Brewers Get Munson off Waivers; DFA Mike Jones

[kgbaseball]

The Brewers have picked C Eric Munson off the waiver wire from the Astros today, and have designated P Mike Jones for assignment.

 

Munson is a bad baseball player, so I'm not sure what the plan is here. Maybe they'll just start him in AAA and see if he can win the backup catcher job in 08. I'm kind of surprised Mike Jones was taken off the 40 man roster. I bet there will be several teams wanting to pick him up.

[bball123h2]

I'd sooner be Munsoned out here than have to go home and face my family.

 

I hope Mr. Melvin sees something we don't. This is a really odd move.

[dadofandrew]

Munson is a generic enough backup C, but unless they plan on putting him through waivers again and signing him to a minor league contract, he isn't any better than others. Is there a link?

[kgbaseball]

I just saw it on the MLB Transactions page, and I don't believe there's a link yet, at least not on brewers.com yet.

[JenksFan5]

That is a head scratcher and makes me sad in a way because Mike Jones was a guy I was really cheering for since I interviewed him during the winter of '04. Kind of makes my article even more obsolete.

 

http://www.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20040426&content_id=729692&vkey=news_mil&fext=.jsp&c_id=mil

[Mass Haas]

MLB link referenced above:

 

http://milwaukee.brewers.mlb.com/team/transactions.jsp?c_id=mil

 

Jones is out of options, so anyone putting in a waiver claim for him or trading for him who does not want to expose him to waivers again would have to place him on the 25-man roster coming out of spring training. That's not going to happen.

 

Perhaps Jones will clear, and will agree to a minor league deal with the Crew. We'll see in the next few days...

[bklynbrewcrew]

Eric Munson? Is this Melvin's idea of improving the catching position? This guy is no better defensively than Johnny B Bad. I am really starting to lose confidence in Melvin.

[dadofandrew]

Mass is right that Jones will have to clear waivers again, but still, late March would be a good time to sneak him through. It just depends how close someone thinks he is.

[endaround]

MLB link referenced above:

 

http://milwaukee.brewers.mlb.com/team/transactions.jsp?c_id=mil

 

Jones is out of options, so anyone putting in a waiver claim for him or trading for him who does not want to expose him to waivers again would have to place him on the 25-man roster coming out of spring training. That's not going to happen.

 

Perhaps Jones will clear, and will agree to a minor league deal with the Crew. We'll see in the next few days...

If Jones does pass through, isn't he still Brewers property?

 

[Mass Haas]

If Jones does pass through, isn't he still Brewers property?

 

Believe it or not, Jones has been a Brewer for seven years. He's free to shop himself elsewhere if he clears.

[1992casey]

Is this Melvin's idea of improving the catching position?

I'd call it keeping his options open... no more, no less. It's insurance.

[BrewCrewRising]

If Jones does pass through, isn't he still Brewers property?

 

Believe it or not, Jones has been a Brewer for seven years. He's free to shop himself elsewhere if he clears.

Why only if he clears?

So really, the Crew is not really losing anything by DFA'ing him? And Munson is basically a "free" pickup? So it's not like we're exchaning Jones for Munson?

[1992casey]

If Mike is claimed on waivers, he'd be on another major league roster. His new team would retain his rights unless it decides to cut him. At that point, he'd have to go through waivers again.

[dpapo]

Minor move, nothing to get too excited or disappointed about. Similar to the Brewers picking up Closser off of waivers a year ago at almost the identical time of year. Has shown some home run power in the past and may be able to provide some versatility. Like Closser, may end up providing some organizational depth and start out at AAA. In 2006, threw out 8 of 23 baserunners for roughly a 35% clip, with 4 passed balls allowed. Did much worse this past year, throwing out only 3 or 29 runners, with 2 passed balls allowed. Tom Haudricourt mentions that he is probably going to battle for the backup catcher job.

By Tom Haudricourt

Monday, Oct 15 2007, 01:40 PM

Denver - The Brewers added some depth to one of the weakest positions in their system today by claiming catcher Eric Munson off waivers from the Houston Astros.

To make room on their 40-man roster for Munson, the Brewers designated right-hander Mike Jones for assignment. A first-round draft pick in 2001, Jones saw his career derailed by shoulder and elbow surgeries.

Munson, 30, a left-handed hitter, split the 2007 season between Class AAA Round Rock and Houston. In 50 games for the Astros, he batted .235 with four homers and 15 RBI. He is a career .214 hitter with 49 homers and 147 RBI in 360 games.

Munson was a first-round draft choice -- third overall -- by Detroit in 1999 out of Southern Cal but never realized his potential. He probably will compete for the backup catcher role with the Brewers. Veteran Damian Miller, the backup to Johnny Estrada in 2007, is a free agent and the Brewers have not indicated they will try to re-sign him.

Jones did not reach his potential for another reason -- injuries. He missed most of the 2004 season and all of 2005 because of multiple shoulder surgeries.

Jones pitched only six games at Class AA Huntsville this year before having to undergo "Tommy John" reconstructive elbow surgery. He has been doing physical rehab at the Brewers' complex in Phoenix but being removed from the 40-man roster is an indication of the long road he has ahead of him.

http://blogs.jsonline.com/brewers/archive/2007/10/15/brewers-claim-munson-on-waivers-from-astros.aspx

[Boy Jeenius]

Lose confidence in Melvin over a minor move like a waiver pick up? Wow. I can only say.... wow.

[Fatter than Joey]

Similar to the Brewers picking up Closser off of waivers a year ago at almost the identical time of year.

 

This was my exact reaction -- Good to have some backups ready to go in case Miller strains his groin again.

[bjkrautk]

My guess is, DM thinks he will be able to keep Jones in the fold on a minor-league deal, and thinks he can grab a backup catcher on the cheap now....and then slide him to the minors later (after teams have filled their 40-man rosters with Rule V protected players, perhaps).

 

Likewise, as much as I've enjoyed having Damian Miller in a Brewers' uniform, his .296 OBP / .349 Slg / .646 OPS line isn't exactly setting the bar high for the backup catcher's spot. Believe it or not, Munson is an offensive upgrade (.235 / .313 / .356 / .669 OPS) over Miller... is eight years younger (he's 30 years old), and would be considerably cheaper as well.

 

Dpapo beat me to the Closser comparison from last year. He's good enough to give the Brewers some options at the catching position, and the opportunity cost is minimal.

[JohnBriggs12]

I having a hard time figuring this one out. Maybe some team out there is willing to deal another catcher to the Brewers but they prefer a lefty hitting backup catcher to come back as part of the deal so Melvin had to get one on to his roster?

 

I would have thought a guy like Munson would clear waivers and be signed to a minor league deal.

 

I can't figure why the Brewers would want a bad defensive lefty hitting catcher to backup a bad defensive switch hitting starter.

[pogokat]

I'm intrigued by munson, and i think jones is pretty much done, so this is no big deal...i would be surprised if jomes ever pitches in the majors...

[davego]

I would guess that this ust gives DM more options and he might have an agreement to bring Mike into camp as a non-roster guy if he doesn't get any bites other places.

 

If Munson ends up being the AAA catcher, this is Ok.

[fondybrewfan]

I dont get what the big deal is. The odds of either of these guys making the team next year IMO is slim and none

[And That]

Munson was straight up terrible defensively this year from what I saw. It's not easy to get another catcher on the 40-man roster whom isn't any better defensively than Estrada. There's some offensive potential, I guess that's what they are looking at, or maybe his ability to play a little third and first.

[JJHardy7]

If this was a move for a back up catcher, then why didn't we DFA Rivera? I don't think this is a huge deal -- as long as Jones doesn't pan out, but I just don't see the need to make it. Is there anyway we could have removed Koskie, Graffy, or Miller? Maybe even King? I understand it's not a big time move, but look what the Sarfate for one month of Ray King looks like now. Couldn't they have tried to get him for Sarfate if they both cleared waivers?

[owbc]

Eric Munson...Chad Moeller...it all sounds the same to me.

[kgbaseball]

Rotoworld brought up a couple interesting points about this. Munson is eligible for arbitration, and there's no way the Brewers will want to give him much, if anything. And about Mike Jones, it might be unlikely he gets claimed, because a)he's out of options, and b) he just had TJ surgery, so he'll be out most, if not all, of 08. Still, I guess if a team liked him a lot, they could just claim him, put him on the 60 day, and go from there.