Camp Transactions - 29 Releases Reported This Past Week

[Mass Haas]

The now-closed July / August transaction thread link:

 

p092.ezboard.com/fbrewers...mp;stop=80

 

The June transaction thread link:

 

p092.ezboard.com/fbrewers...mp;stop=40

 

Also a link to the now-closed dizzying May transaction thread that saw the organization make at least 80 individual moves, all tracked here at Brewerfan for you.

 

p092.ezboard.com/fbrewers...mp;stop=40

[Mass Haas]

Huntsville Press Release:

Link, then text:

 

www.huntsvillestars.com/n...newsId=993

 

Stars' Late Season Roster Changes

 

The Milwaukee Brewers have promoted catcher J.C. Boscan and pitcher Luther Hackman from Huntsville to triple-A Nashville and promoted catcher Carlos Corporan and pitcher Mike Jones from high class-A Brevard County to Huntsville. Jones and Corporan are expected to be in uniform for the Stars? game Friday night against the Barons.

 

Boscan had been with the Stars all season as the backup catcher and leaves after batting .194 with no home runs and 14 runs batted in 124 at-bats. He appeared in 43 games, including 36 as a starter. Hackman allowed only one earned run over 13 2/3 innings covering eight appearances in relief since joining the team on August 11. The former major leaguer struck out 15, did not walk a batter and earned wins in three of his first five outings.

 

Corporan was batting .270 with three home runs and 38 runs driven in over 86 games, including 53 behind the plate. Jones, the Brewers? first round draft choice in 2001, made 13 starts and six appearances in relief, going 0-2 with a 2.80 earned run average. He struck out 30, walked 27 and allowed 45 hits over 54 2/3 innings of work. Jones started 23 games for the Stars in 2003 and 2004, going a combined 8-6 with a 2.74 ERA in 121 1/3 innings.

[Mass Haas]

In order to provide a backup catcher to C.J. Medlin in Brevard County (Kyle Phillips hasn't caught in quite some time), the Brewers dipped into their surplus Helena catching mix and moved 23-year-old J.R. Hopf to the Manatees for the team's final weekend of acton.

[Mass Haas]

Nashville Press Release, much of which is being discussed on the Major League Forum:

 

Link for Vinny Rottino photo, text follows:

 

www.nashvillesounds.com/n...ewsId=2137

 

Rottino, Sarfate Called Up By Brewers

 

The Milwaukee Brewers called up two members of the Sounds to the big leagues this morning as Major League rosters were allowed to expand up to 40.

 

Reliever Dennis Sarfate was recalled and utilityman Vinny Rottino had his contract purchased by the Brewers. To create a spot on the 40-man roster, Milwaukee placed former Sound Rickie Weeks on the 60-day D.L. He recently underwent season-ending wrist surgery.

 

Both players will make their Major League debuts upon their first appearance for the Brew Crew.

 

Rottino, 26, is currently tied for 8th in the Pacific Coast League with his .314 average (125-for-398). He had 25 doubles, seven home runs, and 42 RBIs while stealing 12 bases for Nashville.

 

The utilityman appeared at 85 games at third base, 18 behind the plate, 17 in the outfield, and two at first base. In his time spent at catcher, he threw out seven of 23 runners attempting to steal (30.4%) and Sounds pitchers posted a 4.88 ERA (70 ER / 129.0 IP).

 

Rottino batted .391 (63-for-161) over his final 45 contests for the Sounds, including a team-best .420 in August (34-for-81) for the Sounds (4th among Pacific Coast League hitters). His final Sounds game, on Wednesday in Albuquerque, resulted in a season-high four hits during a 4-for-5 effort in Nashville's 11-inning win.

 

Sarfate, 25, split the campaign between the Nashville rotation and bullpen and logged a 10-7 record and 3.67 ERA (51ER / 125.0 IP) in 34 games (21 starts), adding 117 strikeouts. The right-hander ranks 10th among PCL hurlers with his 3.67 ERA and his 78 walks were the most issued by any league pitcher.

 

His 10 victories led the Sounds staff and he became the first Nashville hurler with double-digit wins since 2004 by recording a W in his final appearance on Wednesday at Albuquerque.

 

Since a move to the bullpen in late July, Sarfate posted a 2.89 ERA (6 ER / 18.2 IP) with 24 strikeouts in his 13 relief appearances. He opened the season with 7-6 record and 3.81 ERA (45 ER / 106.1 IP) in 21 starts for Nashville.

 

To replace Rottino and Sarfate on the roster, reliever Luther Hackman and catcher J.C. Boscan have joined Nashville from Double-A Huntsville.

 

Hackman, who previously appeared for the Sounds in 2004 while the club was the Pittsburgh Pirates' Class AAA affiliate, was impressive in his short time with the Stars. He went 3-0 with an 0.66 ERA (1 ER / 13.2 IP) in eight relief outings after signing with the Brewers on August 11th out of the independent Atlantic League. The 31-year-old did not walk a batter and struck out 15 in his Huntsville stint.

 

The right-hander opened the 2006 campaign with the Bridgeport Bluefish, where he posted an 8-0 record, eight saves, and a 2.81 ERA (23 ER / 73.2 IP) in 28 games (seven starts) and was named to the Atlantic League's mid-season All-Star team.

 

Boscan, 26, has spent the entire 2006 season with Huntsville and posted a .194 average (24-for-124) with no home runs and 14 RBIs in 43 games. He threw out 17 of 50 runners attempting to steal against him (34.0%).

[Mass Haas]

(Not officially a transaction note...)

 

Huntsville Times:

 

Three new faces: Outfielder Charlie Fermaint, second baseman Hernan Iribarren and pitcher Sam Narron are with the Stars. They are not on the active roster but could be used in the playoffs should an emergency arise.

[Mass Haas]

The following players, who all had been eligible for free agency, have been signed to 2007 minor league contracts, and the pinned minor league free agent thread has been updated to reflect this.

 

RHP Luis Pena

RHP Alec Zumwalt

RHP Mike Meyers

LHP Jeremy Lewis

C C.J. Medlin

 

Wow, I had overlooked earlier that Luis Pena had indeed spent seven seasons in the system, beginning in 2000, and thus was eligible for free agency. He's still only 23 years old.

[DHonks]

Besides Lewis and Zumwalt, the others are a bit surprising. Pena to the AA pen maybe?

 

and does anyone else see Medlin, and think of the cartel?

[Mass Haas]

The Brewers have released three farmhands:

 

3B Carlos de la Cruz was already 22 years old when he made his pro debut out of the Dominican in 2004. He needed to make his mark at Brevard in 2005, but struggled and spent most of 2006 at Helena, helping to transition young Latin players.

 

C Isaac Palencia, of Venezuela, recently turned 21. He posted a .783 OPS in 151 combined 2005 and 2006 at-bats in Maryvale.

 

The Brewers also released Huntsville catcher Carlos H. Lee, the brother of that "other" Carlos Lee. Lee was 8-for-33 in limited duty at AA. Lee turned 25 years old today, September 29th.

[Mass Haas]

RHP Chris Mabeus was released -- the news is included in this thread on the Major League Forum which also mentions the Brewers' waiver claim of RHP Grant Balfour, and the outright assignment to Nashville of former 40-man roster pitcher Vince Perkins:

 

p092.ezboard.com/fbrewers...3179.topic

[PeaveyFury]

Per ESPN's transaction list, RHP Chris Spurling has been outrighted to AAA Nashville, clearing another 40-man roster spot.

 

sports.espn.go.com/mlb/transactions

 

EDIT: Also discussed in the Moeller thread on the Major League forum:

 

p092.ezboard.com/fbrewers...3183.topic

[bork]

The Brewers announced that minor-league pitchers Joe Winkelsas, Allan Simpson and Chris Mabeus also elected to become free agents. All three saw action with the Brewers during the 2006 season.

 

Winkelsas?

 

JSOnline

[pogokat]

could just be a technacality, as winkelsas retired mid-season

[Mass Haas]

Basically, how it works, is that players who had been on the 40-man roster during the season but were subsequently outrighted to the minor leagues, they "can elect free agency" immediately after the regular season ends if they either have enough service time (seven pro years) or if they have been outrighted off a 40-man more than once.

 

For other minor leaguers like the Brent Abernathy's and Jermaine Clark's of the Brewers, technically they are free to pursue new teams after October 15th each year, when the transaction gets filed under "Contract Expired".

 

Basically guys like Moeller and Simpson in this instance simply get themselves out on the market a few days earlier than the other soon-to-be minor league free agents.

[MNBrew]

ESPN's transactions page today shows that the Brewers signed Corey Thurman and Joe Valentine to minor-league contracts.

[MNBrew]

Also, this was on USA Today's transactions page today (10/9):

 

INF Zach Sorenson and RHP Jared Fernandez have been declared free agents.

[brewmann04]

I like they signed Thurman think he can be a real dark horse.

[JohnBriggs12]

I would think Valentine will get a spring look see as he has major league experience. He's a long, long shot.

 

His problem in the big leagues has been control. His stats at Huntsville were OK.

[Mass Haas]

Baseball America:

 

Brewers signed RHP Yeison Cruz

 

Not believed to be included on previously listed big-time Latin prospect lists, he's another young man we'll learn more about come March with the new media guide.

[Mass Haas]

Copied this info from the recent thread detailing the Brewers' efforts at teaching their very young kids about life situations, restaurant etiquette, etc.

 

We're actually aware of a couple of new names from the Latin ranks listed as infielders, Allixon Cequea and Luis Sanchez, but because we have literally no information on them in terms of vitals, country, etc. -- we haven't mentioned them nor built Player Index pages for them, preferring to wait until the media guide comes out in the spring. Cequea is only 16 years old, apparently, and both he and Luis Sanchez were signed this past July.

 

Again, I was wondering if anyone was going to mention Cequea specifically in that regard based on that article. It's great to know there are readers out there scouring us for every detail on these things!

 

And another addition in that category:

 

RHP Pedro Lambertus

 

At least the Brewers can tell the kids they've targeted that they will come to Maryvale right away, as opposed to playing on a Dominican Summer League team. That's a bargaining chip.

[Mass Haas]

In Baseball America's latest Transaction update, they list RHP Vince Perkins as being released. We believe this was just a paper transaction as part of removing him from the 40-man roster, and believe he is still within the organization. We're confirming, but consider Perkins (under a AAA contract) a Brewer unless told otherwise.

[Mass Haas]

Our thanks to the Nashville site -- please visit our affiliate sites when linked, we're lucky they do a wonderful job, even in the off-season:

 

www.nashvillesounds.com/n...ewsId=2174

 

RHP Dave Bradley - The 29-year-old hurler joins the Brewers organization for the second time in his eight-year career after spending the 2006 season in the Oakland Athletics chain. He went 6-11 with a 5.41 ERA (79 ER / 131.1 IP) in 31 games (24 starts) for Double-A Midland last season. Bradley was a member of the Milwaukee farm system in 2004 & 2005 and posted a 6-5 record and 3.35 ERA in 35 appearances for Double-A Huntsville in 2005, when his .190 batting average allowed was 4th-best among Southern League relievers. The West Virginian carries a career 4.04 ERA in 238 minor-league appearances.

 

David Bradley's Brewerfan Player Index Page:

 

www.brewerfan.net/ViewPla...ayerId=615

 

Bradley was known as just a real good teammate and coachable guy with Huntsville. His 2006 Texas League statistics say it was a tough season, but not a surprise the Brewers would bring him again for an "organizational" spot. Good luck to Dave.

[Mass Haas]

Nashville Site Update:

 

1B Mike Huggins - Huggins was an All-Star in the independent Atlantic League in 2006 after batting .284 (126-for-443) with 20 home runs, 69 RBIs, and drawing a league-best 78 walks in 123 games for the Road Warriors, the circuit's "homeless" squad that plays every game on the road. He finished 5th in the AL with 209 total bases and was selected to the mid-season and post-season All-Star teams. The 26-year-old logged his first four pro seasons in the Baltimore Orioles chain before being released at the end of spring training last March. Huggins spent the 2004 & 2005 campaigns with Double-A Bowie, hitting .212 in 118 games in '05.

 

There's your response to the Cubs for the Soriano signing. Take that, Cubbies! http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/wink.gif

 

But honestly, first base was such an organizational black hole in 2006 (remember Greg Sain?) that someone like Huggins could likely fine a home at the AAA (more likely AA) level in 2007. But that age 25 year in AA in 2005 looks downright ugly...

 

Mike Huggins Career Statistics from the Baseball Cube (we'll build a corresponding Brewerfan Player Index Page over the next day or two):

 

www.thebaseballcube.com/p...gins.shtml

 

Here's an interesting news item about life as a "Road Warrior". Kudos to these guys for keeping the dream alive, and now a player like Huggins gets rewarded -- good stuff here:

 

www.atlanticleague.com/cg...1152363385

 

Two years ago Huggins overcame an emergency appendectomy and took part in the Arizona Fall League (story from Orioles' site):

 

www.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/ba...;fext=.jsp

[brettac1]

Apparently, the Atlantic league is much easier to hit in than the Eastern League. Yikes.

[Mass Haas]

Baseball America reports that the Brewers have released 2005 38th round pick RHP Chris Jean.

 

Jean just turned 24 on Halloween. In two seasons with Helena, (32 games, 15 starts, including 12 starts in 2006), Jean pitched 104.1 innings, allowing 137 hits and striking out only 59 (ERA 5.62). Unfortunately, those numbers won't get it done for a late-round college draftee in rookie ball.

 

Also released was middle infielder David Parker, who will be 24 next month. In 125 AB's with Helena in 2006, Parker only posted an OPS of .450. The Brewers had signed him after he had been released by the Padres in 2005, where he had an OPS of .557 in 160 Arizona Rookie AB's.

 

The Brewers also signed two more young Latin players -- we won't have info on them or Brewerfan Player Index Pages until the spring media guide comes out:

 

Signed 3B Edgar Trejo

Signed C Jonathan Requena

 

A player with the same name as Requena was on the shared Venezuelan Summer League team of the Twins and Blue Jays, listed as an IF/OF, this past season. That player was also suspended 50 games for testing positive for performance enhancing substances, so it's unlikely it's the same Jonathan Requena. We'll know more in the spring when we have birth dates, etc.

[Mass Haas]

Thank you, Nashville site:

 

www.nashvillesounds.com/n...ewsId=2174

 

C/3B Craig Kuzmic - Kuzmic, who will log his tenth professional season in 2007, joins his fifth different organization with the Brewers. The versatile 29-year-old switch-hitter enjoyed a solid 2006 campaign with Chico of the independent Golden Baseball League and was named to Baseball America's All-Independent Leagues Second Team after batting .319 (86-for-270) with 12 home runs and 53 RBIs. He scored a GBL-high 60 runs and finished among the league leaders in every significant offensive category.

 

He spent the final two weeks of the campaign with New Hampshire (AA-Blue Jays) and went 2-for-19 (.105) in six games. Kuzmic, a career .260 hitter in 926 pro contests, primarily sees action at third base and behind the plate but can also man first base or a corner outfield spot. He is best-known in Nashville Sounds annuls as the hitter whose shattered bat impaled the arm of pitcher Rick Helling on May 27, 2005 at Greer Stadium.

 

Craig Kuzmic's Career Statistics:

We'll have a Brewerfan Player Index Page built in the next day or two...

 

www.thebaseballcube.com/p...zmic.shtml