Jim Goulart

Interesting article -- just goes to show what important little things are learned off the field along the way during the minor league journey: http://www.floridatoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071114/SPORTS/711140338/1002/SPORTS Braun the pride of Brevard County BY JIM CAWLEY FLORIDA TODAY It's a good bet that brief smiles appeared on the faces of Brevard County baseball fans Monday upon learning one of their own -- Ryan Braun -- was named National League Rookie of the Year. It was only about a year-and-a-half ago that the 23-year-old third baseman was shagging grounders and driving in runs for the Brevard County Manatees. Now he's playing the hot corner for the Milwaukee Brewers and turning heads after just five months in the big leagues. "For us, it was amazement to see him go from third base at Space Coast Stadium to third base at Miller Park in a year," Manatees GM Buck Rogers said Tuesday. "If you look at his stats, he's got A-Rod-type numbers." Pretty close. Braun, who edged Colorado shortstop Troy Tulowitzki by two points for the award, started 2007 at Triple-A Nashville. Despite missing almost two months of the major-league season -- his first game with the Brewers was May 25 -- Braun produced mind-boggling offensive numbers: a .324 batting average with 34 home runs and 97 RBIs. What's most amazing about Braun's offensive prowess is the way in which he has achieved it. Through the minors -- and straight up through to the majors -- he has continued to get better. In 59 games with Brevard County in 2006, Braun batted .274. He then received a promotion to Double-A Huntsville, where he batted .303. The former University of Miami star pushed his average to .342 for Nashville before getting the call to the big leagues. And he hasn't stopped since. Though no one could have predicted Braun would explode on the scene this quickly, his success is something the Brewers were counting on. In May, I had the opportunity to sit down with Brewers GM Doug Melvin, who was in Brevard County for a few days as part of an organizational minor-league trip. It was two days after Braun received the call-up to Milwaukee. "He's very talented; he can run, he's got good power and he's a very confident player," Melvin said at the time. "We expect him to have success in the big leagues." I think it's fair to say those expectations have been met. During our conversation about Braun, Melvin spoke of the extreme confidence -- borderline cockiness -- that seeped out of the young third baseman. In fact, Melvin said Braun had contacted him from time to time while in the minors just to make sure he wasn't being forgotten. "Hey, I'm still down here," Braun would say to the GM. "You see the numbers I'm putting up down here? Well, I could be doing that in the big leagues, too." Rogers recalls a time when Braun's head may have swelled a little too much. According to the 'Tees GM, Braun missed Brevard County's team photo in 2006, which didn't sit too well with the staff or with some of his teammates. Turns out Braun got a flat tire on the way to the photo shoot, but just went to get the tire fixed instead of calling to explain his situation, or to arrange for a ride. At the time, Rogers said, Braun didn't think it was a big deal. While giving Braun a ride to an airport a few months later, Rogers took the opportunity to explain to him just how much of a big deal it was. "I told him, 'You may not want to hear this, but . . . it bothered me, it bothered our staff. You gotta do things right.' " Rogers said many things to his captive audience of one during the half-hour ride to the airport. But the main message was this: "Don't ever think you're bigger than the game." When Rogers was done, Braun told him, "Thanks, I needed to hear that." They shook hands, Rogers wished Braun luck, and that's the last time the two men have spoken. Rogers still feels good about that talk, and feels even better about the recent success of his former player. "Hopefully, he has a Hall of Fame career so some of the fans can tell their grandkids 'I remember him when he was a minor-leaguer,' " Rogers said. "God bless him. I hope he has a long career. And I hope he never forgets his roots in Brevard County."

Hernan Iribarren's line still looks pretty in Venezuela (.845 OPS), but he is 2-for-his-last-19. Vinny Rottino only has one extra-base hit among his 19 hits in Mexico, but has an OBP of .423 in 63 AB's. Half of Brad Nelson's 12 hits in Mexico are for extra bases, but he's also struck out 18 time sin 49 AB's. The Nashville site continues to track all those tiny Latin samples.

On Monday afternoon, Matt LaPorta's solo home run accounted for Mesa's only run in an 8-1 loss. It was LaPorta's league-leading 6th of the AFL season, and his also league-leading 21st RBI. LaPorta also walked. Dave Johnson's own error led to an unearned run in his one inning of work. Elsewhere, Steve Sollmann doubled, singled and walked in Scottsdale's 11-7 win. He committed two errors at second base.

Steve Sollmann is batting second and playing second base for Scottsdale in an MLB.TV game airing live Monday afternoon, 1:35 Central: http://www.mlb.com/mlb/events/winterleagues/?league=afl

Mesa loses another late lead and falls, 6-5, in ten innings Matt LaPorta smacks two doubles and drives in two. Fourteen of his 23 hits have been for extra-bases, nice. Adam Heether was also 2-for-4 with a double, and while he's only 9-for-44 (.205), five of his nine hits are for extra bases. Matt LaPorta (Brewers) went 2-for-4, doubled and scored in the second, and stroked a two-run two-bagger in the third for the Solar Sox (12-14). The 22-year-old Brewers prospect leads the Arizona Fall League with 20 RBIs and shares the home run lead at five. http://www.mlb.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?sid=l119&t=g_box&gid=2007_11_09_msswin_pddwin_1 For Scottsadale, Steve Sollmann played second base, went 1-for-4, scored and drove in a run in a 10-3 win: http://www.mlb.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?sid=l119&t=g_box&gid=2007_11_09_peswin_scowin_1

We learn about Matt LaPorta's long-term business plans, that he's a devout Christian, his girlfriend (an All-American pole vaulter), and oh yeah, baseball: Matt LaPorta profile article from MiLB.com

Steve Hammond's Final AFL Journal Thanks for writing this fall, Steve -- enjoy the brief offseason.

Mesa snaps out of it, wins 5-3 Who said Matt LaPorta needed a day off? On base three times (HR # 5, double, and walk). Lou Palmisano 0-for-3 with a walk. Steve Sollmann played second base and was 1-for-2 with a walk for his Scottsdale squad. On the mound, Steve Hammond got the start and turned in a third consecutive middling pitching line, allowing three first-inning runs, but he did retire the last eight men he faced in a four-inning effort. Unheralded Dave Johnson followed Hammond on the mound and worked two scoreless innings, aided by a double play grounder with two men on in the 5th. Box Score

Baseball Prospectus thinks the Phillies paid too much Rotoworld likes it better from a Phillies' perspective

From Jim Callis at Baseball America: http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/askba/265150.html [tt]Could you give us the list of Type A and B free agents?[/tt] We track free-agent compensation throughout the offseason in Ask BA, so let's start with a review of how it's determined. The Elias Sports Bureau calculates ratings based on performance over the last two years, with players divided into the following groups: catchers; first basemen, outfielders and DHs; second basemen, third basemen and shortstops; starting pitchers; and relief pitchers. The top 20 percent of players at a position are designated Type A free agents, while those in the 21-40 percent group are Type B free agents. Any free agent who doesn't qualify as a Type A or B requires no compensation. Additionally, any Type A or B free agent who isn't offered arbitration by his former club also yields no compensation. Otherwise, the former team gets the signing club's first-round pick and a supplemental first-round selection for a Type A free agent, or just the supplemental first-rounder for a Type B. The first 15 picks in the first round are protected, so if a club holding one of those choices signs a Type A free agent, it surrenders its second-rounder instead. With all that now out of the way, here's the list of Type A and B free agents: Ari: RHP Livan Hernandez (B). Atl: OF Andruw Jones (B), LHP Ron Mahay (B). Bos: RHP Eric Gagne (B), 3B Mike Lowell (A), RHP Mike Timlin (B). ChC: C Jason Kendall (B). Cle: OF Kenny Lofton (B). Col: RHP Jorge Julio (B), C Yorvit Torrealba (B). Det: 1B Sean Casey (B), RHP Todd Jones (B), LHP Kenny Rogers (B). Hou: INF Mark Loretta (B), RHP Trever Miller (B). KC: RHP David Riske (B). LAD: OF Luis Gonzalez (B). Mil: RHP Francisco Cordero (A), 2B/3B Tony Graffanino (B), RHP Scott Linebrink (A). Min: OF Torii Hunter (A). NYM: 2B Luis Castillo (B), LHP Tom Glavine (A), OF Shawn Green (B), C Paul LoDuca (B). NYY: LHP Andy Pettitte (A), C Jorge Posada (A), RHP Mariano Rivera (A), 3B Alex Rodriguez (A), RHP Luis Vizcaino (B). Oak: C Mike Piazza (B), OF Shannon Stewart (B). Phi: RHP Freddy Garcia (B), 2B Tadahito Iguchi (A), OF Aaron Rowand (A). StL: SS David Eckstein (B), RHP Troy Percival (B), RHP Russ Springer (A). SD: C Michael Barrett (A), OF Milton Bradley (A), RHP Doug Brocail (B), OF Mike Cameron (B). SF: OF Barry Bonds (A), 3B Pedro Feliz (B), SS Omar Vizquel (B). Sea: OF Jose Guillen (B). TB: *RHP Al Reyes (B). *Team holds 2008 option. The Yankees potentially could land the most compensation draft choices of any team, as they would get four first-round selections and five sandwich picks if they were to lose Pettitte, Posada, Rivera, Rodriguez and Vizcaino. That's unlikely to happen, of course. Pettitte has said he'll either return to New York or retire, while the Yankees both desperately need Posada and Rivera and can pay them more than any other club could. New York has four Type A free agents. The only other teams with as many as two are the Brewers, Padres and Phillies.

Mesa blew a 4-2 9th inning lead and lost in ten, 7-4 Wow, does Matt LaPorta need a day off. Three fly outs, two ground outs, 1-for 24 in his last six games, now 19-for-90 (.211). As noted from our on-site fan in the prior post, Mitch Stetter is just ridiculous. Retires all four men he faces -- he has faced 19 LH bats this season, they're 0-for-18 against him with 13 K's and one walk. Stetter's going to be oozing with confidence in spring training. Tim Dillard relieved Stetter and was greeted with back-to-back home runs, blowing the save -- ugh. Dillard's getting plenty of ground ball outs in his ten relief stints, but he's still allowed 15 hits and four walks while striking out only four in his nine-inning sample. He's been mis-cast as a closer on this Mesa squad. http://mlb.mlb.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?sid=l119&t=g_box&gid=2007_11_07_surwin_msswin_1

The Brewers' home page includes a link to a three-minute AFL video on the club that includes comments from Matt LaPorta and Steve Hammond. The video overlooks Steve Sollmann, who was shifted to the Scottsdale roster from Mesa. http://milwaukee.brewers.mlb.com/index.jsp?c_id=mil

Voters approved out in Helena, nice: http://www.helenair.com/articles/2007/11/07/helena_top/a01110707_01.txt Planned work at Helena's historic Kindrick Legion Field, built about 1940, will include needed maintenance and new amenities to improve the experiences of both fans and Helena Brewers and American Legion ballplayers. The dry, rocky infield will be replaced with a smoother playing surface. New bleachers will be added along the baselines, but the historic grandstands will remain. The home clubhouse will be renovated and expanded. New ballpark lights will cut energy costs and reduce light pollution in the surrounding area. They'll also be mounted on metal poles, eliminating the danger of a pole falling onto the field. An existing wooden pole fell into the outfield fence a few years ago.

The Huntsville Times reports that Rich Sauveur, the Stars' pitching coach the past three years, will be the new pitching coach at AAA Pawtucket for the Red Sox. http://www.al.com/sports/huntsvilletimes/index.ssf?/base/sports/1194185741123680.xml&coll=1

Mesa loses, 5-2, Tuesday afternoon, and falls below .500 at 11-12. Matt LaPorta (.224) 0-for-3 with a walk (he's 1-for-his-last-19 with three walks), Lou Palmisano 0-for-3 with a walk, Adam Heether singled in four AB's http://mlb.mlb.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?sid=l119&t=g_box&gid=2007_11_06_msswin_surwin_1

Latest Brewer signing for you to peek at, colbyjack: Infielder Pedro Ramos, a LH bat -- unsure of home country nor whether he's a corner or middle infielder We could push the Brewers to learn more, but if he's not among those on the top prospect lists you have access to, then we're fine with just waiting for the spring media guide for details. He'll be in Maryvale with those kids in the spring/summer.

Mesa falls, 7-3 Matt LaPorta with a second consecutive 0-for-5 game, now at .232 (19-for-82, 14 BB's, 25 K's, .814 OPS); Lou Palmisano walked in his only at-bat; Mitch Stetter's inning went single, double-play ball, pop out. His ERA is 0.00 after nine innnings, with three BB's and 15 K's. For Scottsdale, Steve Sollmann singled in four AB's and committed a fielding error at third base, a position Steve hadn't played much, if at all, with Huntsville in '07. http://www.mlb.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?sid=l119&t=g_box&gid=2007_11_05_scowin_msswin_1

If you disagree, post to that poster, please don't preach that you know what players are worth. It's very early in the true rumors season, so why not nip this in the bud? It wasn't one or two threads over the past week that prompted my post, but several. A definite trend, if you will. whats the big deal? I generally stay out of threads where guys want to trade Bill Hall for Johan Santana but for every ridiculous proposal there are generally three or four legitimate proposals that are generated as a result. But if you generally stay out of the threads that begin with that type of proposal (not as extreme as you mention), then how do you get to the legitimate proposals that are then generated -- are they in different threads? As little as calling a group of poster's kids to prove your point is tasteless in my opinion. Kids, guys, folks -- they're all terms of endearment. I'm simply most likely older, and not necessarily wiser, than most of you. I love you kids! Now let's play nice.

MiLB.com: Continuing to learn how to play a new position hasn't affected Matt LaPorta's performance at the plate too much. The Brewers' top pick (seventh overall) in this year's draft continues to produce, leading the Arizona Fall League with 16 RBIs while tying for the top spot with four homers. LaPorta is batting only .247, though, after combining to hit .304 at Helena of the Pioneer League and West Virginia of the South Atlantic League during the regular season. In addition, he's struck out 24 times in 77 at-bats after whiffing 30 times in 115 at-bats during the season. Still, what's of most concern to the front office folks in Milwaukee is his continued development in the outfield. He's had a strong showing thus far, committing one error in 48 chances in left field.

Starting its own thread so I'm not singling anyone specific out, but you have to love the Trade Rumors thread. Invariably, if it's not one of the few threads that discusses a substantiated rumor (meaning it's a proposal thread), you can count on something like this: Hey, how about the Brewers trade (insert "never enough" package here) for so-and-so (insert Brewers making out like bandits here). And then (rightfully so), the posts come in indicating why the original proposal leans so heavily towards the Crew. I'm glad folks enjoy the forum, and sorry to be a smug party-pooper, but let's look at both sides realistically when proposing deals... OK, let me have it...

Go to the 7:00 minute mark for the Matt LaPorta audio interview: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/baseballdigestdaily/blog/2007/11/04/BDD-Talk-Radio

Rotoworld with a note: Hernan Iribarren doubled twice on Friday and is batting .448 in the Venezuelan Winter League. He's 13-for-29. The 23-year-old Iribarren hit .307/.363/.430 with 18 steals in 34 attempts in Double-A last season. Since his only major league skill is his ability to hit for average, he's a long shot to make it as a regular. A career as a bench player remains possible.

Mesa loses 7-1 Matt LaPorta with a game to forget (0-for-5, four K's), as he has now struck out in seven of his last 11 AB's. Tim Dillard with a two-run inning, and has allowed seven hits in his last three innings. Steve Sollmann had been only 3-for-23 in seven games with Mesa, but has been transferred to the Scottsdale squad, where he promptly went 3-for-4 with a double, two RBI, and a stolen base against his old mates. http://www.mlb.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?sid=l119&t=g_box&gid=2007_11_03_msswin_scowin_1

Didn't realize Chuck Finley and Ben Sheets were linked in this way -- a few quotes from Ben, who seemed genuinely humbled. Just give us one last stud season, Ben, 34 starts -- http://www.thenewsstar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071104/SPORTS/711040342/1006 Photo by Michael Dunlap/The Monroe News-Star http://cmsimg.thenewsstar.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?NewTbl=1&Avis=DI&Dato=20071103&Kategori=NEWS01&Lopenr=1103007&Ref=PH&Item=2&MaxW=350&MaxH=350

Mesa loses on Friday afternoon, 10-3: Matt LaPorta 1-for-4 with an RBI (two K's); Lou Palmisano 0-for-4; Adam Heether 0-for-3 with a walk and run scored. Click on their names in the box score for season-to-date numbers, with the adjustment to include today's game to be made early evening: http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?t=g_box&gid=2007_11_02_surwin_msswin_1