Offseason Transactions: Latest -- Ryan Dittfurth Auditions

[Al the Thinking Man]

Lend, in cases like this, injury is almost always part of the culprit.

 

Mass, talent is talent. Injuries will happen. Guys will be held back to protect them from injury. Unless they are a top FA at the minor league level, the money is negligible. I'm happy to pick up a ERA leader one year removed.

[DHonks]

and Al, don't forget that trades do happen. Just think about how we got Vizcaino.

[MassBrew]

I heard that the Brewers have claimed Phil Stockman from the Dbacks. He's a big Australian righty who throws hard, and is kind of a project.

He was DFA'd, and the Brewers are working out a trade that should be finalized by Wednesday or Thursday.

 

Hey DHonks, I guess some posts were meant to go in the "Trade Rumors" forum, huh? http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/wink.gif

[DHonks]

yeah Mass, I'll ask him what happened with that. Like I said at the time, the unfortunate problem in clubhouses is you hear EVERYTHING, and I'm assuming somehow things weren't worked out or he was fed bad info

[MassBrew]

Nice job, as always, with the Daily Brew, batman. Bill begins his new series by introducing us to RHP Jerome Gamble:

 

www.brewerfan.net/ViewDai...portId=324

[lend d money]

Al, I suspected the ERA differential might be due to injury. But, there is no mention of it in the article or by anyone else. Does anyone know the story on the Ryan kid yet?

[MassBrew]

And the beat goes on, and on, and on. I remember much earlier in this thread "cosnj" was questioning the sheer number of qualified AAA / AA arms. And that was about twelve signings ago! Will jobs be won or lost (at least at the AAA level) based on ten or fewer spring training innings? Perhaps. Are they building additional mounds in Maryvale?

 

Source: www.nashvillesounds.com:

 

RHP Matt DeWitt - The 27-year-old California native joins the Brewers organization after splitting the 2004 campaign between the Long Island Ducks of the independent Atlantic League and the Ottawa Lynx, the Class AAA affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles. In 39 appearances between the clubs, he went 3-4 with one save and a 6.52 ERA (50 ER / 69.0 IP). DeWitt, who was the St. Louis Cardinals' 10th-round selection in the 1995 draft, has appeared in the majors with the Toronto Blue Jays and San Diego Padres during his 10-year career.

 

Career numbers:

 

www.sports-wired.com/prof...bc1178.asp

[lend d money]

Saw him pitch against the Indy Indians last year. He is just a warm body, like an Erdos or Farnsworth.

[DHonks]

Hey DHonks, I guess some posts were meant to go in the "Trade Rumors" forum

 

okay, the latest I've heard is that nobody seems to know what happened. They know he was claimed by the Brewers, and nobody seems to know if he's Brewers' property, Dbacks' property, or what. Dbacks minor league coaches and coordinators either don't know or are playing dumb.

[MassBrew]

Newest catcher -- link while available, text follows:

 

www.railcatsbaseball.com/...asp?ID=387

 

Gary, Ind.?The Gary SouthShore RailCats Professional Baseball Club announced today that the contract of catcher C.J. Medlin has been sold to the Milwaukee Brewers organization.

 

?Part of the RailCats role in professional baseball is to provide players with a link that will give them the opportunity to play with a major league organization,? said Roger Wexelberg, RailCats Vice President & General Manager. ?We are pleased with this opportunity that is being provided to C.J. and wish him great success with the Milwaukee Brewers organization.?

 

Medlin, 22, appeared in 13 games with the RailCats in 2004, batting .208 with no home runs and six runs batted in. He spent the 2002, 2003, and part of the 2004 season in the Chicago Cubs organization after being selected in the 15th round of the 2002 draft out of Seminole Junior College in Oklahoma.

 

Career stats:

 

www.sports-wired.com/prof...bc6247.asp

 

Other Brewer farmhands out of Seminole include Josh Wahpepah, Clay Blevins and Richard Breshears.

[colbyjack]

Sorry to nitpick, but Wahpepah and Blevins are from Cowley College in Kansas. I believe Cowley and Seminole are in the same conference though.

 

Kade Johnson was drafted by us out of Seminole State in '99.

[lend d money]

This has Joel Alvarado written all over it. Someone evidently doesn't think really highly of our catching depth at the lower levels.

[MassBrew]

Another dip into the independent league waters -- this time, a former Detroit Tiger farmhand, likely a starter or swing man for Brevard County or even Huntsville -- hey, almost any healthy 24-year-old starter arm that's LH is worth a signing, right?

 

LHP Jeremy Lewis:

 

The Evansville Professional Baseball Team has announced pitchers Jeremy Lewis and Kevin Cassidy have had their contracts purchased by Major League Baseball affiliates. Lewis has been signed by the Milwaukee Brewers, while Cassidy will be going to spring training with the Houston Astros. The two signings make 17 players who have had their contracts purchased by Major League Baseball in the three years with Greg Jelks as field manager and Jeff Pohl as pitching coach.

 

Jeremy Lewis completed the best season ever for an Otters? pitcher in 2004, setting franchise records, and ranking second in the Frontier League among starting pitchers, for ERA (2.47) and strikeouts (120) while finishing with a 9-4 record. Lewis was voted to the Frontier League All-Star Game. Lewis joined the Otters midway through the 2003 season, finishing with a 3-6 record, 3.49 ERA, and 71 strikeouts. A 23rd round selection by the Detroit Tigers out of high school, Lewis has a 30-35 career record with a 3.79 ERA and 409 strikeouts.

 

Kevin Cassidy joined the Otters? bullpen at the end of the 2004 season out of Centenary (LA) College. Cassidy appeared in two regular season and one playoff game for Evansville, combining to allow three runs in five innings. For Centenary in 2004, Cassidy compiled a 3-7 record with 69 strikeouts in 89.1 innings after finishing 2003 with a 7-5 record and 81 strikeouts in 89 innings.

 

"This is a great opportunity for both Jeremy and Kevin,? said Jeff Pohl, Director of Baseball Operations and pitching coach for the Otters. ? When Lewis arrived in '03 he was determined and worked extremely hard to get his second chance and Cassidy made the most of his short stay in Evansville. This is a credit to the level of play in the Frontier League."

 

Career numbers:

 

www.sports-wired.com/prof.../tbc82.asp

[lend d money]

I never get too excited about indy league guys. When you figure the number of available minor league teams, a guy usually isn't with a major league affiliate for a reason. However, I will admit we got some decent miles out of Shelley and Bausher.

[pogokat]

i here ya lend...they seem like mostly filler...and even when they perform well, they seem to be left behind the drafted players...i guess we'll have to see what they do with ben iderstine this year..

 

otoh, this lewis kid was pretty good at Low A..and sucked it up in High A...however, by 2002 he pitched ok there...he seems to have gotten the walks down quite a bit in indy ball...i predict that he will be quite useful for brevard and probably huntsville this year...i don't know that he could become a prospect, but he is defiuntely a good signing for depth...

[MassBrew]

Baseball America lists the Brewers as having signed LHP Michael Gordon, and although his name is Michael Ryan Gordon, it appears he goes by Ryan Gordon.

 

He'll be making his pro debut in 2005 having turned 24 in January, so starting out at low-A West Virginia is a possibility.

 

He was a two-way player at UNC-Greensboro, and did not sign with the Blue Jays after being selected in the 43rd round in 2003, opting to return for his senior year.

 

Now Gordon only pitched 1.1 innings in 2004, but raked to a 1.041 OPS as an outfielder. We'll check with the Brewers to verify that their intentions are to use him on the mound.

 

He had fine pitching numbers in 2003 prior to his draft selection:

 

www.sports-wired.com/prof...c29063.asp

 

This bio is a couple of years old:

 

www.uncgspartans.com/spor...YER_ID=859

 

And of course, if we've identified the "wrong" Michael Gordon, all bets are off http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/wink.gif .

 

Baseball America also lists the Brewers as signing another LHP, Luis V. Ramirez. Could it be this soon-to-be 23-year-old former Diamondback farmhand who last pitched in pro ball in 2002?

 

Perhaps, but it could be a brand new Latin youngster just about to get his feet wet. Again, we'll verify...

[MassBrew]

The Luis V. Ramirez just signed (from the above post) is a 17-year-old, not the former Diamondback farmhand -- I've deleted that link. We'll have more on several of the "mystery" Latin players when the media guide is available from the Brewers.

[MassBrew]

The Brewers confirm for us that we have the correct Ryan Gordon (see above), but they plan on using him as an outfielder, so we'll provide 2004 batting numbers here with UNC Greensboro:

 

43 games

68-for-182 (.374)

12 doubles, 6 triples, 6 HR's (SLG .604)

34 RBI

18 BB, only 14 K (OBP .437)

11-for-15 in SB attempts

 

A glance at a box score or two shows that he hit in the # 2 spot and played CF in those games.

[MassBrew]

The Brewers have signed a non-drafted college player, catcher Bernie Dennis, out of Catholic University.

 

Likely to begin his career in Helena, he's another two-way player who posted impressive pitching numbers as well, although he'll catch with the Crew. You can find both hitting (1.061 OPS) and pitching numbers here:

 

athletics.cua.edu/boxes/b...amcume.cfm

[MassBrew]

This must be the official week for news about two-way players -- soon-to-be 27-year-old LHP Mark Hamilton, a midseason pickup in 2004 from the independent league ranks, was given his release. He actually performed better with the bat in both stops last year:

 

www.baseballamerica.com/c...lton%2C+ma

[DHonks]

wow, that was a shock to me. I figured he'd be helping out in AA in the pen and lineup.

[brewcru1]

I heard Hamilton was released because he suffered a non-baseball related injury in the offseason.

[MassBrew]

Latest six-year free agent signing -- 27-year-old RHP Michael Meyers, a long-time Cub farmhand who spent 2004 in the Mets' farm system. For the time being, he's more likely to be a veteran arm in Huntsville rather than Nashville.

 

His career numbers indicate nice hit and K ratios to innings pitched, but with some control issues, particularly at the AAA level:

 

www.sports-wired.com/prof...bc7563.asp

 

To recap, he's not the guy from the "Halloween" movies, nor the veteran (and former Brewer) LH reliever Mike Myers (different spelling).

 

He is, however, a Canadian -- eh!

[deeswan]

To recap, he's not the guy from the "Halloween" movies, nor the veteran (and former Brewer) LH reliever Mike Myers (different spelling).

 

I can't believe that "Austin Powers" is now a journeyman minor league veteran!

[950opsLHcatcher]

Meyers was a pretty hot-stuff prospect with the Cubs in the late 90's into 2000, and John Sickles rated him as a better prospect than Mark Mulder and Wade Miller, just glancing quickly, though he's more of a control guy than those two. He's somewhat similar to Ben Hendrickson, with a low 90's fastball and an excellent curveball. I assume he never really developed his marginal changeup or requisite command of the curve since the 2000-2001 seasons, hence his fall from prospectdom. He's pretty much what the downside of Hendrickson is. Still could be something, and if Maddux gets him harnessing his stuff, he could be a darkhorse contender for the Brewers' pen.