July Transactions; Latest: OF Ryan Knox back to AA

[MassBrew]

If we view it as such a problem, why in the heck did we RENEW THE CONTRACT?

 

Dean Taylor renewed, not Doug Melvin.

 

I think the working relationship between Taylor, Riddoch and the High Desert front office was such that there was an extreme comfort level there, enough so to overlook the natural shortcomings the desert atmosphere provides.

[igor67]

I think it's rather misleading to say we skipped all of our best prospects over A+. Nelson is there. Jones is the only premium guy I can recall that we skipped at the start of the year. Clark and Kade were promoted on merit and because of their advancing age. I seem to recall that the Beloit squad last year was pretty bad with little pitching and sporadic hitting outside of Nelson. As to whether Doug likes HD I can't answer that and I have a hard time arguing with him if he feels that the park is damaging to prospects.

[MassBrew]

LHP Doug Davis has been officially transferred from Huntsville's to Indianapolis' roster. We believe a corresponding roster move will be announced later today, as AAA and AA rosters can't expand to 24 from 23 until August 10th, or so we think.

 

Despite struggles in his six Helena appearances (five starts), RHP Judd Richardson has been moved from Helena's roster to Beloit's, according to milb.com. The 23-year-old Richardson has been beset with a combination of injury and ineffectiveness in 2.5 pro seasons, but his status as a fifth round pick in 2001 should lead to an extended shelf life, although the Brewers showed with Jon Steitz and Dane Artman before him that this regime will cut the cord early on a recent high draftee if deemed necessary.

 

Helena LHP Gabe Mendoza has been placed on the disabled list. We will work on determining the nature and severity of his injury. The 21-year-old LHP out of Venezuela bypassed Helena this spring and was off to a fine start with Beloit. Then he had a string of disappointing appearances which led to a transfer to Helena, where he again has struggled in four very brief relief stints.

[MassBrew]

I think it's rather misleading to say we skipped all of our best prospects over A+.

 

I agree to a large extent, igor. Let's not forget that Chad Petty was supposed to provide a lot more juice in that Maverick starting rotation upon his arrival, although 10 K's in his last outing shows signs of life, at least.

 

I think there's been a whole lot of bad luck surrounding the High Desert circumstances this season. Outfield depth was a known problem, with a huge gap there in the system, yet the already-thin outfield has been where the Mavs have been hit hardest by injury. If not for injuries to Khalid Ballouli and Calvin Carpenter earlier, and now Tom Wilhelmsen, who's to say that there would not have been movement from Beloit in terms of pitching by now. Ballouli, already 23 years old, would have been a great fit if healthy all year. And now, the Snappers are seriously contending for a second-half title, perhaps limiting roster juggling further.

 

A bunch of poor play, yes, but every possible ounce of bad karma seems to have descended onto the High Desert squad as well this season.

[MassBrew]

Duh! Too much going on lately! http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/ohwell.gif

 

Despite struggles in his six Helena appearances (five starts), RHP Judd Richardson has been moved from Helena's roster to Beloit's, according to milb.com. The 23-year-old Richardson has been beset with a combination of injury and ineffectiveness in 2.5 pro seasons, but his status as a fifth round pick in 2001 should lead to an extended shelf life, although the Brewers showed with Jon Steitz and Dane Artman before him that this regime will cut the cord early on a recent high draftee if deemed necessary.

 

No, that's incorrect! Read that backwards on the transaction wire, and the Brewers were apparently just getting caught up on some paperwork. Richardson's officially in Helena, not Beloit.

 

Sorry, folks!

[PeaveyFury]

I think it's rather misleading to say we skipped all of our best prospects over A+. Nelson is there.

 

Well, I did say out best pitching prospects....

 

What happens with Parra this off season will really show what the Brewers think about High Desert and the park effects. I fully expect him to be promoted directly to Huntsville.

 

And good point Mass about Taylor renewing and not Melvin.

[SoCalBrewfan]

Yeah, I think that events suggest that Melvin might not have renewed the deal. It seems that both HD and Lancaster (also a high desert bandbox) have been the hot potatoes of the Cal league...they've changed affiliations a bunch of times.

 

But I'm not sure that there was a systematic plan to screw HD either. Remember that the top guns on the Beloit staff last year were starters Jones and Yeatman, relievers Saenz and Stavros, and the two Dans, Kolb and Hall, who did a little of both. Yeatman and fellow starter Gerry Oakes were traded, two other starters (Artman and Steitz) were awful and recently released, and Jones skipped a level, on merit it seems. That leaves Saenz, Stavros, and the Dans, who still went to HD, joining holdovers Pete Smart, Justin Gordon, Greg Schaub, and DL bonus babies J.M. Gold and Jeff Robinson. Of course it hasn't turned out very nicely...though things aren't as bad as the ERAs might suggest. But I don't see a lot of other options in the system, given the flameouts of high draft choices like Artman, Steitz, etc.

 

In some ways I think the offense has been more disappointing...all they have now are singles hitters and base stealers...given their home park, the hitters in HD are really pretty dismal, including Nelson, Belcher, Morris, Foster, and Raburn, IMO. Even Nelson and Belcher are pretty empty batting averages right now...

[MassBrew]

We now know that the Brewers have made room for LHP Doug Davis on the Indianapolis roster by placing fellow southpaw Travis Miller on the disabled list, as of July 11th. Hopefully the Tribe's web site will fill us in on the nature and severity of Miller's injury (sore back, we believe) in the next day or two.

[MassBrew]

Thanks to David Weiser in Huntsville for the heads up!

 

Link:

 

cf.rrstar.com/sports/stor...fm?ID=4770

 

From David directly:

 

A day after Jeff Housman's promotion from Beloit, the Stars have added another pitcher to their roster....... He is right-hander Jason Shelley. Shelley was 7-1, 0.85 for the independent Rockford RiverHawks, leading the Frontier League in ERA and strikeouts (82 in 74 innings). A year ago, Shelley set a Frontier League strikeout record with 156.......

 

Mike Jones was placed on the disabled list retroactively to July 16....... By the way, Jonesy, after his second throwing session, said he felt "great."........

 

Shelley is 26 years old (3/19/77), B/T right, 6'2", 210, resides now in Naperville, Ill.

 

High Desert bypassed again...

 

Jason Shelley's 2003 numbers:

 

www.baseballamerica.com/c...lley%2C+ja

 

I'm not having any luck finding out more about Shelley's amateur or early pro background.

[batman]

I believe that Shelley was drafted in 1998 by the Toronto Blue Jays out of high school.

 

Round 29:

861. Toronto, Jason Shelley, rhp, Northeastern Planifield, IL

 

I don't know if he ever signed or played any pro ball... still trying to find some info about that. Other tidbits of interest that I was able to trackdown:

 

- He was an All-Star for the West Division in 2003.

- He threw a no-hitter in 2002.

- He was 9-5 with a 3.53 ERA including 3 shutouts in 2002.

- He led the Frontier League (and set a record) with 156 strikeouts in 2002.

- He played for the Cook County Cheetahs of the Frontier League in 2001.

- He was traded to Rockford for shortstop Garet Luebbert.

 

Still not much, but better than nothing.

 

~Bill

[MassBrew]

I believe that Shelley was drafted in 1998 by the Toronto Blue Jays out of high school.

 

Gord Ash...

[batman]

Good call, I didn't even think of that. You're on your game today!

 

EDIT: I was perusing the Frontier League stats while looking for info about Shelley and came across a guy named Chris Carter. He plays outfield and is a coach for Kalamazoo but he's only 24. He is second in the league in batting average, first in hits, third in doubles, second in triples, first in on-base percentage, first in slugging percentage, and first in extra-base hits. That is amazing.

 

He is 6'1, 200 and was born on 2/13/1979. He lives in Myrtle Beach, SC. I don't know anything else about him but he seems like a guy worth signing to a minor league contract.

 

~Bill

[MassBrew]

THREAD EDIT:

 

We've deleted a couple of posts from earlier Saturday which added to some confusion about Jason Shelley's baseball past.

 

There was another Jason Shelley that played pro baseball in the early 90's who since has gone on to see Arena Football League and NFL Europe action as a WR.

 

STATS, Inc. had mistakenly combined the Huntsville Stars' new pitcher's stat line with this now-football player's numbers, adding to the confusion.

 

Simply put, the new Brewer farmhand was indeed drafted by Toronto in '98, didn't sign and began a successful independent league pro career in 2001. He turned 26 last March.

[MassBrew]

As we follow the various independent league transaction wires for Brewerfan, we can guarantee you that the Brewers have been the most active organization in major league baseball in terms of signing independent leaguers for this season. While you can say that indicates there was a lack of depth in the system coming in to the 2003 season, we prefer to applaud the Brewers for taking a pro-active stance in seeking diamonds in the rough.

 

In fact, while there were definitely some misses among the 2003 signees, there have absolutely been some "hits" as well. All the signings will be reviewed for you later today.

 

Here's the latest, from the Jackson (Miss.) Clarion-Ledger:

 

Right-hander Danny Stout, who started the Central Baseball League All-Star Game last week, was purchased by the Milwaukee Brewers from the Jackson Senators of the and assigned to their Class A High Desert team in the California League. Southern Miss alumnus Stout was 4-2 with a 1.50 ERA and 4 saves, having worked as both a starter and closer for the Sens.

 

Stout is 6'0", 190, and is 25 years old (2/16/78), was born in Columbus, Ohio, and now resides in Pensacola, FL.

 

Stout began his independent pro career in 2001, posting a 4.88 ERA in 83.0 IP (36 games, 5 starts).

 

He turned the corner in 2002 with Alexandria of the Central League, when he worked as a closer, flashing a 1.95 ERA in 50.2 IP (18 saves). That season included an impressive scoreless streak of 33.2 innings.

 

2003's numbers are very good, as linked here. You might think that Stout will get a chance to start for the Mavs, but we'll see about that. In his last five starts, Stout has allowed only 18 hits in 35 innings, striking out 32 in that span. Here's hoping he'll be High Desert's version of Jason Shelley.

 

RHP Dan Stout 2003 Statistics:

 

www.baseballamerica.com/c...stout%2C+d

 

Stout's career pitching numbers have been forwarded to squarepusher. His Brewerfan player bio page will be available later today / tonight.

 

We believe the Mavericks had an open spot on their roster; at this moment, we don't anticipate a corresponding move.

[squarepusher]

Danny Stout Brewerfan.net Player Profile:

www.brewerfan.net/ViewPla...ayerId=603

[squarepusher]

Another interesting aside on this transaction... Chris Simonsen, a former UW pitching prospect and Brewers organizational pitcher, is the pitching coach for the Jackson Senators.

 

Simonsen had put up stellar numbers and had made it to the California League. I'm not sure if he retired due to injury or performance, but it's nice to see he still has a career in baseball.

[squarepusher]

Trying to unravel the Jason Shelley mystery a little further:

 

2001 - He was on the Cook County Cougars roster

2000 - He was with Williamsport of the NY-Penn league

[hsvstarsfan]

The transaction wire reports that Bill Hall has been promoted to Milwaukee.

[squarepusher]

[ The transaction wire reports that Bill Hall has been promoted to Milwaukee. ]

 

This is being discussed over in the Major League forum:

pub123.ezboard.com/fbrewe...3692.topic

[MassBrew]

Posted earlier this week:

 

2003 32nd round pick Bill Lewis, a middle infielder out of TCU, only appeared in one game with Helena early on. Helena staff could only confirm that he is injured at this time, but had no update for us on the nature or severity of the injury, or whether Lewis was officially placed on their DL. We'll see if we can follow-up with the big league Brewers.

 

Ask and we shall receive:

 

Lewis' shoulder has been bothering him. He has been working on strengthening it the past few weeks and should be back shortly. He has been officially on the DL since 6/21.

 

Update:

 

Will Lewis was activated from the disabled list today, and has been transferred from Helena to Arizona.

[MassBrew]

Here's your latest:

 

20-year-old 1B / LF Brad Nelson is on his way to Huntsville from High Desert.

 

Joining him from Adelanto is 24-year-old RHP David Nolasco.

 

Heading back to High Desert from Huntsville is 23-year-old Daryl Clark and his .931 OPS overall (.735 OPS in 153 Huntsville AB's).

 

Nolasco's move makes sense, especially if Luis Martinez is on his way to Indy.

 

The Nelson / Clark swap seems unnecessary, but you'll see confirmation of the swap Thursday AM.

 

Hopefully D.J. swallows his pride and returns to mashing in the desert -- that's a tough blow for him.

[BrewDude]

Holy moves O' Masseus Brewus!! Sorry a little Caesar there. That is crazy about the moves, but I guess when you ask you shall receive. What about the desert though? Who is moving from Beloit or even Helena up there?

[Never Outhustled]

I agree massbrew, the Nelson promotion is a real suprise. Nelson didn't hit nearly as well as Clark did before he went to AA, why do they think Nelson will hit in AA?

[Ralph Wiggum]

As long as these moves domino into the release of "Hollywood Rally-Killer" Clayton, I'll be happy.

[SoCalBrewfan]

I'm pretty surprised about the Nelson promotion...guess he'll be with H'ville for the playoffs. Clark doesn't deserve the demotion, IMO...but what do I know. Is this another deal where they want a guy to play in the Fall League so promote him to AA earlier than anticipated? It would make sense to send Nelson, given the time he missed. AIUI, only one player per org can go to the AFL without experience at AA...and it may be that they're saving that sub-A spot for someone...would love to think it was Weeks but I don't know how those rules work.