Jim Goulart

Brily0204 wrote: "Nicolas, Mike 2003-04-23 San Diego -- infamous head case fireballer was dealt to unsuspecting Boston after eight minor league Brewer appearances" Nicolas never actually appeared for a Brewer minor league team, did he? Good catch, Nicolas was dealt to Boston within 48 hours of his acquisition. The Red Sox did not believe he would make it to them on waivers and had Doug Melvin put in the claim. Any of his escapades occurred while in a Padre minor league uniform up to that point. Someone from within the San Diego organization provided the info on his clubhouse antics. LHP Bryan Adams was acquired as a PTBNL from Boston.

Baseball America reports that RHP Cody Scarpetta has been added to the Hawaiian League roster. No word on whether he's a 5th eligible Brewer, or whether he's replacing either LHP Mike Ramlow or LHP Chris Cody. Regardless, nice to see....

Having a sneezing fit while in the midst of brushing your teeth can get very messy. Wow, my first contribution to this mega-thread.

The waiver aspect of this discussion continues in a Doug Melvin thread on the Major League Forum here.

This thread in the Trade and Rumor Forum on Todd Coffey started us thinking about waiver claims in the Melvin era. Doug Melvin's claims on waivers -- RHP Coffey, Todd 2008-09-10 Cincinnati RHP Gardner, Richie 2008-03-31 Cincinnati C Munson, Eric 2007-10-15 Houston RHP Salas, Marino 2007-02-01 Baltimore -- converted via trade (along with RHP Kevin Roberts) to Salomon Torres C Closser, J.D. 2006-10-13 Colorado RHP Balfour, Grant 2006-10-05 Cincinnati -- converted via trade to Seth McClung RHP Spurling, Chris 2006-09-08 Detroit -- contributed a wee bit more than folks remember RHP Mabeus, Chris 2006-05-16 Oakland -- his one and only big league appearance was a brutal relief effort with Milwaukee RHP Perkins, Vince 2006-04-12 Toronto -- injury plagued minor leaguer, no longer in system, did earn big league salary for a year from Milwaukee INF Sorensen, Zach 2005-11-18 Anaheim RHP Turnbow, Derrick 2004-10-14 Anaheim -- well-documented storyline, still a fantastic waiver claim LHP Narron, Sam 2004-09-24 Texas -- amazingly, still in the system and slated to begin 2009 at AAA RHP Harper, Jesse 2004-06-03 Toronto -- career ended at high-A Brevard County in '07 RHP Nicolas, Mike 2003-04-23 San Diego -- infamous head case fireballer was dealt to unsuspecting Boston after eight minor league Brewer appearances and several auto-erotic clubhouse visits among his teammates (don't ask) OF Clark, Brady 2003-01-21 NY Mets -- great claim for 2005 alone OF Podsednik, Scott 2002-10-11 Seattle -- 2003 magic eventually netted Carlos Lee Lost on waivers: OF Anderson , Drew 2008-01-18 Cincinnati -- posted a decent .796 OPS in AAA in '08 RHP Aquino, Greg 2007-12-14 Baltimore -- struggled as anticipated with Orioles RHP Liriano, Pedro 2004-12-07 Philadelphia -- five ineffective appearances with big league Phillies in '05, now out of baseball RHP Bausher, Tim 2004-06-07 Colorado -- came tantalizingly close to big leagues in Boston, in uniform for one game but did not play; multiple independent league stints since Let us know if we missed any.

For all the youngsters who only know the Circuit City theme by sound: Eight years ago this month, Benjamin Orr passed away at age 53 due to pancreatic cancer. Drive

No hints -- I imagine this will be a quickie. http://images.yuku.com/image/pjpeg/fc73515c995b8ee85c37559a2049d58e28c183e.jpg

Link Double-A left-hander Steve Garrison, rated in June by Towers as perhaps the Padres' best pitching prospect, had surgery to his rotator cuff and might not return before June, said Grady Fuson, director of scouting and development. The link also discusses labrum and rotator cuff surgery for former Brewer reliever Mike Adams, with a very optimistic, if not realistic, return timetable.

The boys at BrewCrewBall pointed out this analysis of RHP Seth Lintz' delivery at the Hardball Times.

EDIT -- Sorry, I'm working on splitting this topic. EDIT 2 -- This post is from our friend MT Brew in Helena, as I hope that's still clear. -- Jim

Joe Bateman did indeed receive a non-roster spring training invite for 2009. The Brewers have re-signed three members of the Sounds 2008 rotation, and have invited all to join Bateman as non-roster spring training invites -- LHP's Chris Narveson, Sam Narron, and Lindsay Gulin. Sounds Website with the Details

Baseball America reports that the Brewers have resigned RHP Joe Bateman and utility man Michael Garciaparra to new minor league deals for 2009. They still have time to consider adding Bateman to the 40-man as well to protect him from Rule 5. Also in that same report, the Brewers have officially cut ties with RHP Derrick Turnbow, LHP Randy Choate, and C Eric Munson. Others listed above not re-signed will formally become free agents in another week or two.

Nelson is on the 40-man and out of minor league options. If he doesn't make the 25-man next spring, he'd have to be traded (to get value for him) or outrighted. So it comes down to the makeup of next year's 25-man for Brad.

cakecrusher wrote: I suppose this is as good a place as any for this question. Do the Brewers have to add Cain to the 40-man roster this offseason? I think the rules changed to 4/5 years in the last cba, but I am not sure how his draft/signing age is calculated for that purpose. On the same note, does anyone have a quick list of critical prospects that must be added to the 40-man this winter? We have a regular reader who maintains a detailed spreadsheet where he has tracked information for this purpose. Based on his spreadsheet, the players under consideration would be: Aguilar, Omar Bell, Michael Cain, Lorenzo Holmberg, Kenny Katin, Brendan Maldonado, Martin Mercedes, Roque Periard, Alex Rivas, Amaury Rogers, Mark Ryan, Patrick Welch, David Bateman, Joe Bray, Steve Cate, Troy Chapman, Steve Chavez, Ozzie Choate, Randy Corporan, Carlos Corredor, Nestor Crabbe, Callix Delarosa, Anderson Fermaint, Charlie Garciaparra, Michael Gibbons, Jay Gulin, Lindsay Heether, Adam Hinton, Robert Johnson, David Jones, Mike Lluberes, Rafael Miller, Derek Munson, Eric Narron, Sam Narveson, Chris Parejo, Freddy Ramirez, Erasmo Rodriguez, Guilder Sandoval, Juan Shanks, E.J. Stocker, Mel Turnbow, Derrick Ungs, Nic Wahpepah, Josh Woodward, Chris I have not attempted to verify the accuracy of the list, but it seems near spot-on. Many of those players will be free agents, as indicated in this thread.

Caleb Gindl hit a two-out, three-run home run in the first inning and later walked twice as West Oahu rolls, 8-1. And yes, you'll still see me around a bit as obviously the playoffs are keping me nearby http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/wink.gif.

Nice Matt LaPorta story here.

From the Cleveland blog entry Josh linked to: Brantley has doubles power, but the Indians believe the 6-2 Brantley will get stronger and should hit between 15 and 20 homers a season in the big leagues in two or three years. That projection is one heck of a reach. And to do so while maintaining the other parts of his game?

Starting today, the Manatees will be auctioning off their official game worn jerseys from last season. The minimum bids are $150 for both home and road (white & gray) and $130 for the alternate (blue) jerseys. A $10 shipping charge will be added for those of you that will require it. The auction will end at exactly 5pm (EST) October 31st. Each Friday I will send out an email updating the status of each jersey and the latest bid. Think of it as a relaxed eBay setting. The jerseys available are as follows: W=white, G=gray, B=blue #1- G,B #2 - #5 - W, G, B #6 - G, B #7 - #11 -W, G, B #12 - W #13 & #14 - W, G, B #15 - G & B #16 - W & B #17 - #21 - W, G, B #22 - W & B #23 - W, G, B #24 - G & B #25 - W & G #26 - #27 - W, G, B #28 - W & B #29 - #32 - W, G, B #33 - G & B #34 - #39 - W, G, B #40 - G #41 - W, G, B #43 - #48 - W, G, B If you'd like info on what player(s) have worn the jersey you're interested in. Please feel free to email us at info@spacecoaststadium.com and we'll find out. Kyle J. Smith General Manager Brevard County Manatees High-A, Milwaukee Brewers 321-633-9200 x3007 office 321-633-4418 fax ******* Here's the current roster from MiLB.com which included jersey numbers.

Here's a thread in the Trading Post Forum about Manatee jerseys. Since you need to be signed in and a Brewerfan Yuku member to view that forum (and why aren't you yet?), here's the text but updates will only be posted in the Trading Post thread. Starting today, the Manatees will be auctioning off their official game worn jerseys from last season. The minimum bids are $150 for both home and road (white & gray) and $130 for the alternate (blue) jerseys. A $10 shipping charge will be added for those of you that will require it. The auction will end at exactly 5pm (EST) October 31st. Each Friday I will send out an email updating the status of each jersey and the latest bid. Think of it as a relaxed eBay setting. The jerseys available are as follows: W=white, G=gray, B=blue #1- G,B #2 - #5 - W, G, B #6 - G, B #7 - #11 -W, G, B #12 - W #13 & #14 - W, G, B #15 - G & B #16 - W & B #17 - #21 - W, G, B #22 - W & B #23 - W, G, B #24 - G & B #25 - W & G #26 - #27 - W, G, B #28 - W & B #29 - #32 - W, G, B #33 - G & B #34 - #39 - W, G, B #40 - G #41 - W, G, B #43 - #48 - W, G, B If you'd like info on what player(s) have worn the jersey you're interested in. Please feel free to email us at info@spacecoaststadium.com and we'll find out. Kyle J. Smith General Manager Brevard County Manatees High-A, Milwaukee Brewers 321-633-9200 x3007 office 321-633-4418 fax ******* Here's the current roster from MiLB.com which included jersey numbers.

Link while active, text follows: Bryson eager to watch NL Playoffs Pitcher sent to Indians in trade for Sabathia By BUDDY HURLOCK The Delaware News Journal When CC Sabathia takes the mound today for the Milwaukee Brewers in Game 2 of their National League Division Series with the Phillies, the midseason trade that brought Sabathia to the Brewers -- a move that basically put the Brewers in the playoffs -- will be on the mind of Dobbinsville's Rob Bryson. Bryson, a William Penn High graduate, signed with the Brewers in May 2007. In his second year with them this season he had 73 strikeouts and 20 walks in 55 innings with the low Class A West Virginia Power. On July 6, the 20-year-old Bryson and three other minor leaguers were traded to the Cleveland Indians for the 2007 American League Cy Young Award winner, Sabathia, who today makes his fifth start in 17 days. "Of course," Bryson said, "every time I hear the guy's name, the trade goes through my mind and I am still just honored to have been traded for him." Sabathia went 11-2 with a 1.65 ERA for Milwaukee in 17 games, and is expected to contend for the Cy Young award in the NL this year despite only being in the league for half a season. "He's had a lights-out year and that makes me feel even better [about the trade]," said Bryson, who earlier this week said he was hoping to score tickets for today's game through a few Brewers connections he still has. "It's going to be an interesting series and I am excited to watch it," he said. "The Phillies are hot right now and were the best team in baseball in September, playing real well. It will be fun to see what happens." As for the rest of Bryson's year, he joined Cleveland's low Class A team, Lake County (Ohio). He pitched 12 1/3 innings in seven games and was diagnosed with a torn labrum. He will have surgery Wednesday. Bryson spent time on the disabled list in August, rehabilitating the arm, but did pitch as late as Aug. 29, striking out two in one inning. "My first day back on the mound everything felt fine," Bryson said. "But in the days after that, I felt pretty sore." The surgery will keep Bryson off the mound for six to nine months or possibly more. Bryson said that a labrum tear is "something that just happens over time," and that it's torn enough to where it's become painful. "I just want to get it taken care of as soon as possible," Bryson said about next week's surgery. "That way, I can recover as soon as possible. They told me rehab will be six to nine months. But pitching competitively, I probably will not be back on the mound in a game situation for at least a year."

Logan Schafer with an RBI single and a walk, others idle Tuesday night Here's the league's home page at MiLB.com. Don't make me jump back in daily, guys http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif Oh, there's a big league game this afternoon?

Baseball America: SOUTHERN LEAGUE TOP 20 PROSPECTS 1. Clayton Kershaw, lhp, Jacksonville (Dodgers) 2. David Price, lhp, Montgomery (Rays) 3. Cameron Maybin, of, Carolina (Marlins) 4. Matt LaPorta, of, Huntsville (Brewers) 5. Alcides Escobar, ss, Huntsville (Brewers) 6. Chris Volstad, rhp, Carolina (Marlins) 7. Mat Gamel, 3b, Huntsville (Brewers) 8. Michael Saunders, of, West Tenn (Mariners) 9. Tommy Hanson, rhp, Mississippi (Braves) 10. Wade Davis, rhp, Montgomery (Rays) 11. Chris Coghlan, 2b, Carolina (Marlins) 12. Jeremy Hellickson, rhp, Montgomery (Rays) 13. Jordan Schafer, of, Mississippi (Braves) 14. James McDonald, rhp, Jacksonville (Dodgers) 15. Ivan DeJesus, ss, Jacksonville (Dodgers) 16. Jake McGee, lhp, Montgomery (Rays) 17. Angel Salome, c, Huntsville (Brewers) 18. Michael Brantley, cf, Huntsville (Brewers) 19. Adam Moore, c, West Tenn (Mariners) 20. Luis Valbuena, 2b, West Tenn (Mariners)

Comeback Kid Ungs perseveres through injury, grief in 2008 BY JIM LEITNER Dubuque (Iowa) Telegraph-Herald SPORTS EDITOR Dyersville, Iowa, native Nic Ungs finished strong in his first season with the Nashville Sounds, the top minor league affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers. Ungs endured an early season shoulder injury, which led to a six-week stint on the disabled list, and the July death of his mother, Jane, from cancer. It's not how you start; it's how you finish. One of the oldest mantras in Minor League Baseball development should work in Nic Ungs' favor this offseason. After a physically and emotionally draining first half, the 6-foot-1, 220-pound right-handed pitcher from Dyersville, Iowa, finished his first season in the Milwaukee Brewers organization with a flourish. Ungs becomes a free agent the week after the World Series but indicated a preference to remain with the Brewers following seven seasons in the Florida Marlins system. "Everything the organization told me would happen actually came true, and I really appreciate that," Ungs said. "They were completely honest with me instead of trying to feed me a line. I would love to have the opportunity to go back there. "Being hurt the first half of the season, I obviously didn't pitch the way I'm capable. When I finally got healthy, my numbers were like night and day, and I did a lot of good things on the mound. Hopefully, that's the impression they have of me when they decide if they want to bring me back next spring." Ungs threw five innings of shutout ball on April 6 in his debut with the Nashville Sounds of the Triple-A Pacific Coast League. But, over the next nine innings covering three starts, he surrendered 20 earned runs and lost twice. The Brewers then discovered an imbalance in the strength between the front and rear of his shoulder capsule. He spent the month of June rehabilitating the problem. "Every pitcher has little aches and pains all season long. You're conditioned to know that's just something you have to deal with," Nashville pitching coach Stan Kyles said. "But, the aches and pains that are normal in August are a lot more alarming in April and May. It's hard to battle through them when your mind tells you there might be a problem. "It was tough for Nic. He broke camp wanting to show the organization they made the right move by signing him. And, physically, he just wasn't able to do it right away." Being on the disabled list became the least of his worries. Ungs' mother, Jane, passed away in early July after an eight-year battle with cancer. The Brewers assigned Ungs to Double-A Huntsville when he came off the disabled list. Ungs then went 4-1 with a 1.96 ERA in 46 innings over seven starts to earn a return to Nashville. "It felt so good to be back on the mound," Ungs said. "That was the one place where I felt I was in control. I had no control of what was going on back home or with my season. But, on the mound, I was at peace and it was so stress-free." Ungs completely reversed his early-season numbers at Nashville. He allowed only eight earned runs in 19 2/3 innings and split the two decisions he received in four outings. Ungs finished the season with a Triple-A 2-3 record and 7.49 ERA despite the rocky start. "He was tentative early, and that comes with not being completely healthy," Kyles said. "When he came back, he was so much more focused and so much more committed to doing the things he knows he's able to do. "He has a better perspective on what he needed to get done, and he wasn't as afraid to fail. He threw the ball like he did when he pitched against us the last couple of seasons when he was with Albuquerque. That was the reason we signed him."

Manatees will benefit from Nationals' requests, particularly with drainage http://cmsimg.floridatoday.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=A9&Date=20080930&Category=NEWS01&ArtNo=809300333&Ref=V1&Profile=1006&MaxW=550&MaxH=650&title=0

You just dont want us to drive to Massachusetts and hit Mass with big rocks. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/wink.gif I double-checked with my sources today (heh, that's fun to say, I sound so "insider"), and I am confident (OK, somewhat confident, but can't guarantee) that I will not be pelted with big rocks, little rocks, etc. Now Gammons on the other hand...