Camp Transactions - 29 Releases Reported This Past Week

[And That]

That's Abad signing.

[Team Canada]

Abad joke, as well.

[dadofandrew]

Not nearly as nice as the Koonce signing, but they needed a veteran 1B at AAA, and that certainly matches.

 

Heaven forbid, if Prince goes down, Abad could be looked at as a PH in MIL.

[thumperden]

Let me tell you 'bout Abad, the Arab, Sheik of the burnin' sands.

 

Cat Stevens?

[Mass Haas]

A couple of surprising releases reported by Baseball America:

 

www.baseballamerica.com/t...63171.html

 

RHP Joe Valentine, who had re-signed with the Brewers after a successful season at Huntsville, and RHP Ronny Malave, who had just turned 21. The Venezuelan had posted decent numbers in his three seasons, one of the few latin pitchers who had for the Brewers in recent years.

 

Joe Valentine Career Statistics:

 

www.thebaseballcube.com/p...tine.shtml

 

Ronny Malave Career Statistics:

 

www.thebaseballcube.com/p...lave.shtml

[Cyanogen5]

The Joe Valentine is certainly a head scratcher. He seemed to be on the rise...I wonder if there is more to the story.

[thumperden]

I'm scratching my head too about the release of both guys. I wonder if we'll ever know what the reasonings were.

[And That]

Valentine was stuck behind a lot of guys before he'd get a shot at major league job. I wouldn't have resigned with Milwaukee, if I were him. He did, he was going to get buried at AA, and that's why he asked to be released. That would be my guess.

 

Malave was pretty sweet, and by all accounts a good kid, but he had some injury concerns. Again, that's my guess as to his release.

[Cyanogen5]

I guess that makes sense...I forget that sometimes it is in the players best interest to be released and that they might ask for it. Hopefully it was a case where the Brewers sat down with Valentine and told him where he was on the depth chart and Valentine made the decision from there. I wish him well and hope he find greener pastures with another organization.

[AJAY]

It looks like the Brewers have signed Tydus Meadows out of the Dodgers organization. Is anyone familiar with this guy?

 

dodgers.scout.com/2/613013.html

[dadofandrew]

Ajay, he was discussed a while back, veteran AA guy. I would assume AAA depth.

[Mass Haas]

Nashville Site:

 

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

 

RHP Mark (don't confuse me with Mike) DiFelice - The 30-year-old veteran spent the entire 2006 campaign in the independent Atlantic League, where he posted a 12-9 record and 3.19 ERA (56 ER / 158.0 IP) in 25 starts for Camden, including a league-best seven complete games, and was a mid-season All-Star selection. He enjoyed a solid season in the Mexican Winter League, carrying a 4-3 record and 2.77 ERA in 13 games (11 starts) between two clubs.

 

DiFelice last appeared in affiliated ball during the first half of the 2005 season, when he went 1-2, 8.40 in 14 games (two starts) for New Orleans (AAA-Nationals) before finishing the year as the Atlantic League postseason MVP with Somerset. The right-hander, who was the Colorado Rockies' 15th round selection in the 1998 draft, carries a career 3.67 ERA in 214 minor-league contests (154 starts). He has previously spent time in the Rockies, Orioles, and Nationals organizations.

 

RHP Mark DiFelice Career Statistics from the Baseball Cube:

We'll have a Brewerfan Player Index page in place soon -

 

www.thebaseballcube.com/p...lice.shtml

[dadofandrew]

Looks like AAA rotation depth.

[Mass Haas]

The Brewers have made yet another purchase from the independent ranks, bringing 27-year-old LHP Luis Villarreal back into affiliated ball for the first time since he wrapped up two years in the Red Sox system in 2003.

 

Kudos to Luis, three full years of independent league ball since -- way to hang in there...

 

The Red Sox drafted him in the 20th round in June 2002 out of Northwood University in San Antonio.

 

Villarreal threw the fifth no-hitter in Joliet JackHammers (Northern League) history on August 6, 2005 against the Kansas City T-Bones. He struck out 13 while walking just four in a 127 pitch performance.

 

No-Hit Link:

 

www.northernleague.com/news/?id=2438

 

Villarreal went 6-5 last year with a Northern League-best 2.71 ERA.

 

Huntsville seems a likely destination, and it's always fun watching lefty's give it a go (hello, Joe Thatcher, another indy leaguer) -- although Villarreal's nearly always been a starter.

 

LHP Luis Villarreal Career Statistics from the Baseball Cube:

We'll have a Brewerfan Player Index page in place soon -

 

www.thebaseballcube.com/p...real.shtml

[dadofandrew]

Looks like the Brewers are openly embracing the indy leagues. Hopefully, they see this as an underscouted area, and not as a cheap way to fill rosters.

[Mass Haas]

No team other than the Padres (who are just off-the-charts ahead of the entire field) has given indy league players a shot more than the Brewers this decade.

 

LHP Brian Mazone (2003 High Desert) was 13-3 in 20 starts with a 2.03 ERA in AAA as a 30-year-old for the Phillies in 2006; RHP Tim Bausher earned a Brewer 40-man spot before being claimed on waivers by the Rockies in 2004 and subsequently spent time on Boston's 40-man; RHP David Bradley returns to the Crew this season after a year away -- he was inked after his 2003 indy ball season; RHP's Jason Shelley and Clint Weibl and OF Ben Van Iderstine made decent contributions, INF Corey D. Hart is entering his second season as a hitting coach in the organization, and RHP Luther Hackman might just make his way to Milwaukee this season. 25-year-old LHP Joe Thatcher is coming off an incredible 2006 season capped by his super fall ball performance in Hawaii. And how about catcher Mike Rivera?

 

Of course, there have been many others that barely caused a blip, both seasoned vets and newcomers to affiliated ball.

 

But it always makes for a nice story, and the Brewers are second to only the Padres in their efforts.

[Mass Haas]

Link while active, text follows:

 

tennessean.com/apps/pbcs..../701260424

 

Dickey relying on knuckleball

Newest Sound aims for majors

By MIKE ORGAN

Tennessean Staff Writer

 

Any R.A. Dickey fans hoping to see the former Montgomery Bell Academy and Tennessee star pitcher with the Nashville Sounds this season better catch some of the games early.

 

That is because Dickey, the keynote speaker at tonight's Nashville Old Timers Baseball Association banquet at the Millennium Maxwell House, doesn't plan on spending much, if any, time with the Triple A club.

 

It's not that he's unhappy to be back home. In fact, that is one of the reasons Dickey, who became a free agent after last season, chose to sign with the Sounds' major league affiliate Milwaukee Brewers.

 

But after reinventing himself on the mound with the development of a knuckleball pitch, Dickey is not looking forward to stepping down from the major leagues and winding down his baseball career anytime soon.

 

"I am just being patient and waiting to see what happens this year," Dickey said. "This knuckleball has really changed things for me. A lot of knuckleballers pitch into their 40s."

 

Brewers an option

 

Dickey, 32, has tangible proof that his dream of playing perhaps as long as another decade could happen. Former major league knuckleballer Charlie Hough, who worked extensively with Dickey during his time with the Texas Rangers, played 25 seasons.

 

"Charlie Hough threw his last complete game shutout in the big leagues when he was 43 years old," Dickey said. "So, I don't know how much longer I'll play. It's in the Lord's hands, and I'm just doing the best that I know how to do with what I've got to see how far it takes me and how long it takes me. It could be five years; it could be one year. I could get released out of spring training and that'd be it."

 

Dickey spent five of the previous six years with the Rangers, where he played in 77 games, posting a 16-19 record and a 5.73 ERA. He struck out 171 batters.

 

After becoming a free agent for the first time in his career at the end of last season, he narrowed the teams he considered signing with to a handful before choosing Milwaukee.

 

He settled on the Brewers primarily because he felt there was a personnel need for him along with the fact that Doug Melvin is the general manager in Milwaukee. When he was with the Rangers, Melvin drafted Dickey in the first round out of UT.

 

"There's a couple of spots in the rotation that aren't really solidified," Dickey said. (Huh? AAA rotation, maybe -- Mass Haas). "I think I can come in and put in a lot of innings. And Doug Melvin leans on veterans a lot, and they're a team that's looking to win; they're not really rebuilding, they're looking to win."

 

Home again

 

And, of course, realizing he might start the year off in Triple A, Dickey liked the thought of being at home.

 

"If I don't make the big league club out of camp, and I feel like it's kind of a long shot at this point, it was a good alternative," Dickey said. "If I have to play in Triple A to start off, then I'll be sleeping in my own bed with my family here. I've got three kids now (Mary Gabriel, 5, Lila, 3, and Eli, six months) and I feel compelled to be around them and my wife (Anne) more and make that more of a priority than I ever have."

[mothershipconnection]

Any R.A. Dickey fans hoping to see the former Montgomery Bell Academy and Tennessee star pitcher with the Nashville Sounds this season better catch some of the games early.

This will probably be good advice, but not because he'll get promoted, but because he'll be begging for indy league work by July.

 

Being a knuckleballer doesn't mean you'll pitch a long time. I mean, I can throw softly with my left hand, and that doesn't mean I'll be a major leaguer until I'm 50 - it means I could possibly strike out a few 10 year-olds.

[Brian the Automator]

The Brewers have acquired EJ Shanks, 24, from the San Diego Surf Dawgs:

 

www.oursportscentral.com/...id=3421525

 

(Pleasanton, CA. January 31, 2007) The Golden Baseball League is pleased to announce that pitcher EJ Shanks of the 2006 San Diego Surf Dawgs has been acquired by the Milwaukee Brewers and will be reporting to Spring Training in Peoria, Arizona.

 

Shanks, 24, is a big tall right-handed pitcher who had a breakout season with the Surf Dawgs last year as his conversion to a submarine pitcher under the tutelage of San Diego Pitching Coach Tim Blackwell (now set to manage in the Chicago White Sox farm system in 2007) led him to dominate GBL batters as a relief specialist. In 30 appearances last season he had a record of 6-1 with 3 saves and an E.R.A. of 1.78. in over 50 innings of work. Originally drafted in 2004 in the 29th round by the San Diego Padres, the Las Vegas native played in the Padres farm system for one year before being released and then split time with the independent Frontier and Northern Leagues, with limited success, before landing with the Surf Dawgs last year.

 

"Shanks is a great example of what independent professional baseball can do for a player's career" said Kevin Outcalt, GBL Commissioner. "Given up on by three teams, his determination and strong coaching in San Diego gave him the opportunity to re-invent himself and develop new skills that now have him back in a major league organization. We are thrilled at his success and look forward to watching his progress with the Brewers."

 

http://www.okcu.edu/athletics/gallery/radB6BA8-BASEBALL-%20EJ%20SHANKS.JPG

[wcswimmer712]

Looks like a good sign, he still could have some potential left being only 24. It would be nice if he could be as effective as another submariner, Cla Meredith. Anyway, its worth a shot

[Mass Haas]

Tim Blackwell was a manager (High Desert) and coach in the Brewers system earlier this decade, so there's a connection on the Shanks signing.

 

Looking at his rookie numbers, it's surprising San Diego said goodbye after one year. Then again, he was a 29th round pick who, as noted, has now re-invented himself as a submariner.

 

Career Statistics:

 

www.thebaseballcube.com/p...anks.shtml

[djoctagone]

foxsports.com reports the signing of pitcher jorge depaula to a minor league deal.

[pogokat]

jorge depaula signed with the rockies, not the crew...

 

link:

 

Rotoworld Link

[SoCalBrewfan]

Shanks really ought to have that Smiths song as his entry music. Probably not as scary or intimidating as you'd like, but it would reflect a sense of humor...

[Mass Haas]

The Brewers have signed 26-year-old OF Mel Stocker, who played in the independent Atlantic League for the Long Island Ducks in 2006, stealing 56 bases in 64 attempts. His season included a 25-game hitting streak.

 

The switch-hitter spent five years in the Royals organization prior to 2006, having been drafted in the 16th round in 2001 out of Arizona State.

 

After the 2004 season, Baseball America named Stocker the Royals' organization's fastest baserunner and best defensive outfielder. Unfortunately, Stocker also posted only a .615 OPS at high-A as a 23/24 year old that year.

 

If he sticks, Stocker could be a helpful speed and defense 4th outfield guy for Don Money at Huntsville in 2007.

 

Mel Stocker's Career Statistics:

 

www.thebaseballcube.com/p...cker.shtml

 

We'll add Stocker to the Brewerfan Player Index later this week.

 

http://www.liducks.com/images/categories/roster/MEL%20STOCKER%20WEB.jpg