Brewer Minor League Free Agents After the 2013 Season

[Jim Goulart]

First of all, thanks to Chris (Minigoon) who collaborates each year with me on this list.

 

Following is a list of players who are free to leave the organization in mid-October when minor league free agency begins. These players and the Brewers could agree to sign an additional one-year minor league deal to extend the relationship. Or the Brewers could add the player to the 40-man roster, thus extending the "ownership" of the player.

 

A player who has exhausted all seven years of his original minor league affiliation to the organization that signed him is eligible. Here are the Brewers farmhands who have been with the organization for their full commitment (or even longer in the case of Tim Dillard, Anderson De la Rosa, and Brock Kjeldgaard). We've been following these five guys their whole pro careers.

 

C Anderson De La Rosa (signed in August 2003, has already been "extended" three times)

RHP Tim Dillard (well, whole career minus a brief indy league sojourn to begin 2013)

OF Brock Kjeldgaard (already extended once last fall)

C/3B Joey Paciorek

RHP R.J. Seidel

 

Other potential (and likely) free agents:

 

IF Ozzie Chavez

IF Blake Davis

RHP Frankie De La Cruz

C/3B Robinzon Diaz

IF Hector Gomez

LHP Zach Kroenke

LHP Aaron Laffey

LHP Brent Leach

RHP Arcenio Leon

RHP Johnnie Lowe

RHP Dustin Molleken

LHP Chris Narveson

RHP/OF Micah Owings

IF/OF Eric Patterson

IF/OF Hainley Statia

OF Rene Tosoni

IF/OF Eugenio Velez

LHP Travis Webb

 

If you believe a player is listed in error or have an addition, let us know. We believe we're close, but don't claim to be 100% accurate.

[Jim Goulart]

Once a player's original affiliated contract is terminated, should a player then subsequently be signed by the Brewers, the deal is normally signed to cover the remaining years left until minor league free agency is earned. So if a player spent four seasons with another organziation and was then released or acquired via trade, the Brewers would sign that player to a contract worded in such a way that the Brewers would retain rights to the player over the next three seasons.

 

For instance, Nashville 3B Stephen Parker is in his 5th year of pro ball. The Brewers acquired Parker this spring from the Athletics (for RHP Darren Byrd). The Brewers still own Parker's rights for his 6th and 7th pro seasons as well (players qualify for minor league free agent eligibility after seven pro seasons).

[Jim Goulart]

Feel free to post your predictions here, but I don't believe any of the players listed above will be added to the Brewers 40-man roster in order to guarantee their services are retained.

 

You'd think the Brewers would like to have RHP R.J. Seidel back, the LaCrosse product has flashed some skill this season, and it's been written that the Brewers are keeping an eye on his workload with eyes towards the future.

 

And of course, like potentially Seidel, any number of players could be asked to re-sign for an additional season, but on the surface, doesn't look like it will be many.

 

The players and the players' agents will have to weigh that offer vs. the offers they may see elsewhere, where not only money, but perhaps better opportunity, await. On the other hand, not getting any offer from an affiliated club has to be a pretty scary scenario for some of these vets. If the Brewers can't "hold" offers to extend indefinitely, players could find themselves out in the cold.

 

Might we see RHP Dustin Molleken asked back, since he was just recently signed, and has been lights-out in a fireballing role thus far?

[Jim Goulart]

Please be patient on discussing Rule 5 protection possibilities.

 

That will involve a list of players still under Brewer control for 2014, so it will be a separate thread from this one, and the players listed above won't cross over to that list.

 

We'll have that thread out some time next week.

 

***

 

Something to keep in mind is that the initial list here doesn't currently include players who may be dropped from the current 40-man roster immediately after the season ends, and who would have enough service time to qualify for minor league free agency (think candidates like Yuni B.). Nor obviously does it include players who will be free agents on the big league level (Corey Hart, Michael Gonzalez, etc.)

[Jim Goulart]

FYI - Huntsville C Shawn Zarraga and Brevard County RHP Cody Scarpetta were drafted in 2007, but we believe they inked 2008 contracts when they signed at the deadline in August of '07 (neither appeared in a 2007 game). Thus, they won't be free-agent eligible until the fall of 2014.

[Jim Goulart]

Now, I have emailed Matt Eddy, Baseball America's transaction guru, for clarification, and am awaiting his response. Folks here on the board (in particular DHonks) have referred to the impact that spending full seasons in the Dominican and/or Venezuelan Summer Leagues has on service time. But it's not something that I'm specifically seeing detailed online. Here's what I sent Matt:

 

Hi Matt. We're putting together our annual Brewer list, and my question pertains to how the DSL and/or VSL seasons factor into the normal seven-year minor league free agent eligibilty system.

 

Let's use for example infielder Domnit Bolivar

 

His first pro season was in the VSL only. I've seen folks post that those seasons don't count towards the counting years, but I have my doubts. If his first season counted, 2012 is his 7th year.

 

Let's look at Juan Sanchez:

 

He's actually been a pro for eight seasons, but his first three seasons (2005 not shown at link), were all spent in the DSL and/or VSL. Does that mean his counting years didn't begin until 2008, making 2013 only his sixth pro season for this execrise?

 

Does the counting years rule in this regard (non-stateside seasons) act the same for Rule 5 eligibility?

 

Thanks for any insights you can provide.

 

Jim G.

 

Here's a link I favorited, it's actually from the cubreporter.com. It includes all kinds of good stuff in a readable format, with the minor league stuff at/near the bottom of the linked page. I did not see reference to the discussion above.

 

So if you find a link that helps us out in this regard, please, please post it here.

[Jim Goulart]

Of course, we could probably just ask the Brewers for a formal list, but that wouldn't be as much fun .

[Minigoon]

Some interesting names out there. I think Brandon Kintzler and Jesus Sanchez will get September calls. I would think Darren Byrd and Evan Anundsen would be priority signings. Maybe a ST invite to sweeten the offer. I could see Stetter getting and offer and ST invite. Anderson de la Rosa seems to have an open invite every year. Could see that being the case again this off season. Quintero would be some nice insurance, but I would expect him to be seeking a MLB deal. Jordan Brown, Andy Gonzalez, and Hainley Statia are all nice upper level players.

[Jim Goulart]

Mike McClendon's outright off the 40-man roster makes the 27-year-old, drafted in 2006, eligible for minor league free agency this fall.

[djoctagone]

Mike McClendon's outright off the 40-man roster makes the 27-year-old, drafted in 2006, eligible for minor league free agency this fall.

says here he was optioned.

[And That]

It may have changed since you read it, but it currently reads "Brewers outrighted RHP Mike McClendon to Nashville Sounds."

[HiAndTight]

I started a thread about this, but what happens with Scarpetta? Due to the unique situation surrounding his signing and re-signing after he was drafted, is he due to become a FA this off-season?

 

I was under the impression because he was actually injured, that his initial contract was negated, and then due to MLB rules, we had to sign him to an Major League contract...which is why the 4th option year last year was so important.

 

Where does he fit into this equation?

[Jim Goulart]

Adjusted the initial post to reflect that RHP Brandon Kintzler was added (re-added) to the 40-man roster.

[ClosetBrewerFan]

I started a thread about this, but what happens with Scarpetta? Due to the unique situation surrounding his signing and re-signing after he was drafted, is he due to become a FA this off-season?

 

Scarpetta is on the 40 man roster so he won't become a minor league free agent. It will be interesting to see what happens to him though as he is out of options. Next spring the Brewers will either have to keep him on the 25 man roster (bullpen option?) or they will have to waive him. If he clears waivers, they can then send him to the minors. Its quite likely he will clear waivers as teams may be unwilling to claim him and keep him on their roster.

[Jim Goulart]

Top post updated for Buller / Kjeldgaard.

[DHonks]

5. A position player making a position change to pitcher or a pitcher making a position change to position player receives a one-year exemption from minor league service time restrictions. NOTE: A position player being converted to a pitcher may not be used as a position player in a minor league game during the exempt year, and a pitcher being converted to a position player may not be used as a pitcher in a minor league game during the exempt year.

 

I found that regarding Hitaniel Arias and Brock Kjeldgaard...still looking for proof on what was reported a year or so ago

[Jim Goulart]

Initial post updated to reflect the re-signing of RHP Darren Byrd, and the spring training invites for Byrd and catcher Dayton Buller

[Jim Goulart]

RHP's Tim Dillard and Vinny Chulk have formally elected free agency, as per Baseball America.

 

They are able to do so because they were on the 40-man roster for a portion of 2012. Others on the initial post in this thread will become formal free agents just after the World Series, I believe.

[Jim Goulart]

LHP Juan Perez, like Dillard and Chulk, was able to declare his free agency early due to spending time with the Brewers this season.

[Jim Goulart]

The final player eligible to declare "early" minor league free agency, INF Edwin Maysonet, did so.

[Jim Goulart]

From August 20th:

 

Links are to career stats:

 

One way to prevent a player from reaching minor league free agency is to add them to the 40-man roster. This would be done in early October, shortly after the big league season completes.

 

RHP Brandon Kintzler is going to be an interesting candidate, as might be fellow RHP's Jesus Sanchez, the converted Phillies catcher who has only been pitching for four seasons, and even RHP Darren Byrd.

 

Feel free to post your predictions here, but I'll say Kintzler and Sanchez get added (in Brandon's case, re-added) to the 40-man roster.

 

RHP Jesus Sanchez was kept from escaping as a minor league free agent when he was added to the 40-man roster today.

 

(In case you missed it, RHP Darren Byrd, also mentioned above, signed a minor league one-year extension deal with the Brewers and received an invite to major league spring training. The difference in the two is that Byrd could still be plucked in Rule 5 in December.)

[Jim Goulart]

Introducing you to the latest member of the Brewers 40-man roster:

 

April 2011: Huntsville Stars pitcher Jesus Sanchez settling in on the mound

 

June 2012: Sanchez "Controls" The Game

 

August 2012: Audio from Nashville via Jeff Hem's blog — “(Jesus) Sanchez Says”

[Jim Goulart]

Now that infielder Hector Gomez (career stats) has been removed from the 40-man roster and cleared waivers (outrighted to Nashville), he has been added to the post leading off this thread as qualifying for minor league free agency after the World Series.

 

Gomez has now played seven minor league seasons, so even though he'll only turn 25 in May, he is slated to hit the open market. Now, it wouldn't be a surprise at all to read in the next one or two Baseball America weekly transaction updates that the Brewers have re-signed him to a minor league deal for 2013. There's certainly opportunity to fill middle infield positions at AA and AAA heading into next season.

 

Gomez was a curious waiver claim back on June 28th. His final option year was 2012, and that includes a 4th option year that he had been granted. And, as we're now seeing, if he were to be sneaked through waivers, he's free agent-eligible. He had a long list of injury issues (Tommy John surgery, fractured shin, back, groin), not to mention the unknown reasons he landed on Brevard's DL list August 3rd, sidelining him for the final month of this season.

 

This article from last June, prior to the Brewers' claim, talks about Gomez' family tragedy as well.

 

Actually, the Brewers are lucky that the claim of Gomez didn't cost them a valuable piece going forward. To make room for Gomez on the 40-man roster, the Brewers exposed reliever Brandon Kintzler to waivers. If Kintzler stays healthy and continues to produce in a cost-efficient way for the next several seasons, as many believe he can, Hector Gomez' footnote in Brewers history will be duly noted now and then as one of the more obscure and non-descript waiver claims of the Doug Melvin era.

[PrinceFielderx1]

I was wondering what's the contract detail's of Mark Rogers? Wasn't he eligible for FA under the minor league rules and the Brewers signed him to a 1 year deal? If that is the case then don't they have to extend his contract? How many options would he have left? As you can see I'm new to this, but I'm wanting to get educated. Thanks.

[Jim Goulart]

I was wondering what's the contract detail's of Mark Rogers? Wasn't he eligible for FA under the minor league rules and the Brewers signed him to a 1 year deal? If that is the case then don't they have to extend his contract? How many options would he have left? As you can see I'm new to this, but I'm wanting to get educated. Thanks.

 

Rogers was added to the 40-man roster November 19th, 2008 (career transactions).

 

He has subsequently used all his minor league options, including a specially-granted 4th year option that was used in spring 2012.

 

Mark must now remain on the big-league 25-man roster if he is to remain a Brewer. If he doesn't make the club out of spring training or at any point going forward, he would be designated for assignment, at which point he would undoubtedly be claimed by another team.