Ro Mueller

Winter League Action from Friday, January 6 Three Brewer pitchers saw action yesterday, all in tough playoff losses. RHP JC Mejia (loss) – 1 IP, 3 R, 2 H, 2 BB, 0 K (3.28 ERA) – in Leones del Licey’s 4-2 loss to Estrellas RHP Luis Contreras – 1 1/3 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 BB, 1 K (4.86 ERA); stranding 2 inherited runners – in Cardenales’ 7-5 extra inning loss to Tigres de Aragua RHP Arnaldo Hernandez – 1/3 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 1 BB, 0 K (4.22 ERA) – in Tiburones’ 6-5 loss to Navegantes Mejia nearly got a double play to escape a bases loaded, 1-out situation in the 8th inning while leading 2-1, but the defense couldn’t get the job done:

Alex Hall’s 3-run blast this morning:

The Tigers successfully pulled off the (i) Claim via DFA - (ii) Re-DFA - (iii) Outright maneuver on three players, including ex-Brewer C Mario Feliciano. For good measure, they also passed a 4th player through DFA and thus Outrighted as well. https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2023/01/tigers-outright-four-players.html

Early Friday AM: Brisbane did not entertain any notion of Adelaide gaining ground in the standings, limiting them to just two hits in a 2-0 victory which extends the Bandits’ lead to 4 games. Starting pitcher Max Lazar, independent leaguer Carter Hope and closer James Meeker combined on the sterling outing, with Meeker striking out the side with authority. 2B Robert Moore – 0-for-4 (.282 AVG, .889 OPS) C Darrien Miller – 0-for-2, HBP (.267 AVG, .800 OPS); he also allowed 2 stolen bases RHP Max Lazar (win) – 5 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 2 BB, 6 K (2.84 ERA) RHP James Meeker (save) – 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 BB, 3 K (0.00 ERA) In other action, Perth dominated Geelong-Korea 11-0, with Alex Hall hitting his 4th homer of the winter. If there’s an All-Star team, he’s probably on it: C Alex Hall – 2-for-5, HR, 3 RBIs (.359 AVG, 1.028 OPS)

With just 17 days left in the 2022/23 Australian Baseball League season and several off-days baked into this period, the seemingly most important series starts today, with 22-6 Brisbane and 19-9 Adelaide facing off in 4 games over 3 days (doubleheader tomorrow). Go Brewer Bandits!

The Orioles just did exactly this with 1B Ryan O’Hearn: traded cash to pluck him from the Royals’ DFA limbo, then DFA’d him 2 days later. So it’s likely a function of how much cash you’ve paid. Teams probably have some rules of thumb - e.g. if acquiring for $10k or less, then no biggie to DFA a few days later, hope nobody claims, then outright to AAA.

There's a better plan: Secretly rediscover his old fastball and turn him into an amazing pitcher Have him purposely get shelled during his first three Spring Training outings, so that he can be DFA'd, not claimed, outrighted and commence the season at AAA Nashville Select his contract when he proves how awesome he is in Nashville, pre-agreeing an opt-out date for him

The Owen Miller and Javy Guerra trades are both listed as PTBNL trades on the Brewers' transaction page, unlike Bryse Wilson (cash). Sometimes the PTBNL's are only selected during spring training, e.g.: Paxton Schultz - May 2, 2021 for Derek Fisher 2.5 months earlier David Fry - March 13, 2022 for JC Mejia nearly 4 months earlier

Winter League Action from Wednesday, January 4 Just three Brewer players saw action yesterday: LHP Alex Claudio – 1/3 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 BB, 0 K (2.38 ERA) – in Caguas’ 5-2 victory over Mayaguez, in which he stranded his only inherited runner in the 7th inning RHP Luis Contreras – 1/3 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 BB, 0 K (5.28 ERA) – in Cardenales’ 5-2 defeat to Leones del Caracas, despite stranding three runners in the 3rd inning RHP Christian Mejias – 2 IP, 1 R, 3 H, 0 BB, 0 K (5.33 ERA) – in Tigres de Aragua’s 7-0 loss to Tiburones

Strange of the Orioles to release him in April 2022 coming off a 2021 season that seemed to put him back on track after early injuries and the Covid 2020 wipeout. Given his age (24), do we send Lamar Sparks to AA Biloxi? Maybe one of our other MILB outfielders will be announced as the PTBNL going to the Rays (for Guerra) or the Guardians (for Owen Miller). Let’s see.

Out of options. Not sure I understand. But Kelley’s already 30 years old, so I guess he was hanging by a thread. Hope it works out for both players.

Winter League Action from Tuesday, January 3 Two of the three leagues (Venezuela, Dominican Republic) we’re following in this thread are now in the Round Robin round of the playoffs, while my understanding is that Puerto Rico’s regular season will conclude today, January 4th. C Brian Navarreto – 1-for-4 (.275 AVG) – in Carolina’s 1-0 extra inning win over Caguas LHP Alex Claudio (newly-signed) – 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 1 BB (intentional), 1 K (2.45 ERA) – didn’t allow Manfred Man to score in 10th inning, but Caguas still lost RHP JC Mejia – 1 IP, 1 R, 1 H, 2 BB, 1 K (2.28 ERA) – in Tigres del Licey’s come-from-behind 8-5 playoff win over Estrellas, evening Tigres’ record in the Dominican Republic Round Robin at 5-5. In fact, all four remaining teams are tied with equivalent 5-5 records RHP Luis Contreras – 1 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 BB, 3 Ks (5.79 ERA) – in Cardenales’ 7-1 playoff win over Navegantes, putting Cardenales atop the Venezuelan Round Robin for now with a 1-0 record

Mendez was one of eight hitters playing his age 18 season in Low-A ball last year, so as long as he can be league average in High-A this year with a decent K rate and flashes of pop, we’ll keep dreaming big things: - Jackson Chourio - .973 OPS - Edwin Arroyo - .899 (actually lower as this doesn’t include ~20% of his PAs after late season trade) - TJ White - .784 - Cristian Santana - .745 - Carter Jensen - .745 - Hendry Mendez - .675 - Pedro Pineda - .639 - Daniel Vazquez - .490

Yeah, it seems like a big year for Hedbert Perez, who was being raved about during the 2020 non-season. He’s suddenly entering his 5th year in the organization, even though he didn’t officially debut until 2021. I’ll also be watching a lot of the guys in their 6th season: Clayton Andrews, Micah Bello, Justin Jarvis, Joe Gray Jr., Pablo Garabitos, Arbert Cipion, Branlyn Jaraba, Eduarqui Fernandez, Eduardo Garcia… And let’s hope 2020 2nd round pick Freddy Zamora, likely AA Biloxi’s starting SS to open this season assuming he’s healthy, regains his 2021 form after a lost 2022.

Agreed that there are some interesting decisions to be made in rounding out the ‘pen. Fangraphs’ Roster Resource has Guerra, Cousins and Payamps in those last 3 spots. Of these, only Cousins has options remaining. But would we really throw away $50k (net) on the Varland pick just to give him back to the Dodgers? And who or what did we actually give up for Javy Guerra? None of Milner, Small, Claudio or Pannone has a 95+ fastball, so it seems possible that Aaron Ashby will end up in the ‘pen eventually.

I think that we need the LHP depth, so definitely don't mind this move. This means that we should have Ethan Small, Robert Gasser, Thomas Pannone, Clayton Andrews and Alex Claudio as lefties in AAA, assuming all goes well, with Adam Seminaris, Brandon Knarr, Luis Amaya and Nick Bennett in AA. I have to believe that Claudio, Pannone and Small each believe they have a shot at the MLB 26-man active roster as well, since we only have Eric Lauer, Aaron Ashby and Hoby Milner as Major League LHPs at the moment.

Winter League Action from Monday, January 2 Two Brewer catchers faced off, Matt Hardy continues to perform at an exceptional level and the playoffs have commenced in Venezuela. C Brian Navarreto – 1-for-4 (.275 AVG); had an error and allowed a stolen base – in Carolina’s 4-1 win over Ponce C Victor Caratini – 1-for-4, double (.190 AVG) – in Ponce’s loss RHP Matt Hardy – 1 2/3 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 BB, 0 K (0.64 ERA) – in Caguas’ 7-2 victory over Santurce RHP Arnaldo Hernandez – 2/3 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 BB, 1 K (4.43 ERA) – in Tiburones’ 6-5 loss to Leones del Caracas in the first round (Round Robin, which runs to January 21st) of the Venezuelan playoffs

For this year's class, as @sveumrules commented in another forum, the Brewers have been linked to 16-year old Venezuelan shortstop Kevin Ereu, ranked 17th at Fangraphs and 35th at mlb.com.

The 2022-2023 international signing window will open in two weeks (January 15, 2023), so I thought I’d start a new thread. The Brewers had one of the largest signing classes last January (33 players) and will probably have another good-sized one, since we’re one of the few organizations that has four rookie level squads (two in Dominican Summer League, two in Arizona Complex League). Signings in recent seasons have included the likes of Jackson Chourio ($1.8m), Johan Barrios ($1.385m), Carlos D. Rodriguez ($1.355m), Luis Medina ($1.3m), Jhonny Severino ($1.23m), Luis Lara ($1.1m), Eduardo Garcia ($1.1m), Branlyn Jaraba ($1.1m), Eduarqui Fernandez ($1.1m), Daniel Guilarte ($1m), Gregory Barrios ($1m), Ernesto Martinez ($800k), Hendry Mendez ($735k), Hedbert Perez ($700k), Jheremy Vargas ($650k), Alexander Perez ($600k), Victor Castaneda (probably a healthy amount from the Mexican League in 2017), Israel Puello ($460k by the Phillies in 2017), Alberto Ciprian ($500k – traded to D-backs), Erys Bautista ($500k – released), Carlos Roa ($385k – released), Ney Serrano ($360k), Jhonnys Cabrera ($300k), Beyker Pastran ($300k), Jesus Parra ($210k), Jeferson Quero ($200k), Jesus Chirinos ($130k), Abner Uribe ($85k), Felix Valerio ($10k by the Mets in 2018), Stiven Cruz (peanuts in 2019?), Alexander Cornielle (peanuts in 2019?), Jeison Pena (peanuts in 2020?).

Early Friday AM: That was an exciting game this morning, as Brisbane started a new winning streak with a 3-2 victory over Perth, moving 3 games ahead of Adelaide atop the league. Darrien Miller hit a key home run (his second of the winter) to tie it 1-1 and James Meeker notched his 8th save and is yet to give up an earned run. For Brisbane: 2B Robert Moore – 0-for-3, walk (.280 AVG, .861 OPS), caught stealing by Alex Hall C Darrien Miller – 1-for-3, HR, RBI (.272 AVG, .809 OPS) RHP Cameron Wagoner – 4 1/3 IP, 1 R, 2 H, 3 BB, 1 K (3.19 ERA) RHP James Meeker (save) – 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 BB, 1 K (0.00 ERA) For Perth: C Alex Hall – 1-for-3, walk (.330 AVG, .908 OPS); threw out only attempted basestealer

Winter League Action from Thursday, December 29 RHP JC Mejia – 1 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 1 BB, 0 Ks (1.99 ERA in 22 2/3 IP) – in Tigres del Licey’s 7-4 win over Estrellas 1B Victor Caratini – 0-for-3, walk (.200 AVG) – in Ponce’s 1-0 loss to Mayaguez

Some quick notes on the young men recently released, all of whom we wish exceptional years ahead: 19-year old 1B/2B Arnys Rodriguez from the Dominican Republic was signed in August 2019 but didn’t debut until 2021, producing a slash of .192 / .328 / .256 in 247 PAs over two active seasons. A .654 OPS in 2022 wasn’t bad, but it likely wasn’t enough for someone who principally plays first base. 21-year old RHP Stanley Encarnacion from the Dominican Republic was signed in August 2019 and threw 66.2 innings over three active seasons, registering a 4.73 ERA, 1.43 WHIP and 8.9 K/9. His 1.27 WHIP and 27/9 K/BB ratio this past season appear solid, but his age is perhaps a key factor against him at this point. 18-year old 3B/2B Erick Reyes from the Dominican Republic was signed in January 2021 and produced a slash of .128 / .299 / .313 in 177 PAs over two seasons. An encouraging .717 OPS and 14 stolen bases (vs. 1 caught stealing) in 2022 were hindered by a .177 batting average. 19-year old OF Mendy Ferreira from the Dominican Republic was signed in July 2019 but didn’t debut until 2021, delivering a .204 / .325 / .275 slash in 203 PAs over two active seasons. A somewhat encouraging 24/34 BB/K ratio with 16 stolen bases in 2021 was unfortunately followed up with 7 BBs vs. 28 Ks and 11 stolen bases in 2022. 18-year old 3B/2B Richard Rojas from Venezuela was signed in January 2021 and delivered a .185 / .290 / .221 slash in 228 PAs over two seasons. 21-year old RHP Braudin Ciprian from the Dominican Republic was signed in July 2021 and threw 23.2 innings over two seasons, posting a 5.32 ERA, 1.69 WHIP and 8.4 K/9. As posted above, he was recently suspended after testing positive for a controlled substance. 19-year old RHP Jairo Castillo from the Dominican Republic was signed in August 2021, but was limited by injuries as he pitched just 2.1 innings over two seasons. 19-year old OF Manuel Vargas from the Dominican Republic was signed in January 2021, but unfortunately suffered a serious injury before ever making his minor league debut. 20-year-old Dominican native RHP Hamlet Vasquez made 25 relief appearances over the '21-'22 DSL seasons. In 36.1 innings Vasquez put 39 men on base via walk or HBP. He is one of only four "Hamlet's" to ever play professional baseball, none to reach the majors yet.

Early Thursday AM: Brisbane’s bats were quiet after the long holiday layoff, as they suffered just their 5th loss in 25 games, 2-0 to Perth. 2B Robert Moore – 1-for-4 (.289 AVG, .880 OPS) C Darrien Miller – 0-for-3 (.269 AVG, .777 OPS) RHP Max Lazar (loss) – 4 IP, 2 R, 4 H, 1 BB, 2 Ks (3.27 ERA) RHP Brannon Jordan – 2 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 BB, 3 Ks (1.62 ERA) LHP Justin King – 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 BB, 0 Ks (2.45 ERA) For Perth: C Alex Hall – 1-for-3, walk (.330 AVG, .910 OPS); also threw out the only attempted basestealer

I can't help but think that we underestimated the relief pitching market and now regret not picking up Boxberger's option, similar to December 2019 when we missed out on an easy reunion with Jesus Aguilar then ended up over-paying for Justin Smoak and Eric Sogard. I'll keep my fingers crossed that this all works out in the end, even if our Big 3 Leverage Relievers are Williams/Bush/Milner. {Step 3: Pretend Acceptance (when you're actually doing reverse-jinx Bargaining)]

Winter League Action from Wednesday, December 28 In a relatively quiet day, Victor Caratini’s club was a winner over Matt Hardy’s squad. DH Victor Caratini – 0-for-2, 2 walks (.219 AVG) – in Ponce’s 2-1 victory over Caguas RHP Matt Hardy – 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 BB, 0 K (0.69 ERA) – in Caguas’ defeat C Brian Navarreto – 1-for-4 (.282 AVG); gave up 3 stolen bases but caught one – in Carolina’s 5-3 loss to Mayaguez