Mike Rivera to 40-man and Brewers, Graffy to 60-day DL

[Jim Goulart]

Mike Rivera to Milwaukee with Damian Miller day-to-day; Tony Graffanino to the 60-day, which technically places the 40-man at 42.

[brewerjamie15]

If Miller were to be placed on the DL to get that number back to 40 I'd be ok with it. No big gain or loss here IMO. Rivera has got to have more speed though. Even if he were wearing banana peel slippers he'd be quicker I think.

[tigerbrew]

Welcome back Mike Rivera, hope you bat like last season.

[djoctagone]

JJHardy7 wrote:

It seems here that most believe Vinny Rottino is the catcher to fill in for Miller and Estrada...Vinny (according to baseball cube) has played 2 innings at catcher in the bigs. Do the Brewers see him as a candidate?

 

Also, is everyone aware of the season Rivera is having? He has decent power numbers in AAA, but his avg and obp % is awful for a player who did perform well last year with the Brewers.

 

the brewers certainly see rottino as a candidate to occasionally catch, otherwise they wouldn't have had him spend so much time at that position in nashville after jd closser left the organization.

 

as for mike rivera, his nashville numbers weren't the greatest this year (perhaps shedding light as to why no team claimed him at the end of march). barring the resigning of damian miller, a trade or free agent acquistion, mike rivera knows he has a good chance of being the brewers' backup catcher in 2008 . . . so i think he'll play the rest of the season like he's got something to prove.

[JJHardy7]

Rottino has not shown he can catch in the big leagues though. That is my question. Has anyone heard that the Brewers see him as a backup catcher? Or as super utility man?

 

Rivera disappointed me in Nashville. He does have a great chance at Catcher with the Crew next year since Miller is retiring. Hopefully he finds a way to get on base and show something.

 

I really would like to see Rottino be the back up next year, but I don't know if he has the defensive ability to do so and I don't think the Brewers are convinced he has it yet either.

[tigerbrew]

Rivera is doing a good job so far since his callup and I hope he gets more playing time over Estrada for this crucial playoff race. Rivera seems to be better defensively and offensively than Estrada, plus Rivera has better wheels too.

[PeaveyFury]

Rivera had a really, really terrible year offensively at Nashville, and historically has an arm that isn't really that much better than Estrada's. But, playing in Milwaukee does seem to bring out the best in him.

[1992casey]

When did Damian announce his retirement? Did I miss something?

[sbrylski]

He's not under contract for next year, and with his age I would say less than 50% odds he's back next season.

[DSFastball55]

He does have a great chance at Catcher with the Crew next year since Miller is retiring

 

When did Damian announce his retirement? Did I miss something?

 

He's not under contract for next year, and with his age I would say less than 50% odds he's back next season.

 

Pure speculation by JJHardy7 and Sbrylski06. Damian Miller has said multiple times that he hopes to play a few more years in a backup capacity. I would be very surprised if retires, and I fully expect him to re-up with Milwaukee.

As for the Brewers, I'm sure they don't want to go into next season with Rivera or Rottino as the backup catcher, so I'm sure they'll try to re-sign Miller unless someone elese emerges in free agency or something.

[JJHardy7]

Miller is retiring. He's told fans that in Milwaukee who have ran into him. Of course that can all change, etc., but he's at least leaning that way right now according to himself.

[dadofandrew]

Miller had said he could play 40 games a year for several more seasons, but maybe his mind has been changed, by nicks and bruises.