Off-Season Transactions - Prior To Rule 5

[Never Outhustled]

I like the addition of Mcgruder. He can play all three OF spots, hes plays like his hair is on fire, and hes shown steady improvement at the plate. It seems that switch hitters take longer to develop, hopefully he'll breakout this year.

[RealityCheck]

Those guys are adequate for Indy but I would really like to see some pitching added. Give me a few promising prospects, a few new pitchers, one has-been player (Dean Palmer, Todd Zeile, Felix Jose, Jose Offerman, Rickey Henderson, Jesse Orosco) and I will happily spend a few hundred dollars on tickets and game-used bats again next season.

[squarepusher]

Well, hopefully there'll be enough pitching talent from within the organization to make the Indy fans happy....

[rpms6]

From ESPN...

 

Milwaukee Brewers Signed pitcher Brian Bowles, catcher Chris Coste and outfielder Chris Magruder to minor league contracts and invited them to spring training.

 

Looks like some decent numbers after 1998 for Bowles.

 

www.sports-wired.com/play...?Name=EBGH

[squarepusher]

Brian Bowles Brewerfan.net Player Profile:www.brewerfan.net/ViewPla...ayerId=624

[Al the Thinking Man]

8 HR's allowed in 183 AAA innings pitched, good WHIP, decent ERA, good K/BB ratio.

 

Another outstanding minor league FA signing.

[danzig6767]

Yea you would think with his K/IP ratio that he must throw fairly hard,wonder why he never was given a shot.

[cressj]

If you remember from a posting of mine awhile ago, Bowles was one of 13 players that a BA writer told me was worth signing.

[colbyjack]

I haven't weighed in on any of these signings, but I must say that I am very impressed with the people the Brewers are bringing into the organization. All of these guys must know they have a fighting chance to make the big league roster, and even when & if they don't AAA may round out to be a pretty competetive club.

 

And while I'm sure the chance at making the Brewers is a huge draw, I'm sure money also has played a factor in this.

 

Nice job Dougie.

[squarepusher]

I don't really care much about Jacob Cruz and Chris Coste... they're insurance policies. Magruder, Durrington, and Bowles are more investment type players. Magruder and Durrington had high ceilings and are still Podsednik-type young. Bowles was a 50th round pick, but it doesn't seem like his "stuff" is in question.

 

I think we're going to like most of the minor league free agent signings this off-season. It's the one area that the Brewers actually have an advantage over most other teams. We can cut them a little more money, and the opportunity for them to possibly play in Milwaukee is much higher.

[EdgarDiazRocks]

I must say that I am very impressed with the people the Brewers are bringing into the organization

 

I'll agree with that. This crop is a lot better than dragging Kevin Brown (the catcher) around again. Cruz aside, all these guys a least have a chance at filling out a Major League roster if need be and are still relatively young, which is Rushford's main problem.

[nikip43]

Coste really sounds like a good character guy, his bio was worth the read

[SoCalBrewfan]

I remember Magruder as a key player on a pretty good University of Washington baseball team a long time ago...he's a guy who has a chance to contribute...at worst, he's a nice piece for Indy.

 

Criminy, I'd rather have Magruder than Danny Bautista, even if they made the same salary.

[MassBrew]

The Brewers' web site indicates that Milwaukee has dipped their feet into the six-year minor league free agent pool once again. LHP Scott Wiggins (28 years old next March) has been signed to a AAA contract with Indianapolis. No word on a spring training invite as of yet. If the name sounds familiar, it's because Wiggins was the somewhat dubious "prospect" who went from the Yankees to the Blue Jays in the Raul Mondesi dump-off.

 

Wiggins' 2003 numbers look bad, as included within his career numbers here. Not sure about his lefty/righty splits, but there's much more to be done to bring in lefty arms to compete with Shane Nance and John Foster after this signing, that's for sure.

 

www.sports-wired.com/play...?Name=HEFD

 

This is what BA's Trade Central said back at the time of the July 2002 trade:

 

The Blue Jays picked up lefthander Scott Wiggins in the trade, but make no mistake about it?saving money and dumping Mondesi were their primary concerns. A 1997 seventh-round pick out of Northern Kentucky, Wiggins throws in the high 80s and uses a curveball as his out pitch. He succeeds by mixing and spotting his pitches, and he's tough on lefthanders, who were batting just .143 against him at Norwich in 2002. He has gone 2-1, 2.28 in 24 games this year, striking out 26 in 28 innings. Wiggins underwent heart surgery to remove an extra valve in 1991 and had his shoulder operated on following the 1998 season. In 148 pro games, he has gone 24-18, 3.23 with 397 hits, 161 walks and 424 strikeouts in 435 innings.

[colbyjack]

I like this move a lot. One of my favorite ongoing conversastions between Bob Uecker & Jim Powell is when they talk about lefties & why they're able to stick around so long & how some of them could be more effective if they picked up a "trick" pitch (a wicked breaking pitch such as a big curveball, screwball). I've heard them discuss it several times in regards to both Glendon Rusch & VDLS. Obviously that's easier said than done as neither one of those lefties throws a good breaking ball, and neither one of them was particularly successful against left-handed hitters. Uecker often said that the biggest problem lefty hitters had against lefty pitchers was the big breaking ball, the curveball more so than the slider. That and deception and/or a funky delivery a la Mike Myers.

 

So, to hear about acquiring a 6-year FA LHP with a big hook is encouraging, as MB noted, to join Nance & Foster as potential lefty specialists out of the 'pen. Like all of these other guys, another candidate to be a potential steal.

[squarepusher]

I have a feeling that this could very well be a "nugget". Something about picking up a pitcher who has stuff, after having a rotten year. For some reason, the 6 year guys I thought would be good last year (like Wilton Veras) turned out to be trash, and it was the Estrella's and Kolb's of the world who turned into something useful.

 

Time will tell of course, and i'm sure i'll have all the wrong instincts about these guys... otherwise, i'd be a scout http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/wink.gif

[MassBrew]

There are two new additions to the Brewer family, assigned to the Arizona Rookie League, according to the Brewers? own site. William Labasta Perez is a 6?3? RHP, 175 lbs. He recently turned 18, born 9/7/85.

 

Listed as an infielder, Francis Arias Pena is 6?0?, 170, and is 17 years old, born 6/11/84.

 

We?ll have to wait unil next summer, most likely, to see which last name each will go by within the stat lines. So while official Brewer latin summer league teams are no longer, there are still new names joining the ranks.

 

And yes, the Brewers are now among only a handful of teams yet to announce Rule 5 transfer transactions.

[gregmag]

I've heard that some Latin American players falsify their ages, but if they're going to do that, they should probably make sure they falsify their dates of birth to match (6/11/84 => 19 y.o.).

 

Happily taking cheap shots at the people who do the real work around here,

 

Greg.

[MassBrew]

Interesting to note from the Rule 5 thread that RHP Khalid Ballouli, LHP Manny Parra, and 1B Prince Fielder have all been transferred to the Huntsville roster, when there was no compelling reason to do so at this time. Certainly an indication that each will likely bypass High Desert, which is not a surprise to many.

[lend d money]

Actually, Khalid bypassing HD does surprise me. I don't think he did anything at Beloit to merit a two-step jump. First of all, he only pitched part of the season due to injury. Secondly, he never really dominated a start. In fact, one of my criticisms of him would be his inability to put hitters away. I went to a game in App-le-ton this year where I distinctly remember the T-Rats had four two-strike hits in one INNING. He needs to work on and develop an out pitch.

[wiscrules99]

"He needs to work on and develop an out pitch."

 

He's pretty old and doesn't walk people which would be rewarded in HD way less than in Huntsville. HD should just be a place to put our more iffy pitchers. If they do well, or at least have good K/BB or K/IP or WHIP, like Saenz this year, then great. HD should be a good thinner for our less sure prospects not a pain in the ass to our top ones.

[lend d money]

I don't disagree that our TOP prospects should be spared HD. However, I don't think 56.1 innings in A ball with a 4.15 ERA and more hits than innings pitched at his age constitutes the numbers of a top prospect. If nothing else, he should earn his metal at HD and then be promoted. I just don't see the line of a player deserving a two-step promotion.

[MassBrew]

The Brewers sure are collecting former 1st and 2nd round draft picks as of late.

 

According to the Crew, they've signed catcher Mark Johnson to a AAA contract, and while we haven't read about a major league spring training invite, that's almost a given when discussing catchers at the AAA level.

 

Johnson's 28 years old, and has shown what he can (or should we say can't) do with over 900 big-league AB's. Not sure about his game-handling or throwing skills, but he's a LH stick, and really now, do we have any clue about the catching situation for 2004 at the big league level? Nope, we don't.

 

Mark Johnson Career Statistics:

 

www.sports-wired.com/play...?Name=BBDF

 

Rotoworld's 2003 Updates on Johnson:

 

www.rotoworld.com/display...13&Y=0

[clancyphile]

The average and slugging stink.

 

That said, he can draw a walk (one per 7.66 ABs in the majors).

 

A left-handed Keith Osik.

[igor67]

Well I can't get too excited, but he's got enough of a track record that he might reasonably be expected to hit closer to .250 and as clancy put it, be a lefty duplication of Osik's last season. Which would be allright.