battlekow

Well, he was drafted as a catcher, so presumably that's what the Brewers plan to do for now. It's certainly possible they'll change their minds between now and next spring, though I don't really see a reason for it; he could always be moved off catcher later if it wasn't taking.

Brantley just pinch hit, which is his first game action since 6/26. Guess we should find out about the PTBNL fairly soon.

He'll probably be released after the year, if not sooner.

Even when Brent Brewer is good, he's bad: he's 3-3 with a stolen base, but he was caught stealing once and also picked off.

The Dodgers signed Ethan Martin, the prep hitter taken the pick before Lawrie, for $1.7M; Lawrie will probably get a similar bonus when he gets around to signing.

Right, but Brian said "pre-September callup", so I was just pointing out that there's not much difference in calling him up now and after rosters expand.

I think it's probably pretty similar, but with one downside: he won't be catching, which is the area of his game that needs the most work. It will be interesting to see if the Brewers keep him in EST next year until Helena starts, or assign him to a full-season league right away.

It was the same scout, not the agent. I'll try to catch up with Billings to see if he's signed yet.

Apparently, CA prep catcher Richard Stock greatly impressed at a Brewers Area Code Games tryout recently:

As reported all over the intertubes, Richie Sexson got released by the Mariners today.

His arb clock isn't really an issue at this point. He's cleared both deadlines (extra year of team control & Super-2 status) already this year.

Escobar, Gamel, Gillespie, and Salome shared BA's Southern League Prospect of the Day honors (UW-Stevens Point product Jordan Zimmerman got it for the Eastern League:

Alex Eisenberg saw the same thing looking at his draft video; I think his mechanics are probably wildly inconsistent, and thus his velocity is as well. Disappointing to hear.

Lawrie made Canada's Olympic team, as expected, so he almost certainly will not be signing until near the deadline.

Brewers or Indians? Courtenay native Green in baseball trade limbo Brian Drewry, Times ColonistPublished: Thursday, July 10, 2008 Taylor Green has only been part of a Major League Baseball organization for a few years, but the Courtenay native is already a veteran of trade rumours and speculation that come with being a professional ball player. Thanks to a report in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel earlier this week, the 21-year-old has been under the microscope even though he's in Viera, Fla., playing high single-A ball for the Brewers affiliate Brevard County Manatees. The Journal Sentinel reported that Green, a 2004 draft choice of the Brewers out of the Parksville Royals of the B.C. Premier Baseball League, is one of two players the Cleveland Indians are looking at for their 'player to be named later' as part of the recent deal that saw the Brewers pick up Cy Young Award winner CC Sabathia from the Indians in exchange for four Milwaukee prospects. The Brewers are hoping the move helps get them into the postseason for the first time in 26 years. "It has been a little bit crazy these last few days, for sure, but I guess it's never a bad thing when you're name is mentioned along side a Cy Young winner," Green said yesterday, over the phone from Viera where he was preparing for last night's game against Lakeland. There has been no official word from either the Brewers or Indians as to Green's status, but the Journal Sentinel reported that the Indians have until the end of the minor league regular season -- Aug. 31 -- to decide between Green and another unnamed prospect. "Nobody from the Brewers has spoken to me, my name has just sort of been thrown out there, so right now I'm trying not to worry about it and I'm just trying to go out there every night and do my job as I always do," added Green. Green has also heard the rumour that the Indians wanted more time to make up their mind because they want to see if Green, a third baseman by trade, can make the move to second base. "Oh, I heard that one too," laughed Green. "But right now I'm still at third until I'm told otherwise." While Green's infield defence has been impressive in his young pro career, it has been his bat that is turning heads lately. Green is fresh off an appearance in the Florida State League all-star game where he finished second in the home run derby to Tampa Bay prospect J.T. Hall. Hall edged Green by one homer in the final round. "The derby was a lot of fun, especially since it was at our park, and I almost won it so that made it even better," said Green, who finished the all-star game 0-for-2 with an RBI. Green's work at the plate is what is drawing the Indians' attention. He leads the Manatees in RBIs with 55 and is second on the team in batting average (.290) and home runs (10). It also didn't hurt that earlier this year Green helped Team Canada earn a spot in this summer's Olympic Games in Beijing. Green and Victoria's Mike Saunders, who's playing triple-A in the Seattle Mariners' organization, helped the Canadians finish top-4 at the last-chance Olympic qualifier in Taiwan. Next week Baseball Canada will announce the official roster for the Olympic Games, but young players like Green may be left off in favour of more experienced triple-A players. "I can't say I won't be disappointed if I'm not named to the Olympic team because I worked hard to help the team at the qualifier and playing in an Olympics would be amazing," Green said. "But at the same time I understand that these are the Olympics and the older guys, who have also worked hard, may get the spots." So, once again, he waits.

Alex Eisenberg at the Hardball Times grades Odorizzi and Frederickson, including video:

Apparently Nelson Cruz is drawing significant trade interest.

Kevin Goldstein at BP relays a scout's impressions of a few Stars:

Just to reiterate, Odorizzi is apparently making his debut today.

(click the link for a three-part audio interview with LaPorta) Cleveland Indians' LaPorta a combination of poise and potential, says Terry Pluto Posted by Terry Pluto July 08, 2008 21:42PMMatt LaPorta was up until 4 a.m. Tuesday, packing for his trip from Alabama to Akron. In the process, he lost his cell phone, then the airlines lost his suitcase, the one with his street clothes. LaPorta's mitt, bats, spikes and confident smile arrived at Akron's Canal Park on Tuesday afternoon -- just in time to watch the Aeros' game get rained out. But that's probably a good idea, because the key player in the Tribe's CC Sabathia deal with Milwaukee can use a day for his heart to slow down a bit, his mind to begin to realize he's with a new team in a new ball game where fans already have him on the fast track to Progressive Field in Cleveland -- even if the Indians say they want to take things slow with their new right-handed power hitter. "I've always wanted to be a big-league ballplayer," LaPorta said. "But I never put a time on it. I just want to play hard and let things take care of themselves." Sounds like something a team's public relations department taught LaPorta to say, but watching him make sincere eye contact and measuring his words carefully -- you sense he really believes it. The same when he says he believes players should be role models, that "little kids look up to guys in uniform." He mentioned how he wants to be a good example, and "if you help out one of 100 people [you meet], that's something." LaPorta is 23, and he was not intimidated in the least by the estimated 30 reporters waiting for him in Akron. He played on college baseball's biggest stage at the University of Florida, where he twice was the Southeastern Conference Player of the Year and appeared in the College World Series. He was the Brewers' first-round pick in the 2007 draft, signing for an estimated $2 million. But even a player with that background and 32 homers in 417 pro at-bats never expected to be traded for a Cy Young Award winner. "I can't think about that or the expectations," he said. "CC is an outstanding player. I'm just going to bring my enthusiasm, my hard work and my bat [to the Tribe organization]." LaPorta just hits, and hits the ball far. At Florida, he owns school records for homers in a season and for a career. In high school, he also set home run records. In his first year of pro ball, there were 12 homers in 30 Class A games, including a homer in his first pro at-bat. Baseball America rated him the Brewers' top minor-league prospect. "He went from a metal bat to a wooden bat without it having any effect on him at all," said Tribe minor-league director Ross Atkins. "That's really rare. He has no glaring holes in his swing. He is a high-contact, high-power hitter who gets on base." The point is LaPorta is used to hitting in the middle of the lineup under the glare of stadium lights with fans assuming something special will happen every time he comes to the plate. He's 6-foot-2, 210 pounds and looks strong enough to swing Paul Bunyan's axe. He said he'll play the outfield, first base, whatever the Indians want. "We project Matt as becoming an average left fielder," said Atkins. "And we believe he can be average or better at first base." LaPorta was keeping a journal for minorleaguebaseball.com, where he has written about twice not signing after being drafted in the 14th round (in 2003 and 2006), and how friends said he was making a mistake to return to Florida for his senior year. He wrote about wanting to play once more with his college teammates, and how his decision came through some serious prayer, thanking "God for giving me the courage" to follow his heart rather than the advice of others. That led to a monster senior season and being the No. 7 pick in the 2007 draft. The Indians thought about sending him to Class AAA Buffalo, N.Y., since he dominated the Class AA Southern League with a league-leading 20 homers and is second with 66 RBI, his .978 OPS being third. But they decided to let him take a few whacks at Class AA Eastern League pitching, and then move up once he shows some success. LaPorta doesn't seem especially concerned where he starts for the Tribe, he just wants to finish strong. He bought a new cell phone, and saw that he had 78 text messages and 62 voice messages. He heard his name on ESPN's "SportsCenter," and thought that was "pretty good." But in the end, it comes down to baseball -- and swinging the bat. "I like new things, and this is new," he said of the trade. "I'm not going to worry much about what people say, I'm just going to work on putting up the numbers [statistics] and being a good teammate." http://blog.cleveland.com/sports/2008/07/large_laportajg.jpg(Joshua Gunter/The Plain Dealer) Rain washed out the Aeros game Tuesday night in Akron, but that didn't dampen the enthusiasm of media members to get an interview with new Indian Matt LaPorta. http://blog.cleveland.com/sports/2008/07/medium_lamugjg.jpg(Joshua Gunter/The Plain Dealer) Matt LaPorta: "I'm not going to worry much about what people say, I'm just going to work on putting up the [statistics] and being a good teammate."

Yeah, he's there.

Neither of the other catchers played, so Fryer must have caught, but someone might have mixed up Gindl's position with either Wheeler's or Wilson's.

His first game is tomorrow.

Nice start for Nieves.

Lintz link