Offseason Transactions: Latest -- Ryan Dittfurth Auditions

[cheezscott]

well we got a roster spot open now ...any ideas maybe for the rule 5 monday????

[SoCalBrewfan]

Get a Cub pitcher. Hagerty, for example, but there are other choices.

[colbyjack]

There was a Rule 5 discussion that tossed out some available names a week or two ago here:

 

p082.ezboard.com/fbrewers...2640.topic

 

As SoCal said, get a Cubs lefty. Hagerty is another good call, I know Jack Z. really liked him for the '02 draft, although IIRC he missed most to all of last season due to TJ surgery. Andy Sisco is one of the best lefty prospects in all of baseball in regards to size &stuff, but his control is a big concern. Jon Connolly is more of a finesse lefty with a good changeup.

 

The Cardinals' LHP prospect Tyler Johnson is one of my faves. Not the greatest fastball, but he has a really good curve. His control is an issue.

 

Royce Ring might be one of the best players available. Not the greatest upside, but he could be a solid lefty specialist for years to come. He has good velocity, natural movement, and a decent breaking ball.

 

EDIT: Hagerty missed all of 2003, not this past year. Here's a little blurb on him from BA this past summer:

 

This year, though, the best news for the Cubs' pitching depth has come from other sources. Start with lefthander Luke Hagerty, who missed all of last season after Tommy John surgery. He has returned to action in the Rookie-level Arizona League. He was 0-1, 2.63 in 14 innings, but more importantly, his stuff was starting to return, with the velocity returning to his low-to-mid 90s fastball. The Cubs promoted Hagerty to Class A Daytona on Friday.

 

"We're going to get him back under the lights soon," farm director Oneri Fleita said prior to the promotion. "He's throwing well, just getting his innings, and his mechanics are fine. Soon we'll get him up to (short-season) Boise or Lansing. We're just trying to be cautious with him."

[MassBrew]

Former Brewer RHP Kane Davis (remember all the names from the Wickman / Sexson trade?), with less than impressive 2004 numbers with AAA Buffalo (Cleveland), has been signed to a AAA deal. It does not appear that there is a spring training invite to the big league camp at this time. Davis, now 29, had gone to the independent ranks to begin both his 2003 and 2004 seasons.

 

Career numbers:

 

www.sports-wired.com/prof...tbc896.asp

 

Thanks to the Nashville site for the heads' up:

 

Davis, 29, enters his 13th season of play and will return to Nashville for the second time in his career. He previously pitched for the Sounds in 1999 while a member of the Pittsburgh Pirates organization. The right-hander, a 13th-round Bucs selection in the 1993 draft, spent the 2004 season in the Cleveland Indians organization, where he played for former Sounds skipper Marty Brown at Triple-A Buffalo. Davis posted a 3-2 record and 6.15 ERA (31er/45.1ip) in 32 relief appearances. He tossed 4 2/3 scoreless relief innings in the International League playoffs to help lead Brown's club to a league title. A starter early in his career, Davis has appeared exclusively in relief the past four years and will be a valuable asset in the Sounds' bullpen.

[cosnj]

Wow, another pitcher signed to AAA.

Any chance some of these guys can play other positions?

We sure have enough of them!!

[MassBrew]

Wow, another pitcher signed to AAA.

Any chance some of these guys can play other positions?

We sure have enough of them!!

 

Pitchers currently under contract likely to begin the season in Nashville:

 

From the 40-man roster:

Jeff Bennett

Jorge de la Rosa (L)

Jeff Housman (L)

Andy Pratt (L)

Dennis Sarfate

 

And not on the 40-man:

John Novinsky

Rigo Beltran (L)

Kane Davis

Glenn Woolard

 

Then you've got a slew of guys ages 23-27 in that AAA/AA slot that really could be placed at either level, but with AA perhaps more likely (Brian Adams, Ryan Miller, Greg Bruso, Ryan Costello - I imagine you're a big fan, cosnj, good for you, and welcome to Brewerfan -- Matt Ford, Josh Habel, Jesse Harper). And among that group, I would say that Costello has the best chance of beginning the season at AAA. Let me go on record that I'd like to see guys like Adams and Miller rewarded for their hard work as well, rather than the Kane Davis' of the world...

 

So actually, cosnj, it'd surprise me if there were not 3-4 more pitching additions among minor league free agents made prior to spring training. If veteran guys like Beltran and Davis don't show well, they'll be cut prior to the season (see Mike Crudale, Scott Wiggins -- March 2004).

 

Maybe 950opsLHcatcher can resurrect his roster projection thread (I mean, come on, it's been over three whole weeks now, Toby http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/wink.gif !)

 

p082.ezboard.com/fbrewers...2633.topic

[DHonks]

Diggins and Bruso may go to AAA on a make or break plan.

 

Signing Davis is alright. Before he blew out his arm with the Mets (I think), he was the talk of spring training and the early season cause he was hitting 100 mph.

[950opsLHcatcher]

Back when things weren't so good, Kane Davis was our #26 prospect (according to BA) going into the 2001 season. Ouch.

 

Top 10 prospects in 2001:

 

1. Ben Sheets

2. Nick Neugebauer

3. Dave Krynzel

4. Cristian Guerrero

5. Allen Levrault

6. Jose Mieses

7. Kade Johnson

8. Mike Penney

9. Horacio Estrada

10. Brandon Kolb

 

Double ouch. In fact, out of that top 30, only Sheets (1), Krynzel (3), Johnson (7), and "Will" Hall (21) remain. Yes, it was once that bad.

 

Going back to that projection, Davis effectively replaces Liriano at AAA.

[bjkrautk]

remember all the names from the Wickman / Sexson trade?

 

To Milwaukee:

Richie Sexson

Kane Davis

Paul Rigdon

 

To Cleveland:

Bob Wickman

Jason Bere

 

 

...at this point, I'm trying to remember how Steve Woodard got to Cleveland, and resisting the temptation to Google the transaction until after I post.

 

Did I miss anyone?

 

[Edit: answering my own question with a link to One of the Player's Baseball-Reference profile, which names all the players in the deal.]

[950opsLHcatcher]

Scutaro was also in the Wickman deal.

[jwaltz]

Well, now Kane and Wickman are the only guys from that trade with either team. Kane left, but like the cat that comes back, he came back to us.

[dpapo]

The Sexson deal went as follows:

Bob Wickman, Jason Bere and Steve Woodard to Cleveland for

Sexson, Paul Rigdon, Kane Davis and Marcos Scutaro

 

Opps, I see that a link was already provided. Never mind.

[SoCalBrewfan]

I assume they mean Nashville...get your Winchester jerseys now!

 

Milwaukee: Signed pitcher Kane Davis, catchers Kelley Gulledge and Jeff Winchester and infielder Tony Zuniga and assigned them to Indianapolis of the International League (AAA)

[squarepusher]

Tommy Phelps inked to a minor league deal.

 

tsf.waymoresports.thestar...r.cgi?3701

 

Nashville site notes:

 

Phelps, who will be 31 on Opening Day, spent the bulk of the past two seasons with the Florida Marlins, posting a 4-3 record and 4.27 ERA in 46 appearances (11 starts) over that span. Originally selected by the Montreal Expos in the eighth round of the 1992 June Free Agent Draft, Phelps made his Major League debut with the Marlins in 2003. He has been invited to Brewers spring training as a non-roster player and will compete for a bullpen spot. In 2002 with Calgary, Phelps logged a 3.15 ERA in 51 relief appearances to rank among PCL leaders.

[mls4]

"Tommy Phelps inked to a minor league deal."

 

Not to be confused with last year's Travis Phelps...

[igor67]

This is a nice little under the radar transaction. Bringing in a guy with recent MLB success on a minor league contract would have been a major talking point in years past. Given the state of the bullpen though it deseerves atleast some consideration as a good move to have more depth.

[squarepusher]

Yeah, I think you've done a decent job when you can land a guy with MLB experience who isn't 99 years old to a minor league deal.... especially when his numbers indicate he didn't get SHELLED in Florida.

 

Looking at his splits ( http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/players/splits3?statsId=7111&type=pitching ) the difference beetwen him as a starter and reliever seems to be night and day (in a smaller sample size of 97 IP, of course. He's a guy I could almost see on the 25-man roster coming out of spring training, or shortly after.

[MassBrew]

Gee, I can remember wanting the Brewers to target this guy back in '98...

 

From the Nashville site:

 

INF Kevin Orie - Orie, 32, brings 316 games of major-league experience with him to the third base position. The 12-year veteran split the 2004 season between the Cleveland Indians and Houston Astros farm systems after missing the 2003 campaign while recovering from right shoulder surgery. Orie batted .319 in 22 late-season games for the Double-A Round Rock Express then helped the club to the Texas League finals by hitting .353 (6-for-17) in the post-season. Orie ? who was a sandwich 1st-round selection by the Cubs in the 1993 draft and has spent time in the majors with Chicago and the Florida Marlins ? carries a .291 minor-league average (704-for-2422) in 683 games during his career. He batted .299 with 20 home runs and 63 RBIs in 86 games for the Iowa Cubs in 2002 during his last stop at the Triple-A level.

 

Career numbers:

 

www.sports-wired.com/play...Name=BGBIF

[DHonks]

wow, that's a name from the past

[Ralph Wiggum]

I remember years where Orie would have been our major IMPACT signing. As it is, I know he signed a AAA deal, but is there any chance he sticks as a utility guy? I'm pretty sure he can play second, first and the corner outfield positions. Could he be an older, poor-man's Ginter?

[RyDogg66]

A poor-mans Ginter?? Isnt Ginter already a poor-mans somebody-else??

[Ralph Wiggum]

Quote:

---

A poor-mans Ginter?? Isnt Ginter already a poor-mans somebody-else??

---

 

It's a domino-theory.

 

Eventually, you'll end up at Trent Durrington.

[cheezscott]

A poor-mans Ginter?? Isnt Ginter already a poor-mans somebody-else??

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

Maybe an unemployed ,living in a box under the expressway- mans Ginter....

[BrewCrewInMN]

Wiggum, hilarious.

 

One question, who's a poor man's Durrington, a kid playing for Wilson Park little league?

[MassBrew]

The Brewers re-sign another of their own six-year free agents -- thanks again to the excellent Nashville site:

 

RHP Clint Weibl - In 2004, Weibl opened the year with the Long Island Ducks of the independent Atlantic League and posted a 2-1 record and 3.55 ERA in four starts before being signed by the Brewers in late May. He finished the year by logging a 4-3 record and 3.94 ERA (35er/80.0ip) in 24 games (nine starts) for Triple-A Indianapolis. The 29-year-old right-hander, who re-signed for his second year in the Milwaukee farm system, is no stranger to Greer Stadium, having pitched for the cross-state rival Memphis Redbirds from 1998-2003. In five career outings against the Sounds, Weibl is 1-0 with a 0.84 ERA (2er/21.1ip).