July / Aug Transactions - Brewer draft pick spurns Oregon St

[djoctagone]

Quote:

---

To make room for Tony Gwynn in Nashville, catcher Mark Johnson was placed on the Sounds? temporary inactive list.

---

how long can a player stay on this temporary inactive list?

 

i assumed he was put on there until the brewers could find a way to purchase vinny rottino's contract, and that such a move wasn't that far off . . .

[Mass Haas]

Jim Powell just told us that Matt Wise hits the disabled list, and red-hot Laynce Nix is now a Brewer.

[Mass Haas]

Wow, talk about a playoff push -- 23-year-old Brendan Katin, he of the .815 OPS and league-leader in doubles with 34 (darn impressive in the Florida State League), has been promoted to AA Huntsville. It should be noted Katin had also struck out 112 times prior to Friday, but still a fine season-to-date.

 

No corresponding move (yet) for Brevard County, which has only Ryan Crew, Charlie Fermaint and Freddy Parejo left as outfield candidates (Hasan Rasheed on the D.L.).

 

Would someone (Drew Anderson?) move from AA to AAA to fill Laynce Nix's spot? We'll see...

 

Congrats to Brendan...

[brettac1]

Good for Katin. That's the challenge for a four year college guy - get to AA in your first full season, and you've got a decent shot to make it.

[WestCoastBrewer]

Anderson on his way to AAA no doubt.

[colbyjack]

Congrats to Katin, very well deserved. I think I'd rather see Anderson stay where he's at since the Stars are making such a late, strong push. The Sounds could have enough bodies to make due for now.

 

How about Gillespie to BC? Lorenzo Cain may be worthy for the last two weeks of the season, but the Brewers may wish to keep him with Brantley & Ford for now.

[Mass Haas]

Lorenzo Cain may be worthy for the last two weeks of the season, but the Brewers may wish to keep him with Brantley & Ford for now.

 

Maybe it's Cain moving up the moment after he breaks that Charleston franchise hit record we've been reading so much about.

[Mass Haas]

Nashville Media Notes:

 

ANDERSON JOINS SOUNDS: Outfielder Drew Anderson has been promoted from Double-A Huntsville to fill Nix?s roster spot. The 25-year-old has been swinging a hot stick of late for the Stars, batting a season-best .362 (17-for-47) during the month of August.

 

Anderson -- who will make his career Triple-A debut upon his first appearance with the Sounds -- has spent the entire 2006 season at Huntsville, where he batted .291 (117-for-402) with six home runs, 43 RBIs, and 17 stolen bases in 108 games.

 

***

Huntsville Press Release:

Link, text follows --

 

www.huntsvillestars.com/n...newsId=973

 

Stars' Outfield Undergoes Change

 

The Milwaukee Brewers have announced that outfielder Drew Anderson has been promoted from Huntsville to triple-A Nashville and that outfielder Brendan Katin has been promoted from high class-A Brevard County to Huntsville. Katin is expected to be in uniform for the Stars when they play the final game of their five-game series with Carolina on Saturday night.

 

Anderson had his first four-hit game of the season Friday night to push his average to .291, good for sixth best in the Southern League. The left-hand batter hit six home runs, knocked in 43 runs and swiped 17 bases with the Stars. Milwaukee selected Anderson in the 24th round of the draft in 2003.

 

Katin played in 116 games for Brevard County, batting .289 with 13 home runs and 75 knocked in, fifth best in the Florida State League. He was ranked second in the league with 50 extra-base hits, including a league-high 34 doubles. The Brewers took Katin in the 23rd round of last year?s draft after he spent two years playing at the University of Miami, where he was a teammate of Stars? third baseman Ryan Braun.

 

NOTE: Interesting to see we're talking about productive corner outfielders drafted in the 24th and 23rd rounds, respectively -- Mass Haas

[dadofandrew]

It's tough for me to consider Drew A much of a prospect when he isn't much younger than Nix, who many consider to be "washed up".

[Mass Haas]

Johnson's absence now permanent

MAURICE PATTON, the Tennessean

 

Veteran catcher Mark Johnson, who left the Nashville Sounds during their recent 12-game road trip because of personal matters, will not rejoin the team.

 

In 48 games, Johnson hit .203 (29-for-143) with two home runs and 10 RBIs. He was placed on the temporary inactive list on Aug. 11 when he left for his home in Warner Robins, Ga.

 

The move leaves Nashville with only one catcher, Chad Moeller, on the roster, although utilityman Vinny Rottino started there Sunday night and has played 15 games behind the plate this season.

 

Johnson, 30, spent parts of seven seasons in the majors, seeing time with the White Sox, Angels, Athletics and Brewers.

 

Sounds reliever Mike Meyers has left the team as well and is playing with Team Canada in a 2008 Olympic qualifier tournament. He could, however, rejoin the team, depending on Canada's performance in the event.

[clancyphile]

Looks like Rottino gets more time behind the plate.

 

Good.

[dadofandrew]

Yep, that's a good thing. It might cost Nashville a win, but I'll happily trade that for Vinny getting time as a C.

[LouisEly]

Al, nobody is proclaiming Drew Anderson to be the next Ken Griffey Jr.; what we are saying is that it is very possible that he could have a Mark Sweeney, 5th OF/LH PH specialist career (and at a fraction of the salary that Sweeney and Lenny Harris and the like command, leaving that money to put towards other players). Plus, unlike Sweeney, he's not a plodder as he has recorded 18 steals so far this season on top of 19 last year (plus hit for a bunt single today), so he has the wheels to cover some ground in the OF even though he may not have the strongest arm. At this point, it's much more likely that he will see Milwaukee at some point in the future than Krynzel or Steve Moss. That may not be an apples-to-apples comparison, as he is a corner OF and they are CF's, but his OPS is almost .100 higher than Moss at AA, and Krynzel is having an atrocious season in AAA.

[colbyjack]

I just want to point out again that during the Stars broadcast about a week ago the announcer mentioned that Anderson actually hits LHPs (.308-ish) better than RHPs (.272-ish), which increase his value as a 4th or 5th OF since he wouldn't be "just" a specialist.

[Mass Haas]

Another big boost to the Huntsville postseason chase was added today when super LH reliever Joe Thatcher (one ER in 30.2 IP at Brevard County since his promotion from West Virginia) was added to the Stars' roster. No corresponding moves on other rosters to announce at this time.

 

Joe Thatcher Career Numbers:

 

www.brewerfan.net/ViewPla...ayerId=857

[Mass Haas]

Huntsville catcher Carlos Lee, relegated to pinch-hit duties for some time now, was placed on the disabled list with an undisclosed injury to make room for Joe Thatcher.

 

EDIT: Right shoulder injury for Lee, according to the Stars' site.

[Mass Haas]

West Virginia Press Release:

 

CHARLESTON, WV (August 29, 2006) - The West Virginia Power, Class A affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers have made another roster move.

 

Today, left handed pitcher Kyle Pawelczyk was activated from the disabled list and placed back on the active roster. Pawelczyk will take the place of catcher Angel Salome who was placed on the disabled list for the rest of the season.

 

Salome broke his ankle sliding into second base against Hickory on August 15th and will be out of action until spring training. Salome, a 2006 South Atlantic League All Star, hit .292 with ten homeruns and 85 RBI over 105 games in the 2006 season.

 

Pawelczyk was added to the Power roster back on July 5th and then placed on the disabled list eleven days later due to a back strain. Pawelczyk went 0-0 over two appearances with a 3.86 ERA before going on the DL.

[Mass Haas]

Brevard County's Steve Sollmann has been activated from the disabled list, recovered from a thumb injury.

[Mass Haas]

Maybe the Brewers just needed to wait and give the young man the summer off after a 180-pitch performance on May 26th (in a game that was interrupted two hours after the first inning, no less!), but the Brewers have signed RHP D.J. Lidyard, their 43rd round draft choice in the 2006 draft.

 

By the way, Lidyard pitched again on three days rest in his next outing to end his season, when he allowed six hits and struck out four while pitching into the fifth inning.

 

It is believed Lidyard pitched this summer with the Team USA entry in the Honkbal International Tournament, which began July 21 in Haarlem, located outside of Amsterdam in The Netherlands.

 

Lidyard, who will turn 21 late this September, pitched his junior college ball at Lower Columbia College in Washington state.

 

I would imagine that the contract begins in 2007, and thus his organization clock would begin next season.

 

Lidyard's slider has been described as "nasty" and "the hardest pitch to hit in his league".

 

Here's the game story link and text from Lidyard's season-ender:

 

www.tdn.com/articles/2006...news08.txt

 

Red Devils take tough loss in NWAACC Tournament opener

By Rick McCorkle, Longview (WA) Daily News

 

If the NWAACC Baseball Championships were won each year solely on gritty performances, then Lower Columbia College pitcher D.J. Lidyard would be packing home the title hardware.

 

Lidyard, a sophomore pitcher from Cascade Christian High near Puyallup, threw an eye-popping 180 pitches and struck out 14 in a complete-game 12-inning effort. But the Red Devils couldn't reward him, dropping a 2-1 decision to Everett in the tournament's final opening-round matchup Friday at soggy David Story Field.

 

"That was one of the guttiest performances I've ever seen," LCC coach Kelly Smith said of Lidyard, who was a 19th-round pick of Baltimore in the 2005 Major League Baseball Amateur Draft and has signed at Oregon State University. "He scattered 10 hits against a very good Everett team. We talked about getting him out of the game after nine innings, but he refused to come out. I've rarely had a guy tell me, 'No, I'm going back out there.'"

 

"My hat's off to Everett because they (the Trojans) are a very good ballclub," Smith said. "I knew we had a bad draw when I saw the tournament bracket. I hate to lose any game, but that's as good a game as you'll see at the junior college level. They made the plays, and got the hits and sacrifices when they needed them."

 

The contest was originally slated for 7:35 p.m. Thursday, but rain delayed the start to 9:35 on Friday morning. The inclement weather refused to go away, and the game was rescheduled for 2:35. Lidyard threw the top of the first inning and struck out three of the four Everett batters he faced before rain halted the contest. The game resumed two hours later, and he continued his mound mastery.

 

"I don't know what to say because we should've had them, but we came up a little short," Lidyard said. "I had my best stuff, but they managed to get by us."

 

Amazingly, his velocity didn't waiver much through the 12 innings. He was clocked at 94 miles per hour in the first inning, had a fastball that touched 91 in the 10th inning, and was in the mid-80s when he struck out Everett designated hitter Jake Northrup in the 12th.

 

"I think I had a 140-pitch game in high school as a senior, but 100 is usually my limit," said Lidyard, who had 126 of his 180 pitches ---- mostly sliders and fastballs ---- cut across the plate for strikes. "I was in a groove and the adrenaline had me up. I hope to come back and pitch Monday or Tuesday if they need me."

 

Smith's plan was to get as many innings as possible out of Lidyard to save his bullpen.

 

"We thought he deserved to be out there, because it may be the last time he's on the mound for the Red Devils," he said. "He definitely saved our pitching by staying out there."

 

LCC stranded 14 baserunners, including half in scoring position. By contrast, Everett left 11 baserunners, including five at either second or third base.

 

"We were snakebit because we had the game won more than a few times," Smith said. "We had a ball caught up against the wall in left field, and a ball that a guy makes a tremendous catch on that was a double-deep hit to right-center field. If he's 6-foot (Everett center fielder Daniel Ulrich is 6-3) he doesn't catch it, but he's taller and he grabbed it."

 

Devils first baseman Justin Burger launched a towering fly ball to left field in the ninth inning that was hauled in by Gavin Heinemann at the wall under the 326-foot sign, and Tony Jones had his looping drive to center caught by a stretching Ulrich to end the 10th.

 

The Devils broke up a scoreless tie in the sixth inning when Drew George drilled a leadoff double over Ulrich's head in center field, moved to third on a groundout from Jonah Hobson, and scampered home when Jones hit a line drive through the middle of the infield. Everett countered with a run in the top of the seventh when Ulrich was hit by a Lidyard slider, went to second on a sacrifice bunt from Nick Fleck, and scored on a base hit from Kevin Owens.

 

LCC had a chance to score the game-winning run in the eighth inning when David Hovde slapped a one-out single to left field and went to second on a wild pitch from Everett's Stephen Fife. But a base hit to left field by Garrett Brown was scooped up by Heinemann, who threw home to nail a sliding Hovde.

 

Everett plated the game-winner in the 12th when Fleck slapped a one-out single to the right-center field gap, Owens hit a line drive down the right-field line that moved Fleck to third, and Jake Hammons lifted a fly ball to deep center field that scored Fleck.

 

"It came down to a hit down the line," Smith said. "We probably lost the game in the early innings when we had a chance to score runs. In this tournament, you have to score runs every chance you get against good teams."

 

Fife scattered six hits and struck out three batters through nine innings before yielding to Brandon Eagon, who gave up a hit through the final three innings.

 

Brown and Hovde had two hits apiece for LCC. Everett's Micky Pingree had three hits, with Owens adding two singles and a double.

 

http://lcc.ctc.edu/athletics/baseball/mens/2005/pics/prof32.jpg

[Mass Haas]

Khalid Ballouli won't be pitching anymore this year. He's been shutdown with back and shoulder problems...

 

Baseball America reports that Ballouli has been placed on the suspended list by the Brewers. No details, and why speculate, especially given Khalid's injury, but we post it because one of you diligent readers would have stumbled on the transaction note eventually.