Minor Transactions, Aug/Sept, Latest: Ben Ford, J. Childers

[MassBrew]

With Helena's season now over, the Brewers activated the team's one official disabled list player, catcher Lou Palmisano, in a paper transaction.

 

Huntsville will have an additional bat off the bench available for Game Three in Carolina. The Brewers have confirmed for Brewerfan.net that catcher Charlie Lozada will be joining the team at that point.

 

Lozada's proving to be quite a story. Signed just this past offseason and having only turned 18 this past June, he started the season raking for the Arizona Brewers, handled himself capably in High Desert, and then helped the injury-riddled catching corps in Helena to end the season. Now he's been chosen to join the Stars, his fourth Brewer affiliate this season, in the postseason. (Since playoff stats don't show up on a player's bio, history will show Lozada played with three affiliates.)

 

In 116 combined AB's this season, the youngster hit .327 with an OBP of .381. Seven of his 38 hits went for extra bases.

 

Not sure if either Kade Johnson or Mike Kremblas are banged up, perhaps that's something David Weiser or others in Huntsville will verify for us. Certainly the Brewers didn't want to break up the Beloit catching corps while they're in the midst of their own playoff run.

 

At 18, Lozada's earned his frequent-flyer miles, that's for sure. He'll be an interesting name to keep an eye on in coming years. If all goes well, he can sneak in a bit of bubbly in a few days.

[Southern Leaguer]

Lozada was here last night, handling the bullpen catching duties, or least SOMEbody I was. Kremblas played nd Johnson was in the dugout. I didn't know who the youngster wearing #30 and catching in the pen was but must assume now that it was Lozada. If he is activated, somebody (probably a pitcher) will have to be dropped. Can they do that during the series?

[hsvstarsfan]

Not sure if either Kade Johnson or Mike Kremblas are banged up, perhaps that's something David Weiser or others in Huntsville will verify for us. Certainly the Brewers didn't want to break up the Beloit catching corps while they're in the midst of their own playoff run.

 

I have details Mr. Portnoy has asked me not to comment on on my web site, but I can tell you there is nothing physically wrong with either Johnson or Kremblas.

[Southern Leaguer]

It's obvious they aren't hurt, Kremblas started game 1 and Johnson started (and ended!) game 2. Kremblas PH in game 2 so they are both on the active roster. My question remains, how can they make a roster move after the series has started? Huntsville has already used (I think) 20 players in the 2 games. The only ones not used are pitchers Shelley, Liriano, Bruso, and Brian Adams. Have one of these 4 been dropped and Lozada added? If so, you would have to think it would be Adams and even at that it seems the announcement would have to be made before the series starts.

[MassBrew]

It'll be pretty quiet on the minor league transaction front for the next couple of weeks.

 

Just cleaning up things here, the Brewers returned catcher Charlie Lozada (see above) to Helena's roster after the whole Mike Kremblas (will he be available for the playoff thing) played itself out.

[MassBrew]

More disabled list activations, a paper necessity when the season ends:

 

Huntsville:

RHP Ben Diggins

RHP Mike Jones

 

Beloit:

LHP Manny Parra

OF Steve Moss

[MassBrew]

Most likely a technical move related to his spot as a Brewers' representative in the Arizona Fall League, RHP Tim Bausher has been transferred from Beloit's roster to Huntsville's.

[MassBrew]

The five 40-man roster players that were not in Milwaukee in September have been "recalled" to Milwaukee.

 

They are:

 

Indianapolis RHP Matt Childers

Indianapolis LHP John Foster

Huntsville 2B Alejandro Machado

Huntsville RHP Ben Diggins

Huntsville RHP Pedro Liriano

 

This is something all major league clubs must do. 40-man players sit on the big league roster all off-season. There is no 25-man roster again until the major league season begins.

 

What this does is free up spots for the Rule 5 draft in December. The Brewers will be able to protect 30 non-40 man roster players at the AAA Indianapolis level. These are the players that would have to be kept at the big league level if chosen from the Indy roster in the Rule 5. (Heck, when was the last time a Brewer prospect was selected in the big league portion of the Rule 5? With new depth, it could certainly happen this winter.)

 

Players protected below the AAA level can be selected in the minor league portion of the Rule 5 draft. The Brewers lost OF Derry Hammond and RHP Jack Krawczyk in the minor league phase last offseason, and picked up RHP David Manning.

 

Last year, the manuevering of players by the Brewers started in late November. If you're into transaction history and such, here is the thread in which we tracked pre-and post-Rule 5 moves from last offseason. Reading it will give you additional perspective on how the positioning of players in the offseason works.

 

pub123.ezboard.com/fbrewe...mp;stop=20

 

Later this fall, a similar thread will be logged for this offseason.

 

Square, if you wish, process the transactions today here within Brewerfan, otherwise I'll get them this evening. Thanks.

[gregmag]

So let me see if I have this straight:

 

Players who cannot be lost in the Rule 5 draft at all: the 40-man major league roster, plus players drafted too recently to qualify for the Rule 5 draft.

 

Players who can only be lost in the major league portion of the Rule 5 draft: the 30 players on the AAA roster as of the Rule 5 draft date (excluding any who were drafted too recently to qualify for the Rule 5, but the team will bump any such players down to lower levels before Rule 5 day so that it can protect the maximum number of Rule 5-eligible players at AAA).

 

Players who can be lost at either the major or minor league stage of the Rule 5 draft (which means that teams would wait to take them in the lower-risk minor league portion): Everyone else in the system -- below AAA on Rule 5 day -- who was drafted far enough in the past to qualify for the Rule 5 draft.

 

If I've got all of that right, then a key piece of information is how long a player has to be in the system before he qualifies for the Rule 5. Could someone please explain that? Thanks.

 

Greg.

[Al the Thinking Man]

Greg, a player has to be protected if he has spent 3 FULL seasons in the minors, unless he was really young, then it is 4 full seasons.

[MassBrew]

According to Baseball America, the Brewers have signed three of their potential minor league free agents thus far, as they are able to do at this time (minor league contracts expire October 15th, we believe, and the Brewers could still resign one of their own after this date as well -- prior to, as was the case here, negotiating rights are exclusive):

 

RHP Ben Ford - as discussed in a neighboring "Indianapolis" thread here:

 

pub123.ezboard.com/fbrewe...41&stop=45

 

Ben Ford's Brewerfan Player Profile Page:

 

www.brewerfan.net/ViewPla...ayerId=541

 

Also, RHP Jason Childers finished the season as Indy's closer. He's Matt's (Brewer 40-man roster pitcher) older brother, as many of you know. Jason signed his first affiliated contract with the Brewers after beginning his pro career in the independent Frontier League, and has subsequently spent seven years in the Brewer chain. It would not be a surprise to see this organizational soldier rewarded with some sort of cameo (or more) major league appearance in 2004, based on his recent work.

 

RHP Jason Childers Brewerfan Player Profile Page:

 

www.brewerfan.net/ViewPla...layerId=72

 

Finally, RHP Tim Bausher falls under this category. Bausher's currently working in the Arizona Fall League. We believe this confirms what we thought earlier, that players signed out of independent league ball, but who had previously been contracted to an affiliate (Bausher was drafted by the Mariners and spent a rookie league season with them), are not owned by the Brewers automatically with renewable years. If that's the case, and we still might be confused, hopefully we'll see RHP Jason Shelley on this list soon.

 

RHP Tim Bausher Brewerfan Player Profile Page:

 

www.brewerfan.net/ViewPla...ayerId=549

 

I hope to close out and lock this thread and begin an "Offseason Transaction Thread" with links to all the previous transaction threads, tomorrow.

[Al the Thinking Man]

99% sure you're right MB, as the 6 "renewable" years are null and void if your first contract has expired.

 

And yes, Shelley will have 10-15 teams bidding on his services if not signed by the deadline. Guys who throw 92+ are coveted regardless of experience and age.

[lend d money]

I'm by no means saying we shouldn't keep Shelley, but are you sure he throws in the 90's. I went to a Stars game in Chatanooga where they have a scoreboard type gun(like App-le-ton). He didn't register at 90 or above for the whole game. Just asking!

[MassBrew]

From the BA article we linked to earlier this week:

 

Shelley's success comes in large part from his split-finger fastball. His velocity has never been overwhelming--he throws an 88-91 mph fastball with a 78-80 mph split and a curve--but ever since he added the split-finger to his arsenal in 2002, he's piled up plenty of strikeouts.

[MassBrew]

The Brewers removed catcher Cody McKay from their Indianapolis roster on the team web site yesterday.

 

It's possible that McKay was eligible to choose to become a free agent immediately when he was removed from the 40-man roster last month, thus giving himself a head start on shopping himself around.

 

If we hear from the Brewers that the circumstances were a bit different, we'll let you know.