Halama eager to prove himself again
November 25, 2009Family issues pulled John Halama away from the Majors three years ago and he's hoping the Brewers offer an opportunity to get back.
Brewers Charities trying to do even more
November 25, 2009Brewers Charities topped $1 million in direct contributions in 2009, and it distributed another $250,000 worth of tickets, mostly for kids.
Brewers farm still looking for balance
November 25, 2009The Brewers have long been known for the depth and scope of their farm system when it comes to position players, but going forward the club is looking to bring balance.
Path of the Pros: Prince Fielder
November 25, 2009Prince Fielder overcame defensive struggles and the looming shadow of his father to blossom into a Major League All-Star. He stormed through the Minors in four seasons.
Comment from an agent: “Every agent wants to get his (free agent pitcher) a multi-year deal and…
November 24, 2009Comment from an agent: "Every agent wants to get his (free agent pitcher) a multi-year deal and every team wants to offer a one-year deal."
Tom H.'s Twitter. File under "duh."
Tuesday’s Quick and Late Mug
November 24, 2009Some things to read while the Muppets make everything better (h/t Daily Drink).
In the interest of getting it done as early as possible, today's Mug is bullet pointed again:
- Prince Fielder finished fourth in the NL MVP balloting, appearing on all 32 ballots and getting five second place votes (FanShot). Ryan Braun also appeared on 16 ballots en route to an 11th place finish, but was ranked no higher than fifth on any of them. The link above has the full voting. Hopefully we'll soon find out which three voters had Prince Fielder tenth on their ballot, and who cast votes for Jeremy Affeldt, Brad Hawpe and Shane Victorino.
- John Halama is a Brewer, having signed a minor league deal yesterday. Halama will turn 38 before opening day, hasn't pitched in the majors since 2006, and would be pitching for his eighth major league team if he makes the Brewers. With that said, Adam McCalvy blamed his 2006 departure from the Orioles on family issues, so perhaps he's ready to bounce back.
- Speaking of pitchers who could bounce back, Chris Capuano will be back for another season on a minor league deal. Capuano made a few short appearances down the stretch for the Brewer rookie league affiliates, and if his rehab continues to progress he could be ready to pitch in the major leagues by spring training.
- Project Prospect ranked baseball's top 15 shortstop prospects, and Alcides Escobar is #1, ahead of recent AFL standout Starlin Castro. TheJay had a post earlier today on players who do not have rookie eligibility next season, but Escobar is not one of them...and he's probably an early candidate for Rookie of the Year.
- Al has a look at ten free agents that could become Brewers. Aside from the top two, there's no one else on that list I've even heard mentioned in connection with the Crew.
- As for transactions, the Braves signed former Royals minor league pitcher Juan Abreu to a major league deal.
- For whatever it's worth, MLB Daily Dish thinks Ben Sheets will end up as a Mariner this offseason.
- It's no secret that the Braves would like to deal Derek Lowe this offseason. The Ghost of Moonlight Graham has a look at the market for his services, and thinks the Brewers made the right decision by not trading Corey Hart for him.
- If you'd like something to overanalyze today, here's a candidate: Recent Cuban defector Aroldis Chapman has decided to switch agents, dumping the agency that helped get him out of Cuba, and Jon Heyman says at least one exec sees the move as a potential character issue. Obviously, the agency lost some money on the deal, but I'm having a hard time getting worked up over it.
- Something else to think about this afternoon, in Sporcle form: How many of Kenny Lofton's teams can you name?
- Friend of the site Stephen C. Smith of SpaceCoastBaseball.com has a post-mortem on the Florida Winter Baseball League, which lasted all of a few weeks, despite telling staff it had enough financial resources to last for multiple seasons (h/t Rattler Radio). Meanwhile, if you're one of the seven people who purchased tickets to a FWBL game and didn't get to use them, the Brevard County Manatees will allow you to use them next season.
- On this day in 1969, Dave Bristol was hired to manage the Seattle Pilots. A few months later the team would move to Milwaukee and Bristol would become the first manager of the Milwaukee Brewers.
- Happy birthday today to Cal Eldred, who turns 42, and Ben McDonald, who also turns 42.
- On and it's probably a little late to help you today, but this cereal flow chart might make tomorrow morning a little easier. (h/t C. Trent Rosecrans)
Drink up.
Prince finishes 4th in MVP, Pujols unanimous winner
November 24, 2009Prince finishes 4th in MVP, Pujols unanimous winner
McCalvy breaks the story. No breakdown on vote yet. Braun 11th.
Fielder places fourth in NL MVP race
November 24, 2009As Albert Pujols became the sixth unanimous winner of the MVP Award in National League history on Tuesday, Brewers slugger Prince Fielder finished fourth with 203 total points.
The Rookies Who Aren’t
November 24, 2009A player shall be considered a rookie unless, during a previous season or seasons, he has (a) exceeded 130 at-bats or 50 innings pitched in the Major Leagues; or (b) accumulated more than 45 days on the active roster of a Major League club or clubs during the period of 25-player limit (excluding time in the military service and time on the disabled list).
The first part of the definition of a rookie in Major League Baseball is straightforward. Once a player reaches 131 at bats or 50 1/3 innings pitched, he's no longer a rookie. The second part is a little trickier. After all, service time numbers are hard to find. They generally come out once each year, in team media guides. Add in the fact that you have to subtract time in the major leagues after September 1st and on the disabled list and it's even harder to figure out who is truly a rookie.
It has already been mentioned this offseason that Mat Gamel eclipsed 45 days of service time before September. Gamel was recalled from Nashville on May 14th and optioned back on July 20th, giving him 67 days on the active roster during the "period of 25-player limit." So, even though he sits at 130 career at bats, the same number Scott Rolen had going into his Rookie of the Year season, Gamel cannot win the Rookie of the Year award (though that might not stop him from getting votes).
Gamel isn't the only such little-used non-rookie in the Brewers organization. Raise your hand if you realized Hernan Iribarren has 48 days of major league service time, all before September 1. Iribarren spent 20 days on the major league roster in April and June 2008, picking up 14 at bats. He spent 28 days in the majors in 2009, batting a mere 13 times. I'm going to go out on a limb and predict he wasn't going to win the 2010 Rookie of the Year Award anyway.
New Brewer George Kottaras also enters 2010 off the list of rookie players. He spent all of 2009 in the majors with the Red Sox, playing in 45 games with 93 at bats. Though he spent the month of August on the disabled list, he gave up his 2010 rookie status in mid-May.
Gamel, Iribarren, and Kottaras are not the only little-used rookies. Follow the jump for a list of all such position players to appear in the majors in 2008 or 2009. Please note it is lengthy and full of guys who have no chance at winning an award anyway. I will post a list of pitchers in the next few days.
Non-Rookies with 130 or fewer career AB:
- Mat Gamel, 130 career AB
- Joaquin Arias, 129 AB
- Argenis Reyes, 127 AB
- Jose Morales, 122 AB
- Ivan Ochoa*, 120 AB
- Michel Hernandez, 118 AB
- Curtis Thigpen*, 118 AB
- Ramiro Pena, 115 AB
- Josh Whitesell, 115 AB
- Luke Carlin, 112 AB
- Chris Gimenez, 111 AB
- Tyler Greene, 108 AB
- Sam Fuld, 103 AB
- Reid Brignac, 100 AB
- Francisco Cervelli, 99 AB
- George Kottaras, 98 AB
- Freddy Guzman, 95 AB
- Robinson Cancel, 94 AB
- Guillermo Rodriguez, 92 AB
- Steve Holm, 91 AB
- Justin Ruggiano*, 90 AB
- Nathan Haynes*, 89 AB
- Diory Hernandez, 85 AB
- Don Kelly, 83 AB
- Dane Sardinha, 80 AB
- Luis Maza*, 79 AB
- Paul Hoover, 78 AB
- Edwin Maysonet, 76 AB
- Dusty Ryan, 70 AB
- Clint Sammons, 68 AB
- Tug Hulett, 67 AB
- Drew Sutton, 66 AB
- J.R. House*, 60 AB
- John Mayberry, 57 AB
- Gregorio Petit, 54 AB
- Brian Myrow*, 51 AB
- Chris Stewart*, 48 AB
- Justin Christian*, 40 AB
- Travis Denker*, 37 AB
- Gustavo Molina*, 34 AB
- Hernan Iribarren, 27 AB
- Ryan Budde, 23 AB
* - last appeared in the majors in 2008
I warned you. If I missed anyone or included someone who should not be on the list, let me know in the comments.
Morning Ramble – 11/24
November 24, 2009Not much…just a catch up in case you haven’t heard and/or you’d like to discuss with Joe, Kade, Scottage, Jon K, Brewerfever, or myself.
The Brewers re-signed Chris Capuano. Not a big deal now, but he’s got to get back to pitching sometime, right? By the way, my brother is very excited about this because he has a Capuano shirt. He also has a Sabathia shirt. We’ve been giving him guff that any player he promotes leaves the team. We’re thinking of buying a Suppan shirt for him for Christmas.
The Brewers are reportedly interested in ANYTHING THAT PITCHES. The following list are starting pitchers that have been named in rumors that the Brewers have interest in: Carl Pavano, Jarrod Washburn, John Lackey, Mark Mulder, Edwin Jackson, Randy Wolf, John Smoltz, Doug Davis, Todd Wellemeyer, Derek Lowe, Ben Sheets, and Javier Vasquez. Did I miss any starters?
Going with the ANYTHING THAT PITCHES trend, the Brewers signed John “The Llama” Halama.
The Brewers also went statutory and signed a 16 year old Shortstop from the Dominican named Santo Aybar.