MassBrew

Saguaros finally fall; very light day regarding the Crew.... GAME DATE: 10/07/03 PEORIA SAGUAROS 1 AT GRAND CNYN RAFTERS 2 YTD YTD PEORIA SAGUAROS AB R H BI AVG GRAND CNYN RAFTERS AB R H BI AVG J.Bourgeois 2B 4 0 0 1 .273 N.Logan CF 4 0 0 0 .211 J.Furmaniak SS 4 0 0 0 .077 J.Athas 2B 3 1 1 0 .278 J.Gautreau DH 4 0 1 0 .200 T.Tiffee 1B 4 0 1 1 .250 C.Aguila LF 2 0 0 0 .227 D.Kelly 3B 4 1 3 1 .375 [b]B.Nelson LF 2 0 0 0 .133[/b] L.Niekro DH 3 0 0 0 .200 J.Knott RF 2 0 0 0 .294 S.Boyd LF 3 0 0 0 .111 D.Wright 3B 3 0 1 0 .333 S.Schumaker RF 2 0 1 0 .417 J.Stokes 1B 3 0 0 0 .071 M.Hernandez CAT 3 0 0 0 .000 J.Huber CAT 2 1 1 0 .273 J.Nelson SS 3 0 0 0 .063 R.Nivar CF 3 0 0 0 .316 B.Bonser PIT 0 0 0 0 .000 N.Regilio PIT 0 0 0 0 .000 L.Anderson PIT 0 0 0 0 .000 T.Moser PIT 0 0 0 0 .000 B.Wolfe PIT 0 0 0 0 .000 M.Peterson PIT 0 0 0 0 .000 T.Johnson PIT 0 0 0 0 .000 C.Bartosh PIT 0 0 0 0 .000 TOTALS 29 1 3 1 TOTALS 29 2 6 2 PEORIA SAGUAROS 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0- 1 3 1 GRAND CNYN RAFTERS 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1- 2 6 0 E--J.Huber. DP--PEORIA SAGUAROS 1, GRAND CNYN RAFTERS 0. LOB--PEORIA SAGUAROS 3, GRAND CNYN RAFTERS 4. 2B--J.Huber (1), T.Tiffee (2). HR--D.Kelly (1). SB--D.Kelly (3). CS--R.Nivar, J.Athas. YTD IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA PEORIA SAGUAROS N.Regilio 3.0 3 1 0 0 1 0 0.00 T.Moser 2.0 1 0 0 2 2 0 4.50 M.Peterson 2.0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0.00 C.Bartosh (L,1-1) 1.1 1 1 1 0 1 1 3.18 GRAND CNYN RAFTERS B.Bonser 4.0 2 1 1 1 3 0 3.00 L.Anderson 1.0 0 0 0 1 1 0 3.86 B.Wolfe 2.0 0 0 0 0 3 0 1.80 T.Johnson (W,1-0) 2.0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0.00 [b]SO[/b]--J.Bourgeois 2, J.Gautreau 2, C.Aguila, [b]B.Nelson[/b], J.Stokes, R.Nivar, N.Logan, J.Athas, L.Niekro, S.Boyd. BB--J.Knott, J.Huber, J.Athas, S.Schumaker. T--2:03.

(Note to Brewerfan poster rpms6 -- we posted almost at the same time, within minutes -- I began the offseason thread with this post, so deleted your duplicate, but thanks!)

The dismantling of the Dominican and Venezuelan programs begins with these releases. High Desert closer Bobby Bystrowski was a first-half All-Star, but collapsed in the second half. LHP Tommy Marx' control issues could not be solved. Beloit infielder Keith Bohanan (23rd round, 2002) carried a light stick. Beloit SS Chas Terni was brought in from independent league ball to fill a SS gap for 2003. A mild surprise in Beloit RHP Jason Baker (31st round, 2002), who was serviceable in 2003 and was asked to pitch key innings during the postseason run. By far, the biggest disappointment would be in the release of 3B Taylor McCormack, the 2001 7th round pick. He won't be 21 until October 20th, yet the Brewers saw enough apparently in three seasons in Arizona to cut ties. Two foreign catchers, Germany's Simon Guhring and Nigeria's Gbenga Olayemi, saw their Brewer careers end after two-year stints in Arizona. Here's the complete list: Bystrowski, Bobby RHS RELEASED HIGH DESERT 10/7/2003 Marx, Thomas J LHS RELEASED HIGH DESERT 10/7/2003 Baker, Jason L RHR RELEASED BELOIT 10/7/2003 Bohanan, Keith 3B RELEASED BELOIT 10/7/2003 Terni, Charles A SS RELEASED BELOIT 10/7/2003 Cedeno (Moreno), Jonathan RHS RELEASED AZL BREWERS 10/7/2003 Chirinos, Jesus A RHS RELEASED AZL BREWERS 10/7/2003 Correa, Alexander LHS RELEASED AZL BREWERS 10/7/2003 Depaula, Bartolo INF RELEASED AZL BREWERS 10/7/2003 Flandes (Concepcion), Wington RHS RELEASED AZL BREWERS 10/7/2003 Guhring, Simon D C RELEASED AZL BREWERS 10/7/2003 McCormack, Taylor J 3B RELEASED AZL BREWERS 10/7/2003 Mejia, Fausto OF RELEASED AZL BREWERS 10/7/2003 Olayemi, Gbenga C RELEASED AZL BREWERS 10/7/2003 Pijuan, Ricky 1B RELEASED AZL BREWERS 10/7/2003 Alcantara (Mayi), Wellington INF RELEASED DSL BREWERS 10/7/2003 Arias (Campos), Franklin OF RELEASED DSL BREWERS 10/7/2003 Arriete (Munoz), Julio OF RELEASED DSL BREWERS 10/7/2003 Camacho (Navarro), Luis LHS RELEASED DSL BREWERS 10/7/2003 Colon, Ricardo LHS RELEASED DSL BREWERS 10/7/2003 De La Rosa, Rafael INF RELEASED DSL BREWERS 10/7/2003 Figueroa, Mallia RHS RELEASED DSL BREWERS 10/7/2003 Heredia (Cabral), Domingo RHS RELEASED DSL BREWERS 10/7/2003 Ibarra (Lara), Cesar LHS RELEASED DSL BREWERS 10/7/2003 Leon (Castillo), Jose C RELEASED DSL BREWERS 10/7/2003 Martinez, Miguel LHS RELEASED DSL BREWERS 10/7/2003 Montano, Wilber INF RELEASED DSL BREWERS 10/7/2003 Uzcategui, Javier INF RELEASED DSL BREWERS 10/7/2003 Zerpa, Anderson INF RELEASED DSL BREWERS 10/7/2003 Guaimaro, Joel OF RELEASED VSL BREWERS 10/7/2003 Millan Garcia, Greg RHS RELEASED VSL BREWERS 10/7/2003 Querales (Pena), Jesus INF RELEASED VSL BREWERS 10/7/2003 Ramirez (Ramos), Fernando OF RELEASED VSL BREWERS 10/7/2003 Rodriguez, Jose INF RELEASED VSL BREWERS 10/7/2003 Uzcategui, Norberto INF RELEASED VSL BREWERS 10/7/2003 Zerpa, Robinsson C RELEASED VSL BREWERS 10/7/2003

Game-winner Saturday: Brad Nelson (MIL) hit a game-winning single with two out in the 10th inning as the Saguaros defeated the Javelinas 8-6 at the Peoria Sports Complex.

Saguaros undefeated at 4-0; day off for David Krynzel; next game on Monday... GAME DATE: 10/04/03 PEORIA SAGUAROS 8 AT PEORIA JAVELINAS 6 (EXTRA INNINGS) YTD YTD PEORIA SAGUAROS AB R H BI AVG PEORIA JAVELINAS AB R H BI AVG J.Furmaniak SS 5 1 1 0 .111 R.Adams SS 4 1 0 0 .250 J.Gautreau 3B 4 1 1 0 .200 D.Rich 2B 4 2 2 2 .273 [b]R.Weeks DH 4 1 1 1 .444 [/b] J.McKinley PH 1 0 0 0 .222 C.Aguila CF 3 3 1 2 .143 R.Hankins DH 4 1 2 2 .500 J.Knott RF 5 1 2 2 .182 B.Gettis RF 5 0 0 0 .167 [b]B.Nelson LF 5 0 1 2 .154[/b] C.Santos 1B 5 0 1 1 .222 J.Stokes 1B 5 1 1 0 .091 M.Tonis CAT 5 0 0 0 .250 [b]K.Johnson CAT 4 0 1 0 .375[/b] J.Bubela LF 4 0 2 0 .375 J.Bourgeois 2B 3 0 1 1 .333 J.Labandeira 3B 5 1 2 0 .231 T.Hutchinson PIT 0 0 0 0 .000 J.Shanks CF 2 1 1 0 .111 F.Francisco PIT 0 0 0 0 .000 T.Godwin CF 1 0 0 0 .250 J.Novinsky PIT 0 0 0 0 .000 J.Strong PH 1 0 0 0 .000 T.Bausher PIT 0 0 0 0 .000 P.Bauer PIT 0 0 0 0 .000 C.Bartosh PIT 0 0 0 0 .000 Z.McClellan PIT 0 0 0 0 .000 C.Schroder PIT 0 0 0 0 .000 M.Wylie PIT 0 0 0 0 .000 G.Sherrill PIT 0 0 0 0 .000 G.Majewski PIT 0 0 0 0 .000 TOTALS 38 8 10 8 TOTALS 41 6 10 5 PEORIA SAGUAROS 3 0 0 0 0 2 1 0 0 2- 8 10 1 PEORIA JAVELINAS 0 0 4 0 0 0 1 0 1 0- 6 10 1 E--J.Stokes, J.Labandeira. DP--PEORIA SAGUAROS 0, PEORIA JAVELINAS 2. LOB--PEORIA SAGUAROS 5, PEORIA JAVELINAS 9. 2B--D.Rich (1). 3B-- D.Rich (1). HR--C.Aguila (1), J.Knott (1), R.Hankins (1). CS--J.Knott. [b]SF--R.Weeks[/b]. YTD IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA PEORIA SAGUAROS T.Hutchinson 3.0 4 4 4 1 0 0 7.20 F.Francisco 2.0 1 0 0 2 1 0 0.00 [b]J.Novinsky 2.0 3 1 1 1 1 0 6.00[/b] [b]T.Bausher 1.0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0.00[/b] C.Bartosh (W,1-0) 2.0 1 1 1 0 3 1 2.08 PEORIA JAVELINAS P.Bauer 3.0 5 3 3 0 1 1 9.00 Z.McClellan 2.0 0 0 0 1 2 0 0.00 C.Schroder 1.0 1 2 2 1 1 1 6.00 M.Wylie 1.0 2 1 1 1 0 0 3.00 G.Sherrill 1.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.00 G.Majewski (L,0-1) 2.0 2 2 2 1 2 0 6.00 [b]WP[/b]--T.Hutchinson, [b]T.Bausher[/b]. [b]SO[/b]--J.Furmaniak, [b]R.Weeks 2[/b], J.Knott, [b]B.Nelson, K.Johnson[/b], J.McKinley, M.Tonis 2, J.Bubela, J.Labandeira, J.Strong. BB--J.Gautreau, C.Aguila 2, J.Bourgeois, R.Adams, R.Hankins, J.Bubela, J.Shanks. T--2:55. A--143

The Brewers removed catcher Cody McKay from their Indianapolis roster on the team web site yesterday. It's possible that McKay was eligible to choose to become a free agent immediately when he was removed from the 40-man roster last month, thus giving himself a head start on shopping himself around. If we hear from the Brewers that the circumstances were a bit different, we'll let you know.

From the BA article we linked to earlier this week: Shelley's success comes in large part from his split-finger fastball. His velocity has never been overwhelming--he throws an 88-91 mph fastball with a 78-80 mph split and a curve--but ever since he added the split-finger to his arsenal in 2002, he's piled up plenty of strikeouts.

According to Baseball America, the Brewers have signed three of their potential minor league free agents thus far, as they are able to do at this time (minor league contracts expire October 15th, we believe, and the Brewers could still resign one of their own after this date as well -- prior to, as was the case here, negotiating rights are exclusive): RHP Ben Ford - as discussed in a neighboring "Indianapolis" thread here: pub123.ezboard.com/fbrewe...41&stop=45 Ben Ford's Brewerfan Player Profile Page: www.brewerfan.net/ViewPla...ayerId=541 Also, RHP Jason Childers finished the season as Indy's closer. He's Matt's (Brewer 40-man roster pitcher) older brother, as many of you know. Jason signed his first affiliated contract with the Brewers after beginning his pro career in the independent Frontier League, and has subsequently spent seven years in the Brewer chain. It would not be a surprise to see this organizational soldier rewarded with some sort of cameo (or more) major league appearance in 2004, based on his recent work. RHP Jason Childers Brewerfan Player Profile Page: www.brewerfan.net/ViewPla...layerId=72 Finally, RHP Tim Bausher falls under this category. Bausher's currently working in the Arizona Fall League. We believe this confirms what we thought earlier, that players signed out of independent league ball, but who had previously been contracted to an affiliate (Bausher was drafted by the Mariners and spent a rookie league season with them), are not owned by the Brewers automatically with renewable years. If that's the case, and we still might be confused, hopefully we'll see RHP Jason Shelley on this list soon. RHP Tim Bausher Brewerfan Player Profile Page: www.brewerfan.net/ViewPla...ayerId=549 I hope to close out and lock this thread and begin an "Offseason Transaction Thread" with links to all the previous transaction threads, tomorrow.

No box score available from Wednesday's game: Saguaros 11, Scorpions 2 Adrian Gonzalez hit the first grand slam of the AFL season in a five run 4th inning as the Saguaros defeated the Scorpions tonight 11-2 in Peoria. The Saguaros drew first blood tonight scoring 3 runs in the 2nd inning off Scorpions pitcher Dustin Nippert (AZ). Kade Johnson (MIL) drove in two of those runs with a double to the wall. The Scorpions scored their first run of the season in the 6th inning when Reggie Abercrombie hit a solo homer to left field. Scott Hairston (AZ) drove in Nick Gorneault (ANA) in the 6th inning to account for the other Scorpions run. Diamondbacks' prospects Chris Snyder, Josh Kroeger and Sergio Santos struggled at the plate tonight with a combined 1-11 performance. In addition, Pete Sikaras made his AFL debut in the 6th inning, allowing one earned run in his only inning of work. Scorpions 000 001 100 2 9 4 Saguaros 031 501 10x 11 13 4Scorpions: Nippert, Nall (2), Steffek (4), Fischer (4), Sikaras (6), Barzilla (7), Valentine (9) Saguaros: Hendrickson, Regilio (3), Mattox (5), Novinsky (7), Hampton (8) WP - Mattox (1-0) LP - Nippert (0-1) SV - None Time - 2:52 W L PCT GB [b]Saguaros[/b] 2 0 1.000 -- Solar Sox 1 1 1.000 1.0 Scorpions 0 2 .000 2.0

GAME DATE: 9/30/03 PEORIA SAGUAROS 1 AT SCOTTS. SCORPIONS 0 YTD YTD PEORIA SAGUAROS AB R H BI AVG SCOTTS. SCORPIONS AB R H BI AVG R.Nivar DH 4 0 2 0 .500 W.Aybar 3B 4 0 0 0 .000 [b]D.Krynzel CF 4 0 2 0 .500 [/b] N.Gorneault RF 4 0 0 0 .000 C.Aguila LF 4 0 0 0 .000 D.McPherson DH 4 0 0 0 .000 C.Aguila RF 0 0 0 0 .000 J.Mathis CAT 4 0 0 0 .000 A.Gonzalez 1B 3 1 1 0 .333 J.Loney 1B 3 0 0 0 .000 J.Knott RF 3 0 0 0 .000 S.Santos SS 3 0 0 0 .000 [b]B.Nelson LF 1 0 0 0 .000 [/b] J.Kroeger LF 3 0 0 0 .000 D.Wright 3B 4 0 1 0 .250 R.Abercrmbie CF 3 0 2 0 .667 J.Huber CAT 3 0 1 1 .333 S.Hairston 2B 2 0 0 0 .000 J.Bourgeois 2B 3 0 1 0 .333 T.Farmer PIT 0 0 0 0 .000 J.Furmaniak SS 3 0 0 0 .000 D.Gil PIT 0 0 0 0 .000 B.Keppel PIT 0 0 0 0 .000 N.Bland PIT 0 0 0 0 .000 T.Hutchinson PIT 0 0 0 0 .000 B.Medders PIT 0 0 0 0 .000 F.Francisco PIT 0 0 0 0 .000 B.Shacklford PIT 0 0 0 0 .000 T.Bausher PIT 0 0 0 0 .000 C.Bartosh PIT 0 0 0 0 .000 TOTALS 32 1 8 1 TOTALS 30 0 2 0 PEORIA SAGUAROS 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0- 1 8 1 SCOTTS. SCORPIONS 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0- 0 2 0 E--A.Gonzalez. DP--PEORIA SAGUAROS 0, SCOTTS. SCORPIONS 1. LOB-- PEORIA SAGUAROS 5, SCOTTS. SCORPIONS 4. SB--R.Abercrmbie (1). CS-- R.Nivar. YTD IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA PEORIA SAGUAROS B.Keppel 2.0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0.00 T.Hutchinson 2.0 1 0 0 1 1 0 0.00 F.Francisco 1.0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0.00 [b]T.Bausher (W,1-0) 1.2 0 0 0 0 4 0 0.00[/b] C.Bartosh (S,1) 2.1 0 0 0 0 3 0 0.00 SCOTTS. SCORPIONS T.Farmer (L,0-1) 3.0 4 1 0 0 2 0 0.00 D.Gil 2.0 2 0 0 1 1 0 0.00 N.Bland 2.0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0.00 B.Medders 1.0 2 0 0 0 2 0 0.00 B.Shacklford 1.0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0.00 PB--J.Mathis. SO--[b]D.Krynzel[/b], C.Aguila, J.Knott 2, [b]B.Nelson[/b], D.Wright, J.Bourgeois, J.Furmaniak, W.Aybar, N.Gorneault 2, D.McPherson 2, J.Loney 2, S.Santos, J.Kroeger, S.Hairston. BB--A.Gonzalez, S.Hairston. T--2:15.

Thanks, DHonks -- our own AFL correspondent -- neat. What are you doing in Arizona this fall (as opposed to San Jose this summer) and do you anticipate seeing the team again, at least in Scottsdale?

The five 40-man roster players that were not in Milwaukee in September have been "recalled" to Milwaukee. They are: Indianapolis RHP Matt Childers Indianapolis LHP John Foster Huntsville 2B Alejandro Machado Huntsville RHP Ben Diggins Huntsville RHP Pedro Liriano This is something all major league clubs must do. 40-man players sit on the big league roster all off-season. There is no 25-man roster again until the major league season begins. What this does is free up spots for the Rule 5 draft in December. The Brewers will be able to protect 30 non-40 man roster players at the AAA Indianapolis level. These are the players that would have to be kept at the big league level if chosen from the Indy roster in the Rule 5. (Heck, when was the last time a Brewer prospect was selected in the big league portion of the Rule 5? With new depth, it could certainly happen this winter.) Players protected below the AAA level can be selected in the minor league portion of the Rule 5 draft. The Brewers lost OF Derry Hammond and RHP Jack Krawczyk in the minor league phase last offseason, and picked up RHP David Manning. Last year, the manuevering of players by the Brewers started in late November. If you're into transaction history and such, here is the thread in which we tracked pre-and post-Rule 5 moves from last offseason. Reading it will give you additional perspective on how the positioning of players in the offseason works. pub123.ezboard.com/fbrewe...mp;stop=20 Later this fall, a similar thread will be logged for this offseason. Square, if you wish, process the transactions today here within Brewerfan, otherwise I'll get them this evening. Thanks.

The Arizona Fall League season opens today, Tuesday, September 30th. Huntsville manager Frank Kremblas is the manager; former Brewer legend Rob Deer the batting coach. The Brewers representing the Peoria Saguaros (it's a cactus) are: RHP Ben Hendrickson, age 22 RHP Tim Bausher, age 24 2B Rickie Weeks, age 21 OF David Krynzel, age 21 OF Brad Nelson, age 20 C Kade Johnson, age 25 Krynzel (November) and Nelson (December) have birthdays remaining in 2003. The Saguaros are made up of Brewers, Mets, Padres, Marlins and Rangers prospects. Met catcher Justin Huber, Ranger OF Ramon Nivar, and Marlin 1B Jason Stokes are among the bigger "name" players on the team. Peoria roster: mlb.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/ml...r_saguaros Select day games will be broadcast on mlb.com, but not until well into the season, beginning October 27th. The season runs through November 15th. Peoria is at Scottsdale in a night game tonight. We'll post each day's box score within this thread, along with other AFL news pertaining to the Brewer kids. Team USA, of which SS J.J. Hardy is a member, plays a limited AFL schedule beginning on October 10th. There are two opportunities for a Ben Hendrickson vs. J. J. Hardy match-up, on October 15th and 21st. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif

Draft order looks official after Saturday afternoon's games: 1. San Diego 2. Detroit 3. New York Mets 4. Tampa Bay 5. Milwaukee 6. Cleveland or Texas 7. Cincinnati Bud Selig is allowing the Giants to volunteer to give up home-field advantage with the Braves, by not playing a Shea Stadium make-up game Monday if necessary, so the Mets cannot have a better record than the Brewers. The best the Brewers can do is tie the Reds' record, in which case the Brewers get the higher draft pick based on a worse record last year.

Obermueller through six: 73 pitches, 54 strikes On the road in this big spot...huge.

Nice six innings from Wes so far, ground balls, no walks -- three extra-base hits from Pods, putting on a Rookie of the Year show in front of at least a (partial) national audience. Yeah, shame on everyone who can't enjoy the moment. Earlier from David (xisxisxis), and from others who expressed a similar sentiment: Yeah it would be great to get to 70 wins so the PR department, Melvin, Yost, and Payne can all go into spin mode to show that this team has turned it around. Then in 5 years when we still haven't reached 500 we can look at this season as Taylor's last 2 months of 2000 where a small fluctuation in the record was made into more than it should have been. No Thank You, I'll take a sweep by the Astros. Nice draft position and a record closer to the level of talent in this organization. Less spin and more reality is what we need. I imagine you're not watching or listening today, xis. Or if you are, hope you're having fun cheering on the Astros. Gimme a break. I suppose if the Brewers had a chance to go 81-81 or 82-80 this weekend you'd be hoping for the sweep as well, for the same reasons. Look, unlike my minor league postings, where I keep the kid gloves on, you've known me to be a lot more realistic on the major league side. But to just flat out post that you'd like to see this fairly likable group (unlike last year's bunch -- with only eight names matching from last year's season-ending team) just lay down in these four games isn't right. Yes, the big picture's important, but if a couple of Ulice Payne quotes in December about knocking out the Astros and battling to the end is going to bother you that much, well, whatever. Sorry you haven't enjoyed the games in Houston at all.

So Fox is feeding me a late afternoon game here on the East Coast (A's - Mariners). http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/mad.gif What's up with that? Back to trusty mlb.com's audio with JP....

Ugh - suffering with Franklin alone here in the chat room. C'mon over!

The over/under on Franklin gopher balls is 2.5. I hope to get to the chat room by the middle innings this evening -- maybe we can get a little Friday night jam session happenin'...

Gee, God love Richie -- another bomb! No flagpole this time. Pat Gillick, take notice -- you could have used this during the late Mariner fade. I'll miss ya', Rich. What a baseball stud.

Let the spoiling begin...

Kieschnick assigned to protect Richie tonight...

Most likely a technical move related to his spot as a Brewers' representative in the Arizona Fall League, RHP Tim Bausher has been transferred from Beloit's roster to Huntsville's.

Thank goodness we archive these scintillating in-game analyses! http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/wink.gif Let me guess, mostly a male college-age readership, it's Saturday night, and the Brewers are showing us all how not to meet a stated 70-win goal for the season. Yup, that's it. Well, Miss Wisconsin finished third tonight, but someone's going to have to tell me how she beat out Miss Beloit to represent your fine state.

Gee, more textbook baseball in the early innings here. Pretty lousy stretch of ball we've been looking at lately, just not playing smart...