Official Alumni Thread

[dadofandrew]

Lugo is very likely at his ceiling, but had a nice year with the A's.

[Mass Haas]

Catcher Paul Bako a minor league deal with the Reds (spring training invite).

[Mass Haas]

Lefty reliever Mike Myers (Dodgers), RHP Nelson Figueroa (Mets), minor league deals.

[Mass Haas]

RHP Eric "Mega" Thomas, the 6'9" RHP the Brewers drafted in the 3rd round in 91, has been traded by the Reno Silver Sox of the independent Golden Baseball League to the Sussex (N.J.) Skyhawks of the independent Can-Am League. He was released by the Anaheim Angels orgnization early last year. On the short money independent leaguers make, you'd think they wouldn't have to also deal with being uprooted cross-country, but you see trades among different independent leagues all the time. Perhaps sometimes it's to accommodate a player's wishes.

[Mass Haas]

Gotta love when players who haven't been in affiliated ball since '04 get back in action -- infielder Rich Paz signs with the Astros.

 

Diehards will remember his split 2003 season between Huntsville and Indianapolis, when at age 25, he posted some nice OBP figures as a second baseman. It was Paz' only season in the organization.

 

It even earned him some Power 50 recognition from Toby at the time.

[Mass Haas]

RHP Ryan Trytten (39th round, 2000) spent '00-'03 in the Brewers system, '05-'06 in the Padres organization, with independent league stints sprinkled within. He'll return to the independent American Association, signing with the Lincoln (NE) Saltdogs this week. He'll be 27 in May, he reached AA with the Padres in '06.

[Mass Haas]

RHP Alec Zumwalt, at age 27 still on the cusp of that first big-league appearance, has signed a minor league deal with Colorado.

[Mass Haas]

Former Brewer 40-man roster RHP Tim Bausher is set to pitch again in the independent Can-Am League in 2008. He was just claimed by the New Jersey Jackals off Can-Am waivers -- the Jackals play at Yogi Berra Stadium on the campus of Montclair State University.

[Mass Haas]

RHP Dan Grybash last pitched in affiliated ball with Brevard County in 2005; he's been in indy ball since, and signed with Fort Worth of the American Association this week.

 

Catcher Tim Marks, whose only taste of affiliated ball was with Beloit in 2004, was just placed on the inactive list of Sioux Falls (South Dakota), also in the American Association. Marks posted a .705 OPS in 82 games with the Canaries last summer.

[Mass Haas]

Nice Q&A with Pat Listach, with plenty of Brewer references

[Mass Haas]

LHP Kyle Pawelczyk, who had a brief organizational stint with West Virginia in 2006, has re-signed with Evansville of the independent Frontier League for 2008.

 

OF Nate Yoho, a former undrafted farmhand who played in the Brewers' system in '05-'06, also played in the Frontier League in '07. He was recently traded to the Laredo (TX) Broncos of the independent United Baseball League.

[Mass Haas]

Infielder Jeff Eure, who was a Brewer farmhand for 6+ years before a stint with the Royals's AA Wichita club last year, has signed on with Fargo-Moorhead (North Dakota) of the independent Northern League.

[Mass Haas]

Veteran minor league LHP Mike Kusiewicz, who last pitched in affiliated ball in 2004 in High Desert for the Brewers as a 27-year-old reliever, has spent the last three seasons as a starter in the independent Northern League. For 2008, the native Canadian just signed with Ottawa of the independent Can-Am League.

 

You're a true Link Report diehard if you remember Kusiewicz' occasional pre-game interviews on Mavericks' audio in which he was thoroughly entertaining. I found in our Link Report archives a link (no longer valid) in which he did his Harry Carey while interviewing himself.

[Mass Haas]

Rotoworld updates on Mike Kinkade and Jose Capellan.

[Mass Haas]

I haven't whet my Craig Breslow appetite in a while:

 

Camp an opportunity for Breslow, Out of Minor League options, lefty driven by fruitless '07 callup

 

[Mass Haas]

Turns out Max St. Pierre's story (Ben Hendrickson trade) was pretty compelling after all --

 

Link, text follows:

 

St. Pierre wages battle against alcoholism

By Bob Duff, Windsor Star

 

The lone Canadian in training with the Detroit Tigers, catcher Max St. Pierre of Quebec City, is enjoying a personal resurgence in his second stint with the Tigers' organization. A prospect in the club's farm system from 1997-2006, St. Pierre's 2007 campaign can best be described as a lost season.

 

So lost, in fact, he can't remember where he was.

 

After signing as a free agent with the Kansas City Royals, St. Pierre, 27, was traded to the Milwaukee Brewers March 27, 2007. The Brewers decided his future was throwing rather than catching and began the process of converting St. Pierre to a pitcher.

 

"I spent a month there and they wanted to sign me to a two-year contract," St. Pierre said. "I thought, 'They're going to take their time with me, but I want to know right now what I can do. I don't want to wait two years to just find out I can't pitch at 27.'"

 

St. Pierre remembered he was sent to play in Montana. Where in Montana, he's not certain.

 

A check of the record book shows he was with the Helena Brewers of the Pioneer Rookie League.

 

There's a reason why St. Pierre's mind is foggy about the past. He was in a haze. An alcoholic haze.

 

A haze he knew he must clear if he was to have a future, in both baseball and life.

 

"I had a bunch of problems last year and it just didn't start last year, it started a long time ago and I had to fix some stuff," St. Pierre said.

 

"I had a big drinking problem. I was drinking heavily every day and the next day I would just show up to the field and whatever I did the day before, I couldn't remember what my swing was like or what I was doing right. So I'd just get up there and swing the bat every day with no plan, no nothing. I'd show up at that field and I'd think, 'I can catch, I can play defence.'"

 

Released by the Brewers organization June 22, St. Pierre set out to stop swigging and improve his swinging. He put down the bottle, began attending Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, picked up a bat and resumed catching.

 

"I stopped drinking and it's been seven months now," he said. "At the same time, I've been working on my swing and trying to get better and stronger."

 

"I had to fix my problem and work on my swing."

 

A non-roster invitee to Detroit's big-league camp, St. Pierre was an all-star in the Tigers' farm system at the A and AA levels.

 

"Glenn Ezell (Tigers director of player development) really likes him," said Detroit manager Jim Leyland, himself a former minor-league catcher. "He's a good thrower and a good defensive catcher."

 

After a season in the wilderness, St. Pierre is happy to be sober and once again amidst comfortable surroundings. "I love the Tigers," he said. "There's familiar faces and I like the kids here. They're fun. It makes a big difference. The way the organization works, the way they go through the business, I like it a lot.

 

"I went to Kansas City last year and I thought it was so weird because people would never talk to you. They'd just let you go. They'd never tell you what they think of you or what they expect of you. I never knew where I was situated. 'Am I in your group, or am I an outsider?' It was tough.

 

I didn't know if they liked me or if I was doing things right. I didn't know what my position was within the organization. I went to big-league camp and in my first game, I had a walk and a base hit, so I was one-for-one in hitting and two-for-two in on-base percentage and I threw one guy out. I got cut the first cut and I'm like, 'Why did I get cut the first cut?' (Then Royals manager) Buddy (Bell) told me, 'Well, you know the situation here.' And I said, 'No, actually I don't know, because nobody told me anything.' It was like, 'OK, we'll sign you, you'll be trade bait and we'll go from there.'"

[Mass Haas]

RHP Gerrit Simpson, a trade acquisition from the Rockies who was an effective bullpen workhorse for Huntsville in '05-'06, was just released by Fargo-Moorhead of the independent Northern League, where he pitched (mostly as a starter) in '07.

 

EDIT: Update -- Simpson was claimed on waivers by Gary (Indiana) of the same indepenedent Northern League.

[Mass Haas]

Like Pat Listach a few posts back, Randy Ready in the minor league managing spotlight.

[Team Canada]

All Things Considered had a story on R.A. Dickey today.

[Mass Haas]

RHP Brandon Harmsen, a former Yanke farmhand who finished the '06 season at Brevard County after his independent league purchase by the Brewers, was released by Fargo-Moorhead of the independent Northern League.

[Mass Haas]

Thanks to David Weiser and his Huntsville site, he reminds us that C/1B Lance Burkhart was in the Brewer chain for three full seasons (2000-2002). Burkhart has signed on for his 4th season in lovely Amish country in Lancaster, Pennsylvania (independent Atlantic League). Of no significance at all, I saw the exterior of the ballpark there during an October visit...

[Mass Haas]

Enrique Cruz signs a minor league deal with the Mets.

[Mass Haas]

Several Brewer alums have been re-assigned to their respective minor league camps in recent days, such as Ben Hendrickson today with the Royals.

 

Rather than list all of those moves, alumni updates will be limited to any releases or changes in organization during spring training -- once the season starts, a fresh Alumni Thread with updated player info will be posted.

[Mass Haas]

RHP Jon Huizinga (Beloit, 2003) has kept his pro career alive in independent ball ever since. He just signed with the Calgary Vipers of the Golden Baseball League this week.

[Mass Haas]

The Traverse City (Michigan) Beach Bums of the independent Frontier League have announced the signing of outfielder Charles Iacono to a 2008 contract.

Iacono comes to the Beach Bums after spending the past two seasons playing in the Milwaukee Brewers organization. In 2007, Iacono played for the Arizona League Brewers, where he hit finished in the top five in the league in several offensive categories including walks (2nd - 45), stolen bases (2nd - 30), runs (5th - 38), and on-base percentage (5th - .413). In two seasons in professional baseball, Iacono has scored 55 runs, drawn 60 walks, and stolen 46 bases in only 82 games.

"Iacono was one of the fastest guys in the Brewers entire organization," said Beach Bums Director of Baseball Operations Jason Wuerfel. "The numbers he has put up in pro ball speak for themselves. He knows how to get on base, make things happen, and score runs. In the outfield, his speed and defensive ability will be a big boost to our ball club."

The 5'8" 170-pound Iacono was signed as a non-drafted free agent in 2006 after finishing his career at the College of New Jersey, where he hit .349 with 59 runs scored, 48 stolen bases, and 28 walks in just 46 games his senior season. Iacono's offensive totals in runs scored and stolen bases ranked him 22nd and 5th respectively in NCAA Division III.