Minor League Free Agents -- Any Pearls To Find?

[Mass Haas]

Baseball America supplies the list. I won't get a chance to review until this weekend, but have at it, make your suggestions:

 

http://www.baseballamerica.com/blog/prospects/?p=644#more-644

 

The following 602 players were declared free agents following the 2007 season, as provided by Major League Baseball.

 

Former Brewers italicized

Arizona Diamondbacks (12)

Righthanders: Jeff Bajenaru, D.J. Carrasco, Chad Harville, Donald Julio, Mike Schultz

Lefthander: Hipolito Guerrero

Catcher: Mark Johnson

Third baseman: Mayo Santana

Shortstops: Matt Erickson, Ronnie Merrill

Outfielders: Jarred Ball, Rich Thompson

Atlanta Braves (15)

Righthanders: Ryan Baerlocher, Buddy Hernandez, Trey Hodges, Jose Santiago, Wes Wilkerson

Lefthander: Rheal Cormier

Catchers: Iker Franco, Fernando Lunar, Carlos Mendez, Corky Miller, Ray Serrano

Outfielders: Larry Bigbie, Josh Burrus, Doug Clark, J.D. Roberts

Baltimore Orioles (33)

Righthanders: Derek Barrows, Francis Beltran, Rosman Garcia, Steve Green, Beau Hale, Tim Kester, Andy Mitchell, Victor Moreno, Cory Morris, Sendy Rleal, Orlando Roman, Felix Romero

Lefthanders: Oscar Alvarez, Carlos Perez, Richard Salazar, Chris Waters

Catchers: Gustavo Molina, Eli Whiteside

First baseman: Luis Jimenez

Second basemen: Cesar Crespo, Pete Maestrales

Third basemen: Bryan Bass, Mike Cervenak, Doug Reinhardt, Terry Tiffee

Shortstops: Bo Hart, Oscar Salazar

Outfielders: Matt Cepicky, Jason Dubois, Jason Fransz, Luis Montanez, Arturo Rivas, Ruddy Yan

Boston Red Sox (18)

Righthanders: Carlos Almanzar, John Barnes, Mike Burns, Felix Diaz, Jeff Farnsworth, Travis Hughes, T.J. Nall

Lefthander: Adam Cox

Catcher: Salvador Paniagua

First baseman: Jeff Bailey

Second basemen: Joe McEwing, Bobby Scales, Junior Spivey

Shortstops: Tony Granadillo, Ed Rogers

Outfielders: Brad Correll, Steve Garrabrants, Cory Keylor

Chicago Cubs (10)

Righthanders: Federico Baez, Cory Bailey, Ben Howard, Mike Nannini, John Webb

Lefthander: Ryan O'Malley

Catcher: Mike Mahoney

Second baseman: Gary Cates

Shortstop: John Nelson

Outfielder: Jorge Cortes

Chicago White Sox (33)

Righthanders: Ryan Bukvich, Jason Childers, Josh Fields, Vladimir Nunez, Jake Robbins, Eduardo Sierra, Geurys Trinidad, John Wesley

Lefthanders: Tim Bittner, Nikolas Lubisich, Corwin Malone, Paulino Reynoso, Joe Torres, Ryan Wing

Catchers: Jeremy Frost, Wiki Gonzalez, Ryan Smith

First basemen: Casey Rogowski, Earl Snyder

Second baseman: Jason Bourgeois

Shortstops: Victor Mercedes, Kenny Perez, Tomas Perez, Luis Sierra

Outfielders: Cory Aldridge, Shawn Garrett, Archie Gilbert, Kenny Kelly, Alex Sanchez, Adam Shabala, Sean Smith, Craig Wilson, Ernie Young

Cincinnati Reds (14)

Righthanders: Rick Asadoorian, Carlos Bohorquez, Dan Denham, Steven Kelly, Elizardo Ramirez, Dushan Ruzic

Catchers: Jean Boscan, Miguel Perez

First baseman: Jesse Gutierrez

Shortstops: Jeff Bannon, Caonabo Cosme, Aaron Herr, Anderson Machado

Outfielder: Marland Williams

Cleveland Indians (16)

Righthanders: Bobby Brownlie, Jake Dittler, Mike Koplove, Cliff Politte, Jim Ed Warden

Lefthanders: Eric Dubose, Mariano Gomez

Catcher: Mike Rose

Second basemen: Trent Durrington, Argenis Reyes

Third baseman: Keith Ginter

Shortstops: Rodney Choy Foo, Anthony Medrano, Mike Rouse

Outfielders: Dennis Malave, Jonathan Van Every

Colorado Rockies (16)

Righthanders: Jonathan Asahina, Jentry Beckstead, Gerardo Casadiego, Zach McClellan, Sandy Nin, Jud Songster, Todd Williams, Rob Zimmermann

Lefthanders: Mike Gallo, Kevin Walker

Catchers: Tommy Duenas, Nelson Robledo, Tino Sanchez

First baseman: Aaron Rifkin

Third baseman: Jolbert Cabrera

Shortstop: Tim Olson

Detroit Tigers (22)

Righthanders: Ron Chiavacci, Jeremy Johnson, Jason Karnuth, Anastacio Martinez, Alan Mills, Dennis Tankersley

Lefthanders: Jon Connolly, Vic Darensbourg, Jeremy Lewis, Jose Ortiz, Ian Ostlund, Gustavo Salcedo

Catchers: Ciro Caldera, Joel Roa, Dane Sardinha, Steve Torrealba

Second baseman: Kevin Hooper

Shortstop: Henry Mateo

Outfielders: David Espinosa, Jackson Melian, Ovandy Suero, Andres Torres

Florida Marlins (26)

Righthanders: Kenny Baugh, Roy Corcoran, Rich Dorman, Jeff Fulchino, Wes Obermueller, Eddy Rodriguez, Jimmy Serrano, Jesus Silva, Scott Tyler

Lefthanders: Chris George, Ben Julianel, Wes Letson, Blake McGinley

Catcher: Sandy Martinez

First basemen: John Gall, Valentino Pascucci, Todd Sears

Second baseman: Frank Moore

Third baseman: Scott Seabol

Shortstops: John Labandeira, John Raburn, Eric Riggs, Rex Rundgren

Outfielders: Chris Ashby, Joe Borchard, Angel Molina

Houston Astros (24)

Righthanders: Brian Gordon, Tim Lavigne, German Melendez, Josh Miller, Chan Ho Park, Jose Rodriguez, Levi Romero, Matt Sweeney, Ronnie Ventura

Lefthanders: Philip Barzilla, Enyelbert Soto

Catchers: Danny Fatheree, Hector Gimenez

First baseman: Michael Johnson

Second basemen: Brooks Conrad, Jesse Garcia, Drew Saylor

Shortstops: Osvaldo Fernando, Danny Klassen

Outfielders: Francisco Caraballo, Tim Raines, Michael Rodriguez, Ray Sadler, Barry Wesson

Kansas City Royals (22)

Righthanders: Zach Day, Roberto Giron, Ben Hendrickson, David Humen, Arthur Santos, Jim Wladyka

Lefthanders: Juan Cedeno, Michael Connolly

First baseman: Jeff Eure

Second baseman: Richard Lewis

Third basemen: Luis Castillo, Jeff Nettles

Shortstops: Andres Blanco, Jose Santos, Derek Wathan

Outfielders: Jeremy Cleveland, Adam Greenberg, Onil Joseph, Rubi Koko, Alexis Marte, Bill McCarthy, Jorge Padilla

Los Angeles Angels (20)

Righthanders: Henry Bonilla, Robert Coello, Marcus Gwyn, Matt Hensley, Pedro Liriano, Warner Madrigal, Alex McRobbie, Alex Serrano, Steven Shell

Lefthander: Jonathon Rouwenhorst

Catchers: Cody Collet, Corey Myers

First basemen: Michael Collins, Mike Eylward

Second basemen: Adam Morrissey, Steven Smith

Shortstop: Gary Patchett

Outfielders: Tommy Murphy, Greg Porter, Curtis Pride

Los Angeles Dodgers (18)

Righthanders: Rick Bauer, Jose Diaz, Chris Fussell, William Juarez, Spike Lundberg, Alvis Ojeda, Raul Rivas

Lefthanders: Eric Cyr, Luis Gonzalez, Matt Riley

Catchers: Alberto Concepcion, Ken Huckaby, Octavio Martinez, Chad Moeller

Second baseman: Luis Maza

Third baseman: Marshall McDougall

Outfielders: Rapheal Freeman, Wilkin Ruan

Milwaukee Brewers (10)

Righthanders: R.A. Dickey, Vince Perkins, Corey Thurman, Alec Zumwalt

Lefthanders: Lindsay Gulin, Adam Pettyjohn

First baseman: Andy Abad

Shortstop: Chris Barnwell

Outfielders: Jose Macias, Charles Thomas

Minnesota Twins (12)

Righthanders: Brad Baker, Brian Bass, Tristan Crawford, Angel Garcia, Jerome Williams

Lefthander: Dave Gassner

First baseman: Ken Harvey

Second baseman: Felix Molina

Third baseman: Glenn Williams

Shortstop: Gil Velazquez

Outfielders: Matt Allegra, Trent Oeltjen

New York Mets (26)

Righthanders: Joe Hietpas, Brian Lawrence, Clint Nageotte, Marcelo Perez, Corey Ragsdale, Jose Santiago

Lefthanders: Ricardo Morales, Raul Valdes

Catchers: Edwards Guzman, Jose Reyes

First baseman: Andy Tracy

Second basemen: J.E. Cruz, Jake Gautreau

Third basemen: Brett Harper, Vince Harrison, Fernando Tatis

Shortstops: Jason Alfaro, Wilson Batista, Mark Kiger

Outfielders: Ender Chavez, Ambiorix Concepcion, Elvis Cruz, Jesus Feliciano, Chad Hermansen, Luis Matos, Miguel Negron

New York Yankees (22)

Righthanders: Chris Farley, Scott Patterson, Justin Pope, Ferdin Tejeda

Lefthanders: Ben Kozlowski, Charlie Manning

Catchers: Alan Atacho, Ben Blumenthal, Jason Brown, Raul Chavez, Omir Santos

First baseman: Erubiel Durazo

Second baseman: Juan Francia

Third basemen: Mike Kinkade, Carlos Mendoza

Shortstops: Andy Cannizaro, Angel Chavez

Outfielders: Jose Cruz, Rudy Guillen, Noah Hall, Kevin Reese, Jamal Strong

Oakland Athletics (20)

Righthanders: Kevin Deaton, Scott Dunn, Mike Flannery, Travis Foley, Julio Manon, Jeff Muessig, Luis Ramirez, Adam Thomas

Lefthanders: Mike Bumatay, Ron Flores

Catchers: J.D. Closser, Casey Myers

First baseman: Jason Stokes

Second baseman: Lou Merloni

Shortstops: Antonio Perez, Francisco Tirado, Vince Faison, Luis Perez, Jorge Piedra, Jose Pineda

Philadelphia Phillies (33)

Righthanders: Ryan Cameron, Matt Childers, Julio de la Cruz, Landon Jacobsen, Gary Knotts, Tim McClaskey, Bubba Nelson, Chris Rojas, Brian Sanches, Heath Totten, Charles Weatherby, Jason Wylie

Lefthanders: Eude Brito, Allen Davis, Chris Key, Luis Villarreal, Cory Willey

Catchers: Jason Hill, Dusty Wathan

First basemen: Gary Burnham, John Urick

Second basemen: Carlos Leon, Peeter Ramos

Third basemen: Joey Hammond, Brennan King

Shortstops: Gookie Dawkins, Danny Sandoval

Outfielders: Shaun Boyd, Nic Jackson, Greg Jacobs, Matt Padgett, Jim Rushford, Pedro Swann

Pittsburgh Pirates (37)

Righthanders: Richard Acosta, Basilio Alvarez, Kip Bouknight, Dewon Brazelton, Mark Corey, Felipe Garcia, Kevin Gryboski, Jose Paniagua, Matt Peterson, Bret Prinz, Jason Roach, Luis Valdez, John Wasdin

Lefthander: Michael Tejera

Catchers: Einar Diaz, Omar Falcon, Denny Nino, Dave Parrish, Brian Peterson, Danilo Sanchez

Third basemen: Yurendell de Caster, Russ Johnson, Tripper Johnson, Luis Ordaz, Chris Truby

Shortstops: Brandon Chaves, Javier Guzman, Jose Hernandez

Outfielders: Chris Aguila, Peter Bergeron, Vic Buttler, Ron Davenport, Alex Fernandez, Matt Meath, Jonel Pacheco, Brett Roneberg, Michael Ryan

St. Louis Cardinals (13)

Righthanders: Hugo Castellanos, Chris Russ, Julio Sanchez, Mike Smith

Lefthanders: Troy Cate, Chris Narveson, Mike Venafro

Catchers: Danny Ardoin, Ryan Christianson, Brian Esposito

First baseman: Tagg Bozied

Third baseman: Juan Richardson

Shortstop: Rico Washington

San Diego Padres (18)

Righthanders: Paul Abraham, Aaron Rakers, Jonathan Searles, Mike Thompson, Steve Watkins

Lefthanders: Frank Brooks, Adrian Burnside, Shawn Estes, Casey Fossum, Arturo Lopez

Catchers: Todd Greene, Justin Hatcher

First baseman: Brett Bonvechio

Second baseman: Frank Menechino

Third baseman: Royce Huffman

Shortstops: Luis Cruz, Jon Schemmel

Outfielder: Yordany Ramirez

San Francisco Giants (20)

Righthanders: Jesse Foppert, Dan Giese, Carlos Hines, Sun Woo Kim, Matt Kinney

Lefthanders: Ricardo Rincon, Jason Waddell

Catchers: Stephen Holm, Justin Knoedler

First basemen: Lance Niekro, Randy Ruiz, Tyler Von Schell

Second basemen: William Bergolla, Derin McMains, Lorenzo Mercado

Third basemen: Julio Cordido, Justin Leone

Shortstops: Tomas de la Rosa, Ivan Ochoa

Outfielder: Carlos Sosa

Seattle Mariners (14)

Righthanders: Cibney Bello, Ivan Blanco, Juan Done, Justin Lehr, Roman Martinez, Juan Sandoval

Lefthander: Brad Thomas

Catchers: Craig Hurba, Luis Oliveros, Rene Rivera

Shortstops: Jesus Guzman, Jesus Merchan

Outfielders: Brandon McConnell, Prentice Redman

Tampa Bay Devil Rays (16)

Righthanders: Steve Andrade, Eddie de la Cruz, Richard de los Santos, Tony Peguero, Doug Waechter

Lefthanders: Jonathan Beltre, Brian Shackelford

Catchers: Michel Hernandez, Josh Johnson

Second baseman: Brent Butler

Third baseman: Aaron Sisk

Outfielders: Erold Andrus, Brooks Badeaux, Jeremy Owens, Chris Richard, Jon Weber

Texas Rangers (17)

Righthanders: Ezequiel Astacio, Chris Baker, Michael Bumstead, Ken Chenard, Franklyn German, Luther Hackman, Alfredo Simon, Jorge Vasquez

Lefthanders: Ryan Knippschild, Derek Lee, Scott Rice, Randy Williams

Catchers: Reece Creswell, Salomon Manriquez

Shortstop: Dave Matranga

Outfielders: Anthony Webster, Kevin West

Toronto Blue Jays (20)

Righthanders: Yesson Berroa, Lee Gronkiewicz, Yusaku Iriki, Beau Kemp, Pat Mahomes, Blaine Neal, Javier Nieves, Ismael Ramirez, Jeremy Zick

Lefthanders: Jo Matumoto, Scott Sauerbeck

Catcher: Chris Haupt

First baseman: Kevin Barker

Third basemen: Rob Cosby, John Hattig

Shortstop: Manny Mayorson

Outfielders: Luke Hetherington, Chad Mottola, Yuber Rodriguez, Mike Vento

Washington Nationals (25)

Righthanders: Eddy Baeza, Hector Carrasco, Noel de Leon, Daniel Foli, Josh Hall, Jim Magrane, Edward Valdez, Rafael Vargas

Lefthanders: Brandon Claussen, Mike Hinckley, Chris Michalak

Catchers: Juan Brito, Brandon Harper

Second basemen: Brent Abernathy, Dan Dement, Greg Thissen

Third baseman: Tony Blanco

Shortstops: Manny Alexander, Melvin Dorta, Felix Fermin, Marcos Yepez

Outfielders: Frank Diaz, Tyrell Godwin, George Lombard, Abraham Nunez

[kgbaseball]

A couple of intriguing names to me:

 

CWS: Craig Wilson

HOU: Jose Rodriguez

LAA: Tommy Murphy

STL: Chris Narveson

[dadofandrew]

Very weak list, I assume because of the fact guys on the major league roster at the end of the season are not listed, as they are considered "major league FA's".

 

Justin Lehr

Zach Day

Ken Harvey

 

Best of the weak crop, and none better than what the Crew has.

 

I'd probably sign Dickey before anyone else.

 

Was C Jeremy Frost once a high pick? That name rings a bell.

[pogokat]

he was with the crew a few years ago...

 

craig wilson would be great depth at AAA

[mothershipconnection]

There are some names I definitely recognize as former prospects, but I don't know all of their health histories. I know Foppert hasn't pitched in a long time, but what about Brownlie? Seems like a decent minor league reclamation project. Wilson and his career .916 OPS against lefties is definitely at the top of the list. I've also always liked Day, but he doesn't look at tempting now that he'll be 30 this season. The ancient Rheal Cormier was actually pretty good in 2006, but I don't know his health situation, otherwise he could be an emergency minor league LOOGY.

[Mass Haas]

Gee, the Mets list Jose Reyes -- well, not THE Jose Reyes.

And there's a Chris Farley (Yankees).

Former Brewers now italicized.

Milwaukee tied the Cubs for the fewest, indicating that there were few of the Andy Abad veteran filler types signed last fall -- more homegrown than most at the upper levels.

 

[elbobbo82]

Craig Wilson and Zach Day were the guys who stood out to me, but the list is mind boggling, so who knows there could be others who I just missed, Day's career numbers aren't great, but if you think you can turn him into the former Expo he once was, he'd be good in the farm system

[Mass Haas]

MiLB.com offers up 25 suggestions:

 

http://www.minorleaguebaseball.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20071106&content_id=320400&vkey=news_milb&fext=.jsp

[craigharmann]

I would go for Thurman or German as possibilities in the BP

[And That]

I would go for Thurman or German as possibilities in the BP

German will get a nice deal somewhere, and I'm sure Milwaukee has him on their radar. However, we've had Thurman the past two seasons - if the Brewers thought he was going to be able to help out, they wouldn't have kept him in AA all year.

 

[dadofandrew]

German and Todd Williams would both be excellent minor league FA's, German might well be added to a 40.

[Mass Haas]

Baseball America's MiLB Free Agent Team

[And That]

Mark Johnson is a prototypical backup catcher in the bigs. I'm all for signing him as I was for keeping him in the system any other year.

[dadofandrew]

Abreu would look good. That would be a 40 win team at best.

[ClosetBrewerFan]

I'm guessing the Brewers will be looking for an OF or two for their AAA club. I have not gotten through them all yet, but these are the ones that look interesting:

 

Jorge Piedra (Age 28, LH) - drug suspension hurt his chances but he has always hit in the minors and has an 842 OPS in 142 games in the majors.

Craig Wilson (30, RH) - Has lots of power. Still not too old for a comeback.

Joe Borchard (28, SW) - This guy also has lots of power. Can play CF.

Jason Dubois (28, RH) - Has good power. Not much different than Mench but much cheaper.

Greg Jacobs (30, LH) - 958 OPS in long minor league career. Needs a chance.

Larry Bigbie (29, LH) - I 've always liked him. Not much power but has a nice OBP.

 

I have to look at the pitchers yet but one name to keep an eye on: Matt Riley, former Oriole top prospect has been riddled with injuries. But when he is healthy he can bring it. His K/9 for his career is over 10. He's a 27 year old lefty so he still has a chance.

[Minigoon]

I would attempt to re-sign Corey Thurman, Lindsay Gulin, Adam Pettyjohn, R.A. Dickey, Andy Abad, and Chris Barnwell.

 

I would try to sign:

 

Lee Gronkiewicz, RHP. 29 years old. Worked exclusively in relief in the Toronto organization in 2007.

Dan Giese, RHP. 30 years old. Also pitched only in relief in the San Francisco organization in 2007.

Buddy Hernandez, RHP. 28 years old. Relief pitcher from the Atlanta organization.

Marc Gwyn, RHP. 30 years old. Relief pitcher from Anaheim.

Brian Bass, RHP 25 years old. Primarily worked as a starter in the Kansas City organization.

 

Ron Flores, LHP. 28 years old. Relief pitcher from Oakland. Some success in 3 previous stints at ML level.

[clancyphile]

LHP Richard Salazar from Baltimore is intriguing - at least as depth at AAA.

LHP Ben Kozlowski may be a steal, too. He's 26, but had a cup of coffee in 2002.

Bring back Wes Obermueller as the long-reliever?

Ivan Blanco and Roman Martinez could be good prospects to be had for cheap.

I'd also re-sign Barnwell as a potential backup IF and an emergency pitcher (he's gone to the mound a few times). An extra arm doesn't hurt, IMO