2005 and 2006.

 

As for Inman in particular, he ranked 91st this spring on our Top 100 Prospects list?which didn't include a single Padre. He's a tough guy to evaluate because his superlative performance (he dominated high Class A and has reached Double-A this year at ago 20, and he currently leads the minors with 140 strikeouts in 118 innings) doesn't completely jibe with his more average stuff (89-92 mph fastball, ordinary secondary pitches) and the lack of projection remaining in his 6-foot, 200-pound frame.

 

Inman has accomplished more for his age than any pitcher in San Diego's system, and I'd give him the nod right now as the club's top pitching prospect. Latos has far more impressive stuff, however, as do Drew Miller and 2005 first-rounder Cesar Carrillo (before he needed Tommy John surgery). Schmidt and LeBlanc are polished lefthanders, and none of these guys is far behind Inman. He could rank as high as the third-best prospect in the system, behind Antonelli and Headley.

[bklynbrewcrew]

What a terrible terrible trade. To trade these guys for an average reliever like Linebrink is inexcusable.

[Team Canada]

Remember there's a separate thread for trade commentary.

[wvpowerblkwel]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I'll hold my I told you so's until after he puts up some numbers, but I think Joe is "big league ready" from both a skills and maturity standpoint!

 

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

That comes from an early March post I made on the board...I guess after last nite's debut, I can throw out the official I TOLD YOU SO! Congrats to Joe, and THANKS to Will and Steve also. It's been fun watching 3 guys (Braun, Yo, Joe) pass through Charleston in the bigs in only 3 seasons, and my thoughts were Will would be a year to year and 1/2 behind Yo!

[Mass Haas]

We'll use this thread to keep you updated on each of the three kids.

 

Joe Thatcher was brought in Friday night to wrap up a game in which the Padres led Houston, 9-1. However, he committed two throwing errors on balls hit back to the mound and exited after recording only one out. He ended up having three unearned runs charged against him as San Diego won, 9-4.

 

MLB.com:

 

The Padres made things tougher than they needed to be in the ninth. Holding a 9-1 lead, lefty reliever Joe Thatcher surrendered a single to left to Carlos Lee before airmailing a throw to first on a tapper from Mike Lamb, putting two on with none out. After walking Luke Scott to load the bases, Thatcher again misfired to first on a routine grounder from Brad Ausmus, allowing two Astros to score on the play.

 

"I think a little bit can be chalked up to second day in the big leagues nervousness," manager Bud Black said. "He had a good look in his eye after the game, so he's fine."

 

Heath Bell came on in relief and was immediately greeted with a hard-hit RBI single up the middle from Morgan Ensberg, bringing the Astros within 9-4. But Bell struck out Craig Biggio looking and induced a flyout to right from Mark Loretta to end the game.

[Mass Haas]

Will Inman makes his San Antonio Missions (AA Texas League) debut Sunday evening.

 

San Antonio: RHP Will Inman at Midland (A's), 6:00 gametime

 

KKYX Audio link (game will also archive at this link):

www.minorleaguebaseball.c.../audio.jsp

 

***

Steve Garrison is set to debut for the Lake Elsinore Storm of the California League Sunday night. No pressure, the Storm have only won 13 games in a row.

 

Lake Elsinore: LHP Steve Garrison at San Jose (Giants), 7:00 gametime

 

Audio link (no archive available):

www.stormbaseball.com/Main.html

 

Garrison does get to wear the most popularly merchandised logo in all of minor league baseball:

 

http://www.stormbaseball.com/Images3/eyesbox.jpg

[TheCrew07]

Here's some commentary from MiLB around the minors on the trade. Click the link, then click the link for the Linebrink trade. Lots of talk about Inman.

 

web.minorleaguebaseball.c...a/more.jsp