Will Josh Lindblom pitch in Milwaukee this season?

[AJOHNSON104]

Anyone have thoughts on Lindblom pitching in the big leagues this year? He had pretty solid stats last year in Nashville and has been good this year, too. I realize Brewers have a very good 6-man rotation and Ethan Small is an option, but with the middle relief in Milwaukee looking a little rough, could Lindblom get a chance before long? He is making too much money to be kept at AAA all year. Is he strictly a veteran insurance policy in case of injury or could he get another chance and then get released if it doesn't work out? Or is he bound to be traded in one of those cash or PTNBL type deals?    

[Jopal78]

8 hours ago, AJOHNSON104 said:

Anyone have thoughts on Lindblom pitching in the big leagues this year? He had pretty solid stats last year in Nashville and has been good this year, too. I realize Brewers have a very good 6-man rotation and Ethan Small is an option, but with the middle relief in Milwaukee looking a little rough, could Lindblom get a chance before long? He is making too much money to be kept at AAA all year. Is he strictly a veteran insurance policy in case of injury or could he get another chance and then get released if it doesn't work out? Or is he bound to be traded in one of those cash or PTNBL type deals?    

They DFA'd him already, meaning they were willing to eat his contract to remove him from the 40 man roster, so the amount of money they're paying him is already a sunk cost. Technically, every team in the league also had a chance to claim him and nobody did. Third, when they signed Urena to be a long man out of the pen, it showed what they thought of Lindblom returning to their major league team. Fourth, and most importantly, the Brewers 40 man roster is full and there's not a lot of filler there. Somebody would have to go to add Lindblom back, or they would have to have a player go to the 60 day DL to make room. 

Absent a series of significant injuries to their pitchers, my guess is Lindblom pitches in AAA all season, collects his 3 million dollars in pay and unceremoniously leaves the organization at the end of the year as a rare "miss" by the front office. 

[Ron Robinsons Beard]

4 minutes ago, Jopal78 said:

Fourth, and most importantly, the Brewers 40 man roster is full and there's not a lot of filler there. Somebody would have to go to add Lindblom back, or they would have to have a player go to the 60 day DL to make room.

Unless I missed something, their are only currently 38 players on the 40-man roster, and that includes Justin Topa, who could easily be moved to the 60-day IL.

[Outlander]

The Brewers 40 man is not full as they have two open spots plus Topa to the 60 day if they really needed it and there is quite a bit of filler still. They have flexibility with the shuttle this year and believe there is some good arms in AAA but doubt Lindblom will be a part of it.

[Jopal78]

2 minutes ago, Ron Robinsons Beard said:

Unless I missed something, their are only currently 38 players on the 40-man roster, and that includes Justin Topa, who could easily be moved to the 60-day IL.

My mistake, you're right. It still doesn't change the analysis. They removed Lindblom from the 40 man roster and the fact they brought in Urena to be the long man pretty much means they're done with Lindblom absent significant injuries to their pitching. 

[Ron Robinsons Beard]

12 minutes ago, Jopal78 said:

My mistake, you're right. It still doesn't change the analysis. They removed Lindblom from the 40 man roster and the fact they brought in Urena to be the long man pretty much means they're done with Lindblom absent significant injuries to their pitching. 

I agree. Lindblom probably isn't a terrible arm to keep around, though, as long as they are paying him anyway. He would likely perform better in a long relief or spot starter role at the MLB level than say say someone like Jordan Zimmermann or Colin Rea or Zach Godley did in 2021.

[jerichoholicninja]

Urena was brought in because they could drop him when needed and not worry about options or messing with minor league players. Lindblom would fill that same role. I'm sure he'll get called up at some point, pitch a couple garbage time innings and be DFA'd as soon as the game is over.

[SRB]

Lindblom absolutely deserves another shot, in my opinion. I was surprised they moved on from him so quickly in the first place.

He was good in 2020 despite an inflated ERA. 10.3 K/9, 3.2 BB/9, 3.88 FIP,

He was pretty bad in 16.2 IP at the start of 2021, but even then he kept his strikeouts up (9.2 K/9), and more importantly the control issues that he showed disappeared in the minors, where he was fantastic: 104.2 IP, 10.1 K/9, 2.2 BB/9, 3.10 ERA, 3.17 FIP. He's been even better to start 2022.

Keeping him stretched out as a starter for when we need one might counsel in favor of keeping him down for now, but I think he could be great in long relief and in any event he should definitely be back at some point.

[Jopal78]

46 minutes ago, jerichoholicninja said:

Urena was brought in because they could drop him when needed and not worry about options or messing with minor league players. Lindblom would fill that same role. I'm sure he'll get called up at some point, pitch a couple garbage time innings and be DFA'd as soon as the game is over.

That doesn't make any sense. Teams do not simply hand out 1.25 million dollar guarantees to  players (what Urena received when he was added to the major league roster 24 hours after signing a minor league deal) so they can "drop him when needed and not worry about options or messing with minor league players".  

If they wanted to add a long man/mop up pitcher for 20 games with the intention of moving on when they needed the roster spot, Lindblom was just cooling his heels in AAA and already under contract on a 3 million dollar guarantee. That they instead went out and paid additional money to get Urena speaks volumes what they think about Lindblom at this point. 

Never say never, but I doubt he pitches for the Brewers again unless their season has gone sideways. 

[torts]

If he's pitching in Milwaukee then that means something horrible has happened.  So, no.  I hope I never see him again. ?

[tmwiese55]

General agree with everyone here.  Generally side more with the 'hey there's worse AAAA guys out there to have in case they're needed".    Our health with starters the last years has been very lucky so there's a good chance something will happen and a person or two will hit the DL and a few spot starts could be needed here or there.  Or, maybe a bullpen day where he's called up for ability to eat a few innings.   

Don't think I saw it mentioned yet either, is the possibility of doubleheaders and that they're 9 innings again could be a day where he's the extra guy called up as insurance policy. 

[BallFour]

3 hours ago, Jopal78 said:

That doesn't make any sense. Teams do not simply hand out 1.25 million dollar guarantees to  players (what Urena received when he was added to the major league roster 24 hours after signing a minor league deal) so they can "drop him when needed and not worry about options or messing with minor league players".  

If they wanted to add a long man/mop up pitcher for 20 games with the intention of moving on when they needed the roster spot, Lindblom was just cooling his heels in AAA and already under contract on a 3 million dollar guarantee. That they instead went out and paid additional money to get Urena speaks volumes what they think about Lindblom at this point. 

Never say never, but I doubt he pitches for the Brewers again unless their season has gone sideways. 

Just to clarify Urena has a salary of a 250k if he is in the minors vs. 1.25 million if he is in the majors. So if I am reading that right they really didn't guarantee him 1.25 million. My theory is with minor league options being reduced from 10 to 5 they essentially wanted a guy like Urena to hang onto for the first month that was going to be DFAed. The longer the Brewers can go without optioning a reliever the more slack on the rope they have in the second half of rotating guys in and out. Notice how the roster shrunk from 28 to 26 and the Brewers didn't send a pitcher down who has options. I am not saying Cousins has a fluke injury but it is highly convenient the Brewers didn't have to burn an option on Cousins, Gustave, or Milner for another two weeks. 

It is also my opinion you treat Josh Lindblom like a Zack Godley. Preserve him as depth for an emergency situation if your starting pitching depth takes a big hit all at once. You do not want to add him to the 40 man unless you absolutely have to. 

[SRB]

All the Urena signing tells is that they like/liked Urena as a possible breakout candidate in the bullpen. You can never have too much pitching, this isn't an either-or as if they had signed a starting 3B to keep another guy in the minors.

Honestly I don't think Lindbloom being kept in the minors for the last year has as much to do with the front office not liking him as it does with Houser/Lauer being absurdly good for most of the last year. They haven't needed another starter beyond the Top 5 and Anderson/Ashby, and maybe his poor start to 2021 convinced them that Lindblom pitches better as a starter only.

[Jopal78]

17 hours ago, BallFour said:

Just to clarify Urena has a salary of a 250k if he is in the minors vs. 1.25 million if he is in the majors. So if I am reading that right they really didn't guarantee him 1.25 million. My theory is with minor league options being reduced from 10 to 5 they essentially wanted a guy like Urena to hang onto for the first month that was going to be DFAed. The longer the Brewers can go without optioning a reliever the more slack on the rope they have in the second half of rotating guys in and out. Notice how the roster shrunk from 28 to 26 and the Brewers didn't send a pitcher down who has options. I am not saying Cousins has a fluke injury but it is highly convenient the Brewers didn't have to burn an option on Cousins, Gustave, or Milner for another two weeks. 

It is also my opinion you treat Josh Lindblom like a Zack Godley. Preserve him as depth for an emergency situation if your starting pitching depth takes a big hit all at once. You do not want to add him to the 40 man unless you absolutely have to. 

Yes, $250,000 if Urena was in the minor leagues. $1.25 million for being in the major leagues. As pointed out above, he was added to the big league roster on the 30th. As we all know free agent major league contracts are fully guaranteed, thus the Brewers will pay him 1.25 million regardless if he's in the organization or not. 

13 hours ago, SRB said:

All the Urena signing tells is that they like/liked Urena as a possible breakout candidate in the bullpen. You can never have too much pitching, this isn't an either-or as if they had signed a starting 3B to keep another guy in the minors.

Honestly I don't think Lindbloom being kept in the minors for the last year has as much to do with the front office not liking him as it does with Houser/Lauer being absurdly good for most of the last year. They haven't needed another starter beyond the Top 5 and Anderson/Ashby, and maybe his poor start to 2021 convinced them that Lindblom pitches better as a starter only.

 Obviously, at the end of spring training they were looking for an arm to pitch long relief and mop up. Despite already having a pitcher seemingly tailor made for that role in Lindblom, they went out and signed Urena to the above mentioned guarantee.  

Don't forget the Brewers DFA'd Lindblom in May of 2021. Meaning they had already decided removing him from the 40 man roster was worth eating the year and a half remaining on his contract ($4.5 million dollars) to do so. 

When he went unclaimed following his DFA, he was outrighted to the minor leagues. At that point, Lindblom could have rejected the outright assignment and become a free agent; however in the process he would have forfeited that remaining 4.5 million dollars he was owed.  That is primary reason why he is still in the Brewers organization, nothing else. 

It is a sign of some good baseball being played that there is a debate going on over an organizational soldier/mop up pitcher. 

[BallFour]

11 minutes ago, Jopal78 said:

Yes, $250,000 if Urena was in the minor leagues. $1.25 million for being in the major leagues. As pointed out above, he was added to the big league roster on the 30th. As we all know free agent major league contracts are fully guaranteed, thus the Brewers will pay him 1.25 million regardless if he's in the organization or not. 

 Obviously, at the end of spring training they were looking for an arm to pitch long relief and mop up. Despite already having a pitcher seemingly tailor made for that role in Lindblom, they went out and signed Urena to the above mentioned guarantee.  

Don't forget the Brewers DFA'd Lindblom in May of 2021. Meaning they had already decided removing him from the 40 man roster was worth eating the year and a half remaining on his contract ($4.5 million dollars) to do so. 

When he went unclaimed following his DFA, he was outrighted to the minor leagues. At that point, Lindblom could have rejected the outright assignment and become a free agent; however in the process he would have forfeited that remaining 4.5 million dollars he was owed.  That is primary reason why he is still in the Brewers organization, nothing else. 

It is a sign of some good baseball being played that there is a debate going on over an organizational soldier/mop up pitcher. 

Nope it is a split contract. From a roster resource guy at Fangraphs. Don't want to sound like a know it all but a team like Brewers isn't going to guarantee his salary when this was the most likely result. Already is prorated on Fangraphs.

 

 

[AJOHNSON104]

My thought was that its nice to have a depth piece that could help if injuries happen or middle / long relief doesn't do well. I'd think the Brewers would decide by around mid-season whether moving him to the roster has any advantages. If not, some team may be in need of a 4th/5th starter and offer a low level return to get them through the season and the Brewers would save a little money.     

[djoctagone]

is there a case to select the contract of josh lindblom? he last pitched saturday, so he'd definitely be well-rested by the time he'd be needed in the rotation.

[monty57]

Although the Brewers would have liked someone else to take on his contract before this season began, he's still in the organization and is pitching well:

8 Games, 7 Starts, 41.1 IP, 2.40 ERA, 0.94 WHIP, .193 BAA, 10BB/36K, 7.84 K/9, 2.18 BB/9

He is certainly an option if the Brewers need to bring someone up for a spot start or as a multiple-innings reliever. He'd need to be added to the 40 man, which as has been noted is not a problem. If he pitches well, that's great, and if he doesn't pitch well, there would be no problem removing him from the 40 man at that point.

He's getting paid the same regardless of where he plays, and no one cares about his service time, so from that perspective he may be a better option than "starting the clock" or "burning service time" on a younger player who actually has a future.

[Roderick]

17 minutes ago, monty57 said:

Although the Brewers would have liked someone else to take on his contract before this season began, he's still in the organization and is pitching well:

8 Games, 7 Starts, 41.1 IP, 2.40 ERA, 0.94 WHIP, .193 BAA, 10BB/36K, 7.84 K/9, 2.18 BB/9

He is certainly an option if the Brewers need to bring someone up for a spot start or as a multiple-innings reliever. He'd need to be added to the 40 man, which as has been noted is not a problem. If he pitches well, that's great, and if he doesn't pitch well, there would be no problem removing him from the 40 man at that point.

He's getting paid the same regardless of where he plays, and no one cares about his service time, so from that perspective he may be a better option than "starting the clock" or "burning service time" on a younger player who actually has a future.

So he gets called up and pitches okay.  But when they send him down, is there any scenario where another team would only have to pay prorated minimum wage and could grab him?  

[monty57]

1 minute ago, Roderick said:

So he gets called up and pitches okay.  But when they send him down, is there any scenario where another team would only have to pay prorated minimum wage and could grab him?  

There are people here who are a lot more knowledgeable about this stuff than I am. I believe that if they tried to send him down and he refused the assignment, he would have to go through a waiver period. If anyone claimed him, they would be on the hook for his whole salary. If no one claimed him, he would become a free agent, where the Brewers would still have to pay his salary but any other team could sign him to a deal.

[Robocaller]

If they need a starter on short notice and the other options have pitched too recently, I could see him being called up.

 

[jay87shot]

I could see him coming up and taking the Ashby roll of 6th start/long man. Tie him to Ashby and the contrast might work to limit Ashby's overall load and effectively keep hitters off balance. 4 or 5 of Ashby and 2 or 3 of Lindblom gets you to Williams/Hader.

[djoctagone]